GCB Digest GCB Digest Fall 2016 (Text Version)
The GCB DIGEST
A publication of the Georgia Council of the Blind
An affiliate of the American Council of the Blind
An organization promoting a hand up and not a hand out
FALL 2016
GCB officers:
GCB President: Keith Morris 706-799-5225, keithmorris53@icloud.com
GCB First Vice-President: Philip Jones, 770-713-3306, brilman1952@bellsouth.net
GCB Second Vice-President and Chaplin: Fred McDade, 706-278-4084
GCB Secretary: Betsy Grenevitch, 770-464-0450, blindangel@joimail.com
GCB Treasurer: Marsha Farrow, 706-859-2624, marshafarrow@windstream.net
GCB Member at Large Representative, Alice Ritchhart, 912-996-4213, alice.ritchhart@comcast.net
GCB Digest Editor: Amanda Wilson, 770-547-4700, moonrocks@bellsouth.net
GCB Assistant Editor: Suzanne Jackson, 678-622-1770, bartonsuzanne2@gmail.com
Table of Contents:
From your Editor
GCB Presidential Message
GCB Board Meeting Minutes
GCB 2016 Convention Overview
GCB Business Meeting Minutes
GCB Chapter News
Georgia Guide Dog Users, GGDU News
GCB In Memory of
GCB Celebrations GCB
GCB Announcements
GCB Board Meeting Announcement
From Your Editor, by Amanda Wilson
Hello, GCB Family. We thank each one who has submitted articles in this issue of our magazine. If you have any change of address, telephone number, email address, or desired change of format, please inform our GCB treasurer, Marsha Farrow at 706-859-2624, or via email at marshafarrow@windstream.net. Thanks to everyone who makes our GCB Digest such a big success. I particularly want to thank Suzanne Jackson, assistant editor, for the many hours she has worked on the magazine, for her editing skills and for her outstanding reading of the GCB Digest. I want to thank our president Keith Morris, for his presidential message with information about important events, legislation, and projects. I also appreciate the contributions from each member who sent articles and who made suggestions.
GCB Presidential Message, Keith Morris
Greetings to all fellow GCB members, first I would like to thank everyone for having the confidence in me to elect me to another 2 year term. I am honored to be able to serve this organization in this manner. I look forward to us working together again as we grow GCB into a great organization to serve the blind. I would also like to express my thanks and appreciation to Marj Schneider and her committee for their hard work in organizing the 2016 GCB Convention in Savannah. I feel that this was the best conference that I have been to in a long time. It was very well organized and Marj Schneider and her facilitators made sure to keep things moving and on time. The classes and speakers were all interesting and inspiring. The food was great, the activities well planned and games and trivia were fun. Everyone always enjoys the auction and great fun was had in bidding and securing your prize! Again, thank you, Marj Schneider, for all your hard work in organizing this great convention. Those who weren’t able to be there missed a great time. We will start off in October at the next board meeting, working to bring this organization forward. I hope to see all board members at the next meeting, where we can start the year off in the right direction. See you in October!
Georgia Council of the Blind Board Meeting
The Center for the Visually Impaired, CVI
739 West Peachtree Street NW
Atlanta GA30308
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Call to Order: President Keith Morris called the meeting to order shortly after 10:30 AM. He asked our second Vice-President, Fred McDade to lead us in prayer.
Roll Call: The following people were present at the meeting. President, Keith Morris; Second Vice-President, Fred McDade; Secretary, Christine O’Brien; Treasurer, Marsha Farrow; Second Vice-President, Robin Oliver was absent due to a funeral. Athens, Jamaica Miller; Augusta, Deborah Lovell; Greater Columbus, Greg McDuffie; Greater Hall, Judy Presley, Diane Roberts; East Georgia, Jessie O’Brien; Northwest, Ron Burgess; Rome Floyd County, Amanda Wilson; Savannah, Marj Schneider; South Metro, Barbara Graham; Member At Large Representative, Anisio Correia; GGDU, Betsy Grenevitch. Others who were present included Alice Ritchhart, Roderick Parker, Parliamentarian, Evan Barnard, Charles Stubblefield, Lisa Jones, Steve Longmire, Web Master, Kathy Morris, David Barnard, Kathy Barnard, Harvey Roberts, Hoyal Presley, Todd Turansky, Bob Farrow, and Danielle Grenevitch McIntyre.
President’s Report:
Keith Morris told us that in February he made a trip to Douglas, Georgia, to meet with a support group to talk about GCB and to see if we could get a chapter started in that area. He hasn’t heard anything back from them yet and plans on calling them again to see if they have made a decision. They had a pretty good group of people at the meeting. Keith Morris went to Waycross to the Lions Camp to look at their pianos. They had three old upright pianos and one of them was worth tuning. He is in the process of trying to get them another piano. He knows somebody who has one that is in really good condition. Keith Morris is speaking with the president of the camp and some other clubs to raise the money to buy this piano. He is hoping that this will happen soon. Once the piano is purchased his plan is to return to the camp and tune both pianos. Marsha Farrow wanted to know if we could discuss GCB making a contribution to the piano and Roderick told her that would be under new business.
Secretary’s report:
Deborah Lovell moved that the minutes be voted upon as received. It was seconded and they were approved unanimously. Secretary Christine
O’Brien swore in Deborah Lovell as the new president of the Augusta chapter. Christine O’Brien announced that they would be moving at the end of the month.
They will be moving to Florida as it is hard for Jesse O’Brien to keep up the house. They put it on the market in the middle of March and it sold in two weeks. They will be living a lot closer to relatives in their new location. She thanked us for everything that we had done to make her job easier. President Keith Morris presented a plaque to Christine O’Brien thanking her for her service. It was called The President’s Diamond Award. Kathy Morris read the plaque to us. It reads as follows:
The President’s Diamond Award Presented to Christine O’Brien State Secretary elected August 2014 at the Augusta conference In sincere recognition of your dedication and perseverance in your duties as GCB Secretary Presented by President Keith Morris This 16th day of April, 2016 At the Board of Directors meeting Held at the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta
Keith Morris appointed Betsy Grenevitch as the new secretary. This will be until the convention in August. Fred McDade made the motion and Marsha Farrow seconded it. Anisio was going to step down as representing the members at large but decided to continue until August.
Treasurer’s Report:
Marsha Farrow read all of the balances for the accounts.
They are: Regions Bank Totals as of April 11, 2016, Main Checking: $4,432.14; Al and Cora Camp Scholarship: $3,150.73; Business Money Market: $5,740.26; Conference 2016 Account: $500.00; Evan Barnard small business CD: $900.85; Long Term Investment: $17,303.98; Portfolio as of March 31, 2016, $61,375.36. We have gained $303.98 in our long-term investment account. We are taking approximately
$1000 annually out of this account but are putting the interest back into this account. Marsha Farrow told us that we have two different Regions gift cards that we use for petty cash. We do it this way because it is much less expensive for us than having a debit card. We don’t have to worry about any kind of abuse or misuse of the card. As of February 6 the amount on the card was $57.50 and the second card as of March 9 had a balance of $75. She told us that Betsy uses these cards primarily for Calling Post. Marsha found out that we can register these cards so that the Secretary of State can take money from them for their fees. Vehicle donation: We have not received any vehicle donations since 2015. We received $1300 and some change at that time. We did receive a letter from the program explaining that this program is not currently doing well. Marsha Farrow told us about the problem with the Bainbridge chapter not closing their account even though their chapter no longer exists. She has written Janice Tootle and given her permission to close the account. She also asked for any remaining money to be sent back to GCB. Anisio Correia made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report and Deborah Lovell seconded the motion. The motion carried.
