NEWSLINE
The Voice of the
Washington Council of the Blind
June 2005 Issue
Equality, Independence, Opportunity
Founded 1935
1-800-255-1147
(206) 283-4276
Cindy Burgett, President
6686 Capricorn Lane NE
Bremerton, WA 98311
(360) 698-0827
Peggy Shoel, Editor
5171 S. Spencer St.
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 722-8477
From the President's Desk by Cindy Burgett
We Are Ready for You by Janice Squires
Application Date Fast Approaching by Alan Bentson
“Save Rehab” Rally in D.C. by Sue Ammeter & Lynette Romero
WCB Board Meeting by Marlaina Lieberg
Spring Fling by Joleen Ferguson
Vivian Conger Chosen for Award (reprint)
The ABC’s of Leadership Seminar by Howard Ferguson
The Dynamics of Leadership Training by Mariann Federspiel
Tune in to Opportunity by Don Mitchell
Environmental Access Committee Report by Lynette Romero
Accessible Pedestrian Signals by Joleen Ferguson
WCB Awards Program by Marlaina Lieberg
News from Camp Harobed by Jack & Frances Pigott
Louis Braille Center News by Carolyn Meyer
DSB Alive and Well by Mark Adreon
WSSB Report by Dr. Dean Stenehjem
WTBBL Update by Gloria Leonard
Hats Off to You! by Peggy Shoel
From the President’s Desk
by Cindy Burgett,
WCB President
If we were to talk about Washington weather so far this year, a word to describe it would have to be “unpredictable.” But when we talk about the Washington Council of the Blind in 2005, I’m feeling pretty confident in making some predictions.
My first prediction is that WCB will continue to grow, not only in individual members but in chapters. The interest in this organization, having 21 of our members participate in this year’s Leadership Seminar, the recent addition of two new chapters and a 25% increase in membership over the past two years are all indicators that we are on our way to becoming one of the larger affiliates of ACB.
Many of our members will be attending this year’s ACB national convention in Las Vegas. And we invite all of you who will not be with us to listen in to ACBRadio for the live coverage. Will we be the most enthusiastic delegation there again? I predict the answer is yes. Also, check the WCB Info-Line during nonbusiness hours throughout convention week, July 3-8, and press 2 to hear the President’s update. I will try to keep you all posted on the day-to-day goings on. Call 1-800-255-1147 or 206-283-4276.
August is shaping up to be an exciting and busy summer month for WCB. The 5th & 6th are the dates for this year’s summer board retreat/meeting to be held at the Best Western Executive Inn. Friday afternoon’s program will focus on how we can most effectively work with our local transportation companies to meet the needs of blind people in our home communities. Those wishing to make room reservations should call (206) 448-9444 by July 15 to get the WCB room rate of $109. If you plan to attend the Friday night dinner or Saturday board meeting lunch, please contact me at (360) 698-0827 no later than July 31. The 13th of August we’ll have over 50 of our members cheering on the Mariners to what I believe will be a victory over the Angels.
As President of WCB, I had the honor of being invited to the state convention of the Florida Council of the Blind (FCB). It was the middle of May, so no hurricanes, thank goodness. And I had a wonderful time getting to know ACB family from across the country and learned that, although we may do things a little differently from affiliate to affiliate, the camaraderie of such a gathering is still very strong.
My final comments are very serious ones as the predictions aren’t nearly as foolproof as previous ones mentioned here. They have to do with the legislative scene on a national level. As most of you have heard, vocational rehabilitation services as we have known them in recent years have been in grave jeopardy. A rally was held in Washington DC on May 26 with 35 organizations coming together to proclaim the rights and needs of individualized services and to preserve the Rehabilitation Service Agency. WCB takes these issues very seriously and had WCB board members Sue Ammeter & Lynette Romero fly back east to take part in this important event (see article in this issue). The impact of this rally will be played out in the legislature, but I want to thank each member who has made a phone call or written a letter to your legislators expressing your concerns, whether it be on rehabilitation, social security, or something else. Individually, we are but one voice; collaboratively we are a force to be heard!
Sunshine wishes are sent your way for a happy summer, and don’t forget to make sunscreen part of your summer attire.
Come one, come all to the 2005 Washington Council of the Blind’s State Convention to be held in Pasco, Washington on October 27, 28 and 29. The United Blind of the Tri-Cities is ready for you and we hope you are ready for us.
Room reservations may be made by calling the Red Lion Inn at (509) 547-0701 and be sure to mention that you are with the WCB convention to receive the following room rates:
$72.00 per night for singles and doubles
$75.00 for triples and quads.
Plus any applicable taxes
The second annual WCB talent show will once again be on center stage. We will be able to accommodate between 12 and 15 acts and the selection will be on a first come first served basis. So if you really want to show off your talents, contact our talent show chairman Meka White as soon as possible at:
(360) 405-4337 or
Ladyfire2020@comcast.net
If you or someone you know would like to show their wares in our spacious exhibit room this year, Bill Smedley, our Exhibit Coordinator, would love to hear from you:
(509) 965-8897 or
born@nwinfo.net
Debbie Phillips is putting together a very entertaining panel concerning social and community activities in which you may take part that are not blindness related. She would like to hear from our members who participate in some type of outside activity that will be fun and interesting to share. So please contact her at:
(509) 684-1266 or
semisweetdebby@hotmail.com
I would like to share with you a few food facts about the Red Lion Inn. The hotel offers three different areas of dining. The Grizzly Bar and Grill is your local low keyed lounge with delicious appetizers and a full menu including adult libations. Next we have the Garden Coffee Shop that has a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to suit any appetite and any budget. Finally for a superb fine dining and wine tasting experience, the Bin 20 is the place to dine. I have a copy of the Bin 20 menu if anyone would like me to email a copy to them. There is a lovely outside courtyard, where you may take your Saturday box lunch and sit outside and eat in the fresh and clean Tri-Cities air. On Friday evening, the United Blind of the Tri-Cities will be offering a dining out experience, with a bus to a local restaurant. The location has not yet been confirmed. So do not fear, no one will leave this year’s convention hungry!
This year’s National Rep will be the new and energetic American Council of the Blind’s Governmental Affairs Director, Day Al-Mohamed. We are so delighted that she accepted our invitation and know she will do our convention justice with her expertise and wealth of knowledge concerning governmental advocacy issues.
Below are a few very important dates for you to remember, so mark your calendars today:
August 31: Deadline date for State Convention First Timer applications to be received by Rhonda Nelson, Chairperson:
rhonels@eskimo.com
September 1: Watch for your convention bulletin to be delivered to you in the mail.
September 12: Free room requests, one day only from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You must call Marilyn Donnelly personally at:
(800) 255-1147
(206) 283-4276
October 4: Deadline date for Convention Registration and Hotel reservations
October 4: bus reservations and transportation stipend requests. Call Shirley Taylor personally at (206) 362-3118
The following counties and anyone utilizing the WCB buses will not be receiving a transportation stipend: Snohomish, King, Pierce, Kitsap, Yakima, and the Tri-Cities.
October 20: Last day late registrations will be accepted by snail mail, email or on-line.
As soon as it is available, Convention information and on-line registration will be found at www.wcbinfo.org Hope to see you all in October! Janice Squires, Convention Coordinator: (509) 582-4749 janicesqu@verizon.net
Please be reminded that the deadline for submitting WCB scholarship applications is June 30. To be eligible for the 2005 scholarship we must receive an on-line application by June 30, or a hardcopy in the mail postmarked by that date. Applications can be obtained from chapter presidents, or by calling our 800 number, or on our website at wcbinfo.org.
Applicants are being encouraged to send other required documents on-line this year, such as letters of recommendation, personal essay and transcript.
It is not necessary to be a WCB member to get a scholarship, all we're looking for are blind or visually impaired students who reside in Washington and who will be attending college in the Pacific Northwest next school year, or are enrolled in a distance learning program. We hope to see many of you at the 2005 Scholarship reception at the state convention in Pasco where you'll get a chance to get to know this year's winners!
On May 9th, the call went out from the ACB national office asking that affiliates send representatives to attend the “save rehab” rally to be held on Thursday, May 26th, in Washington D.C. The rally was being held to protest the Bush Administration’s plans to restructure the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) office and it was anticipated that more than one thousand people would march in front of the Department of Education building on that date. We were honored to be selected as WCB’s representatives to this rally.
Prior to our trip we worked with Mike Freeman, Daniel Frye and Judy Jones from the National Federation of the Blind of Washington to schedule appointments with our Congressional delegation. Our two organizations shared the same message---we object to the restructuring of RSA and proposed cutbacks in rehabilitation programs that are being proposed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. In preparation for our meetings we made up packets containing fact sheets and letters that had been received from our members describing how rehabilitation services had made a positive impact on their lives (see fact sheet below).
On Tuesday night, May 24th, we boarded a red eye flight for Washington DC. Despite the fact that our plane was almost one hour late and that we hit a huge traffic snarl on the way in from the airport we managed to make our first appointment at 10:30 AM. Wednesday was a whirlwind of activity. We met with Senator Patty Murray, an aide to Senator Cantwell and six aides from our Congressional delegation. We were also able to have a meeting with Representative Rick Larson. Everyone understood our concerns and we will be following up with our contacts to ensure our issues continue to be heard. Lynette’s efforts to gather personal stories from our members really paid off since Senator Murray and the aides commented on how much they appreciate receiving such personal testimony.
