CCB OUTLOOK Fall, 1998 Steve Dresser, Editor Published by The Connecticut Council of the Blind Marcia Dresser, President Toll-free: (800) 231-3349 Hartford area: (860) 521-6749 On the World-wide Web: http://members.tripod.com/~dmclean/ccb.html Together, we can make a difference. This newsletter is published four times a year, and is available in braille, print, large print, on cassette, via E-mail, and on the CCB Web site. TABLE OF CONTENTS FROM THE EDITOR PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CONFIRMED by Paul Edwards IN MEMORIAM FROM THE ACB 1998 NATIONAL CONVENTION by Alice Jackson BFI AUDIOBOOKS UPDATE CCB AT THE GAME by Dave McLean NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT by Steve Dresser CCB BENEFIT DANCE by Kim Soucy CCB BULLETIN BOARD JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Compiled by Dave Bates CCB SPRING 1998 CONVENTION MINUTES CCB CLASSIFIED CCB STANDING COMMITTEES CCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS FROM THE EDITOR I always start compiling each issue of this newsletter with the panicky feeling that there won't be enough material to fill it. Despite my anxiety, I've never actually come up short, and this issue is no exception. In addition to all that's happening in CCB, some significant changes are taking place at the ACB national office, and I would be shirking my responsibility as your editor if I didn't report them to you. So if your mailman complains about an unusually heavy package, you'll know that your information-packed fall CCB _Outlook has finally arrived. We're rapidly approaching a significant moment in CCB history. No, I don't mean our fall convention--we have one every year, and another one in the spring. They're certainly fun, but not necessarily significant. The event I'm referring to is the election we hold every two years to pick a new board of directors. It is an important event because it gives each of us a chance to exercise direct control over CCB in two important ways. First, of course, we can vote in the election. Second, we can run for office. For most of us, that's a difficult choice to make because it involves a long-term commitment and a lot of hard work. On the other hand, serving on the board is an excellent way to shape the course CCB will follow for at least the next two years. Even if you're happy with the way CCB is running now, there's always room for new ideas and a fresh perspective. As you'll see in the following pages, there's a lot going on, but there's also lots more we can do. So if you've been sitting quietly on the sidelines, hoping that somehow someone will make things happen, I urge you to step forward and get directly involved. You just might be surprised at the difference you can make. --Steve Dresser PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Greetings! I hope you're making your plans to attend our fall convention, October 30 through November 1. For those of you who haven't heard, Debbie Grubb, a newly elected ACB board member, will be joining us for the weekend. Be sure to check Mailbox 55 for the latest convention information. It seems impossible that this is my last chance to chat with you as CCB president. Where did the time go? As I look back over the past four years, I am very proud of all that we have accomplished together. Let's consider some highlights. 1. Our toll-free number and voice-mail system are up and running, and we receive an average of five calls per week. That may not seem like much, but please remember that we can only log the calls where someone leaves a message, or talks to us directly. Therefore, the actual number of calls is probably quite a bit higher. 2. Thanks in large part to John Mattioli, we have a wonderful new brochure which is being widely distributed. In fact, we need to think about a second printing. 3. Thanks to Dave McLean, we have our own Web site--another great source of outreach. 4. Due to increased publicity and outreach efforts, our membership has increased by nearly 25%. 5. Four legally blind high school students--Philip Majkrzak, Nicole Mason, Christy Killion, and Karen Alison--each received a $1,000 scholarship from CCB. 6. Because you asked for it, we have instituted an overnight convention in the fall. 7. Our first chapter in many years, Guide Dog Users of Connecticut, is thriving. A Southern Connecticut chapter is in the planning stage. 