MCBVI NEWS
FALL 2019
Official
Newsletter of the
Michigan
Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired
Affiliate of
the American Council of the Blind
Rosemarie Facilla, President
For
General Inquiries
Phone:
1-206-666-3696
By Email:
mailto:info@michigancounciloftheblind.org
On the web:
http://www.michigancounciloftheblind.org
Facebook:
Search for Michigan Council of the Blind
"Like"
us to receive updates!
Chapters
in Michigan:
·
Cadillac
·
Grand Rapids
·
Mitten Phone Chapter
·
Port Huron
Highlights
in this issue include:
·
President’s Update
·
Let’s Dance: How I Dealt with
Choreography
·
Convention 2019, highlights
·
Important Legislative Update
·
Other committees and chapter updates
President’s Update
Rosemarie Facilla,
President
Hello, MCBVI Members:
A lot has happened since our July
newsletter. Once again, I want to thank the Blue Water League for putting on a
great convention! The trolley ride and historical narration through the city of
Port Huron was most interesting. The two things that really stuck out for me
were these:
1.
Thomas Edison had grown up there,
and they still have the building preserved where he had his lab for his
experiments in the basement.
2.
Port Huron was second only to New
York City to process immigrants.
The convention boasted quite a few
informative sessions, and those who attended learned a number of things.
The auction went very well, and was
lots of fun, as usual.
We voted on four resolutions at the
convention, and the Resolutions Committee did a great job!
The inclusive voting seemed to go
well overall. Even though some attendees voted prior to attending the
convention, quite a few MCBVI members were able to vote who were not able to
attend.
1.
You are ready to commit to the time,
and have the energy it will take to make that committee successful.
2.
We need someone to chair the
Marketing Committee, and the newly formed Scholarship Committee will need
additional members. The Future Goals Committee will need new members to join.
I
urge members to contact me if they have interest in these, or any of the other
committees. To find a list of these committees, go to our website: www.michigancounciloftheblind.org and click on the contacts list. There you will find all the
officers, committee chairs, etc. These will be updated soon; most likely after
the November Executive Committee meeting.
The evening the convention finished, I was invited to participate in the American
Council of the Blind (ACB) membership focus call. There has been a lot of
interest in our Mitten Phone Chapter, and other affiliates were interested in
not only how we met, but in our monthly social calls. There was extensive
interest, as well, in our inclusive voting process. We are leading the way in
these areas. Iowa had been invited to come on the call as they instituted a
phone chapter also, but no one from the Iowa affiliate came on the call.
We continue to work on Accessible
Prescription legislation. We are planning strategies to move forward,
contacting other disability groups, as well as a pharmacy chapter, and other
ideas. Oregon is the second state to pass legislation regarding accessible
prescription labeling, and Ohio continues working on this as well.
The Legislative Committee continues
to work on other legislative issues; including recently supporting some changes
in SSI.
On March 6, 2020, we are going to
have a presence at the Michigan Department of Education-Low Incidence Outreach.
They are hosting an Assistive Technology conference for students who are blind
or visually impaired, along with their families, and teachers. The program will
be held at Lansing Community College West Campus.
As stated earlier, after the
November Executive Committee meeting, we will be updating our organizational
website with our new officers and make other needed changes.
We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Look out for a special meeting to be held in the near future regarding changes
to our constitution and bylaws. Remember, this is your organization. Together
we can move forward and accomplish our goals.
It is with regret the resignation of
our Secretary Lindsey LaVere is accepted. We thank
Lindsey for serving over the past year, and wish her well. Our newly elected
Assistant Secretary, Lucy Edmonds, has accepted the position of Secretary. An
Assistant Secretary will be appointed at the next Executive Committee meeting.
In July, John Jarzyna
and I attended the ACB National Convention in Rochester, New York. There was
quite a bit of information presented. John and I represented the Michigan
Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired by voting for resolutions and
participating in other business of our parent organization. If you have never
been to a national convention, I encourage you to think about attending this
year’s convention being held in Schaumburg Illinois. It is an experience,
members, who have never done so, should consider.
