DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
CHANGES OF ADDRESS
Contact Julie, database@svcb.cc.
MEETING LOCATION
SVCB's monthly meetings are held in the dining room of the Monte Vista Terrace Apts. at 1101 Grant Road, Mountain View. Meetings run 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. the third Saturday of the month and are open to all. Monte Vista Terrace is one block from the intersection of Grant Road and El Camino Real and is accessible by bus #22.
I've been spending a week in Great Falls, Virginia visiting my brother. It has been rainy and breezy here and much cooler than the recent Bay Area weather.
A big show here is my great nephew Gavin, who is two months old and has everyone's attention with smiles and the little things babies do.
Great Falls is on the Potomac River and a stone's throw from Washington, D.C. We took the Metro there; and, even though I've heard getting around is easy for a blind person, I couldn't determine how to make the ticket machines talk (Hans didn't know either); and I couldn't understand the announcements on the trains, which were smooth.
We went to the "Castle," the original Smithsonian building, so Hans could show me the detailed tactile map of the Washington Mall. It's outdated but wonderful to look at, and we spent 20 minutes doing just that. We then went to a lecture on the philosophy of Nietzsche. Alas, we forgot to ask if there was an assistive listening device, and I couldn't hear it well, but it took me back to my Santa Clara University days.
I hope you managed to get to our May membership meeting. During the program segment, we heard from Kenneth Frasse from the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center; Roger Petersen demoed his accessible thermostat; Dawn Wilcox presented a concentrated version of "Blood Pressure 101," the seminar she did at the spring convention; and Donna Sanchez discussed the merits of the accessible Nokia N75 cell phone she bought through the subsidized program at AT&T.
We finalized the menu to send to the picnic caterer; and we heard from Bev Clifford, who is coordinating all the items you can contribute to the picnic. Be sure to read her article in this newsletter and contact her ASAP at bevclffrd@sbcglobal.net.
We also heard from Dawn Wilcox, who is the liaison to the visually impaired youth groups sponsored by the Vista Center. We've been having dialogs with Paul Raskin, whom we met at our April meeting, and it appears we will have some children and their parents at our picnic.
On another Picnic-related note, be sure to contact Naomi Grubb at volunteers@svcb.cc> concerning raffle prizes you are bringing. I'm looking forward to getting yours!
The Human Race walk-a-thon also happened in May, and we'll soon know how much money we've raised for SVCB. Be on the lookout for Michelle's fund-raising report.
We launched a new project at the May meeting: designing placemats (to be given to restaurants) that have short descriptions of themes such as Braille Literacy Month or resources to deal with macular degeneration, plus contact information to join SVCB. Lorraine Brown, our membership chair, is managing this project; and I'm sure she'd really like you to contact her with suggestions and help.
SVCB's Constitution and Bylaws were distributed with May's newsletter. At our June meeting, you will have the opportunity to propose amendments to both. Approved amendments will be distributed in the July newsletter and voted into effect at the July meeting.
Return to the table of contents.Our speaker on June 21 will be Jim Bigelow. Mr. Bigelow spoke a few months ago at the San Mateo Chapter meeting and was recommended very highly to us. He has a long history of consulting and planning in the areas of land use and transportation, as well as housing, and is particularly interested in the future of rail passenger service including CalTrain. His topic will be "Is New Technology for Rail Travel in Our Future Here in the Area?" He will tell us what we can do to influence the answer to this question.
Return to the table of contents.Our deepest condolences to Allen Jones whose wife, Hope, recently passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Thanks to Bernice Kandarian, it has come to my attention that, if a member wishes to receive the Blind Californian or the California Connection in email format, he/she needs to send the request in an email to Richard Rueda to the following email address: href="mailto:ccb.moderator@gmail.com">ccb.moderator@gmail.com.
For the Braille Forum, the subscriber should write a blank message to: brailleforum-l-subscribe@acb.org.
There is also a link on the American Council of the Blind website for this purpose:
1. Go to www.acb.org
2. Press Enter on the link for the Braille Forum
3. Press Enter on Subscribe or unsubscribe to the email version of the Braille Forum and complete the on-line application.
You will continue to receive your previous format along with the email version. If you want to discontinue the other format, you will need to tell CCB or ACB about that. Also please notify Julie Lovins (database@svcb.cc) about any format additions or changes, so that the updated information will be submitted to CCB when the membership roster goes to them.
I am looking for help in finding restaurants that would cooperate with SVCB and use our soon to-be-created paper placemats instead of the ones usually used in the restaurant. If anyone has friends or acquaintances who manage a restaurant, please let me know and I will explain the project in more detail.
Last but not least, happy June birthdays to members Elizabeth Armenta, Ken Carey, Elmer Chapson, Victor Clifford, Catalina Enriquez, and Allen Jones.
Return to the table of contents.Join us on June 6 at the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, 214 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, to discuss accessible software solutions that are no cost or low cost (under $200). This is the fifth in our series of technology workshops which are free and open to the public.