We were in Washington, DC, for two days. Comparing the days, I would say Wednesday was a day to give speeches, and Thursday was a day to listen, and that we did from the beginning to the end. The rally started at 10:30 AM, and ended at around 1:30 PM, with over an hour of marching in front of the Department of Education, and then listening to approximately 30 or more speeches. I remember as we were leaving the rally, I overheard observations from people reflecting hope that our efforts would be effective.
The day started early as we forced ourselves out of bed at 6:30 to meet with well over 40 other fellow ACB representatives from all across America in the Courtyard at the Holiday Inn at the Capitol in the early hour of 8:30 AM (that’s 5:30 AM our time). We gathered before the rally to unite in a common mission with heartening words from Melanie Brunson, ACB Executive Director, and Krista Merritt, ACB Policy Analyst. We collected signs with the ACB logo, (our sign read “LOSS OF SERVICES IS LOSS OF INDEPENDENCE”), and a survival bag with cheese, crackers and water along with fact sheets and press releases. Surprisingly, a junior reporter from the Longview Daily News, (Lynette’s home town), was there covering the story and interviewed us. The story entitled “Blind Protesters Seek Continued Services” ran Friday, May 27, 2005, with quotes from Dan Frye and us.
At the rally we marched behind the ACB Banner. After an hour or so of chanting and marching, the speeches began with our own Melanie Brunson being the first to speak, and starting the rally off with encouraging words that we, all people with disabilities, will not be left behind. A speech was given by each representative of the disability organizations and labor unions co-sponsoring the rally, and ended with four of five former Commissioners of the Rehabilitation Services Administration voicing their objections to Secretary Spelling’s plans for dismantling and cutting rehabilitation services.
To close the rally, some theatrics were on hand with a Grim Reaper figure representing the Department of Education tearing up our programs and services and tossing them in a coffin: but the Grim Reaper is defeated and tossed into the coffin himself and hauled away by blind pall bearers. Then we all rocked out and sang a favorite Fleetwood Mac song “Don’t Stop thinking about tomorrow…don’t stop, it'll soon be here, It'll be here, better than before… Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone…” Overall, it was an inspiring rally and it left us with hope that our rehabilitation programs will be saved.
As we flew home that Thursday evening we were proud to have been a part of this historic occasion. There is still a lot of work to do and we are asking for your help so please read the fact sheet and make those calls or send your emails to Secretary Spellings and Congressional Delegation. You can make a difference!
Efforts by the Secretary of Education to cut costs and increase efficiency in the vocational rehabilitation program for people with disabilities could have catastrophic consequences for those this program is supposed to serve! We urge Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings to reconsider the following measures, so that no citizen will be left behind by virtue of a disability:
· Promoting a vocational rehabilitation (VR) super waiver that would allow governors to raid VR funding in order to prop up a system of one-stop centers, which are largely inaccessible to people with disabilities, especially those who are blind, and do not even provide the specialized training needed by people who are blind in order to achieve a positive vocational outcome;
· Closing regional offices of the Rehabilitation Services Admiistration (RSA) that provide assistance and oversight to VR agencies and grantees;
· Reorganizing RSA to eliminate the Division of Blind Services, the office which currently administers specialized training and employment programs that are vital to the ability of people who are blind and deaf-blind to live independently and become gainfully employed, fully participating members of their communities;
· Cutting RSA staff in half by eliminating 65 jobs, nearly half of which are held by people with disabilities;
· Downgrading the position of the Commissioner of RSA (a presidential appointee confirmed by the Senate) to a director appointed by the assistant secretary of education, in spite of widespread protests from the disability community.
SAVE OUR SERVICES! Tell Secretary Spellings that these proposals will destroy opportunity, not create it!
Vocational rehabilitation services involve much more than job placement. People with disabilities, particularly those with sensory disabilities, must develop a number of skills before they can live independently and function competently in a workplace. Vocational rehabilitation programs provide personnel who are qualified to teach these skills. One-stop centers were never meant to provide this type of training.
Rehabilitation personnel with expertise in employment of people with visual impairments work with employers to overcome obstacles to employment. One-stop centers do not have the expertise to meet these needs.
The vocational rehabilitation program must be preserved, and RSA's ability to administer it protected. People who are blind stand to lose many, many opportunities if we are not successful in doing so! Please urge Secretary Spellings to abandon these misguided measures!
Call, fax, or e-mail a letter to Secretary Spellings and send a copy to your senators and representative. You can e-mail Secretary Spellings at Margaret.Spellings@ed.gov, or her secretary at Christina.Wilson@ed.gov. Send faxes to (202) 401-0596. Call (202) 401-3000 to leave a voice message. Tell Secretary Spellings how these proposed changes will negatively impact your own life, and the lives of many other people with disabilities. Tell her that just as it is important that no child is left behind, it is also important that people with disabilities do not get left behind.
by Marlaina Lieberg, Secretary, WCB
The WCB Board met on Sunday, May 1, capping off a very exciting weekend during which Guide Dog Users of Washington State had its Spring Fling, and the Leadership Training Seminar was held. Many WCB Board members were active in the Seminar, so Sunday meant we were eager and recharged to do the business of WCB. There were approximately sixty people in attendance and participating.
After the minutes from the previous meeting and Treasurer's report were approved, Cindy Burgett gave her President's Report.
The WCB Equipment Loan program, now administered by the Washington Assistive Technology Foundation is up and running, and there was one application pending; good news for this great WCB Program.
Eligibility requirements to apply for a loan, a first-timer scholarship, or request a stipend to attend the ACB National Convention were discussed. Applicants must have joined WCB prior to July 2004 and have attended at least one of the last two state conventions. Since the deadlines to apply for any of these shall have passed by the date on which your Newsline is published, keep the qualifying information in mind for next year.
Raffle to benefit the Braille Forum; tickets cost $50 each, and the grand prize which will be drawn at the ACB Convention is $5,000. Great idea for individuals, groups of friends or potential fund raising for any of our WCB Chapters. If you are interested in buying a ticket, contact Cindy directly. And speaking of the upcoming ACB Convention in Las Vegas, WCB will have a suite this year in which our members may relax and socialize as well as conduct caucus business. In addition to our traditional Thursday morning breakfast caucus, at which attendance is mandatory for all members who have received WCB loans or grants, another meeting will be held on Thursday night in the suite to further discuss how WCB will vote during the Friday business meeting. If you receive a stipend or loan to attend, you must plan to be present until Saturday, July 9, so keep that in mind as you make your travel plans.
Wedding bells rang through the room! Cindy offered congratulations to the following couples on their upcoming marriages: Julie DeGeus and Nathan Brannon (UBS); Karen Johnson and Doug Hildie (UBS); and Gloria Werstein and Tim Walling (CCCB). But, it didn't stop there! Read on to see who else is hearing those same wedding bells!
A special invitation. Cindy extended a special invitation to Bill Palmer, Director of Department of Services for the Blind, to attend our meeting and luncheon so that WCB could wish him well in his new endeavors as state director in Florida. Bill expressed his gratitude to WCB for the partnerships we've shared over the years, emphasized the importance of consumer organizations involvement with DSB, and then announced his own upcoming marriage to Kathy Duvall, also a DSB employee wending her way to Florida. WCB gave Bill a standing ovation and wished him well.
Our membership is growing, and Cindy is hopeful we will reach 400 members this year.
Mariners Game Tickets. Once again, WCB will attend a Mariners game on Saturday, August 13. Contact Cindy for more details and to buy your tickets.
Finance Committee: Glenn McCully. Two grant requests, one to the Peninsula Council of the Blind and the other to Arts and Visually Impaired audiences were approved. Additionally, the Board voted to provide assistance to a local high school student who will be attending a very specialized science camp in the summer. Watch these pages for more on her experiences.
Scholarship: Alan Bentson reported that the WCB Scholarship application is now online; the deadline is June 30.
Web Site: Viola Cruz reported good progress on updating our web site, and asked that persons with material they want included contact her directly. Watch the web site for the audio version of Newsline, coming soon!
Legislative: Denise Colley. Denise spoke of the study at the Washington State School for the Blind to be concluded by December; the School hopes to reapply for capital funds to build a new gymnasium facility. The Committee continues to monitor legislation dealing with voting in Washington State, as well as issues of concern at the National level dealing with changes to the rehabilitation system.
First Timers: Rhonda Nelson. One application has been received, with two more expected. The deadline was May 1, the date of the Board meeting.
Convention Committee: Janice Squires. The WCB state convention will be hosted this year by the United Blind of the Tri Cities at the Red Lion Inn located in Pasco. Day Al Mohammed, Director of Governmental Affairs for ACB, will be our national speaker. More convention information will follow in this issue.
Awards: Marlaina Lieberg. The Committee is geared up and ready to go for this year's WCB Awards program. More details follow in this issue.
Aging and Blindness: Carl Jarvis. Yakima has a new support group, and Carl urged that all WCB members use their knowledge and experience to help educate the senior blind population. Carl also distributed more brochures his Committee developed on aging and blindness.
Newsline: Peggy Shoel. Peggy stressed the importance for people to feel free to submit articles, and not to be concerned with perfect grammar or spelling. She and her committee are ready, willing and able to make your contribution work for the pages of the Newsline. Remember to check the calendar in each issue for information about all important WCB functions, dates and deadlines.