Jennifer
Bolling was able to raise enough funds to send one person to our
state convention this year, who has never attended before. Unfortunately, there
were no eligible candidates this year, but the money will be held over. We are
hoping there will be better success in 2020.
I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving
and Christmas, and hopes for the New Year!
H: 231-759-8734
C: 231-286-4439
Rosemarie.facilla@frontier.com
***Editor’s
Note:
The
following article was published in the January 2017 issue of the NFB Braille
Monitor and sent in to the MCBVI News by Kelsey Nicolay a member of the Mitten
Phone Chapter
Let's Dance: How I Dealt with
Choreography
Kelsey Nicolay
I have been singing in choir since
the fourth grade without much difficulty. However, one day in my freshman
chorus the director gave us the music we would be performing at the end-of-year
show with choreography. I was nervous about how it would go. How would I
remember the moves? How would I move around without my cane? What about getting
on and off stage? My choir director assured me that I would dance and
participate like everyone else and that they would find ways to make it happen.
We ended up having someone come in to help me. The choir director chose someone
who was in show choir and had more dance experience. It worked out really well
once the choir director found someone. The person the director found seemed to
know instinctively that I could do the moves on my own once I learned them and
made sure that, as soon as she felt I was ready, she insisted that I do as much
as I could without her holding onto my arms. After about a week she said,
"I'm not going to help you too much today because I want you to be able to
do it on your own during performance." I didn’t do the moves perfectly the
first few times I did them alone, but I knew that with repetition I would learn
them, and I did. By two weeks before performance, I could do almost all of it
alone, and she could simply watch from a distance and correct me if necessary.
Performance weekend went pretty well.
While the first show time was mostly
successful, I had a few setbacks. For instance, like most students, I chose to
take part in my grade's student-led ensemble. We auditioned for the show and
were one of the groups selected. When it came time to learn our choreography,
the choreographer made a comment that he tried doing the ensemble's dance steps
with his eyes closed, and he couldn't do it, so he concluded that I couldn’t
either. I felt devastated because I had been working hard in choir, and then he
told me I couldn't perform the student ensemble choreography. The choir
director decided to let me perform anyway and just sing the number with the
ensemble. I was grateful he let me do that, but at the same time I felt robbed
of an opportunity to prove myself. From this experience I learned that it is
important to stay positive and keep working at your dream and trying to change
minds even if others don't believe you will succeed.
My sophomore and junior years,
however, the performances were not as successful. Again the choir director
found someone to work with me. However, this person did not have the same
expectations that the former student had had. Instead of encouraging me to do
the moves on my own, she stood behind me and moved my arms. It took a lot
longer for me to learn the choreography, and on stage
during performance she had to help me with most of it. The choir director
allowed her to be on stage with me, but he overlooked the fact that she was
practically doing it for me. My teacher of the visually impaired, family, and
friends all commented that there was no reason for her to be on stage helping
me. My TVI helped me with costume changes for one show so that my family could
watch the performance. After both my numbers she told me that I could have done
most of that myself. The same thing happened both years. My junior year I
participated in the student ensemble again. It was comprised of the people I
had been in the freshman group with, but they were all in higher choirs than I
was. They were familiar with my blindness, and it didn't seem like a big deal
to them until it was time to learn the choreography. The group leader chose to
make up the choreography herself instead of having our choreographer do it.
When it came time for dance rehearsal, no one bothered to teach me until the
week of performance. My choir director told me one person was teaching me, my
assistant told me something different, and another student in my choir said she
was teaching me. I finally decided to call one of the members whom I knew from
freshman chorus and who had helped me in that group as well. Luckily she agreed
to teach me the next day. However, because it was so close to performance, I
ended up dropping the group at the last minute because I could not learn the
arm movements in time.