Our seminar will run as follows:
Panel Presentations: 1 p.m. - 3 p.m.; Vendor Exhibits: 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Learn about products such as Leopard for Mac, System Access, Microsoft Accessibility tools and other options for screen magnification and screen reading systems.
You can participate in one of three ways: Via live audio stream on our website, through a free telephone conferencing service, or come in person and stay for the post-seminar demonstrations. This location is wheelchair-accessible. Assisted listening devices and other disability accommodations are available upon request.
Please RSVP to attend by calling 1-888-400-8933 or emailing info@lighthouse-sf.org.
Instructions for the conference call and live stream will be provided when you RSVP.
Return to the table of contents.Thanks to all who walked in and/or collected pledges for this year's Human Race walk-a-thon, and thanks to all who made donations! SVCB will receive 75% of the amount we collected. I expect that we will receive the funds sometime in July. I will report the amount raised at that time. If you didn't get a chance to make a donation and would still like to do so, it's not too late! Call me so, we can make appropriate arrangements. And if you expressed interest in walking but didn't receive your packet or didn't receive it soon enough to participate, please accept my sincere apologies! I am still recovering from my hand and wrist injury, and this delayed this year's packet preparation and distribution much more than I anticipated. I hope that we can gather a large group of participants for next year's walk on Saturday, May 9, 2009!
If you have contributed one or more recipes to our SVCB cookbook, but have not yet reserved your copy, please contact me ASAP! Some formats are either sold out or nearly sold out, so I need to hear from you soon in order to get you your preferred format at our low introductory price! We are planning to produce more of the large print and braille editions, however, due to higher than expected production costs, we will need to raise our prices. Also, we are now distributing the cassette edition (currently $10 each), but unfortunately, we must recall the CD-ROM edition in order to fix some errors. We will let you know as soon as the corrected edition is available. To place an order or to exchange your CD-ROM edition, please contact me.
Summer is coming! So, as usual, we are hoping to sell our supply of See's candy bars before the hot weather settles in! At the time of this writing, we have the following still in stock: For $1.50 each, we have dark chocolate with almonds, milk chocolate with toffee, plain milk chocolate bars, and just a few milk chocolate with almonds. And we have some peanut brittle bars for $1 each. Oh yes, if you are hungry for some candy but don't know what to eat once the candy bars are gone, SVCB will still have 5-oz. boxes of peanut brittle available throughout the summer! These cost $5 each. To purchase or help sell See's candy, please contact me.
I just received the order form for our 2009 large print/braille calendars. If you plan to order a large number of them, please let me know so I have a better idea of how many to order. Unfortunately, we still have a number of 2008 calendars left, so I may order fewer of the 2009 calendars than we estimated in this year's budget. Of course, if you don't have a calendar for this year, and would like one: these calendars feature artwork by blind and visually impaired people of all ages, and have both large print and braille. SVCB is selling them for $9 each. To order or reserve calendars, please contact me.
Remember to save your recyclable aluminum cans and plastic water bottles. Donna Sanchez is collecting plastic water bottles, and Charlie Stein is collecting aluminum cans. You may bring these items to an upcoming meeting or call the appropriate contact to make other arrangements. Donna and Charlie redeem the bottles and cans for funds which are then used to support SVCB activities.
Please thoughtfully consider how you personally might help SVCB raise funds this year, and join together with other chapter members to make this year the best yet! See you at our June meeting.
Return to the table of contents.Hi everyone,
We are going to do our potluck a bit differently this year. Please keep this information at hand so that you can refer to it as the time for the picnic approaches.
As you know, we are having our picnic catered this year, so it will not be necessary for us to bring side dishes or salads. However, we will need people to bring the following items:
Appetizers (all the yummy tidbits we always enjoy);
Coolers with ice in them (for the drinks);
Cold drinks (water, sodas (regular and sugar-free), iced tea, fruit juice, etc.);
Desserts (of various delicious sorts including sugar-free);
Small, sturdy, paper or plastic plates for the appetizers and desserts;
Plastic forks and spoons for the desserts;
Good-sized paper or plastic cups for the cold drinks;
Rolls of paper towels that can be used as napkins.
It is very important that the coolers with ice and the drinks arrive as close to 10 a.m. as possible. Beverages are the first things people want when they get to the picnic, and we need to keep them cool. We will also need some plates, cups, and paper towels to arrive at that time, so that we are ready for the appetizers when they begin showing up. So if you think you are going to arrive late, please volunteer to bring one of the items that we need later on--like desserts, for instance.
It won't be necessary for every single household to bring something, but we will be very grateful to those of you who feel you would like to contribute. Also, we will be inviting children and their families from the youth group at Vista Center to join us at our picnic, and some of them will want to contribute as well.