Finance Report:
There really wasn’t one since we have not met. Marsha Farrow said that Jimmie Burkes is staying on top of the bank statements. She said we haven’t utilized much except our parliamentarian expenses, dues to ACB, and money to produce the Digest. We do have to pay ACB $875 for 175 members and we have one life member. Christine O’Brien questioned the difference in the number of members compared to what we had the previous year and Marsha Farrow explained that some have passed on and others did not renew this year.
Membership Committee Report:
Amanda Wilson thanked Keith Morris for going to the group in Douglas, Georgia. She explained that membership would have been 230 this year if all had rejoined but four people have passed away and the others did not rejoin this year. Amanda Wilson would like to continue putting chapter events on our Facebook page. She has been monitoring Facebook every day and adding new people each day. The committee tries to meet each quarter.
GCB Digest:
The Digest went out last week. We have 25 large print, 12 CDs, five Braille and the rest of the members receive it via email. It will go out again probably around July. She explained that the minutes will be behind as they have to be approved before being put in the Digest. Anisio Correia had a question about membership. He told us that when they talk to new clients at the Center they like to tell them about the consumer organizations. He was wondering who he should contact to come to functions when the clients come together so that the person can speak to the group. It was decided that Amanda
Wilson would be the contact person since she is the chair of the Membership committee.
Technology committee:
Steve Longmire told us they had a committee meeting this past Thursday. They discussed technology issues for the blind and visually impaired and how GCB is moving forward. Any events or information that you want to post about your chapter should be sent to Steve Longmire. They are going to attempt to have their meetings the second Thursday of each month. Amanda Wilson will send out an invite email to let you know the conference number and the code. They talked about having various topics. Steve Longmire is learning how to do phone apps. He is working on a GCB app.
Legislative committee:
Alice Ritchhart gave the report for Betsy Grenevitch since she was gone when the Blind Day at the capitol took place. Alice Ritchhart thanked Michelle Grenevitch and the members from her class as well as the seniors from the Academy who paired up with them. They saw the voting machine and met with the reps. this group took the Imperatives around to every legislator in the Capitol. Our imperatives were: The Braille Literacy Bill: Representative Coleman decided we did not need a bill but to form a policy with the Department of Education. He is forming a task force to work on this. He finally gets that there is push—back from the education side. They made it clear that they don’t need Braille because we have computers. The other imperative was to get SB 66 introduced again to form a task force to look at Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the Blind. Nothing happened with that bill. It will die this year because that was the second year for it. The last piece of legislation was that Representative Kirby introduced legislation concerning service animals. They decided to work on the bill without us and the chair of the committee to whom it was assigned is an attorney and he wanted to make somebody in the Georgia government an overseer of us and we would have a certifying body. We told him that was not what we wanted. Because they were more concerned about the budget the bill did not go anywhere. The committee tabled the bill. We were grateful that they did table it. Alice told us that after she spoke, the chair started asking questions about the ADA and Representative Kirby did not know the answers so she decided to speak up and tell them.
She got censored and was told that unless she was at the podium she needed to keep quiet. We let Representative Kirby know that serious work needs to be done on the bill and that it should help us and not hurt us.
GGDU:
Betsy Grenevitch gave this report. GGDU did work on the service animal bill with Representative Kirby. Representative Kirby is up for re-election and the chair who gave Alice Ritchhart so much trouble is not running again. GGDU did have an opportunity because word got out since she had contacted the Georgia Restaurant Association. Marj Schneider had done some work with them earlier trying to get their interest. Betsy contacted them about the bill we were working on and they wanted us to do a webinar for them. She and her daughter did go down and do the webinar for them. Marj Schneider and Alice Ritchhart did participate with her during a Lions Club meeting via telephone. There were some city officials from Loganville who attended this meeting. Alice and Marj did a great job assisting with this meeting. Betsy Grenevitch’s daughter, Michelle Grenevitch, put the presi together for the webinar. She used the DOJ’s Q&A document about service animals for the webinar—the sections that concerned restaurants. That seemed to be well received. A goal for GGDU is to get into the police academy as Betsy Grenevitch did meet with one of the high-up people in this organization who are interested in developing an educational program for them.
GGDU is having their May in-person meeting in Athens and invited anyone to attend. Thanks to Marj Schneider, they will have someone there teaching them to do the T-touch with their dogs. Someone from National was even excited we found someone to teach us to do this. The meeting is on Saturday, May 7, 2016, at the Athens Clarke county Library. They will be walking to a restaurant to eat.
Constitution and Bylaws committee:
Alice Ritchhart gave this report. She told us the committee met and are working on the corrections we need to make. Once we make these corrections we will send it to Marj Schneider to proof for grammar. Alice thanked Roderick Parker who came on the call and gave us helpful advice which we are trying to implement. We will have some constitutional amendments and after this the only thing that will need to be amended in the future should be the Bylaws.
Fundraising committee:
Alice Ritchhart gave this report. She said they have been running into blocks with their ideas so everything is at a standstill. She has not heard anything about the Braille rally. Marsha Farrow is willing to do it up in her area if she has the pointers and it can be moved around. They need car club folks. You have to have a specific route for the rally. Teresa Brenner and Valerie Hester have both disappeared from the committee. They decided not to do the box lunch at the conference but Marj Schneider has spoken to Susan Martin about coming to speak at our conference as a fundraiser. She is having a new book come out about the time of our conference. She will be the speaker on Friday night for our Lions’ reception. The idea is too really publicize this talk. We are still doing the Kroger card fundraiser. You can either add GCB on your card via the website or by calling Kroger at 1-800-KROGERS or 1-800-576-4377. Marsha Farrow is asking for donations for a vacation package. She is also asking for several different types of donations. This is our 60th anniversary diamond year. If you have any connections with a jewelry store see if you can purchase some small pieces of diamond jewelry for the silent auction. Keith Morris announced that Valerie Hester has some money to donate to pay the security guard when we meet at CVI. She is going to give Keith the money at the Blind Vendors’ meeting at Saint Simon’s.
Transportation Committee:
Alice Ritchhart said that no other committee members have been appointed to this committee. She said the need for members of this committee needs to go out to the entire membership as we need members to be involved. The whole issue is Bainbridge and we need to get down there and start helping those folks out. They are starting to open the workshop up to others besides those with blindness.
Convention Committee:
Marj Schneider gave this report. She told us that a wonderful convention is being planned for the first weekend in August. The committee has been meeting for a couple of months and is starting to get things into shape. There are still some aspects to be developed. They hope to have a registration form out in May to be given to members and put on the website. The convention will be held at the Clarion Inn in Savannah. There is information about the hotel on the GCB website. The room rates are $90 per night plus tax. You can have up to four in a room. They are suites with a sitting room area and a bedroom area. We will have very affordable meals. We are using a caterer that Marj Schneider has worked with in the past for our lunch and banquet meals. We will be starting on Friday, August 5, 2016, with sessions that morning and an optional trolley tour in the afternoon. There will possibly be a tour of the Savannah Center for the Blind and Low Vision as well. Our theme for the convention is Georgia Council of the Blind Wise at 60; Healthy into the Future. We are focusing on the theme of health and wellness. We will focus on exercise and preventative measures. We are hoping to have some service providers speaking to us. Sue Martin will be coming on Friday evening to speak to us. We will be holding our business meeting on Saturday afternoon. We will be celebrating GCB’s birthday on Saturday evening. We will have a memorial service and possibly a gospel sing-along on Sunday morning and possibly a walk in the area.
Someone asked whether we were working on transportation for those who live in Atlanta and Marsha Farrow and Amanda Wilson said that they would work on this.