My senior year I was determined to
make this the best performance since it was my last one. I told my director
that I wanted an assistant to help me learn the choreography but that I did not
want him on stage with me. The director had a hard time finding someone who was
free during the first period of the day, but she eventually found someone, and,
once she did, it worked out fine. This person seemed to know instinctively that
I could do the moves by myself. Once I felt confident, I did everything by
myself. He was right there, but he never helped me when I didn't need it. It
also helped that my sister was in the same choir as me, so she sometimes worked
with me at home to correct my mistakes. I also participated in senior ensemble
since it was my last performance. That started off shaky, but, once I was
taught the dance, I was ok. One of the girls in my choir was also in the group,
so she started teaching me. However, this person seemed to have the expectation
that I needed constant help and therefore stood behind me and moved my arms.
Two students whom I knew from middle school told me that they had decided to
teach me instead. I met with them one-on-one, and we went through it. I learned
the routine in about an hour, and by the end of our time I was doing pretty
much all of it with very little assistance. The performance went really well,
and my family told me that I fit right in, which is what I wanted.
Based on these experiences, I have
several suggestions for students dealing with a similar situation. The most
important piece of advice is to be confident. It may be difficult at times, but
try to stay positive through performance. Second, self-advocacy is critical. If
you feel you are not getting the help you need, speak up. Try to talk to the
person helping you and let him or her know that you want to do the moves on
your own. It may be uncomfortable to bring this up with the student, but as
long as you do it tactfully, there should be no problem. You can also ask your
orientation and mobility instructor or TVI for help. She may be able to help if
there is a particular dance move you are struggling with. Either way, speak up
if things aren't going the way they should. Finally, show appreciation. For
example, giving the people who helped you learn the choreography a gift card to
their favorite restaurant or just some flowers go a long way. People will be
more likely to help you in future ensembles if they know their work is
appreciated.
2019 MCBVI Convention Note
Wayne LePiors
Hi, MCBVI Members:
I would like to thank all the MCBVI
members who signed up for the state convention here in Port Huron, Michigan. We
had 55 signed up; that included six speakers for the break-out sessions, and,
David Russell, our banquet guest speaker. For those members who could not make
it here, prayers go out to you.
We send a big Thank you to everyone
from the Blue Water Convention Center staff, the hotel staff, the volunteers,
workers, and the members who helped to make the convention a great one. In
addition, we give a big thank you to all the Drivers who drove the members
here.
I have heard from members saying
they really liked the convention a lot. They also said the hotel, convention
center, and Freighters Restaurant were easy to get around.
We tried to make it a great
convention, and a fun one.
Committee Updates
Accessible Prescription Labeling
(APL) Update
Malaina VanderWal, Chair
During the 2019 MCBVI State
Convention, a resolution was passed regarding MCBVI moving forward with working
on legislation for accessible prescription labels. Back in 2018, we began
discussing the idea of our organization developing strategies for how to
achieve this and the amount of membership participation needed to make this
happen. Since then, three town hall meetings have been held, and although it is
clear this is an important issue to our members, we are not all in agreement on
one of the principle goals presented. This goal was revised and presented
during the July MCBVI business meeting. As I was not able to attend that
meeting due to a power outage, it was my understanding the fourth principle was
to be revised again.
The resolution passed dealt
primarily with our organization being able to reach a consensus on each of the
principles presented. On January 4, 2020, at 10 a.m., we
will hold a town hall meeting, where we will either be able to all agree on the
principles presented, or agree to not be able to move forward.
It is my sincere hope we will be
able to work through this issue and begin the work necessary to build an
accessible prescription labeling legislation within our state!
Finally, the long-awaited iOS ScripTalk app is now
available for the iPhone! However, not all iPhones are compatible. The compatible devices are the iPhone 7 and newer. The device must be running iOS 13 or later in order to be downloaded. If someone receives ScripTalk audio labels, then this is a great option
for reading labels. An Android application is available as well in the
Google Play store.