Advocacy: Sue Ammeter. The Advocacy Committee has worked successfully on behalf of a WCB member who suffered discrimination involving his employment within the Federal Government. The committee plans to assist a WCB member who was left all night in a local park by his paratransit service; the Committee will assist with filing complaints to appropriate agencies and take any steps necessary to ensure this never happens again.
WCB will be conducting an outreach campaign to Washington hospitals to aid in dealing with persons who lose their vision. An ad hoc committee was formed to work on this project, and will be chaired by Sue Ammeter.
Berl Colley spoke about tours at the upcoming ACB Convention, and Cynthia Towers gave us a great overview of the hotel and of things we can expect. They both made me eager to be in Las Vegas, , the city that never sleeps, for the ACB Convention in July. I hope to see each of you there!
There is something comfortable about returning again to a familiar place. This is as it was for many of us when we arrived at theExecutive Inn for our GDUWS Spring Fling in Seattle this year. Not only did we find ourselves in a familiar hotel, we found WCB friends attending the WCB leadership training there.
Our GDUWS festivities began at 7:45 Saturday with registration, muffins and beverages. In our packets were a print or Braille copy of the Spring Fling agenda, a GDUWS business meeting agenda, the minutes of our November, 2004 business meeting, our treasurer’s report, and contents for the files on the CD. We gave CD’s with MP3 files of previous GDUWS speakers and other dog-related information. Some of the guide dog schools made contributions including a dog bone key chain from Guide Dogs for the Blind, luggage tags from Guide Dogs of America, and note cards with pictures of puppies looking through the harness handle from The Seeing Eye. There were dog treats for our four-footed partners.
After our business meeting, we had two speakers from Summit Assistance Dogs of Anacortes. Deb Hall told us about their school and training program, and Dr. Julie French shared anecdotes about her partnership with Sage and demonstrated how Sage does some assistance activities for her.
We enjoyed box lunches with no program, giving us a chance to visit during lunch.
Jeanne Hampl then shared with us her experience with the Purdy service dog training program and her subsequent transition to training people to train their own assistance dogs.
Besides our members, there were also puppy raisers in attendance. One of them was our next speaker. She has raised puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, Guide Dogs of the Desert, and now Canine Companions for Independence in Santa Rosa, CA. It was fun and informative to hear of the similarities and differences among the programs.
The attendees took center stage next, telling of funny and not-so-funny stories working with guides or puppies. There were lots of laughs.
The well-received last part of our program was a Celebration of Life or memorial service as we have had many losses over the past year. We invited the Leadership attendees to join us for this last segment as their day ended at 4:15. There was standing room only in the back of the room during this part of our program. There were many tears: members had had faithful canine partners put to sleep or retire, but we also grieved the loss of two of our members, past secretary, Sharon Keeran and our vice president, Susan Kamrass. This segment was aptly lead by Dr. James Berkley, a Presbyterian pastor, who is a writer and author living in Bellevue.
Some of the 20 of us who attended the Spring Fling stayed for the WCB board meeting the next day. Only one person who registered was unable to make it for our meeting. We increased our membership by two during the Spring Fling, and one the following day at the WCB board meeting. With a current membership of 36, it spells success in any language.
The following is excerpted from the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. For the complete article, follow this link: www.union-bulletin.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=26571&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=&S=1
Vivian Conger, who mixes studies, art, volunteering and work into a busy schedule, wins accolades as the state's top disabled college student.
Vivian Conger cannot stand the words ``I can't.' For 51 years, she has tackled life's challenges with a compelling combination of cheerful determination, enthusiasm and curiosity.
`I can't' drives me nuts,' she said, taking a break from answering the technology services help line at Walla Walla Community College, where she is pursuing a medical administrative assistant degree.
Legally blind since birth, Conger said she has lost most of what little sight she had, though she still can distinguish color and contrast. With the use of assistive technology and the assistance of Blaze, her guide dog, Conger maintains a staggering schedule. She studies, sculpts, staffs the college help desk and holds leadership positions in several organizations, including the school's Phi Beta Lambda business club, United Blind of Walla Walla and Guide Dog Users.
Conger was honored as the state's disabled college student of the year by the Washington Association of Postsecondary Education and Disability, an honor she richly deserves, said college disability coordinator LaDessa Smelcer.
Conger returned to college about two years ago, planning to study medical transcription. But Conger's instructors saw potential. They prodded her in the direction of business leadership and records management. She became involved in Phi Beta Lambda and found herself winning awards at contests for her communications and leadership skills.
In addition to her major’s courses, she took a pottery class that launched a love of sculpting. She has entered several pieces in contests and exhibitions, including a leaf-embossed urn and a sculpture of Blaze.
Conger has been finding ways to overcome her disability for decades. Though born legally blind, she could see well enough to read until 1986, but her sight slowly has degenerated. ``I taught myself Braille before I lost the ability to read,' she said. ``I knew it was coming but I didn't want to be isolated.' She also learned to use a cane during the 1980s. In 1990, she began working with guide dogs.
She credits the support of her husband, Bob, for much of her success. He has taken over care of their home so she can study and stay involved in extracurricular activities and advocacy for blind people.
Conger said she was astonished to hear she had won a state award. But Smelcer said none of Conger's teachers was surprised. Instead, they were delighted.
I was one of the fortunate 21 WCB members to attend the 2005 WCB Leadership Seminar April 29th and 30th. The sessions from Friday evening through Saturday evening were jam packed. The sessions were conducted by experienced WCB members and the ACB 2nd Vice President, Mitch Pomerantz. The theme of the seminar was “Lend a Hand, Take a Hand.” We in WCB are blessed with a large number of knowledgeable and experienced leaders who led or were presenters at the seminar. They included Cindy Burgett, Denise Colley, Julie DeGeus, Berl Colley, Sue Ammeter, and Marlaina Lieberg. Thank you all and anyone I forgot.
Friday evening started with a session on empowerment. To be leaders, we need to empower those we are leading. Empowerment involves six A’s, which are: awareness, attitude, assessment, action, advocacy, and attributes.
On Saturday, we continued with a session on mentoring. As leaders, we need to help develop new leaders and member talents. A mentor may serve in a number of roles, including: as a model, sponsor, advisor, teacher, or counselor.
We also learned that leadership is affected by communication and behavioral styles. The four styles are Driver, Promoter, Supporter, and Analyst. A Driver is usually an extrovert, impatient, task oriented, desires to be in charge, is often the initiator of activities, and will push the group to achieve results. A Promoter likes to interact with others, especially verbally, is fast-paced, enthusiastic and expressive, people oriented, optimistic, and places high value on being a team player. A Supporter is people-oriented, but an introvert, slower-paced and patient, with a wish to serve others and help complete projects, and is tolerant and often a stabilizing factor. An Analyst is usually an introvert, task-oriented, slower-paced, dependable, perfectionist, wishes to follow procedures, loyal, and avoids conflict. We may exhibit all four styles at times, but we usually have one predominant style. An effective leader will know their style and the styles of those they are leading. It’s important that we appreciate and respect persons with other styles.
As leaders of blind groups, it’s important we and our chapters reach out to our communities with six P’s. We can reach out by participating in community events, making presentations to other local groups, publicizing our groups, promoting and educating about blindness, providing support, and projecting a positive image about blindness.
We did have time to meet and get to know the other WCB members and it wasn’t all serious business. We had a lot of laughs, especially at the Saturday evening awards banquet. We also got to observe the WCB Board meeting, which was on Sunday.
Of the four communication and behavior styles, Driver, Promoter, Supporter and Analyst, I tend to be an Analyst. Which type are you? How would you best use me on a committee you lead? How about others in your group? Apply for next year’s WCB Leadership Seminar to learn more.
There are many dynamics involved in successful leadership. An effective leader must incorporate a variety of principles in order to motivate group members. A valuable aspect of good leadership is knowledge about both group participants and the cause at hand. At this year’s leadership seminar, WCB members were given the information necessary to be a productive WCB leader and self-advocate. Much information about the Council was presented throughout the two-day seminar and as a result, each participant gained a valuable perspective about WCB and leadership.
There were many high points throughout the seminar weekend. As a group, we engaged in a fun-spirited challenge and were given opportunities to win one-of-a-kind prizes. At the banquet, we were each presented with a graduation certificate and yellow T-shirts with “WCB Leadership 2005” in blue letters, and also in Braille. For me, the highest point of the weekend was meeting four wonderful women from Pasco: Janice, Margi, Carmen and Evelyn. These women empowered me through their wisdom, spirit and love for life. I feel truly blessed to have had the chance to spend time with these four special women.
The WCB Leadership weekend was both informational and fun. I gained a new knowledge about the history of the WCB, important issues the blind community faces, and ideas to incorporate within my local chapter. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet up with old friends and get to know new friends. I would like to thank all the facilitators and participants for making the leadership weekend so special.
It is said that 70% to 80% of blind men and women of working age are either unemployed or under-employed, yet blind people have more career choices than ever before. A career that offers a high chance for success is piano tuning and technology.
In the last 30 years, in the Portland, Oregon-Vancouver, Washington area, where the School of Piano Technology is located, the number of tuner-technicians has increased over 300%. Approximately 10% of those are graduates of our School. Maurice Unis, founder of two successful music stores in Portland, says that there is a “crying need” for qualified piano technicians all over the nation.