8. Our first two extracurricular activities--a DVS showing of "Titanic" and a New Haven Ravens baseball game--were hugely successful, and a lot of fun. 9. Oxford Health Plans donated $500 to our scholarship fund. 10. Thanks to Julian Padowicz, CCB is in a cooperative (fifty-fifty) fundraising venture with BFI AudioBooks. Through this partnership, we are promoting high-quality audio books while raising significant revenue for ourselves. Quite an impressive list, don't you think? You guys have worked hard! Now that we're on a roll, let's keep going! We still have things to tackle--our 501(c)(3) status, transportation issues, reviewing our Constitution and Bylaws, and organizing the Southern Connecticut and student chapters, to name just a few. I know you will support, encourage, and assist our new president. I want to publicly thank everyone who has served on the Board during my administration: Dave Bates, Steve Dresser, Jeanne Dugas, Cheree Heppe, April Hutchins, Alice Jackson, John Mattioli, Bryan McGucken, Julie McLean, Dan Mills, Paul Morline, Shirley Phelon, and Roland Soucy. We wouldn't be where we are today without your dedication and tireless effort. Thanks, also, to everyone who has served on committees and contributed in other areas. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your president. Thank you for a wonderful four years! --Marcia Dresser NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CONFIRMED by Paul Edwards At a telephone conference Board meeting on Tuesday September 8th the Board of Directors of the American Council of the Blind confirmed the President's recommendation as the new Executive Director of the American Council of the Blind. I am very pleased to announce that we have been able to persuade Mr. Charles Crawford, the current Commissioner for the Blind from the state of Massachusetts to assume the post of Executive Director for the American Council of the Blind. Mr. Crawford has long been an advocate for blind people. He has recently completed a term as President of the National Council of State Agencies Serving the Blind. He is the author of several speech friendly programs which he made available free to people who are blind. He brings a wealth of experience and talent to the position. While it will be several weeks before he will be able to begin to work in Washington, he will be attending our next scheduled Board meeting in Chicago on the 19th of September so as to become more familiar with our Board members and our issues. Charlie is one of the founding members of the Bay State Council of the Blind and is an active participant on our ACB list-serve. Oral Miller will still be working until our new Executive Director is familiar with our office procedures. I hope that all of you will join me in congratulating Mr. Crawford on his new job. I believe that Charlie is just the sort of dynamic leader who can provide the strong central leadership that ACB needs as we move toward the 21st century. Let me take this opportunity to thank the members of the search committee who helped me make this difficult decision. You will hear much more about Charlie Crawford in the days and weeks to come. IN MEMORIAM We are deeply saddened to report that Harriet Axelson passed away on July 13 at the age of 79 after a long illness. A charter member of CCB, Harriet served in many capacities on the Board, including Treasurer for several years. She was instrumental in organizing several fundraising projects for CCB. Harriet was a friend to everyone, and contributed her time and talents wherever needed. Harriet will be sorely missed, and we extend our deepest sympathy to her sister Edna. Memorial contributions should be sent to Emanuel Lutheran Church, 311 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, 06106. FROM THE ACB 1998 NATIONAL CONVENTION by Alice Jackson From July 4-11, the American Council of the Blind held its Convention in Orlando, Florida. Because of the extensive fires caused by a serious drought, I wasn't sure what condition Orlando would be in when we arrived. Fortunately, everything was quite fine. The convention is always packed with activities, programs and other interesting things to do. Among the speakers were a panel discussing transportation, Terry Hayes Sales, a talking book narrator, and Lynn Cooper, an image consultant who has been featured on the tape version of the Braille Forum in "ACB Reports." Elections were held for five board positions--three to the ACB Board, and two to the Board of Publications. M.J. Schmitt, Jenine Stanley, and Winifred Downing were elected by acclamation. The other two positions, one on the Board of Publications and one on the Board of Directors, were contested with nominations from the convention floor. Debbie Grubb, also a member of GDUI, was elected to a four-year term on the Board of Directors. Charles S. P. Hodge replaced Tom Mitchell on the Board of Publications where he will serve for two years. It was exciting to see the growing number of life memberships awarded at this convention. Oral Miller, ACB's Executive Director who will be retiring, was one of the recipients. Janiece Peterson, of Friends in Art, was another. Many of us from Connecticut who attended the