Constitution and Bylaws Update
David Gordon, Chair
Since inclusive voting
and the issues that were raised at the July’s board meeting, the Bylaws
Committee has shifted into high gear. The very capable people who are working
on your bylaws are: MCBVI Secretary Lucy Edmonds, First Vice President Rebecca Kooistra, Brenda Henige, and past
President John Jarzyna.
We plan to have
revisions ready for you to consider before the end of the year. We think this
will require several special meetings, but you will have a chance to discuss
everything, and to vote on every amendment and change in accordance with
MCBVI bylaws and Robert’s Rules.
Wayne LePiors, former bylaws chair, has agreed to work
with us and advise us.
Convention Update
Phyllis Magbanua,
Chair
Hello, MCBVI Members:
Well,
here it is the first of November and the end of this year’s convention, which
turned out great! The reason it turned out great was
because of all who attended here in Port Huron and listened on MCBVI Radio.
Thank you for making it a great convention!
I would also like to thank all the
Sponsors who helped support the convention. I want to acknowledge and thank the
following:
Michael Strawski,
The Port Huron Host Lion's Club, Blue Water Transit, The United Way of Port
Huron, Randall's Funeral Home, Semco Energy GasCo, Deb Robinson, Lindsey LaVere,
and thanks to everyone else who helped out.
Additionally, I want to thank the
members who brought door prizes and items for the auction. The auction turned
out great also, thanks to you bidding and donating to the auction. A big thank
you goes out to Kyle Austin, auctioneer, Charis
Austin, Casey Dutmer, Shirley Meiste,
and Gail Mancewicz for collecting the money, and
having a fun auction. We made over $1600.00. This money will help to cover
costs for next year's convention.
My thanks go out to all of the
speakers who presented and gave good information on different subjects. Thank
you to Claire Stanley, Advocacy and Outreach
Specialist from the American Council of the Blind (ACB) for attending
and speaking to us and answering our questions.
Thanks also go out to our guest
speaker David Russell and his wife Sherry. I certainly do not want to forget my
two wonderful guys, Mike Smith and Tyrone Hamilton! Thank you Mike, for
streaming our convention once again, you did a great job as always! Tyrone,
thank you for your wonderful music and great entertainment during the social
hour before the banquet! It was a great hit!
Thank you to all of you for making
this a great convention. I could not have made this convention happen without
my committee members. A big thank you to them for all their support and hard work!
Bob Furtado worked hard on scheduling the speakers
and everything else he did. Thank you also to his mother Judy Duckworth. Thank
you to Wayne LePiors who kept our finances in order
and other things. Thank you to Lindsey LaVere and her
mother Judy LaVere, Yvonne and Dennis DeWitt, Anthony
and Crystal Magbanua, and Cindy and Larry Neuman for all their hard work.
Before I close, I would like you to
know what the Convention Center and the Hotel management would like to say to
all who attended the convention and stayed at the Doubletree Hotel. They very
much enjoyed having us there and talking to some of us and could not have had a
better group of people and their dogs!
I
hope to see everybody next year at the 2020 convention; wherever it may be
located.
Future Goals Update
Toni Nye, Chair
The Future Goals Committee would
like to thank the members who took the time to fill out the survey.
Once the data is compiled, analyzed,
and presented to the Executive Committee, the results will be shared with the membership
in the spring 2020 newsletter. Of course, no identifying information will be
given.
Legislative Update
Casey Dutmer,
Chair
This year, the Legislative Committee
chose accessible prescription labeling as its priority.
We have had two town hall meetings
this year. We have not yet been able to come to a consensus on the fourth
principle.
Please come to the town hall on
January 4, 2020, and be prepared to make a final decision on whether MCBVI will
move forward with this possible legislative effort.
Proposed SSI changes:
Pasted below is information
regarding H.R. 4280. Rep. Elissa Slotkin
[D-MI-8] and Rep. Rashida Tlaib
[D-MI-13] are Michigan representatives who are among some of the
representatives proposing these changes in SSI.