Currently, there are nearly 4000 registered piano technicians in the Piano Technician’s Guild, the organization that sustains quality standards among piano technicians. Estimates of the number of pianos in the United States range from 14 to 18 million. If we divide the number of registered technicians into the number of available pianos, we have more work than all 4000 technicians could handle. Let’s do some math: if a piano tuner has 1,000 clients and each client pays $90 to have their piano tuned once a year, the annual gross income would be $90,000 per year. Other services performed on the instrument can increase the income. Of course, the income is not all profit.
What types of people are piano tuners? Men and women who interact with the public effectively, like working with their hands and enjoy working in a variety of environments each day. Piano technicians are people who want financial independence and enjoy the challenge of running their own small business. Many tuners find challenging work and financial security working in music stores, churches, schools and colleges. A few piano technicians work in the concert world and work with famous musicians.
One major advantage to a piano service business is that the instrument has not changed appreciably in the last 150 years. It is not necessary to be retrained when the technology changes. Little capital outlay is necessary to get started. When you are your own boss, you don’t have to worry about losing your job because of downsizing.
Emil Fries, a blind tuner and teacher, founded the School of Piano Technology for the Blind in 1949. He developed innovative methods to teach blind men and women to service and tune pianos. In its 55 year history, the school has had students from 39 states and 10 foreign countries. Over 250 graduates have used this career to find personal fulfillment and financial independence throughout their lives. Upon retirement, many of our graduates prefer to sell their existing piano tuning business to another blind student to carry on the tradition of excellence. There is a strong network of alumni ready and willing to help new piano technicians succeed in their careers.
If this sounds like a good career choice for you, or if you know a young student who may be interested, please contact me for further information and to arrange a visit.
Don Mitchell, Director of Instruction
School of Piano Technology for the Blind
2510 E. Evergreen Blvd.
Vancouver, WA 98661
(360) 693-1511
Our committee has been developing a new mission statement, which has been a work in progress, started by last year’s committee. It will be ready to submit to the WCB Board for approval, and hopefully presented to our members at our next Board Meeting.
As a committee we would like to focus on how to best serve our members. We know a major concern among some members is pedestrian safety, specifically new developments in Audio Pedestrian Signals (APS). The Environmental Access Committee is trying to get the information out to our members about all the developments in the new technology on APS, and even on other issues like round-abouts, in the form of a web page, linked from WCB’s home page. It is being developed as we speak and members should be able to access it soon. The webpage will give you information on such things as who to contact in your community to get the ball rolling, sample letters to send to your city planners and city engineers, information on types of grants available, and vocabulary in helping you understand the language you can use to be more effective in making changes in your community.
Our committee is also doing chapter presentations offering step-by-step planning strategies to get APS into your community. We are quite inclusive, reaching into all regions of the state of Washington.
Committee members are: Becky Bell (Seattle), Jim Eccles (Vancouver), Joleen Ferguson (Walla Walla), Beth Marseau (Bellingham), Sally Mayo (Yakima), and myself (centrally located in Kelso and Olympia).
Our hope is that by being informed everyone can make up their own minds about which system would work better for their area. You can contact me at romerol@evergreen.edu, or by phone, at (360) 425-5369.
Accessible Pedestrian Signals
by Joleen Ferguson, Member,
Environmental Access Committee
I have been following the comments on the WCB list concerning accessible pedestrian signals, and it occurs to me that we may not all be on the same learning curve, some of us having received mobility training somewhere back there and continuing on our way since then. I have had conversations with our traffic engineer here in Walla Walla, and I would like to share with you what I know.
OK, here is what I have learned about street crossings in recent years. When I took mobility training some 40+ years ago, things were much different than they are today:
Cars are quieter
Drivers are less courteous
Traffic lights are "smarter"
The thing now is to find ways to move the traffic, and there is a lot more of it. About five years ago, Walla Walla did a major renovation of the streets in our downtown area including curb cuts and new traffic signals. There are still a few of the old dinosaurs left. We are all familiar with them. You can stand on the corner where the controller is and hear the gears move as the lights change.
The new ones, though, are quite different. They have cameras installed above the streets that "watch" the traffic and vary the length of the signal phase depending on the traffic flow. If there are only a few cars, the light stays green for them only until they pass the intersection. They have shortened the cycle so that cars don't waste gas sitting at an empty intersection.
For us, this has some significant impact. Whereas we could previously time the light cycle on our watch, we currently have no assurance that the light will stay in our favor long enough to complete a street crossing. The traffic engineers have solved this by adding the pedestrian push button. Cameras don't watch for pedestrians as they do for cars. The button communicates to the computerized controller that a pedestrian wishes to cross and the phase switches to a longer walk cycle.
Those traffic engineers have also figured out something else. They estimate how long it takes an average walker to complete a crossing and they take that into account when setting the timing of the walk phase. They don't want pedestrians out in the middle of the street when the light is ready to turn red for the traffic to move in the opposite direction. They have resolved this with the "Don't Walk" phase. This actually might be more clear if it read "Don't start out now because you will not have enough time to complete the crossing. Those of you already in the middle should have enough time if you are walking at an average pace."
Something that all pedestrians must know is that they need to push the button to allow themselves enough time to complete the crossing. For those of us who are blind, we have to guess and hope that the walk phase has truly been engaged. We are so clever that we wait until the traffic is moving in the opposite direction before pushing the button. This gives us the best reliability that the longer, pedestrian walk phase will engage. Nowadays, with the new signals, one cannot tell by the starting of the parallel traffic if the light will give us enough time. This is one reason to have an audible indication of the walk phase.
This is very important! The audible signal does not tell us that it is safe to cross. There is still no control of that car that is trying to beat the light and runs the red. We still must use all our wits to take in all the information available to us. To be safe, we should still wait for that first parallel car to enter the intersection. Obviously it is likely that the driver of that car would see that a nitwit is intending to run a red and they would stay put in spite of the light.
At first, I found the additional noise of the accessible traffic signals to be distracting from the traffic sounds, but once I got used to it, it became a big help for me, not because I am not a good traveler. I feel that I travel well and travel a lot. Today, for example, I walked more than three miles doing errands and going to meetings. I travel in areas where I have never gone with a mobility instructor before. I go where no sighted person has taken me before. That happens when I attend continuing education courses in a city far away. It also happens in my own community.
Those locator tones help me know of their presence and help increase my awareness of the presence of an intersection signal. Many of the streets in Walla Walla were paved cow paths. They come at each other from odd angles. A locator button acting as a beacon would help me make the best crossing for such odd intersections.
I am not suggesting that every corner needs an accessible signal at this time, but there are many instances where circumstances would make an accessible signal advantageous: In a strange town, it is nice to know the names of the streets, and I like the extra information that holding the button can give. I do like the lesser sound of the Australian tone, but I have not used it in a real life situation.
If we don't find a good solution for accessible signals, the silent cars of the future will make street crossings impossible for us. With gas prices rising, those cars are looking more and more attractive.
WCB's Awards Program
by Marlaina
Lieberg, Chair
Each year, The Washington Council of the Blind seeks nominations from its members and friends for candidates who may be deserving of one of WCB's recognition awards. If you know of anyone whose name you would like to submit, we'd be delighted to receive that information from you. Please also feel free to share details about this program with your network of friends and contacts.
Many of you may remember from articles published last year that there are several categories for consideration in our awards program. Check out the list below, and if you have nominations in any categories, please contact me, Peggy Shoel or Carl Jarvis. Our e-mail addresses are below.
Award Categories:
1. The Outstanding Advocacy Award. This award is given to individuals who champion and safeguard the legal rights and entitlements afforded to blind and partially sighted people and who promote and support improvements to the lives of these individuals.
2. The Newsline Editor's Award. This award is given in acknowledgement of an article that is considered to be outstanding in reporting of a blindness-related event, activity or program; or for an article of original content commenting on issues, concerns and realities of daily life for blind and partially sighted people.
3. The Employer of the Year Award. This award is exclusively intended for those employers who are not involved in the training or rehabilitation of or direct service provision to people who are blind or partially sighted. It is given to an employer who has taken proactive steps to recruit and hire qualified blind and partially sighted people as well as create a working environment in which these individuals can advance.
4. The Business of the Year Award. This award is given to a business which has provided outstanding customer service to people who are blind or partially sighted and which has demonstrated its consideration of blind and partially sighted customers by providing appropriate and respectful service to these customers and where appropriate, has made its publicly available materials accessible via Braille, recordings, large print, or accessible web sites. Special mention should be made if this business employs any people who are blind or partially sighted.
5. The One World Award. This is an award given to an individual or entity whose actions have a direct result of minimizing the impact of blindness by creating an opportunity of equal access such as providers or sponsors of described movies, plays, or museums and describers and narrators of sporting events.
6. Certificate of Outstanding Service to WCB: This award is given to express appreciation to those members whose consistent donation of their skills, services and time have contributed to the successful operation of the Washington Council of the Blind.
7. The Chapter of the Year Award. This award is given to that chapter of WCB which has demonstrated outstanding community interaction and outreach through presentations at schools, community events and meetings.