convention were kept busy throughout the week. John Mattioli, the program chairman for VIDPI (Visually Impaired Data Processors International), set up training sessions with vendors of adaptive equipment. Your delegate, currently serving on the undergraduate Scholarship Committee and the National Audio Equipment Advisory Committee for the National Library Service, was also kept quite busy. Marcia and Steve Dresser worked hard in the Press Room; Steve also worked on the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. Marcia also was the alternate delegate and attended the Nominating Committee meeting as I was unable to be there due to other commitments. We also managed to sell a good deal of candy while there, as well as a few audio books. Despite all our hard work, we still found time for fun. The Connecticut group, along with former CCB members Rosie and Paul Morline who have relocated to Florida, plus two other friends, spent an evening together over a very lively, laughter-filled dinner. Next year's convention will be in Los Angeles, home of movie stars and Disneyland. If you haven't been to a national convention, I hope you will consider attending one in the future. They are a lot of fun; there are interesting people to meet and lots of activities to please almost anyone's taste. The exhibit hall is a popular place to visit to see new and not so new technology. Many of us will be going back next year to represent CCB, to work hard again for all of those things which are important to all of us. Come, join us. BFI AUDIOBOOKS UPDATE In our last issue, we talked about our new fundraising instrument we now have, in the form of a distribution deal with BFI AudioBooks of Stamford, who publish the works of new CCB member, Julian Padowicz. Under the arrangement, we receive 50% of the selling price for every audio book that we sell, and we've already earned some dollars as a result of the catalog that we converted into Braille and distributed to our readers. But selling to our own members is only part of the plan. Through our various connections to the rest of North America's visually impaired community, as well as the sighted world, we plan to market these audio books throughout the US and Canada. But we need everybody's help. CCB can only reach so many people, but you, our members, can reach so many more. Your help will be a welcome contribution to our scholarship fund, but to give you more to work for than our gratitude, we have instituted a plan by which our members can earn points towards free audio books. Here's how it will work. Each time someone places an order for one of BFI's audio books, CCB receives its 50% of the selling price, and the member responsible for the sale gets 15% of that same selling price as a credit towards a free audio book. In other words, sell 7 audio books and you get one free. Catalogs, both in Braille and print, are available from Marcia Dresser. Anyone can order an audio book from BFI AudioBooks by calling (800) 260-7717 with a credit card number or by sending a check for the selling price plus $3.50 shipping and handling, per order, plus 6% sales tax if it's to be shipped within Connecticut. In addition, they have to let BFI AudioBooks know which CCB member to credit with the sale. BFI will keep track of the credit points. As you know from our last issue, BFI is a very small publishing company with very limited marketing capabilities. When they offered this arrangement to CCB, it wasn't an act of charity, but a serious business arrangement by which both parties hope to benefit. Audio books are a great help to the visually impaired, but they are also quickly gaining in popularity in the sighted world. People have little time to read these days, and a lot of driving time is now also listening time. The titles published by BFI AudioBooks are all original, which means that they do not appear in print form. As a result, they make excellent presents at holiday time. With Christmas and Hanukkah not too far off, we suggest that you take a look at the titles in the catalog, get some early holiday shopping out of the way for yourself, and help some friends or relatives do theirs this easy way. To make all this easier, we've asked Julian Padowicz, the author, to select the title that he feels would be most suitable for holiday giving and, in the following paragraphs, tell us a little more about it. For this issue he has chosen "Cat Lovers Only." In subsequent issues he will tell us about other of his titles. * * * "CAT LOVERS ONLY" I decided to do an audio book about cats because I have always been fascinated with why cats do what they do. When I get up in the morning and find a dead mouse neatly deposited in the middle of the living room or on our front steps, I can't help feeling that one of our cats is trying to