***Excerpts of the following sentences were taken from an article from
Disability Scoop, written by Shaun Heasley on
September 23, 2019.
Currently, in order to retain benefits, SSI recipients generally can have
no more than $2,000 to their name at any given time.
Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are looking to significantly
increase that ceiling, with a bill introduced this month that would raise SSI’s
asset limit to $10,000 for an individual and $20,000 for couples.
In addition, the Supplemental Security Income Restoration Act, or H.R.
4280, would increase the amount of disregarded income that beneficiaries can
take in each month. And, the bill would repeal penalties for marrying or
receiving financial, food and housing assistance from family members.**
For the complete text of this article from Disability Scoop, go to this
website:
https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2019/09/23/lawmakers-look-update-ssi-program/27200/
The committee would like feedback
whether the membership would be willing to participate in a letter writing
campaign, or send emails, or make phone calls regarding this matter.
Additionally, one of ACB’s
priorities is the COGSWELL-MACY ACT.
Pasted below is information
regarding the Senate’s support of the House Bill.
This information was provided on the
ACB Leadership list. On Oct. 23, 2019, Representatives Matt Cartwright (PA-08)
and David B. McKinley (WV-01) re-introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation
to improve educational services for students who are blind, visually impaired,
deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind. Senators Ed Markey (MA) and Shelley Moore
Capito (WV) introduced companion legislation in the
Senate earlier this afternoon.
The Alice Cogswell
and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, named after the first deaf student formally
educated in the United States and the teacher of Helen Keller, respectively,
would strengthen existing requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act of 1975 (IDEA) to provide the best possible education to
students who are blind, visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, or
deaf-blind. This bill would improve state reporting and evaluating
measures for students with hearing and vision disabilities and guarantee that
educational resources are appropriately targeted.
“This bill takes decisive steps to
ensure that students with hearing and/or vision disabilities have the resources
they need to thrive in school,” said Congressman Matt Cartwright.
“Only by meeting these students’ unique learning needs can we hope to finally
close the achievement gap that exists between them and their hearing and
sighted peers.”
There is currently no bill number we
are aware of, but this issue will be watched. In the past, MCBVI has supported
this legislation, and will continue supporting this important educational
legislation for students who are blind, deaf, and deaf-blind throughout the
country!
MCBVI Radio Update
Rebecca Kooistra,
Chair
MCBVI Radio wants to thank everyone
who participated in our first online 50/50 raffle held from early September to
early October. The money raised far exceeded our
expectations!
A heartfelt thank you also goes to
Rhonda Stogner, the winner, for being gracious enough
to donate part of her winnings to Joe Sibley’s GoFundMe
campaign, and the rest back to MCBVI Radio. Rhonda, we will forever be grateful
for your generosity!
Another huge thank you goes to the
Blue Water League for once again making MCBVI Radio the recipient of the 50/50
raffle they held at this year’s state convention!
We, at MCBVI Radio, firmly believe
we have the most loyal and supportive listeners of all of the
internet radio stations out there! We consider ourselves truly blessed!
Once again, the MCBVI State
Convention was broadcast live exclusively on MCBVI Radio. Thank you to everyone
who tuned in to listen. Great numbers this year!
Be sure to stay tuned to MCBVI Radio
during 2020 because we have some exciting things planned, including our 2nd
anniversary celebration.
Nominations Update
Karla Fields, Chair
This year we implemented inclusive
voting, along with our normal ballot voting. This allowed MCBVI members the
option to vote, even if they were unable to attend the state convention.
Additionally, if someone chose to vote prior to attending convention, this was
available for them. MCBVI members who found it difficult to use ballots at
convention using the available voting methods were able to use this as another
viable voting solution.
The winners of this year’s elections
are as follows:
First Vice President Rebecca Kooistra,
Second Vice President Joe Todd,
Treasurer Charis
Austin,
Assistant Secretary Lucy Edmonds.