Awards:
As chair of the Awards committee, Judy Presley made a motion that seven of our long-time members be awarded lifetime memberships to ACB. Anisio Correia seconded the motion and the motion carried. Marsha Farrow wanted to know if a policy could be set to give guidelines for how often to give this award. Roderick Parker said that a policy could be developed in another document that the Constitution committee could create. Betsy Grenevitch brought up the issue that you have to be a member of GCB to be a member of the Awards committee and there is a current member of the committee who is not a member of GCB. She asked how this should be handled. This is concerning the scholarship committee. Judy Presley will contact Debbie Williams about this person as Debbie is over the Scholarship committee.
Voting:
Marsha Farrow is the chair and does not have a report. Marsha Farrow had not formed a committee as of yet. She asked for volunteers for her committee.
Nominations:
This report was given by Marj Schneider. Christine O’Brien had originally volunteered to take over this committee but because of her move Marj Schneider had offered to take over this committee. She thanked Christine for being willing to head up this committee. Diane Roberts and Jamaica Miller are also on this committee. They will be contacting the current officers to see if they wish to serve an additional term. The next Digest will have an article about the duties of those officers so that if someone else wants to run for an office they can do that. We have presented a slate of nominees in the past so we are assuming we will do that again for this current election. Other nominations would be taken from the floor. Alice Ritchhart pointed out that the at-large representative is not an executive officer position but just a regular member of the board. Evan Barnard Braille Trail project:
Guest Speaker:
Evan Barnard had emailed Keith Morris asking him if he could address the board and give an update about his Braille Trail project. He was responsible for helping to form the Whispering Woods Braille Trail. Marsha Farrow recently contacted him and told him about the possibility of having a Braille Trail in Waycross at the Lion’s camp. The trail is about 1000 feet long. There are already some little old Braille signs along the way about animals but they need to be redone. There is currently a tree to hug and a bench to sit on and listen. The trail is a little overgrown but can still be managed. He said that gravel would need to be put down. It has a high potential of becoming a Braille Nature Trail. Evan Barnard is currently working on applying for the funding for this project. He has recently applied for a big grant. He has spoken with the suppliers for the trail such as the nearest Home Depot in Brunswick. They told him it would be helpful if he could find a way to cover the sign posts and the rope posts. They said that they would cover the hardware and other materials except the gravel, guide rope, and other signage. Evan hopes to get the guide rope from Blue Water as they donated it for the other trail. Signs PDQ who produced the print and Braille signs for the Whispering Woods Trail said that they would not charge any more than they did for that trail. They are planning on having about 20 signs along the trail. He believes the Georgia Lions Camp is an ideal location for a
Braille trail. Over time, many visually impaired people would be able to use this trail. This trail really means a lot to him and he is happy to have this opportunity again. He is really committed to getting this done. Evan Barnard will be graduating in about five to six weeks and is going to the University of Georgia, UGA. He will continue to work on the sign content over the summer. Even though he is moving on from high school this does not mean that he is moving on from the Braille trails. Marsha Farrow wanted to know if the money he has in the CD can be used for this project. His mother said it cannot be used except for programming at Whispering Woods. It is not for the building of the trail. Fred McDade wanted to know if gravel had to be used as those with artificial limbs cannot walk well on gravel. Evan’s mother wanted to know what materials would be better than gravel. Fred said that anything that was solid. It does not have to necessarily be concrete but it needs to be solid and level. Roderick Parker wondered if clay could be used. Evan’s mother suggested that Evan talk to Mike Williams at the camp about this. Evan Barnard talked about Global Youth Service Day. This organization will work with the organization Nature for All. Last April, youth from all around the world did go out for a weekend and worked on issues in their communities and globally. He was getting ready for his fourth Global Youth Service day on Sunday. During this day, volunteers will be paired up with visually impaired students to go on the trail and to be able to experience the outdoors. This will take place on the Whispering Woods Braille Trail. The youth volunteers will be meeting the STAR students from
CVI. Along the trail they will be able to plant their own fragrant herb garden because next Friday is Earth Day. . He told us that another component of the United Nations is working with Goals 10-11 which is to reduce inequalities and getting visually impaired students out on the trail to experience something new. These goals are to achieve several things by 2030 such as poverty. There is an organization who works with the United Nations on these sustainable goals. They do something called “the World’s Largest Lesson” which provides the resources and education for the teachers to teach their students about the sustainable goals. They did a session last September and are doing one this coming September. They produced a high quality animated film where they explained everything. This year they are featuring several projects that are being done toward these sustainable goals and they have asked to feature him in the film. Evan’s mother told us they would be talking about the Braille trails. Marj Schneider told Evan Barnard that if there is a dedication of the
Braille trail in Waycross that some people in South Georgia would like to come over for that.
Miscellaneous:
Fred McDade told us that the governor of Georgia is going to honor the vets who served in Vietnam on May 5. Fred is on an Agent Orange committee.
It is now beginning to damage veterans’ eyes. There have been over 200 cases identified and 700 some cases where they have not found that people have Agent
Orange. This award will be given at a Presbyterian church in Dalton, Georgia. The award will be given all over the States at different times. Fred McDade commended Amanda Wilson on how she does her job and for her personality. Keith Morris thanked Evan Barnard and his family for what they are doing for the visually impaired community.
Bonding Insurance:
Marsha Farrow talked to us about this insurance. For over 25 years GCB has had our insurance with Grimes. Bonding insurance has pretty much gone out of style. This insurance means that if the treasurer runs away with the money or misspends it this insurance covers that. Lane Waters, the CFO of ACB in Minnesota and Roderick both say we need insurance to cover our officers. Marsha has emailed Grimes to set up a meeting to discuss our needs. She was quoted $1500 a year for this type of insurance. Lane Waters had recommended someone in Illinois for us to contact but that person is not returning phone calls. Lane Waters were surprised that hotels have not been requiring us to have liability insurance for our conferences. This will be worked on. Marsha farrow told us our bonding insurance runs out at the end of 2016. Anisio Correia wanted to know how much we pay for this insurance but because Marsha Farrow did not pay the last bill she was not sure how much we paid. Alice Ritchhart thinks we paid about $500 for three years. Alice Ritchhart would like to know from Lane Waters what some of our other affiliates who are our size are doing. Alice Ritchhart suggested Marsha Farrow try to contact other affiliates to find out this information. Alice Ritchhart suggested contacting the small affiliates such as Wyoming, Colorado, and Minnesota. Marsha Farrow had invited Lane Waters to come to this meeting via conference call but he had another conflict. She said we could also get someone from a small affiliate like ours to address this issue to us as well. Marsha Farrow explained that Keith Morris, Jimmie Burkes, and she are covered under the current bonding insurance.
Announcements:
Deborah Lovell announced that the Augusta chapter will be sponsoring a technology fair about the IOS products on Saturday, September 17,
2016. She will get the information to Amanda to get in the Digest and on the website. They will be providing lunch and the event will be from 9:00 am until
2:00 pm. It will be at Saint Mark’s United Methodist Church on Washington road in Augusta, Georgia. Alice Ritchhart asked Steve Longmire about the possibility of doing a Twitter seminar and Deborah Lovell said they would be covering this at their technology fair. Judy Presley reminded us that the Awards deadline is June 15, 2016.
New Business:
Marsha Farrow wants some discussion at some point regarding the possibility of GCB doing either a fundraiser or making a donation toward the piano for the Lions Camp. Keith Morris said it was going to cost $450 and his Lions club was already donating $100. Marsha Farrow made a motion that GCB donate $100 toward the piano. Steve Longmire seconded the motion and the motion carried.
Next GCB Board Meeting
The next GCB board meeting will be on Sunday, august 7, and 2016. Amanda Wilson pointed out that the Saturday in October for that board meeting is White
Cane Safety Day. Some chapters do something for that day.
Adjourn:
The meeting adjourned at 12:59 PM.