tell us something. "What they're doing," one friend explained, after reading a book on the subject, "is trying to tell you that you should go and catch your own mice instead of getting food out of cans and plastic bags." I went looking for the book she had recommended and discovered that while it contained some interesting information, it was written by a veterinarian who was not a good writer, and the book was not a lot of fun to read. Checking the card index in the library, I discovered a number of books on the subject of cat behavior and found interesting cat information scattered through them, but not one that incorporated all the facts that I felt were essential to educating a cat owner. Obviously, there was a market for a new book. One fact of great interest to me, for example, was that the domestication of cats is very new in the annals of history. While evidence of domesticated dogs, horses, and cattle goes way back in recorded history, cats have only been domesticated for about 4,000 years, and originated in Egypt. Brought to Europe by traders, cats soon came to be considered agents of the devil and wholesale executions and torturing of cats took place during the Middle Ages. It was only after someone discovered that as cats killed rats the Plague, which was "plaguing" Europe seemed to diminish, that they began to be forgiven for their sins. I also learned that the widely documented ability of cats to find their way home from great distances was due to their ability to sense the earth's magnetic field. An experiment placed a cat in the middle of a field with a magnet attached to its collar. The cat was totally disoriented. All this and a lot more went into my audio book. Because I do most of my writing on a clipboard in my lap, while I sit in a comfortable arm chair in the family room, I am usually accompanied by one of our cats, the very shy Pywackett. Pywackett would prefer to sit on the clipboard so that I would stroke her instead of making silly tracks on a piece of paper, but she knows that she shouldn't. As a result, she sits either on the back of my chair, looking over my shoulder, or beside me where she will occasionally rub the side of her face against the corner of my clipboard, causing me to make wild, meaningless lines across the paper. What she is doing, I learned, is marking the clipboard as hers by rubbing a scent gland in the side of her face against the board. As a result of her great interest in the project, I gave Pywackett "technical advisor" credit on the book. When I did not want to bother with the politically correct, but awfully awkward, "he/she" when referring to cats, I said that Pywackett had advised me that cats didn't really care about things like that. I tried to put into this book everything that I felt people should know in order to understand and care for their cat better. Many of us were brought up with dogs and switched to cats when we were no longer in a position to walk a dog daily. But the cat is not just a smaller, more self sufficient version of a dog. Because cats are genetically programmed to be loners, while dogs are pack animals, with a cat you're dealing with a totally different psychology as well as physiology. Did you know that cats have no digestive mechanism for deriving carbohydrates from vegetables and very little sense of temperature? (A cat lying close to a fire can have his tail catch on fire and not know it.) Did you know that a cat who wasn't taught by its mother to kill and eat mice in the first weeks of life will not learn it in adulthood, no matter how hungry he gets? Or that a kitten introduced to a tame mouse, before the age of 6 weeks, will consider mice her friends for the rest of her life? All of this information I dedicated to my wife Donna, with acknowledgments to my allergist. When Donna and I began courting twelve years ago, she lived with three cats and I with a potentially life-threatening allergy to cats. Frankly, it was my love for Donna, more than my love for cats, that sent me to my allergist for shots which I still have to take every four weeks. "Cat Lovers Only" got some wonderful reviews. Cat Fancy magazine calls it "a wise, caring and personal look at feline nature through the eyes of a perceptive and philosophical observer." I think it makes a wonderful holiday gift for any cat loving household. It runs 2 hours and costs $14.95. CCB AT THE GAME by Dave McLean On August 7, a number of baseball fans, and some who just wanted to go out for a good time, attended the New Haven Ravens vs. the Norwich Navigators at Yale Field. The New Haven Ravens were winners and so was CCB. The members who attended had a great time, and we raised $70 as a result of the trip. On behalf of CCB I'd like to thank those who volunteered and rovided assistance to us and helped make