With the above criteria in mind, please submit nominations by sending an e-mail describing how the candidate(s) meet the awards criteria to any member of the WCB Awards Committee. In 350 words or less, tell us why you believe your nominee is deserving of recognition in any of the categories. Be sure your submission contains contact information for you and the candidate whose name you are submitting. The deadline for submissions is August 31, and all submissions must be by e-mail. People using voice e-mail programs such as AOL by Phone may submit candidate information by reading their prepared text.
The WCB Awards Committee is eager to hear from you! Help WCB thank its members and members of the community who have a positive impact on all our lives.
Committee member contacts:
Marlaina Lieberg, marlaina@traico.com
Peggy Shoel, pshoel@aol.com
Carl Jarvis, carjar@olypen.com
No one is wrong all of the time. Even a stopped watch is right twice a day.
Camp Harobed is alive and well. This has been a very busy year for the Camp, set in the beautiful countryside of Mason County, just outside of Belfair, as we've continued to make improvements on the property. A swimming beach is being built, the lake is ready for the fleet of paddle boats, over 70 trees have been planted and a large, plush lawn is beginning to grow along the lake for future camping sites. A tremendous amount of grading has been done to prepare for this.
Unfortunately, due to health conditions, we will not be able to offer camping during the 2005 season. But we want to assure you that work around the camp will continue through the next year to make 2006 the summer to join us at Camp Harobed. So begin now talking with your members about a date for your chapter to go camping, and we'll have the campfire ready to host the roasting and singing.
Capital City Council of the Blind by Berl Colley
Greater Everett Area Council of the Blind by Chris Coulter
Guide Dog Users of Washington State by Joleen Ferguson
Jefferson County Council of the Blind by Carl Jarvis
King County Chapter by Marilyn Donnelly
Peninsula Council of the Blind by Eric Hunter
Pierce County Association of the Blind by Mildred Johnson and Bob Osier
United Blind of Spokane by Dorothy Carroll
United Blind of Tri-Cities by Janice Squires
United Blind of Walla Walla by Joleen Ferguson
United Blind of Whatcom County by Betty Sikkema
March, April and May have been more than busy for CCCB. After many of the club’s members attended the Ronny Milsap show, we thought we were going to relax for awhile, but we found out that Gary Pucket, of Gary Pucket and the Union Gap, was going to be in the area. Some of us decided to take in his show, and we had a great time.
The guest speaker for our March meeting was Holly Liebl, at that time a counselor covering Thurston County for the Department of Services to the Blind. First Vice President Gloria Werstein ran the March meeting and did a great job introducing Holly. Unfortunately, Holly has moved to Washington, D.C. to get married. She was highly thought of as a counselor.
At our April and May meetings, CCCB members learned more about the status of the audio pedestrian signals that are being installed in the area. Martin Hoppi, from Lacey, spoke to us in April and Greg Walker, from Olympia, spoke in May. The audible signals for Lacey, which are jointly funded by CCCB, WCB and the City of Lacey, will be installed this summer. Olympia is still doing some research, but is taking strong guidance from CCCB regarding the Polaris, Navigator system.
After winning the WCB Scholarship pizza party in 2004, our chapter members decided to continue the fun with a club-sponsored pizza feed on the 7th of May. We had a larger turnout this year and the opportunity to introduce three people, Shari Love, Jack Briant, and Dick Fankhauser, who helped out with our 2004 candy sale.
The CCCB has established committees to handle some of our activities and projects. They are: the Audible Pedestrian Safety Committee, chaired by Howard Ferguson; the Assistive Listening Device Committee, chaired by Terry Atwater; the Constitution Committee, chaired by Denise Colley; the Braille Menus Committee, chaired by Anna Dirk; the T-shirt Committee, chaired by Shirley Atwater, the Web Page Committee, chaired by Rich Dirk; and the Social and Membership Committee, chaired by Gloria Werstein.
Speaking of new members, CCCB wants to welcome new member Helen Iwai and junior member Patty Werstein. Also, we want to congratulate members Don Hultman and Dale Andrews, who were married on March 31st. Denise Colley was re-elected to her church’s council, which replaced its Board of Deacons. Gloria Werstein, Tim Walling and Howard Ferguson were part of the WCB Leadership class, and I was re-appointed to the Citizen Advisory Committee of Inter City Transit. Toni Collie is doing well after her eye surgery.
Finally, the Capital City Council of the Blind wants to let everyone know that its 14th annual summer picnic will be held at LBA Park in South East Olympia, at noon on August 27th. It is a potluck, with the chapter providing meat and beverages. If you can join us, please contact me at (360) 438-0072 or Gloria Werstein at (360) 352-9551 and let us know, so we can plan to have enough food.
Greater Everett Area Council of the Blind (GEACB) is a chapter in transition. We've changed our meeting time, meeting location and our attitude. Since January we have been meeting at IHOP in Everett. The address is 10301 Evergreen Way. We meet on the second Monday of the month with the exception of July and August. We begin with breakfast at 10:00am, and then we have our business meeting and a speaker whenever possible.
We are beginning to make a point of reaching out to our community. Miki Hopper-Estrada has designed new fliers for our chapter. She is very artistic and the fliers are bright and lively. I'm sure we'll be passing them out at our WCB Day in August. Stay tuned for more information about this event.
Miki Hopper-Estrada and Nancy Lind attended the Leadership Training Seminar. They each came home with a lot of enthusiasm and great ideas.
We would like to thank Rhonda Nelson, WCB Board member, for her chapter visit. Her presentation was very informative and we all left the May meeting with smiles on our faces.
Please come and join us for inspiration, information and really great pancakes.
Guide Dog Users of Washington State
by Joleen Ferguson, President
We cannot let this update pass without pausing to remember Susan Kamrass, our vice president who passed away in March 2005. We miss her very much. A friend has sent us a small quilt that Susan won by participation in a past GDUWS raffle. We plan to display it in her honor at future events.
The Spring Fling is behind us and we are looking ahead to our next meeting to be held with the WCB fall convention in October this year. Meanwhile, our members are busy with activities around the state and across the nation:
Calendar of events involving our members:
April 8-9 - Vivian Conger competed in Phi Beta Lambda State competition (Professional Business Leaders, PBL), taking first place in Job Interview and second place in Future Business Executive and second place in Who’s Who in PBL in Clarkston, Washington.
April 28 - Vivian Conger attended the Washington Association of Post Secondary Education and Disabilities Conference in Leavenworth, receiving the Outstanding Student of the year in Washington.
April 30 - Many of us attended the second annual GDUWS Spring Fling
May 1 - Some of us attended the WCB board meeting
May 5-7 - Vivian Conger attended the Students of Color conference in Yakima
May 31 - Cindy Burgett begins in-home training with Geneva, a female German Shepherd.
June 23 - Carla Dawson gives Ola to her new family in advance of training with her new guide.
June 25th - Carla Dawson begins training with her new guide at the Seeing Eye. She plans to forward her phone to her cell so that those who know her number can call her during class. She will be three hours ahead on the East Coast.
June 29-July 3 - Vivian Conger will attend National PBL Competition in Orlando FL competing in Job Interview and possibly parliamentary procedure
July 3 - Randy Tedrow begins training with his first guide dog at Guide Dogs for the Blind
July 23-29 - Debby Phillips will be attending a Christian Blind Institute in St. Louis, MO. It is part of Lutheran Blind Mission. She is already taking classes via snail and e-mail.
July 30 - Randy Tedrow graduates from Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Vivian Conger works 15 hours a week at the Walla Walla Community College technology services help desk in addition to taking 18 credits and is on the Dean’s list.
Hayley Agers and her guide have been through a lot with Alma being injured in an attack by two pit bulls. Alma is beginning to work again and seems to be doing well, for which we are very grateful.
Debby Phillips’ stepdaughter is expecting a baby at the time of this writing.
Dodie Brueggeman is studying “Simply Music” in order to begin giving piano lessons soon.
Dan Tonge is enjoying dragon boating and is the only blind member of his team.
Janice Squires offered this and I close with it. “I want to thank GDUWS for allowing me to say good-bye to my precious former guide dog Kenner at the Spring Fling that was held in Seattle on April 30. It was a time for closure for many of us and gave us the opportunity to release our emotions in a spiritual way. It really comforted me ever so much. I want everyone to know that time heals the heart and I am moving on with my new guide Deena. She is proving to be more than a faithful guide, she is becoming my trusted and loyal friend. I will keep all of my GDUWS friends in my prayers for safe and happy travels.”
Note: Separate articles about Spring Fling and Vivian Conger’s award appear in this issue.
The Third Annual Disabilities Awareness Day saw four of our members tumble out onto the streets of Port Townsend, helping county and city officials identify access barriers.
On a bright, sunny April day Bonnie Sherrell, Lynn Gressley, Carl Jarvis and our newest member, Sue Ammeter, encouraged folks to put on the sleep shades and take to the streets with their white canes. Participants spent half of the day in wheel chairs and the other half as blind people. The afternoon debriefing once again demonstrated that the experience had been both positive and productive.
One week later, 13 of our 14 members, plus two guests, gathered at the Shanghai Restaurant in Port Townsend to listen to a presentation by Dan Frye, recently returned from New Zealand. Dan shared some of his experiences while working for the national organization of blind people, and some of the cultural differences he and his wife Renee West experienced during their two plus years in that beautiful country.
And for dessert we held our first annual election since 2000. Sue Ammeter is our new president. Lynn Gressley is vice president, Helen Everett is treasurer and Carl Jarvis is secretary.