Respectfully submitted Interim Secretary Betsy Grenevitch
GCB Convention and Conference Overview:
The Georgia Council of the Blind convention and conference theme this year was Wise at 60 Healthy into the Future. Our convention was held from Thursday, August 4 until Sunday, August 7, 2016 in Savannah, Georgia. Throughout the Convention there were exhibitors in the registration room. Businesses and organizations
joining us this year include: Avon, Georgia Industries for the Blind, Georgia Radio Reading Service, GARRS, iCanConnect, Innervision neuromuscular Center, Learning Ally, Living Independence for Everyone, LIFE, Pilot Dogs, Inc. and Vanda Pharmaceuticals. On, Thursday, August 4, 2016, from five until seven, people had time to register, go out to eat or eat pizza in the breakfast area at the Clarion Hotel. They could also hang out in the hospitality room where we had a wide variety of snacks. Valerie Hester, Dawn McAllister and Brittany McAllister sold fresh made smoothies for a price of four dollars.
On, Friday, August 5th, we had many activities lasting all day long. ON Friday morning several people toured the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision.
Our first session was on the importance of a good night’s sleep and Non-24 sleep-wake disorder. Mr. Shepard, with Vanda Pharmaceuticals told us about how rhythms affect our sleep patterns. Our next session was about partnering with your physician for prevention and wellness. Dr. James Greene told us about how you can take preventative steps to insure better health for your future. James W. Greene, MD is from Brunswick, Georgia. Dr. Greene received his undergraduate Degree from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, with a BS in Microbiology, and his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta. He has been Practicing medicine for 29 years, from 1987 – 2016. He is married with 3 children. His interests include Scuba Diving, snorkeling, flying as a private pilot, and attending church. Our third session was about challenges to preparing “real” food and eating for good health. Angie Moran, from the Savannah Center for Blind and
Low Vision told us some really cool tricks to prepare healthy food so you can eat healthier. Angie Moran is a vision rehabilitation therapist at Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision. She teaches adaptive techniques for a variety of areas in the home including medication management, kitchen management, exercising actively and organization, to name a few skills. Ms. Moran has a great interest in fitness and nutrition and recognizes the unhealthy habits among many people in society, including that facing vision loss. This is why fitness and nutrition have been part of the vision rehab therapy curriculum in her training for clients for the last five years in the DC area and in Savannah. For more information about Angie Moran, please contact her via email at amoran@savannahcblv.org. Then, we had our GCB awards luncheon. Our speaker was Jack Lewis, who is a GCB founding member. Jack Lewis has been a member of GCB since 1958 and has worked in just about every capacity for the organization, including serving twice as the affiliate’s president. Jack gets credit for starting the GCB
Digest in the 1960s, and he served again as its editor in the ‘90s. After finishing his PhD in rehabilitation counseling at the University of Georgia, he left the state to teach at Anderson College in
Anderson, Indiana. Even though Jack and his family were away from Georgia for 20 years, Jack came back to retire in Savannah, where he was born and raised, and he continued to serve GCB on the local and state level. Jack continues as an active member of the Savannah chapter, but he has left the leadership roles to us younger folks. That means he now has time for reading, time for long walks with his Seeing Eye Dog, Specs, and time to be with Carolyn and their children and grandchildren. For more information about Jack Lewis, please contact him via email at jacklewis323@gmail.com. Judy Presley, who is the awards committee chairperson, presented many presidential certificates and loving cups to many outstanding GCB members. The following members were given a presidential certificate of appreciation. They include Amanda Wilson from the Rome Floyd County chapter; Phil Jones, Janet Hardin and Neal Hardin from the East Georgia chapter; Teresa Brenner from the Savannah chapter; and William Miles from the Greater Columbus chapter. Linda Cox from the East Georgia chapter was given a Loving Cup. On Friday afternoon several GCB members went on the Trolley Tour of Historic Savannah. Many GCB members took a tandem bike ride out in the hotel parking lot. This bike ride was led by Hal Simpson, who is the founder of the Georgia Blind Sports Association. Many GCB members took a guided yoga class from Leslie Spoone who is a certified Personal Fitness Trainer and a certified Aerobics Instructor. On Friday evening, we held our GCB Lions Welcome Reception. Our speaker was Lions Acting District Governor, Len Cutuli. Len Cutuli says there is a heritage of Lionism in the Cutuli family. Len’s father instilled in his family a desire to help others, “however and whenever we could.” After retiring and moving to Georgia, Len and his wife Rosemary became charter members of the Pooler Lions Club. “We are very thankful for the many blessings in our life and we want to ‘pay it forward’ to others. It is now our time to give back as
Lions; I am sure my father would be pleased.” For more information about Lion Len Cutuli, please contact him via email at r.lcutuli47@gmail.com. Sue Martin, read from and discussed In Dog We Trust: Independence, Thrills and Dignity with my Seeing Eye Dogs. Sue Wiygul Martin grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. She graduated from The University of the South in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. Sue lost her sight in 1982, which motivated the launch of a career in vision rehabilitation teaching in three states. Since 2002 Sue has worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in Birmingham, where she currently serves as a management analyst in the Office of Information Technology. She is the author of Out of the Whirlpool and In Dog we Trust. For more information about Sue Martin please contact her via email at Sue.Martin@windstream.net. This event was also a fundraiser for GCB and the public was invited for a fee of fifteen dollars at the door. Vivian Loesch, who is newly acquainted with GCB, but is giving her time to cater our Lions welcome reception, and her assistants are helping to make this a special and memorable reception. ON Saturday August 6th, our GCB president, Keith Morris welcomed us to Savannah, Georgia. We went around the room to introduce ourselves. Our first panel for the day was on Adaptive sports for the blind and visually impaired. The panelists were Hal Simpson; Judy Presley; Leslie Spoone; and Rodrick Parker. Judy Presley talked about how her eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, left her with some central vision for most of her life. Now at the age of 68 she is totally blind. She says, “I became interested in fitness at the age of 12. By developing strength, stamina and flexibility it has enabled me to participate in some great adventures. I have been cross-country skiing, I have gone backpacking in the wilderness with llamas, and attended adventure camp at Oral Hull Lions Camp in Oregon where I went white water rafting, wind surfing, kayaking and sky diving. Scientists have proven that we can become fit at any age and I truly believe it.” For more information about Judy Presley, please contact her via email at hoyal@windstream.net. Leslie Spoone lives in Orlando, Florida and she is a certified Personal Fitness Trainer and a certified Aerobics Instructor. Leslie Spoone is totally blind due to retinitis Pigmentosa, but she does not allow her blindness to stop her from doing what she wants to do in all areas of her life. Leslie Spoone owned and operated a woman’s gym for five years and she currently trains ladies from her home. Leslie Spoone enjoys exercise, reading and spending time with friends and family. Leslie Spoone is a very inspiring yoga instructor. For more information about Leslie Spoone, please contact her via email at lesliespoone@cfl.rr.com. Rodrick Parker is the proud owner of InterVision Neuromuscular Center in College Park where he has been practicing for 11 years. He states “that a massage can relieve your stress.” He says, “People who are blind have an extreme amount of stress and psychological trauma. The individual with a visual impairment may have much more muscular tension than those who are totally blind, because they struggle to use their remaining vision, or strain to see. Massage is great to help them cope with the stress and support them as they make healthy adaptations to change. A sensitive massage therapist can help calm the person and be present with them in their grieving process.” He adds that the fear of blindness is a close second to the fear of death, but that “there is a lot of life after blindness.” He has used his practice to serve as a community based work adjustment site for many VR clients readjusting to returning back to work. Through the years, Roderick has served on a number of boards and committees including the board of trustees at the Center for the Visually Impaired where he currently serves as executive vice chair for board development. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Parliamentarians where he has been studying parliamentary procedures for the last three years. Roderick is single and the proud father of 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren. For information about Roderick Parker, please contact him via email incfounder@innervision4massage.com. Hal Simpson helped organize goalball in Atlanta in 2003, coaching both youth and adult teams. He founded the Georgia Blind Sports Association in October 2011. Hal Simpson told us about all of the sports that people with visual impairments can do by using tactile, audible and assistance from sighted individuals. Hal and his wife Linda have two adult children. For more information about Hal Simpson, please contact him via email at halsimpson@gmail.com. The second panel discussed how to meet client needs with less money. The panelists included Elaine Byron from the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision; Fontaine Huey from the Center for the Visually Impaired; Sharon Croyle from Vision Rehabilitation Services of Georgia; and Kay McGill with the Older Blind Program. Elaine Byron is the Director of Services at the Savannah Center for Blind and Low Vision. She told us all about the services available to individuals with visual impairments could receive at the Savannah center for blind and low vision. Elaine Byron has worked for the Center since 2011. Prior to working at the