this event an enjoyable one. Special thanks goes to the Connecticut Institute for the Blind who provided transportation. NOMINATING COMMITTEE REPORT by Steve Dresser As Chairman of the Nominating Committee, I am proud to present the following candidates for office on the CCB Board of Directors: Alice Jackson, President John Mattioli, First Vice President Dave Bates, Second Vice President Camille Petrecca, Third Vice President Cheree Heppe, Recording Secretary Bryan McGucken, Corresponding Secretary Roland Soucy, Treasurer Please consider these candidates carefully before you cast your vote at the CCB fall convention on Saturday, October 31. Remember that additional nominations may also be made from the convention floor. CCB BENEFIT DANCE by Kim Soucy I have just finished reading the June newsletter. "The Importance Of Finance," by John Mattioli, got me thinking again and gave me the courage to propose an idea I came up with some time ago. John mentioned several "old ways" of fundraising, which reminded me of the benefit dances BESB used to hold. Personally, I miss them, and think we should have one for CCB. Because of my mother, Shirley Phelon, my sisters and I have been attending such events for as long as I can remember. The Benefit Dance was always my favorite, and I looked forward to it every year. In fact, Roland and I cut our honeymoon short so we could make it back in time for the BESB dance. BESB would rent a hall, hire a D.J., and give out door prizes. You would buy tickets for drinks, and each table would bring their own munchies. Everyone had a great time, and a good chance to catch up with old friends. I think CCB could pull off a successful dance, but before we start making plans we need to know how many people are interested and would be willing to sell tickets. I have already called several friends and know about 35 people who are willing to buy a ticket. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to help plan a benefit dance for CCB, you can call me at (860) 895-8157 or Shirley at (860) 289-5697. We'd like to hear from you. CCB BULLETIN BOARD If you live in an area where you can't hear "ACB Reports," or if you don't get the cassette edition of "The Braille Forum" which includes "ACB Reports," you can now hear it if you have Real Audio capabilities. Visit the "acb on the radio" link on our web page to hear the April, June, and July issues of "ACB Reports." (The May issue has been there for some time.) I'm personally pleased to have been involved with the real audio encoding of these files, and I hope you'll enjoy hearing them. Please don't hesitate to let others know about their existence, and rest assured that other issues of "ACB Reports" will go up shortly. Nolan Crabb ncrabb@erols.com JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! Compiled by Dave Bates If you've been following the news lately, you're probably aware of the shakeup at the Housing Authority of the City of New Haven. As a result of the turmoil, many jobs have become available at this agency. Here is a partial list. 1. Administrative Assistant Salary: Open Summary of Position: The administrative assistant will perform a variety of secretarial and clerical duties as well as functions related to the ongoing operation of the intake and referral department. Qualifications: Ability to plan, organize, and execute work efficiently and expediently. Ability to work well with others on a personal and confidential level is a must. Ability to exercise sound judgment and conduct oneself in a tactful and diplomatic manner when dealing with difficult or emergency situations. Must be a high school graduate. 2. Community Service Case Specialist (Family) Salary: $35,000 to $45,000 annually. Summary of Position: The community service case specialist will provide outreach coordination and case management of activities for the Elm Haven Hope Community Service group. Each specialist will be responsible for managing caseloads to insure timely, efficient, and quality service for program participants. Qualifications: A Bachelor's degree in social work, public administration, or related field required. Master's degree preferred. State of Connecticut license in social work preferred. Must have three to four years experience in social service organizations in the areas of welfare to work, self-sufficiency, or training. Employment programs requiring case management experience strongly preferred. 3. Administrative Assistant (Property Management) Salary: $18,500 to $35,000 annually. Summary of Position: The administrative assistant will perform a variety of clerical and secretarial duties as well as functions related to the ongoing operation of the management offices and the processing of tenants. Qualifications: Ability to plan, organize, and execute work efficiently and expediently. Ability to work well with others on a personal and confidential level is a must. Ability to exercise sound judgment and conduct oneself in a tactful and diplomatic manner when dealing with difficult or emergency situations. Must be a high school graduate. 