At our May 27th meeting, President Ammeter was involved in the rally protesting cuts in Vocational Rehabilitation, in Washington DC. We continued our international theme with a guest from Canada, discussing rehabilitation services for blind Canadians.
It’s summertime and the living is easy, except for the Captain of Clutter. The captain has never seen a flat surface that could not be covered with layers of stuff. One small goal has been attained when a hallway closet was cleaned out to expose a lovely wooden floor. Congratulations, Captain!
A recent guest speaker was Cleo Brooks, who manages the LEAP program in the brand new downtown Seattle public library. She described the variety of technology that is available for the blind and visually impaired. These adaptive aids are there for you to access, to practice and improve your skills. For more information about this program, please call Cleo at (206) 386-4690. You may also want to arrange a tour of this building, with its glass and steel exterior and a rainbow of colors on the inside.
Three of our members attended the recent Leadership Seminar and enjoyed a weekend of history, humor and motivation. I would encourage any WCB member who has not attended one of these seminars to think about it for next year. I went, I listened, I graduated. Now look at me, I’m a captain.
The PCB had a very successful quarter, marked by the completion of two great fund-raisers. February saw us wrap up our sales of the Kitsap Card, and our May project was our third annual garage sale, an arrangement that not only generated funds, but was a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together as a team and simply enjoy each others’ company, while rubbing elbows with the public, and incidentally making some money for the chapter. The weather was wet and windy and blowy and again, even more wet, but there was sunshine in our hearts.
This quarter also saw us initiating, with the generous grant from WCB, our very own assisted listening system at our May meeting. What a blessing this is for our hearing impaired members, and, as we are all aware that the fastest-growing segment of the visually impaired populace is the senior citizens, who are also, many of them, hearing-impaired, it makes the meetings so much more enjoyable for them.
We are in the midst of planning our July picnic. We are holding it jointly with the South Kitsap Council of the Blind at Jackson/Lund Park in Port Orchard. The big advantage of this park is that there is a small-scale railroad there run by volunteers, and it’s plain old fun to ride.
Many of our members are avidly looking forward to the ACB convention in Lost Wages. It’s a fabulous city, and they should come back with many stories of the wonders they have found there. I’ve been in Vegas several times….thank the Lord for air conditioning.
We are also looking forward to our own state convention at the Red Lion in Pasco, and the chance to get together again with old friends, meet new ones, and swap lies about our grandkids.- or kids, for you young punks. See you then.
Hi. Yes we are alive and well in Tacoma. A voice that has not been heard from, through this media, in some time. In September 2004, our chapter, sponsored by Washington Council of the Blind, held an open house at the Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities (TACID) in Tacoma. This was a membership drive, and we picked up eight new members, and of course, we are always looking for more.
This year on September 24, 2005, our chapter will be hosting a 70th year anniversary, again at TACID, from 2:00-4:00pm. This chapter, when first started, was known as Washington Protective Association of the Blind. In 1935 it was changed to Pierce County Association of the Blind.
May was to be our nomination meeting of new officers. Due to an unexpected hospital emergency of one of our chapter members, this meeting had to be canceled. We hope to pick up where we left off at our June meeting with the election of new officers.
Our chapter continues to work on our fundraiser. Sales from this go to our scholarship program. This has proved to be a very worthwhile venture over the years.
Our President, Ron Fredricson, has been chosen to attend the Las Vegas Convention in July.
We are always working hard to make this Chapter a more exciting and informative organization. Hopefully, we will get more awareness to the public as to what the nonsighted can do if given the chance.
For more information on our chapter, we can be reached at 1-253-471-3005 or 1-253-472-5847 or email at Dosure987@juno.com
Our club has been very active this quarter. We had three members attend the Leadership Seminar: Mariann Federspiel, Danelle Maher and Pamela Rotoli.
We have four members going to National Convention in Las Vegas, July 2 – 9: Debbie & Craig Phillips and Dorothy and Bob Carroll. Dorothy Carroll was selected as the First Timer Delegate by the WCB committee.
Mariann Federspiel is graduating from college in June. She has been a WCB Scholarship winner, which has helped her greatly to achieve her goals.
We are looking for a new meeting place for our chapter to meet. We have outgrown the Cooper George conference room. We are grateful to Mary and Lester Thorpe for making the arrangements there for the past year.
Our members have been to three complimentary plays at the Civic Theater. The Diary of Anne Frank, I'm Not Rappaport, and Hello Dolly. They were very much enjoyed by our group.
Alden Gerling, who is on the Aging and Blindness Committee, made arrangements for a table at the Wellness Seminar at Brighton Court where they like to hand out flyers about aging and blindness.
Russ Richardson, Committee Chair of Good Neighbor and Sidewalk Safety for the Blind in our chapter, was instrumental in getting branches trimmed in several locations that had hit an unsighted woman in the face and eye as she was walking with her dog guide. He wrote many letters and made many trips to city hall, but was successful in getting the job done.
Marlee Naddy made a visit to Brighton Court Retirement Center to give a talk to the residents on living with blindness.
Mary Thorpe's mother, who was 99 years young, passed away.
The United Blind of the Tri-Cities would like to welcome our four newest members: Wayne Coxey, Ethlynn Baugh, and Steve and Marlene Vandecar. Our membership count is up to 31 members and we seem to grow each and every month.
Our social functions are moving right along with lunches at Casa Chapalla and the Red Lion Inn. The narrated play is one of our most successful social programs. We attended the play, God’s Favorite, and will end our season with the production of Play It Again Sam.
Teri Reinkens, one of our UBTC members, has recently formed a UBTC chapter bowling league at Go Bowl in Pasco. We have five members participating at this time and they are all having a great deal of fun. A bowling rail is provided and the cost is only $1.75 per game with free shoe rental.
Four of our independent and active members attended the WCB leadership seminar in Seattle. Margie Kickert, Carmen Walker, Evelyn Crouse and I were selected this year to participate in this most informative and motivating seminar. All four of us truly enjoyed the experience and bring a wealth of knowledge back to the local chapter.
Diana Softich and I are organizing our first annual candy sale. We hope to earn enough money to support the programs and activities of the Tri-City chapter.
Ray Hoffman from the Lion’s Club was our guest speaker and told us about the white cane day and what the profits from this endeavor accomplish. Many of our members will participate in this worthwhile fund raising project for cornea transplants in the State of Washington.
Our chapter is getting very excited about hosting the 2005 WCB State convention in Pasco. We are putting together committees for the various jobs that need to be done and many members have stepped up to the plate to help in any way they can. President Cindy Burgett will join us at our next chapter meeting on June 18. She will speak to us about the responsibilities of hosting a state convention in your local area. We are so elated that she is taking the time to be with us and we know she will help us in so many ways.
Our United Blind of Walla Walla chapter has made one round of distribution of the Aging and Blindness brochures and we soon expect to revisit the locations as we initially divided them.
Several of our members are continuing with weekly Braille lessons along with some folks who are not members of our chapter. A friend of Joleen Ferguson, Emil Baer, was able to repair a used Braille’n Speak for Braille class use. Shirley is moving ahead with the Braille’n Speak and is beginning to learn grade two Braille. Lee Yakovak is now using the newly donated Braille’n Speak, and is beginning to recognize its speech. Libby is working on memorization of grade 1 and is encouraged by the fact that she is beginning to recognize some words. They are all beginning to use Braille for markings including food items and other bottles. Shirley’s microwave now sports Braille markings rather than the few foam dots that indicated a few of the buttons she needed. Judy Bradford has had a procedure done that has restored some of her vision and she has discontinued the Braille classes for now. Harryette Friesen has learned the letters, but the decreased sensation in her fingers has made it difficult to use braille for marking. She has learned how to recognize the elevator buttons in the various elevators where she lives.
The bottom line here is that we are continuing to learn and grow.
We had a guest speaker from the Friends program in our community, during the March meeting. Its inception was spawned by the shootings at Columbine High school and is similar to the Big Brother or Big Sister program. Joleen Ferguson is in the application process to become an adult friend.
During our April meeting, members spent time discussing how knowledge of Braille is making a difference in their lives.
In May, the Polara representative came to demonstrate an accessible signal. Members had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the buttons. There was enough interest that our business meeting was preempted for the accessible signal program that month.
Joleen Ferguson is planning to attend the ACB Convention in Las Vegas in July and she will be able to bring lots of information back to our chapter.
As WCB members anticipate the Las Vegas Convention in July, United Blind of Whatcom County has been gearing up on fundraising projects, various committee projects and our Treasurer Beth Marsau getting our paperwork ready to get our 501(c)3 non-profit status secured. Our heart felt thanks go out to Beth for her hard work!
So it has been a busy spring and we keep moving onward with a sense of optimism and purpose.
We are happy to inform you that $493 was raised through the Macy’s “Shop For A Cause”, which was held on March 19th.
Yvonne Miller, Beth Marsau, Bruce Radke and Betty Sikkema were on hand to man the table. We were allowed to sell tickets at the table, and we also had UBWC pamphlets and WCB brochures that people could pick up if they so desired. The funds raised will be earmarked for scholarships. This fund raiser was a great success. It was a pleasure working with Pat Donnalley of Macy’s and we look forward to next year’s event!