Center, Elaine lived and worked in Kansas City, Missouri for 15 years helping create legislation and services for adaptive technology to support all Kansas and Missouri residents who live with disabilities. For more information about Elaine Byron please contact her via email at ebyron@savannahcblv.org. Fontaine Huey joined the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta in October 2013. She is responsible for the overall fiscal and program management as well as the financial development of the Center. She has twenty years of extensive experience in the arts and cultural arena, with a focus on fundraising for the last seventeen years. Fontaine Huey comes from a long line of gardeners, and particularly enjoys cultivating flowers. She shares her passion for Community Theater with her husband, Michael Huey, who heads the Emory University Student Health Service. They have two adult sons and share their Decatur home with their Border collie, Boo. For more information about Fontaine Huey, please contact her via email at fhuey@cviga.org. Sharon Croyle is the CEO/Executive Director of Vision Rehabilitation Services of Georgia, Inc. in Smyrna, Georgia. Starting her career with a small Savings and Loan in her hometown of Newark, Ohio, Sharon educated and worked her way through the ranks beginning as a teller and ending her banking career in Atlanta, Georgia 19 years later as an Assistant Vice President/Branch Manager of 20 employees and a Commercial Lender managing a multi-million dollar portfolio. Tiring of the constant mergers in the banking industry, she made a career change to nonprofit development in 1988. Sharon has served in many leadership roles, and also enjoys spending time with her friends and family. For more information about Sharon Croyle please contact her via email at scroyle@vrsga.org. Kay McGill graduated from the University of Kentucky, with a Bachelor’s degree cum laude, in Psychology and Master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. She is a
Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and Certified Public Manager; she has been with Vocational Rehabilitation her entire career serving in numerous roles and receiving various awards during this time. Currently she works with the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, GVRA, as the GVRA, Older Blind Program Manager – Project Independence: Georgia Vision Program for seniors. For more information about Kay McGill please contact her via email at kay1949@comcast.net. On Saturday, during lunch, Dan Spoon, who is the chair of the fundraising committee of the Florida Council of the Blind told us how he goes about raising funds for all three levels of the American Council of the Blind. Dan Spoone told us some cute stories about his adventures while raising funds for the American Council of the blind. On Saturday afternoon, we held our GCB Business Meeting. The business meeting minutes from 2015 follow this article. The business meeting minutes from 2015 were approved as send out by email by the board. We elected the following board members for the term which will include 2017 and 2018. We elected the following officers: Keith Morris as president; Philip Jones as first vice-president; Fred McDade as second vice-president; Betsy Grenevitch as secretary; Marsha Farrow as treasurer; and Alice Ritchhart as the member at large representative. We adopted and voted on some amendments to our GCB constitution and bylaws. Rodrick Parker, who is our GCB parliamentarian, gave us a lesson on how to make correct motions and how to process them if they have layers. On Saturday evening, we held our GCB 60th Anniversary Banquet meal. Music was provided by Timothy Jones. Dan Spoone, who is on the Board of Directors for the American Council of the Blind, was our banquet speaker. He entertained us with many stories about his life. Dan Spoone is from Orlando, Florida. He is a current member of the American Council of the Blind Board of Directors and the First Vice President of the Florida Council of the Blind. He retired from Siemens Energy Company in 2014, where he spent 25 years as a Project Manager and a Computer Programmer. Dan enjoys sports, traveling and audio described movies. For more information about Dan Spoone, please contact him via email at DanSpoone@cfl.rr.com. Afterwards, Judy Presley who is the awards committee chairperson presented the GCB service awards. Jerrie Toney and Sarah Maddox were nominated to receive the Gerald Pye Community Service Award. Suzanne Barton Jackson was nominated to receive the June Willis Guiding Eyes Service Award. Fred McDade and Steve Longmire were nominated to receive the Walter R McDonald Service Award. The Georgia Council of the Blind gave out three awards for members who have graciously given donations to GCB. These members include John Hester, Valerie Hester, Michael Benson, Alice Ritchhart, and the Greater Hall County chapter. The Georgia Council of the Blind gave out several lifetime memberships to long time members. These members include Ann Sims, John Sims, Jerrie Ricks, Granger Ricks, Jack Lewis, June Willis, and Fred McDade. This year we have 5 recipients who received the Al and Cora Camp Scholarships. These students include Timothy Jones who attends Mercer University and who is majoring in music. Thomas Woodyard attends the University of Georgia. He is studying law.
Hunter Logue is going to go to Georgia State University where he is pursuing a degree in Political Science with concentration in International Affairs.
Aubrey James is going to go to Wiregrass Technical College where he plans to become an X-ray technician. And Kianna Hamilton is going to go to Georgia
Southern this falls where she is majoring in Communications and Rehabilitation Counseling. Alice Ritchhart announced who had given the highest bid on the silent Auction items. The items included a Stetson cowboy hat; Elizabeth Taylor gift box of White Diamond perfume; Affinity genuine diamond ring; Affinity genuine diamond set of earrings; Grocery Selections from Betty’s Country Store; and the Stress less Drink Holder. The silent Auction brought in $374.00 dollars. This year we are starting a fund to award a scholarship each year to someone attending a GCB conference and convention for the first time. In keeping with our convention theme, you will be able to contribute to this fund by purchasing chances to win a large grocery tote on wheels, filled with nonperishable healthy food items. This tote is the size of a medium suitcase and is stuffed with many, many items donated by the Savannah chapter of GCB. You could be the winner of healthy breakfast items granola, whole grain buttermilk pancake mix, or instant steel-cut oatmeal. Cook with olive oil, sea salt or stevia. Try soups like chicken and wild rice or beef with barley. Later in the day enjoy mixed nuts, cashews, sunflower seeds or a dried fruit mix. Try a few quick-cooking side dishes with beans and grains, or prepare meals from scratch with basmati rice, lentils or black beans. Ever tried coconut water? And what collection of healthy food products would be complete without a dark chocolate bar, one with more coco than sugar. There are so many great foods in this tote, we can’t list them all, but you could be wheeling it home with you if you buy the winning ticket. Chances are 1 for $2, three for $5 or six for $10. The drawing will be at the banquet and you need not be present to win. The Healthy grocery cart fundraiser brought in two hundred and eighteen dollars. After the banquet we played three trivia games. We played the price is right, name that tune and trivia. Prizes were given to the winner of all three games. Prizes were donated to Tommy Woodyard who was our host for the post-banquet games. Tommy Woodyard is a 20 year old sophomore at The University of Georgia studying Japanese with a long term career plan to either become a lawyer or speech therapist. Among other activities on campus, Tommy founded and serves as Director of Alumni Relations for the University of Georgia, UGA, and Student Prelaw Association. He was a member of the University of Georgia, UGA, and Prelaw Learning Community and was recently selected to participate in the 4 week FSU College of Law Summer for Undergraduates Program in Tallahassee, Fl. He recently attended the ACB National Convention in Minneapolis, where he was awarded the Fred Schiegert CCLVI Undergraduate Scholarship. Tommy's favorite memory this year at University of Georgia, UGA, was making connections with friends through his various college activities. For more information about Tommy Woodyard please contact him via email at tommywoodyard@comcast.net. On, Sunday August 7th, we held our Memorial Service where we remembered all of the members who had passed away during the past year. The following members passed away since our conference in August of 2015. They include William Holley from the Athens Chapter and past president of GCB; Geraldine Pye, charter member of the Macon Chapter; Margaret Stubblefield from the Northwest Chapter and Charles Stubblefield’s mother; Dorothy Smith from the Northwest Chapter; David Everly from the Augusta Chapter; Mrs. Richard Bagley who is the wife of Richard Bagley who is the past president of the Greater Hall County chapter; Betty Hall from the Chattooga County Chapter; and Kitty Joan Little from the Macon Chapter. We then moved into our Gospel sing-along. We sang many old gospel songs and had a lot of fun. The music was provided by Timothy Jones, who is an accomplished musician in the areas of piano and organ. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Organ Performance at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, under the tutelage of Dr. Jack Mitchener.