The officers up for election in 2020
are as follows:
President,
Secretary,
Assistant Treasurer.
As 2020 approaches, think upon
whether or not you wish to run for an office, or who you might want to nominate
for that position.
For more information concerning what
is involved with holding an office, I can be reached at 586-465-2338. I can
tell you about the duties of the office that interests you, and I encourage you
to speak to someone who has held an office in the past, or talk to someone
currently in office!
Publications Update
Malaina VanderWal, Chair
Since the MCBVI Convention was a
little later than in previous years, and fell during the time the newsletter is
compiled, the deadline for submissions was moved to November 4. This means the
newsletter will be sent out later than normal.
Membership dues will begin to be
collected for 2020. When talking to new and current members, ask how they wish
to receive the MCBVI Newsletter. MCBVI is no longer able to get them produced
on audio CD, and the Braille and Talking Book Library is unable to put our
newsletter on cartridges for use with the talking book players. Moving forward,
the MCBVI Newsletter will be produced in these formats: large print, braille, and email.
We hope MCBVI members will choose to
receive our newsletter, but they do have the option to not receive it. Our
newsletter contains important information for our members with various things
on a state level, as well as learning about what each individual chapter is
doing.
Provide newsletter format choices
when collecting membership information, as this is helpful for the person or
persons working on membership.
Finally, the next MCBVI Newsletter
deadline will be March 15, 2020. Send articles, ideas, or suggestions to mvanderwal78@gmail.com for consideration.
Resolutions Update
Malaina VanderWal, Chair
During the 2019 MCBVI State
Convention, four resolutions were passed. They ranged from thanking the Double
Tree by Hilton in Port Huron, the Blue Water Convention Center, one concerning
our organization reaching a consensus with moving forward with an accessible
prescription labeling legislation, and the Medicare Low Vision Devices Act of
2019.
The accessible prescription
resolution was discussed earlier in this newsletter under the APL Update.
The Medicare Low Vision Devices Act
of 2019 is an issue, which ACB has been working on for many years. By
contacting our U.S. House Representatives, we can hopefully help to move H.R.
4129 out of committee and on the floor for a vote. When contacting your U.S.
House Representative, encourage him or her to cosponsor H.R. 4129 and support
this bill. Anyone who needs assistance determining who their representative is,
may contact me at mvanderwal78@gmail.com.
This is something every member of
MCBVI can do because it is not specific to Michigan.
Finally, I want to thank all of my
committee members with whom I worked with over the 2019 Resolution year. They
are as follows: Erin Moore, Rebecca Kooistra, John Jarzyna, Lindsey LaVere, Merisa Musemic, and Laura Pappas.
During
convention, I am pleased to say there was interest from someone new wanting to
participate in the 2020 Resolution process! Anyone else who has
interest, may contact me at the email address above!
Everyone have a safe and blessed
holiday season!
Technology Update
Jackie Boomstra,
Chair
The headsets and adapters that we
previously purchased were available for MCBVI members to use at this year's
convention. We received positive feedback from those who used them.
We would like to use the Zoom Cloud
Meetings application for future workshops, as it would be inclusive of all
available access technologies. Everyone would be able to choose whether they
wanted to attend the workshop through computer, mobile or land-line phone.
We would like to offer a technology
workshop in 2020. We are interested in knowing about what low-tech or high-tech
topics you would like more information. Please contact me or Joe Todd with your
ideas.
I can be reached by email at jackieboomstra@sbcglobal.net or by phone at 616-455-6069.
Joe Todd can be reached by email at joet1226@gmail.com or by phone at 616-951-2142.
Chapter Updates
Blue Water League of the Blind (BWL)
Update
Phyllis Magbanua,
President
Hello, MCBVI Members:
Well, convention is over now, and
the BWL can take a breath, and plan what we will get ourselves into next.
Summer was a very busy time for us with planning the convention, and trying to
get out in our community.