At our April 9th meeting Lynette Romero, WCB Board member, was our guest speaker. She gave an informative presentation on accessible pedestrian signals and how to get them. She provided us with pamphlets and web-site information. A hearty thanks to Lynette for taking the time to meet with us.
On June 11, we will be participating in the Human Race. Seventy-five percent of the money raised will go the UBWC, and 25 percent will go to Whatcom Volunteer Center. This is an annual event which our chapter traditionally takes part in. It promises to be fun and enjoyable with food and a live band for entertainment during the finish.
On June 12th, some of our members will be guests to attend the production of the play Oklahoma, to be audio described by AVIA, Arts and Visually Impaired Audiences. It is a long-awaited project and we are excited with it drawing closer. Community members from many sectors of the county will be represented as ticket holders provided by AVIA. We anticipate its success and with appreciation.
On April 30th, we had our first social meeting at Denny’s in Ferndale. This meeting was very successful. Some of the members who don't come to the business meeting came to the social meeting. We enjoyed good food and fellowship. This second weekday meeting will take place every last Wednesday of the month.
Saturday, July 30th, we will be participating in an old settlers’ day in Ferndale. It gives non-profit groups an opportunity to be at a table, hand out brochures, and answer any questions that people might have about our organization.
We have also been invited to give a presentation at the Everson Grange in September and to join them for dinner. They are interested in learning more about UBWC and perhaps helping with fundraising projects. The Grange is currently working with the Deaf & Hearing Impaired group. So we look forward to providing an informative discussion about our chapter, WCB and ACB.
We are pleased to introduce a new member, Ric Courtright, who is a student at Whatcom Community College. He will be graduating this coming June. He plans to transfer to Western Washington University in the fall. He joined our chapter in May. A hearty welcome to you!
I hope you all have a wonderful spring and summer!
Louis Braille School
It has been our dream for some time to establish a private, state-approved, neighborhood day school for children who are blind or visually impaired. That dream is becoming a reality. We have leased a building which will house both the Louis Braille School and the Louis Braille Center. Remodeling work is underway to make it an accessible and inviting place for our children to learn. We are grateful for the generous support and encouragement of caring individuals and organizations.
The Edmonds Lions Club is doing much to get the building ready for classes. At a recent work party, members cleaned the building inside and out. Bobby Mills, a licensed contractor and president of the Club, has volunteered his time and expertise to serve as contractor for the needed renovations; other Lions will assist with the labor. Our building permit is pending. Work will begin as soon as it is approved. Individuals from as far away as Virginia have donated funds to help finance the renovation.
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle provided surplus carpet. Not only did they donate enough carpet for two rooms, but they delivered and installed it. Volunteer transcribers with years of experience brailling children’s educational materials are preparing classroom materials.
The Louis Braille School, using innovative educational approaches and specialized tools and adaptations, will provide a quality program individualized to meet the needs of each student. A balanced education for children who are blind or visually impaired includes academic achievement, guidance in attaining social confidence, and instruction in skills of everyday living that foster personal independence. We believe that the academic program and specialized instruction in daily living and social skills are most meaningful when presented as an integrated curriculum, thus enabling each child to reach his or her fullest potential. Our ultimate goal is to provide a smooth transition into the “regular” school system.
While tuition will be charged to help cover the costs involved in providing the specialized program, it is the policy of the School not to deny any child its services because of inability to pay. Therefore, the Louis Braille School is raising funds to establish and maintain a financial assistance fund through private, tax-deductible donations.
We invite you to join us in developing the School through the giving of time, talent, ideas, and financial support. Please call Carolyn at (425)776-4042.
Braille Camp
Braille Camp, our two-week summer program for children who are blind or visually impaired, will be July 11 through 22, Monday through Friday, 11 am to 2 pm. Tuition is $250 for two weeks, $125 for one week. Financial assistance is available. Ages: kindergarten through grade eight; older teens are welcome.
Please call Carolyn at (425)776-4042 for more information.
The Department of Services for the Blind expands and improves its services to the citizens of Washington. DSB had a banner year last year with 135 vocational rehabilitation customers going to work in competitive jobs. DSB served more citizens who need assistance adjusting to blindness and staying independent in their homes than ever before through its Independent Living program.. DSB has forged strong relationships with community partners to enhance services to customers of all ages with visual disabilities. DSB works with the Washington State School for the Blind to help transition students from high school to higher education or employment based on their choice. DSB has expanded services to the deaf-blind community and is taking the lead on service to this community in collaboration with the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and other community partners.
In spite of increased demands on resources, shrinking state budgets and mandatory personnel cuts, DSB is still serving all citizens who enroll for employment services. Our Orientation and Training program is serving more people than ever before with intensive training in adaptive blindness skills as well as tailoring learning opportunities for people that need more focused training.
Bill Palmer did a great job in his tenure with DSB, such a good job that the State of Florida has hired him to be the Director of its VR Services, an agency with 1000 employees. We will miss him yet feel that DSB will continue to move forward under the leadership of Acting Director, Lou Oma Durand. Lou Oma knows the VR system and has devoted over 20 years of her career to DSB and its customers. Her contributions have been key to the success the agency enjoys. Please join us in supporting Lou Oma in her acting position and know that the agency and the service we provide to the State of Washington are in good hands.
On another front, DSB and the University of Washington Art School have partnered to present a tactile art show, created by the students at the U and designed to be experienced through touch. TOUCHING ART is designed not only to create art works that can be experienced by blind and low vision art lovers, but to challenge artists to think about art differently, the culture to think about blindness differently and to raise awareness on issues of accessible art. Anyone who is blind or low vision that has gone to an art exhibit or museum has experienced the description of art works and generally is not encouraged to touch the work. If allowed to touch works of art, the discovery is that of a shape or object, interesting texture or size of an object. Rarely would this touching the art convey an artistic expression designed and created to be experienced by touching it.
Our desire is to have a group of young artists think about their art from a blind perspective. Through their future lifetime of work, these artists can assist the culture in understanding low vision and blindness through their chosen mediums.
Putting “blind” and “art” in the same sentence can challenge people about what it means to be blind. Through the TOUCHING ART exhibit, the general public may learn more about blindness and realize what other cultural barriers can be challenged so that blind and low vision people can participate fully in social and everyday living.
The exhibit will run at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery on the University of Washington campus School of Art from Tuesday, June 21 through Saturday, July 2. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday noon-4pm. For directions to the gallery or exhibit information, call (206)685-1805. For more information on the exhibit concept, purpose and permanent display, call (206)721-6410. We want to welcome all to experience TOUCHING ART. Please make plans to visit and bring friends and colleagues.
Success Stories : WSSB has had a very rich history of providing quality services to blind and visually impaired children within the state of Washington. Below is just a small sample of some of the successes of the past 15 years:
Successful Graduates: Tracking of all graduates since 1998 show an 87.5% success rate compared to national figures of 50-70% unemployment in the blind community.
Parent and District Satisfaction: Since 1993, WSSB has been collecting quality information on programs and the services that are provided. WSSB consistently receives ratings of 4.5 or higher in almost all service areas, based on a 5.0 scale.
Implementation of a 24-hour IEP System: This provided the staff/school the opportunity to focus on its strength in being able to provide intensive 24-hour services for children.
Self Medication Program: If blind and visually impaired children are going to be independent, all aspects of independence need to be addressed. WSSB is one of the few schools in the country that has implemented such a program.
Outreach Expansion: Providing services throughout the state and having the school be viewed as a Center of Best Practices has assisted local districts in meeting the needs of blind and visually impaired children. WSSB currently contracts with approximately 1/5th of the school districts in the state for itinerant vision services. This service continues to grow based upon the availability of highly qualified teachers of the blind and visually impaired.
Summer School Program: WSSB provides summer school programs to children from throughout the state who are not in attendance during the school year.
Summer Sports Camp: WSSB, in partnership with NWABA (Northwest Association of Blind Athletes), provides a sports camp for blind and visually impaired children.
Youth Employment Solutions I (YES I): In partnership with the Department of Services for the Blind, provides summer school opportunities for students ages 14-16 in the area of career education and job skill development.
Technology Statewide Center: Developed a statewide technology center for blind and visually impaired children that provides software, equipment, and training to students and educators.
Braille Access Center: Washington was the first state to have Braille on demand for public documents (1993). This partnership with the Office of the State Printer, Corrections, Department of Information Services, and Tacoma Community College has led to a service resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to local districts and the state, while improving access. ($400,000 worth of textbooks at a cost to taxpayers of $30,000)
Instructional Resource Center: Relocated on the WSSB campus, which has resulted in a blending of OSPI federal funding, WSSB, state, and private funding.
High Tech Campus and Services: Leadership has helped secure funding to keep WSSB on the cutting edge in this important area. This not only addresses access and communication devices and training for kids and staff, but also for the operation of campus facility and the safety of children and staff.
Quality On-Campus Education: Intensive services with a focus on short-term placement.
Strong academic programs; Strong CORE competency programs; strong technology access programs; quality programs in music, fitness for life, and extra-curricular programs geared toward confidence and self-esteem
Quality staff: WSSB teaching staff meet No Child Left Behind (NCLB) highly qualified teacher status. Awards - Disney Teacher Finalist of the year; Math – nationally recognized; Physical Education/fitness; and others.