His goal is to reform the musical legacy of the church. For more information about Timothy Jones please contact him via email at casioplayer@bellsouth.net. Some of the GCB members went on a walk around the hotel to stretch their legs before taking the long ride home back to Atlanta or to other parts of Georgia. We then held our GCB board meeting to swear in our new officers so they can begin work for GCB before our next board meeting in October.
GCB Business Meeting Minutes
Saturday, August 1, 2015
Call to Order:
President Morris called the meeting to order.
Invocation:
Fred McDade, our chaplain, gave the invocation.
Parliamentarian:
Marsha Farrow stated that Roderick Parker will present “a memorandum of understanding” that we have him serve as our parliamentarian for the next year and asked that a motion be made to accept him. Alice Ritchhart made the motion and it was seconded. Rodrick Parker is a nationally registered parliamentarian. He will assist us during our GCB board meetings; instruct the board members in how to conduct a successful board meeting. The motion carried with no opposition.
Guest Speaker:
Paul Raymond came and let us asks some questions. He said homemakers can still be served by, but soon this will no longer be so. The Workforce
Investment Act was replaced last year by the Workforce Innovations and Opportunities Act, WIOA, as voted into law. In WIOA the homemaker and unpaid family worker are two work goals that would no longer be acceptable in the VR program. You can get the needed skills through Project Independence if you are 55 or older. Paul suggested that we contact our senators and reps and local officers and make sure they’re very aware that this would be a real problem when the law gets put in, for those people under 55. One thing he recommended to is change the older blind rehab program, Project Independence, to serve all adults and properly fund it. Anisio asked what does “properly fund” mean. Paul said they could look at the past five years of spending for case closures in each state. Paul Raymond informed us that there are eight counselors for the blind in the state, and others working with other disabilities are taking some blind people’s cases. They’re looking for eight more people to hire to work with the blind. They must have Master’s, being certified to teach rehabilitation. GVRA is still committed to having people work just with the blind but are having trouble filling those positions, and are looking also out of state. Marsha Farrow asked how Georgia’s salary compares for these jobs with other states. How can we draw people from out of state? Paul said starting salary is rather low, about $34,000 but comparable to other southeastern states. And counselors for the blind and deaf start at similar salary to other counselors but those working with the blind need one more year of schooling to have the master’s degree needed to work with the blind; and they must travel much more to do this work, in several counties. He also said one good thing about the change in GVRA is the general counselors are getting a wake-up call as to what it really takes to work with the blind and he’s working with some people who have never worked with the blind. They want to do what’s necessary, but cases of the blind and VI take much longer to complete than others, so it’s very hard work to try to finish their cases in as comparable a time too their cases as possible. Anisio Correia commented that often these workers are not in an area where they can have the necessary support and mentorship.
Secretary’s Report:
Christine O’Brien read the business minutes from the August 2014 business meeting. Tim Kelly, as nominations chair, broke the tie vote for the VP.
Treasurer’s Report:
Marsha Farrow stated that she does not have a copy of 2014 treasurer report, as she was not on the board then. Jerrie Toney said that she had sent it to Marsha Farrow in April. Marsha Farrow gave the balances as of July of 2015. There is about $550 left in the scholarship fund; $17,000 in the long-term investment; $900.51 in the Evan Barnard CD; $41,155.39 in the money market account; $5,739.70 in the main checking account.
Constitution and Bylaws Committee:
Alice Ritchhart thanked the committee who’s had a lot of phone conferencing. Betsy read the original articles then the amendments, which were already emailed and read on the phone. Constitution Article four amendments approved Article five amendment standoff
Resolutions: Alice Ritchhart read the resolutions.
1. That GCB have its president form a committee to help the employees of the Georgia Industries for the Blind advocate for transportation, as of now there’s none reliable to be had, and be it further resolved that GCB calls up the GIB to find solutions to this issue for its workers, to increase productivity and be cost-effective; be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the executive director of the GIB, also to the GVRA director. This was because a worker feared losing their job. Christine O’Brien made a motion this be passed, motion carried.
2. As ACB has a way to have secret voting at its meetings, be it resolved that GCB have its president form a committee to find a way that will allow for a private ballot, and further resolved that this group introduce this new voting process at the start of the 2016 conference/convention, and further resolved that this new process will be implemented in the 2016 conference/convention election. Motion carried. 3.
3. Be it resolved that the GCB shows its deep gratitude to the Clarion Hotel staff here in Cartersville Georgia, for their warm welcome, thorough service and reliable professionalism. It’s actually in White, Georgia. It was moved to do so, motion carried. 4. Be it resolved that GCB be sure to give its deepest thanks and appreciation to Louise Young Harris and Bartow/Cartersville Visitors Bureau for the help in planning events and making us feel welcome to their city. Motion carried.
5. … Be it resolved by GCB that vision rehab and education professionals start and establish standards to assure the competence of assistive technology
trainers, and that GCB calls on GVRA to use the independent living centers for the blind with whom they already have contract to provide this training, and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the executive director of GVRA. These centers are CVI, VISTAS, VRS, SCBLV, and Walton Options. Motion carried.
Next convention:
President, Keith Morris, asked where we will convene next year. Next year’s is GCB 60th anniversary. Alice Ritchhart moved that we send word with the chapters to see which one would like to host it in 2016 and bring the proposal to the October board meeting. Motion carried.
Adjourned:
The business meeting adjourned. As it was much longer than intended, we did not have the GCB board meeting today. We will have our next board meeting on Saturday, October 17, 10:00 AM at CVI.
Respectfully submitted, Christine O’Brien, GCB Secretary
GCB Chapter News
The Athens chapter officers are Jerrie Toney as president; Jamaica Miller as first vice-president; Donald Rains as second vice-president; Evan Bradford, as secretary; Robin Oliver as treasurer. Their meetings are held at MULTIPLE Choices at 145 Barrington Drive in Athens, Georgia on the fourth Saturday at 10:30 AM. For more information about the Athens chapter please contact Jerrie Toney at 706-461-1013, or via email at jerriemt2@gmail.com.