In July, we were in our
International Day Parade, and we had a great float this year. The theme for
this year’s parade was “Space”. Thanks to Lindsey's brother, family, and
friends for making a very nice float. On the float was a very big spaceship. It
looked as if it was flying over us, while we sat on it. They did a great job!
We went on a picnic in July, and in
August had an ice Cream social. Just before the convention, we took a day trip
to Frankenmuth, Michigan. We rented a van. While there, we did some shopping
and walking around. The day was very enjoyable! We ate lunch there, then,
on the way back, we stopped at a Mennonite store and did some more shopping.
It turned out to be a really nice an
relaxing day.
Now it is time to plan for the next
few months. In January, we will have our elections for this coming year.
Elections will be for President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Delegate.
Since the holidays are coming up, we
plan to have fun and partying time! The BWL would like to say, we hope
everybody in MCBVI and their families have a wonderful holiday season.
Stay safe, and we will see you in
the New Year.
MCBVI Mitten Phone Chapter Update
Frank Cunningham, President
The MCBVI Mitten Phone Chapter is
happy to celebrate its first anniversary as part of MCBVI and ACB. We are
currently at approximately 35 members, and have had a few more express an
interest in joining our chapter. Our members are from all over Michigan, and
have others from Ohio, Indiana, and Arizona, just to name a few.
By the time you read this, we will
have elected a new vice president and treasurer. A thank you goes out to Tyrone
Hamilton for his year as vice president.
The Mitten Phone Chapter meets the
third Monday of the month for a social call to meet and learn a little about
our fellow members. Our conference call is held the fourth Saturday of the
month, January through November, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
Word of mouth is how we have been
able to draw in new members. When we share what we are involved in on the state
and national level, it is surprising to them: accessible prescription labeling,
accessible voting, transportation, and other issues we deal with on a daily
basis.
The recent MCBVI State Convention in
Port Huron had a good number of our members in attendance. Others, like me,
listened to the proceedings via MCBVI Radio. Thanks to the Blue Water League
and those at MCBVI Radio for a great convention. It takes a lot of work and
dedicated members to accomplish this.
All have a Great Day and a better
tomorrow.
The Northerners Update
Cathy Daily, President
The holidays are a busy time of year
for us, as we prepare to put food baskets together for Thanksgiving and
Christmas. Each one of these holidays, we adopt a family. Along with a turkey
and the fixings, we try to put together enough food to last the families for a
few days, or up to a week.
The family we are adopting for
Thanksgiving has six children and two adults! Instead of putting all the food
items in boxes, we try to put them in totes.
In the past, we have adopted two
families for Thanksgiving, but this year, it will be one family.
On December 7, 2019, The Northerners
will be having their Christmas party at Bob Evans! We look forward to spending
time with one another and good food!
Our group continues to look for
different projects we can do throughout the year, and next year is no
exception!
From all of us Northerners, we hope
everyone has a very happy Christmas and a super New Year!
Visually Impaired Persons for
Progress (VIPP) Update
Casey Dutmer,
President
VIPP members enjoyed a relaxing
summer, as well as a lot of fun. We held our annual picnic in late August.
Around thirty people attended. We especially enjoyed a different rendition of
the game Name That Tune. Dakota Birch, a relatively new member, hosted the
game. Good job, Dakota!
Our September meeting featured
speakers regarding emergency preparedness. A number of VIPP members have been
certified in the emergency preparedness classes. Congratulations to all members
for participating in this class.
On a sad note, during the summer,
several current and past members passed away. We express are
sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones.
Elections for vice president and
treasurer were held at the November meeting.
Everyone, have a fun and safe holiday
season.
Next
MCBVI News Deadline
March 15,2020, Submissions received after this date will be saved
for the next newsletter
To Contact the
Editors:
Malaina VanderWal
616-308-9644
Rebecca Kooistra
616-897-3077
Mary Beth Ridder
231-652-5119
Our Mission: To act as a catalyst in
changing the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired and their
families through education, advocacy, and camaraderie.
© Copyright
2019 Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired