IN THIS ISSUE

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
by Mike Keithley

As I write this, Star and I are waiting for the ferry to start our journey home from Orcas Island, Washington. Orcas is 80 miles north of Seattle and close to Vancouver Island in Canada. We come here every year so Star, who grew up on Orcas, can "recharge her batteries at her soul's home" and we can re-acquaint ourselves with the spirits that live around here and say hi to long-time friends. And every five years is the family reunion, where all the kids and their families congregate for a weekend. This one was the third such, and 25 people took over a small resort. There was common time where we all went to the top of Mt. Constitution to enjoy the view and take pictures. Some went sailing, others kayaked, and we took walks and hung out. And there were barbecues of shared food in the evening plus skits and card games, at which I'm terrible! The kids left on the Monday, but we stayed on for three more days enjoying the quiet peace and listening to talking books--no cell phone! coverage here!

And now we're home dropping into bed. Fortunately I had access to a WIFI hotspot so I could read email and learn about our June membership meeting. Susan Schulter, SVCB's vice president, moderated it, and I want to let her summarize it for you:

"Mark Messersmith's talk was wonderful! He read us several sample scripts that he's written over the years for Theater Works. Some described costumes, others stage sets, and still others historical background regarding settings of plays. He also shared differences in the way Visual Voice describes plays and the way they are handled by Audio Vision. Our program ran over time by 20 minutes, but I can safely say that the membership appreciated Mark. His day job, by the way, is his work on the Kepler Telescope project at NASA Ames. Members found that interesting also.

"Our business meeting was about 35 minutes long. Regarding the July 24 Disability Pride parade, the membership passed a motion to donate $100 to the event. This donation will insure that SVCB has a booth at the event. Roger and I will walk in the actual parade. Sam Chen generously donated an additional $100 to the event.

"Our fund raising discussion went well. I was able to convey to members the reasons why we need new fund raisers. With regard to the talent show fund raiser, Susan Hyatt suggested that a talent show could also incorporate baked goods cooking talents, and ceramics, woodwork, sewing and other hand crafts. If we held the talent show at the Blind Center, students who take art classes there could display their work. Ultimately however, members felt the talent show was too much for us to take on in the coming year. People are more inclined to put energy into the Chevys option. ... Members asked that Art, Michelle, Mike, and I research the Chevys venue a bit more."

In other news, the $200 donation SVCB made to help blind people in Haiti has been sent to a special fund at ACB, which will soon send an aggregate donation to the Haitian society for the Blind.

Also, the 2010 CCB membership cards have arrived. They are small cards for your wallet that have no benefit except that you can say you belong to CCB. Normally we just send them along to members, but processing these cards is labor-intensive, and I thought it would be interesting to find out who really wants them. So if you want yours, contact Mike Keithley.

At our September membership meeting, amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws will be considered. If you have concerns about these documents, here's your chance to bring them forward. All you need do is download the Constitution and Bylaws from our website at www.svcb.cc (or contact Mike Keithley for large print or braille copy), write your amendment and send them to editor@svcb.cc for publication in the September SVCB newsletter, a constitutional requirement. If you need help with your drafts, contact either Roger Petersen or Dawn Wilcox, who comprise the Constitution and Bylaws Committee.

PROGRAM
by Roger Petersen

Recently, our members, Dawn Wilcox and Alice McGrath, were invited by the Health Library at Stanford to give a presentation at the new Oshman Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto on strategies for living with decreasing vision. This presentation was very well received. So, even though I think our members have a handle on living with vision loss, I thought a reprise of this presentation might be useful and enjoyable to our organization.

Unfortunately, I will not be at the July meeting. We will be returning from the national convention in Phoenix the next day. So I leave you in the lovely and nurturing hands of Dawn and Alice.

AUDIOVISION DESCRIBES YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN!
submitted by Margaret Hardy

Based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga?

The story follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to complete his grandfather's masterwork and bring a corpse to life. Together with his oddly shaped and endearing helper Igor (that's Eye-gor) and the curvaceous Inga, and in spite of his incredibly self-involved madcap fiancee Elizabeth, Frankenstein succeeds in creating a monster--but not without scary and quite often hilarious complications. With such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and "Puttin' On The Ritz," The New Mel Brooks Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is scientifically-proven, monstrously good entertainment, and the only place you'll witness a singing and dancing laboratory experiment in the largest tuxedo ever made.

Clive Barnes of the New York Post called YOUNG Frankenstein, "the Broadway musical at its dizziest, glitziest and funniest", and Roger Friedman of Fox News called it simply, "utter genius." IT's ALIVE! From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation The Producers comes this monster new musical comedy.

FUND-RAISING REPORT
by Michelle McGrew

We will soon be receiving CCB Sweepstakes tickets. The grand prize is $500 cash, with more prizes to be announced. The drawing will be held at the banquet at CCB's Fall Convention. Tickets are $1 each. SVCB will receive 50 percent of the funds we raise, with the rest going to CCB to cover daily operating expenses.

It will also soon be time for me to place our calendar order for 2011. These large print/braille calendars feature artwork by blind and visually impaired people of all ages. Remember that I need to order at least 50 calendars, so please consider to whom you might sell or give calendars. Calendars cost $9 each. You may begin placing your orders with me, especially if you already know that you would like to purchase several. This information is helpful for me to know so I know how many calendars to order.

In case you haven't already heard, we do still plan to auction those talking alarm clocks. However, it was decided to auction them at our August picnic instead of at the June meeting. So, if you missed the June meeting, you haven't missed your chance to get one of the clocks!

Do you shop at Lucky's in Santa Clara County or have friends or family who do? If so, you may want to consider participating in the "S.H.A.R.E.S." grocery rewards program. CCB has enrolled in grocery rewards programs offered by two statewide grocery chains (one of which includes several participating Lucky's stores). Each shopper who requests a "grocery rewards card" will receive a card that looks like a credit card. When making purchases at a participating store, the cardholder will slide his/her rewards card through the debit reader and then make his/her payment using whatever method they choose. Participating stores will then donate three percent of the purchase price to CCB. If you and/or your friends or family are interested in participating in this program, contact Lily at the CCB office to get your "S.H.A.R.E.S." grocery rewards cards. Or contact me at fund.raising@svcb.cc to find out which Lucky's stores are participating.

We still have cookbooks and T-shirts available! If you would like to order or want more information about our "Twenty Years of Favorite Recipes" cookbook or our "reading is for everyone" T-shirts, contact me as listed above.

Remember to save your recyclable aluminum cans. Charlie Stein redeems them for funds which are then used to support SVCB activities. You may give cans to Charlie at an upcoming meeting or call him to make other arrangements.

See you at the July meeting!

MEMBERSHIP CORNER

Happy July birthdays to our members Jim Brown, Rose Deterding, Barbara Dickinson, Greg Fowler, Ana Guerrero, Kathy Hoag, Susan Hyatt, and Carol Silveria!

EVENT CALENDAR
Compiled by Mike Keithley