The Augusta chapter reported that their member sold $95.00 Macy passes with the Macy's caring to share project. Their chapter will be participating in a transition conference with the CSRA transition committee for high school students in both Richmond and Columbia County's. They participated in a recreational event in June where they took a boat trip down the Augusta canal. This was a narrated tour and it was enjoyed by everyone. They will be having their chapter elections in November. Their chapter is planning on hosting a technology fair dealing with what’s new and great with technology and introducing a few surprises. They stated that they hope to have this event in September of 2017. Stay tuned for future details. The Augusta chapter officers are Deborah Lovell as president; Alicia Morris as vice-president; Ann Worley as Secretary; Kathy Morris as treasurer; and Ron Worley as their board member. Their meetings are held at the Columbia County Main Library on Evans Town Center Blvd. in Evans, Georgia, on the second Saturday at 1:00. For more information about the Augusta chapter, please contact Deborah Lovell at 706-726-4054, or via email at lovell.d2000@gmail.com.
The East Georgia chapter officers are Neb Houston as president; Cecily Nipper as first vice-president; Phil Jones as second vice-president; Linda Williams as secretary; Anne Wheeler and Linda Cox as co-treasurers; Elsie Aguilar, Rosetta Brown, Brenda Maddox, and Christine O’Brien as board members. For more information about the East Georgia chapter, please contact Neb Houston at 770-784-0236.
The Greater Columbus chapter officers are Gregory
McDuffie as President; Dirk Jones as first vice-president; Clifford Jones as second vice-president; Lisa Brooks as secretary; William Miles as treasurer; Otis Smith as Chaplain. Their meetings are held at the Columbus Public Library at 3000 Macon Road in Columbus, Georgia on the third Friday from 10:30 until 12:00. For more information about the Greater Columbus chapter please contact Gregory McDuffie at 706-330-8185, or via email at gregory.mcduffie@yahoo.com.
The Greater Hall County Chapter reported that they will be having a White Came Awareness Day on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2016, from 12:00 pm until 2:00 pm. They will meet on the square, in Gainesville, Georgia. We will stroll around the square with our canes and guide dogs and distribute brochures about the Georgia White Cane Law and the story of the White Cane. The Greater Hall County chapter officers are Judy Presley as president; Vance Barnes as vice-president; Sue Heskett as secretary; Ted Brackett as treasurer. Their board members are Don Linnartz, Dianne Roberts, and Evelyn Rudy. Their meetings are held at the Smokey Springs Retirement Residence at 940 South Enota Drive in Gainesville, Georgia, on the second Saturday at 10:00. For more information about the Greater Hall County chapter, please contact Judy Presley at 706-878-2962, or via email at hoyal@windstream.net.
The Northwest chapter officers are Ron Burgess as president; Fred McDade as vice-president; Mayella McDonald as secretary; Charles Stubblefield as treasurer; Robert Sprayberry as Chaplain. Chapter meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every other month at the Bank of Lafayette Community room, which is located at 104 North Main Street in Lafayette, Georgia at 7:00 pm. For more information about the Northwest chapter please contact Ron Burgess at 706-638-1132.
The Rome Floyd County chapter reported that during the summer months, they have to go on the road because the Rome Floyd County Library is full of children having fun at the summer reading program. So they traveled to the Cave Spring Vocational Rehabilitation Center in Cave Spring, Georgia, for their June meeting. While there, they had a lively discussion about the upcoming Georgia Council of the Blind convention. They stated that the Georgia Council of the Blind 60th statewide conference would be held in Savannah, Georgia. They stated that some of the activities would include a tandem bike ride; guided yoga; trolley tour of downtown Savannah; tour of the Savannah Center for the Blind and low Vision; smoothie fundraiser; silent auction with diamond jewelry; raffle of a grocery suitcase full of healthy food items; award luncheon; Lions welcome reception with Sue Martin; elections; banquet; trivia games; memorial service; gospel sing-a-long; and the GCB board meeting. The Rome Floyd County chapter traveled to the Northwest Center for Independent Living in Rome, Georgia, for their July meeting. Maia Santamaria, Chris Holtzclaw, and Kathy Baker, who are some of the staff members at the Northwest Georgia Center for Independent Living, told us that the Northwest Georgia Center for Independent Living is an organization serving 15 counties in the northwest Georgia area. They serve individuals of all ages who have all types of disabilities and help them reach their goals of living independently. For more information about the Northwest Georgia Center for Independent Living, please contact Maia Santamaria, at 706-314-0008 or via email at msantamaria@nwgacil.org. AT their August meeting, Marsha Farrow and Amanda Wilson gave Suzanne Jackson her June Willis Guiding Eyes Service Award since she was not able to attend the GCB conference in Savannah, Georgia. Marsha Farrow gave us the background story on June Willis. Amanda Wilson thanked the group for her presidential certificate that Marsha Farrow had given to her at the GCB conference in Savannah, Georgia. Marsha Farrow gave us an update on the GCB conference. She told us about how much fun we had in Savannah, Georgia, at our GCB conference. The Rome Floyd County chapter officers are Marsha Farrow as president; Chris Ingram as vice-president; Suzanne Jackson as secretary/treasurer; Dale Allen as Chaplain; Casey Owens, Misty Ingram, and Amanda Wilson as board members. Their meetings are held at the Rome Floyd County Library at 205 Riverside Parkway, in Rome, Georgia, on the third Tuesday, at 11:00 am. For more information about the Rome Floyd County Chapter, please contact Marsha Farrow at 706-859-2624, or via email at marshafarrow@windstream.net.
The Savannah Chapter officers are Marj Schneider as president; Bob Walls as vice-president; Teresa Brenner as secretary; Jon Bairnsfather as treasurer. Their board members are Jan Elders and John McMillon. Their meetings are held at the conference room at J. C. Lewis Ford, which is located on 9505 Abercorn Street in Savannah, Georgia. They are still meeting on the first Thursday of every month at 6:00 pm. For more information about the Savannah chapter, please contact Marj Schneider at 912-352-1415, or via email at marjschneider@bellsouth.net.
The South Metro Atlanta Chapter reported that we had a representative from Georgia Radio Reading Service, GaRRS, to speak at our recent meeting, and she showed us various kinds of radios we could use. We have someone from CVI planning to speak in October and someone from Sports coming in November. Members of the South Metro Atlanta chapter who have had birthdays since the last issue of The GCB Digest are Melanie House, Ann Sims and Lisa Jones., Ann Sims’ guide dog, Nickie, will be 13 years young in November. She is officially retired now, but she is still feeling fine for an "old" lady. The South Metro Atlanta chapter officers are Lisa Jones as president; Chester Thrash as vice-President; Chris Baldridge as secretary; Steve Longmire as treasurer; and John Sims as assistant treasurer. Maquatia Dutton and Sam Howard are board members. The South Metro chapter meetings are held at the Barbecue Kitchen in College Park, Georgia, on the second Thursday from 4:00 until 6:00 pm. For more information about the South Metro Atlanta chapter, please contact Lisa Jones at 404-556-8987.
Georgia Guide Dogs Users, GGDU News, Betsy Grenevitch
The Georgia Guide Dogs Users, GGDU, is anticipating a special meeting at the Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson Airport once all seven relief areas have been completed. We are really excited to see these relief areas as our group, as well as guide dog users nationally, were asked for their input of what they would like to see in relief areas. As soon as we find out when the relief areas will be completed we will be scheduling a tour and possibly a meeting at the airport. We are hoping to get press coverage for this event as well. We still have some bar soap for dogs left if anyone would like to buy some to use for their dogs. It is $5 a bar. We have two different scents. One is a lavender scent and it is bone-shaped. The other scent is peppermint and it is paw-shaped. If you are interested in joining GGDU as a member there are two options. You can be a full member which will also make you a member of Guide Dog Users, Inc., GDUI, an affiliate of ACB, or you can be an associate member and be a member only of GGDU. The cost for full membership is $15 and the cost for an associate member is $7. For more information about GGDu, GDUI, or purchasing soap please contact Betsy Grenevitch at 770-464-0450 or via email at blindangel@joimail.com.