Distance/Digital Learning Initiative: Starting in the fall of 2003, WSSB provided services to blind and visually impaired children in classes where location would not be a factor. WSSB also became part of the Digital Learning Commons Pilot Program for the state.
Capital Project Campaign: WSSB has virtually rebuilt the entire campus since 1990 with the demolition of non-used facilities, remodeling of current facilities, addition of new buildings, and development of new partners. (Over 50,000 people use the campus each year.)
Partnerships: Very little of what has been accomplished would have been possible without strong partnerships on a local, state, regional and national basis.
Governor’s Quality Award: Energy Management (2004); Braille Access Center (2002); Low Vision Stateside Task Force (2001); Statewide Technology Center (1999)
WSSB is always examining new and better ways to serve children both through outreach services and intensive on-campus programs. Your thoughts and ideas are very important to us in helping us build quality programs for the future. Dean.stenehjem@wssb.wa.gov or (360)696-6321 ext. 130#.
Thank you for another opportunity to share information about WTBBL. Included are selected highlights regarding what staff and library supporters are doing to make our library services and programs better.
Library Funding: Good news! The 2005 Legislative Session ended with a status quo 2005-2007 biennium operating budget. The Library is appreciative that the Washington State Library and legislative agenda did not include reductions in library staff, operating hours, programs, collections or services.
PAC Advocacy Initiative: The Patron Advisory Council (PAC) Advocacy Committee, led by Signe Rose, Chair, will soon begin to formulate marketing and advertising strategies targeted toward influencing the legislature to make increases in library funding a 2006 legislative priority. By leveraging the library services we currently provide through staff and volunteers with supplemental funds to support the application of proven “best practices in the delivery of library services to those with disabilities,” the Library will be in a better position to serve more of the 2.68 percent of the blind and low-vision residents of this State over the age of 40 than we can do today.
LBPH Conference: “Getting from Here to There: Delivering Excellent Service Utilizing Today’s Reality,” was the theme of the Library of Congress’ National Library Services West/Midlands Joint Conference of Blind and Physically Handicapped libraries and talking book centers held May 11-14. According to conference evaluations, WTBBL hosted a very successful, enjoyable and memorable event. The 63 participants included the State Librarian, Jan Walsh, representatives from 19 states located west of the Mississippi River and representatives from the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, including coordinators of the Multi-State Centers East and West.
Participant feedback revealed that the one-day pre-conference on assistive technology led by Debbie Cook, Director of the Washington Assistive Technology program, was a whopping success! Participants enjoyed Debbie’s presentation and overview of policy development and service delivery issues. And the hands-on demonstrations of a wide range of hardware, software and web-based technologies was enlightening and effective.
Other conference favorites included panel discussions on marketing library services to new or potential customers, alternative governance structures; and strategies for offering locally produced talking books. Conference participants spent a day at the Seattle Public Library’s central library facility, which included a keynote address by City Librarian Deborah Jacobs; additional conference sessions at the library followed the building tour.
Library governance study: Recently, the Seattle Public (SPL) and Washington State Libraries (WSL) jointly commissioned a study to determine the pros and cons of alternative service delivery options for WTBBL when the contract with SPL expires on June 30, 2005. Berk & Associates was hired to conduct the study and is leading a Project Team that includes representatives from SPL, the State Librarian and WTBBL’s Director. Thus far: Berk & Associates has conducted a situation assessment of WTBBL that describes its context within the National Library Services including a history of the library, overview of the services delivered, governance, demographics of current users and market of potential future patrons, analysis of the current financial and capital situation and technological outlook. In addition, Berk & Associates has identified nine options for administering services, including remaining with SPL, contracting with another public library in the state or operating within WSL. The Project Team has briefed SPL;s Board of Trustees and the Secretary of State. However, no recommendations or decisions have been made. Next include the development and implementation of a plan to brief and gather input regarding service delivery options, impacts, expectations and priorities from stakeholders, including patrons, staff and volunteers, including the Patron Advisory Council.
Contract Renewal: More good news! We have just received word that the Seattle Public Library has agreed to extend the contract agreement with the Washington State Library to administer WTBBL for two-more years, effective July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007.
Hats off to You
by Peggy Shoel
We are pleased to offer our congratulations to the following WCB members:
· Dorothy Carroll, board member WCB, for being selected as the WCB 1st timer delegate to the 2005 ACB national convention in Las Vegas. Dorothy says she is honored and excited and looking forward to describing her experience and convention highlights in the September/ Fall Newsline.
· Sue Ammeter, board member, WCB, on her retirement following 33 years of employment with state, city and county agencies, the last eight as a disability specialist with King County Disability Services. Sue is now residing with husband John in their new home in Port Hadlock, WA.
· Vivian Conger, president, United Blind of Walla Walla, on her selection as Washington State outstanding disabled college student for 2005. Vivian is attending Walla Walla Community College.
· Carl Jarvis, Secretary, Jefferson County Council of the Blind, on the event of his 70th birthday. In honor of this occasion, Carl's family, including children and grandchildren, gathered him up and all went to a restaurant for a celebratory family dinner.
· Audrey Jolley, member at large, on becoming a grandmother for the second time. Arriving at a birth weight of 7 lbs, 4 oz, Kiera Lynn Wiggins has a full head of curly brown hair, big turquoise blue eyes, and a happy disposition.
· Sue Ammeter, board member, WCB, on her appointment to the Advisory Council of the Washington Assistive Technology Alliance (WATA). The Council will be working with WATA staff to implement programs through the assistive technology act.
· Connie Couch, member, Peninsula Council of the Blind, and grandmother of WCB President Cindy Burgett, on the event of her 80th birthday. She celebrated with a luncheon with two of her granddaughters and then visited a casino with some family members.
· Amelia Wearstler, member, Peninsula Council of the Blind, and daughter of WCB President Cindy Burgett, on her graduation from Olympic High School. Amelia plans to continue working through the summer and will be attending Olympic College in the fall, taking part in their early childhood education program.
· Irene Nielsen on celebrating her 80th birthday. Irene was an Army WAC during WWII.
· New UBTC member Steve Vandecar on receiving his first guide dog, Nemo, from Guide Dogs for the Blind in Boring, Oregon. Nemo is a 67 pound yellow lab and is 23 ¼ inches high at the withers.
· Cindy Burgett, President, WCB, on her new dog guide, Geneva, an 80 lb., three-year-old black and tan German Shepherd from Guide Dogs for the Blind, in an in-home training. Cindy reports Geneva measures 24 3/4” high and has a raccoon-like face.
The goods and services listed here are offered for the interest and benefit of our readers and should not be considered as endorsed by the WCB.
· Jett Enterprises, a catalog distributor of devices and aids for visually impaired individuals, has been bought out and is now known as Liberating Perceptions. The toll-free number remains the same: 800-275-5553. The new owner is maintaining the same product inventory.
· Art Education for the Blind (AEB), headquartered in New York State, believes that exposure to art is a critical element in the education and rehabilitation of blind and visually impaired individuals. AEB works with museums nationally and internationally to establish and maintain accessibility programs. Through their efforts, hundreds of museums around the world are now accessible, including locations in the U.K., Finland, Belgium, Italy, Australia, Spain, France, South Africa, Japan, Puerto Rico, and in a number of states in the U.S. For more information, call (212)334-8721 or visit www.artbeyondsight.org
Article Deadline:
To be considered for inclusion in the next issue, article submissions, chapter news, and other information for publication must be received by August 27, 2005. Articles may be edited for purposes of clarity and space considerations.
Publication Policy:
To ensure accuracy, we require typed, double-spaced submissions or e-mailed submissions to femme2@speakeasy.net with a cc: pshoel@aol.com . Articles should be no longer than two pages.
Correction: In the March Newsline, the date for the next WTBBL Patron Advisory Council was incorrectly given. The PAC is scheduled for July 30, 2005 with the following one October 8, 2005.
NOTE: Deadline dates reflect receipt of information, not postmark date.
June 17 - Deadline for purchasing Mariners tickets
June 21-July 2 - Hands-on Art Exhibit, University of Washington
July 2-9 - ACB National Convention, Las Vegas
July 30 - WTBBL Patron Advisory Council, Seattle
Aug 5 - Summer Board Retreat & Board Meeting
Aug 13 - Mariners Game
Aug 31 - Deadline for First-Timer applications to WCB Fall Convention
September - Production and distribution of Fall Newsline
Sept 10 - DSB Rehab Council Meeting, Yakima
Sept 12 - 9:00am – 4:00pm - Call-in day to request free room for WCB State Convention
Oct 4 - Deadline for Registration for WCB State Convention
Oct 4 - Deadline to request travel stipend for WCB State Convention
Oct 4 - Deadline for WCB Convention bus reservation
Oct 4 - Deadline for hotel registration for WCB State Convention
Oct 8 - WTBBL Patron Advisory Council, Seattle
Oct 20 - Last day late registrations for WCB State Convention will be accepted
Oct 27-29 - WCB Annual Convention, Pasco
December - Production and distribution of Winter Newsline
· To Brady Layman and Sherrill Lee of the Tri-Cities, for reading this issue onto tape.
· To Sue Sather, for duplicating the tape version of this issue.
· To Tim Schneebeck for providing the NEWSLINE on disk and via e-mail.
· To the individuals who contributed articles and materials to this issue.
· To the NEWSLINE Editorial Committee for their many hours of work.
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