I will be coordinating things so that we have enough of everything and not too much of just one item. So if I tell you that we don't need any more appetizers, for example, but then you find out that somebody else was allowed to bring one later on, please don't feel slighted. It's probably one of the families with kids who may be signing up at the last minute, and I will have to make adjustments as that happens.
Please call me by Friday, August 8 at the very latest, to let me know if you are coming, how many other people will be with you, and what you would like to bring. This deadline is crucial, because Andy's Barbecue needs to know by Saturday, August 9 how many people to cook for and thus how much food they should prepare. The earlier you call, the more chance you have of being able to bring the item you prefer, rather than having me assign you an item.
Thanks in advance for your help with our picnic. It wouldn't be the same without your willing contributions.
Return to the table of contents.A new and local adaptive technology research and development company is seeking a few individuals who would be willing to be part of an initial survey and review of new services and products designed specifically for the blind and visually impaired. There is no cost to the user. However, the first pool of candidates need to own a desktop or laptop computer with DSL or cable Internet connection. Interested persons can contact Kenneth Frasse at eyeremote@gmail.com or by calling 650-450-3333.
Return to the table of contents.As the members of the House of Representatives head home to work in their district offices next week, this is an appropriate time to ask you to please contact him or her and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 5437, the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act. Currently, there are 39 cosponsors and we'd like to see that number increased to at least 50. This is the legislation relative to quiet cars. This is a good bill and I hope that you will take the time after the Memorial Day holiday to contact your district office and indicate your desire to have your Congressperson sign on to the bill. It would be great to see the ACB membership line up more cosponsors than the organization that "borrowed" the concept and our language in the first place. If you do get your representative to cosponsor H.R. 5437, please notify ACB's Director of Advocacy and Governmental Affairs, Eric Bridges (Phone: 202 467-508, Fax: 202 467-5085), to let him know as soon as possible.
Return to the table of contents.June: Vision Research Month.
Jun 1: Helen Keller Day.
Jun 6, 10-noon: SAF lab tour. Call 408-245-7330 for reservations.
Jun 6, 1-5 p.m: Affordable Technology Solutions Seminar at the San Francisco LightHouse for the Blind. RSVP to 888-400-6933 or info@lighthouse-sf.org.
Jun 7, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: SMCB meeting; Paul's at the Villa; 4000 South El Camino Real between 39th and 41st bus stops. Contact Philip Kutner at fishl@smccb.org.
Jun 7, 5-9 p.m: Bayview Chapter fund-raiser Lasagna Dinner; Lions Blind Center, 3834 Opal Street, Oakland; reservations: call Ida Johnson at 510-655-1982.
Jun 11, 7-9 p.m.: SVCB BOARD Meeting; Meeting Place.
Jun 15, 1 & 6:30 p.m: AMTSJ presents Disney's HIGHSCHOOL MUSICAL with descriptions by Audio Vision.
Jun 21, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.: monthly meeting. Dining room, Monte Vista Terrace Apartments, 1101 Grant Road, Mountain View. Lunch orders must be made by 9:45. 9:30: Coffee and conversation, 10: Program, 11: Business, 12: Lunch. Program: TBA. Business: Consider amendments to Constitution or Bylaws.
Jun 22, 11 a.m.: Ye Olde Towne Band concert, Stanford Concours d'Elegance. Contact Dawn Wilcox for info.
Jun 27, noon: July newsletter deadline.
Jun 29, 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Ye Olde Towne Band free Concert at Shoup Park, 390 University Avenue in Los Altos.
Jul 2, 7-9 p.m.: SVCB Board meeting.
Jul 4, 10 a.m.: Ye Olde Towne Band Los Altos 4th of July Ceremony and short concert. Contact Dawn Wilcox for info.
Jul 5-12: American Council of the Blind National Convention; Galt House, Louisville, KY; reservations: 502-589-5200. Rates are $85 single/double for rooms on the west side, and $105 single/double for suites (one bedroom with a small parlor) on the east side. Add $10 for each additional person in a room, limit four. Rates do not include tax.
Jul 11, 10 a.m.-noon: SAF lab tour.
Jul 11 and 12 at 8 p.m., 13 at 2 p.m.: TheatreWorks presents SNAPSHOTS described by the Visual Voice; MVCPA.
Jul 19, 9:30 a.m-1 p.m.: SVCB monthly meeting. Begin plans for White Cane Safety Day and Employment of People with Disabilities Awareness Month, and appoint holiday party chair.
Jul 25, noon: August newsletter deadline.
Jul 27, 1:30-3:30 p.m.: Ye Olde Towne Band free concert at Shoup Park.
Aug 6, 7-9 p.m.: SVCB board meeting.
Aug 16: Picnic in lieu of monthly meeting. Check newsletters and phonetree messages.
Aug 22, noon: September newsletter deadline.
Aug 31, 1:30-3:30: Ye Olde Towne Band free concert at Shoup Park. Return to the table of contents.