GCB In Memory of:
Betty Hall was born on July 11, 1946 and passed away on Friday, March 18, 2016. Betty Hall was a resident of Trion, Georgia at the time of her passing. She was married to Eugene Hall. Betty Hall’s funeral services were held on Sunday, March 20, 2016, at 2:00 pm, at the Central Avenue Baptist Church with Rev. Owen Bud Davis and Rev. Brandon Bishop officiating. Interment followed in the Howell Cemetery. Pallbearers were Robert Hall; Michael Hall; Ethan Hall; Greg Hall; Jeff Blansit and Virgil McCoy. The family received friends on Saturday, March 19, 2016, from 6:00 until 8:00 pm at the Mason Funeral Home. Kitty Joann little, 61, went to be with her Lord and Savior, on Thursday, May 12, 2016 after a long, courageous battle with cancer. William Kermit Holley, Jr., age 71, of Winterville, died July 1, 2016. Survivors include his wife Gwendolyn Faulkner-Holley; children, William K. Holley,
III, Yaqobi Thomas, Omari J. Faulkner, Bakari S. Holley, Kenya Holley-Sampson, Kala Miller and Ife F. Holley; ten grandchildren; brother Herman Holley; sisters, Gayle Holley Griffin and Marion Holucomb Holley; uncles: Herbert Turner and Talib Zobier and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and life-long friends. His visitation was held on Thursday, July 7, 2016, from 6:00 until 7:00 pm. The visitation was held at the Garden Funeral Chapel which is located at 605 Olympic Drive in Athens, Georgia. The funeral was held on Friday, July 8, 2016, at 12:00 pm. The funeral service was held at the Garden View Funeral Chapel which is located at 605 Olympic
Drive in Athens, Georgia. The burial was held in Athens, Georgia. The Holley family thanks everyone for the kind words that everyone has expressed during this difficult time.
David John Everly, who lived in MARTINEZ, Georgia, passed away on Saturday, July 2, 2016.
David John Everly, 78, and a loving husband of 57 years to
Joyce Iams Everly. David Everly attended college at Lee University which is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He retired from the United States Army with 20 years of service. He worked as a fire technician with SRS and Sizemore Security. In his younger days he enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was a loving husband and father. Family members include his wife: Joyce; son: Christian Everly Hirsch and sister: the late Della Lee Zinkeler. A memorial service, with the US Army Honors, was held on Friday, July 8, 2016, at 12:00 noon in the chapel of Thomas Poteet and Son with Fr. Dave Arnoldt officiating. Entombment was held on Fort Jackson National Cemetery at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to Augusta Wounded Warrior Project, 701 Greene Street, Suite 104, Augusta, GA, 30907 or Charlie Norwood VAMC, Fisher House, OOP, 1 Freedom Way, Augusta, Georgia, 30904. The family received friends on Friday, July 8, 2016, one hour prior to the service beginning at 11:00 at Thomas Poteet & Son Funeral Directors, 214 Davis Rd., Augusta, Georgia, 30907, 706-364-8484.
Robert BROWN passed away in his Lanier Village Estates apartment, in Gainesville Georgia, on Friday, August 19, 2016, following an extended illness. Bob Brown was born in Toro, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Detroit Michigan. He worked in Cleveland Ohio, and retired in Jensen Beach Florida at the University of Michigan in 1947. Bob Brown met and married Virginia "Ginnie" Van Kleek. The couple enjoyed 68 years together and raised four wonderful children. Bob Browns education includes Cooley High School in Detroit Michigan, Lawrence Institute of Technology in Detroit Michigan; Clemson University in South Carolina; University of Tulsa Oklahoma; B.S. in Mechanical-Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan; and Master of Automotive Engineering from Chrysler Institute in Highland Park Michigan. Bob Brown was a WWII -Pacific Theater NCO, US Army Corps of Engineers, veteran in 1943 until 1946. He attained the rank of Tech Sergeant and earned two Battle Stars. At Chrysler Corp, Bob Brown was a Project Engineer in the Engine Development Department in 1947until 1952. At Eaton Corp in 1952 until 1984, Bob Brown led the invention and development of the automobile airbag. Bob Brown finished his career with Eaton as Executive Vice President of Engineering and Corporate Development. Bob Brown went on to found the Cleveland Advanced Manufacturing Program CAMP, a regional consulting, not-for-profit, economic development organization. Bob Brown served as Treasurer of the Society of Automotive Engineers and served on the Boards of Directors of eight different corporations. In Florida, Bob Brown presided over the rebuilding of their church, Hope Lutheran in Port Saint Lucie, after it had burned to the ground. Bob Brown is preceded by his loving wife of 68 years, Ginnie Brown in 2015, and his brother, Don Brown in 2010. Surviving loved ones include: four children: Timothy Brown, Deborah Brown Atsberger, Teresa Brown and Jim Schwarz, Cynthia Schneider and Kirt, six grandchildren: Matthew Brown and Sarah, Michael Brown and Jessica, Rebecca Atsberger Koch and Brian, Stefenie Atsberger McDonald and Patrick, Alyssa Schneider Swinehart and Ryan, Summer Schneider; two great-grandchildren: Brayden and Blake Koch. Services were held on Wednesday, August 24, 2016, at 1:30 pm from the Chapel of Lanier Village Estates. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hope Lutheran Church in Port Saint Lucie. 1750 Lennard Rd. Port St. Lucie FL 3495.
GCB Celebrations
We want to wish the following people a happy birthday and a happy anniversary.
Ted and Millie Brackett’s anniversary August 4; Hoyal and Judy Presley’s anniversary August 9;
Keith Morris August 9; Millie Brackett August 9; Deborah McDonald August 13; Jamie teal August 17; Neal and Janice Hardin’s anniversary August 24; Ann Worley August 26; Marsha Farrow August28; Ann Sims August 31;
Lisa Jones September 3; Bob and Marsha Farrow’s anniversary September 6;
Michael and Jamie Teal’s anniversary September 6; Charles Stubblefield September 9; Pete Hayek September 1; Clifford Jones September 16; Deborah Lovell September 18; Robert Sprayberry September 22;
Suzanne Jackson September 25; June Willis September 29; Kathy Morris September 30.
GCB Announcements:
Welcome Cards That Talk to Blind Mice Mega Mall!
Cards That Talk
“Cards That Talk is just A Standard deck of 54 playing Cards that includes 2 Jokers for the Blind and Low Vision card player. Except that each card ""talks"", saying its value! Each card has a special code printed on the back visible only to the Cards That Talk App from the Apple App Store and your Apple device! When a playing card is scanned by your Apple device running the free Cards That Talk app, your Apple device will announce the value of that card...see, Cards That Talk! Note: IOS 8.4 or higher required; for use with Apple devices only. Visit Cards That Talk store in Blind Mice mega Mall and listen to the demonstration of the Cards That Talk app in use and "Hear the cards Talk"! Use head phones or earbuds for privacy when playing with others. Cards That Talk has one modified corner so you can always tell the back from the front...you will always know which way are up! Just keep the modified corner in the upper left hand side! Cards That Talk were created for a blind family member that was not able to play cards anymore. Cards That Talk have enabled him to get back to playing some his favorites...Sheep Head, Euchre, and Whist. To order cards that talk go to https://www.blindmicemegamall.com, or call the Blind Mice Mega Mall order center at 1-713-893-7277.
GCB Board Meeting Announcement
The next Georgia Council of the Blind Board meeting will be held on Saturday, October 22, 2016. The GCB board meeting will be held at the Center for the Visually Impaired, CVI, which is located at 739 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Georgia. If you cannot come to the meeting in person, you can call in and listen to the board meeting by calling 1-218-339-0420, and the passcode is 155648#. If you have any further questions please contact Keith Morris at 706-799-5225, or via email at keithmorris53@icloud.com.