4. Occupancy Interviewer Salary: $23,000 to $35,000 annually. Summary of Position: The occupancy interviewer will perform a variety of clerical tasks as well as conduct interviews and screen prospective tenants for admission to public housing; responsible for obtaining pertinent data necessary for determining eligibility of prospective tenants. Qualifications: Graduate of a two-year college or attending a four- year college or university. Aggressive and responsible, with experience directly related to government administration. Good oral and written communication skills a must. Must be able to work with people on a personal and confidential level. Ability to handle difficult situations when necessary. For further information about these and other openings, contact the New Haven Housing Authority, 360 Orange Street, P.O. Box 1912, New Haven, CT 06509-1912 (203) 946-2800. You can also contact me at (860) 257-0602, or leave a message for me on the CCB voice mail system. * * * In other job news, there's a customer service position available at the Infoxx Company in Watertown. Job description: Taking calls from mobile phone customers who are calling for information. Searching a database to located number of place customer is calling. Skills: Basic computer, typing (25 wpm), spelling and good interpersonal skills. Hours: Full time (varying shifts). Benefits: Full benefits. Salary: $7.00 to $7.50 an hour. For further information, contact Jessica Dapsis, BESB Human Resource Specialist, at (860) 602-4000, or 1-800-842-4510. See you next issue! CCB SPRING 1998 CONVENTION MINUTES Saturday, April 25, 1998 The spring, 1998 convention of the Connecticut Council of the Blind took place in the auditorium of the Oak Hill School for the Blind in Hartford. President Marcia Dresser called the business meeting to order at 9:45 A.M. She officially welcomed Guide Dog Users of Connecticut, with 15 members, as a CCB affiliate. The roll was then called. Approximately 28 members were present, along with several guests including our scholarship recipient Karen Alison and her family. Marcia announced that both Third Vice President Alice Jackson and Immediate Past President Dave Bates were absent due to the illness of their fathers. The minutes of the fall 1998 convention were approved by the membership, based on the convention summary published in the last newsletter. * * * Treasurer's Report In Roland Soucy's absence, Kim Soucy read the treasurer's report as follows: At the last board meeting, our savings account balance was $4,194.60. Since then, we have added $344 in candy sales for a new balance of $4,538.60 as of April 24. In the checking account, our last balance was $1,091.23. Since then, we have added $20 for a new member, and $45 for convention registrations. We have paid out $57.87 for our phone bills, and $90.00 to Subway for the convention luncheon. As of April 24, our new checking account balance is $1,008.36. The Treasurer's Report was accepted as read. * * * Committee Reports Newsletter. Steve Dresser reported that the braille printer had broken down at the time the last newsletter was being printed. He apologized for the fact that as a result, some people who usually received the newsletter in braille got tape copies instead. He said the printer had been sent out for repair, and would hopefully be back in service by the time the next newsletter went out in May. Membership. John Mattioli reported that as a result of the mass mailing that went out in February, and the affiliation of Guide Dog Users of Connecticut, CCB membership had risen from 57 to about 70. He asked that any new members see him to make sure he had included all their information on the updated membership list. Publicity. John Mattioli said he had sent notices about the convention to the newspapers, but he did not know whether they had been published. He mentioned the need to put together a better media list for the next convention. Carol Gillispie reported hearing the convention PSA run on CRIS Radio. At that point, Marcia welcomed two of the newest CCB members, Sandy Burgess and Tammy Robbins. She also welcomed our scholarship recipient Karen Alison and her family. Transportation. Both Dan Mills and Cheree Heppe said that they had been unable to attend recent meetings of the ADA Advisory Committee, and had nothing to report. However, Dan said he had copies of the minutes, and would submit a report to Steve for the newsletter if he found anything of importance. Carol Gillispie reported that she and another person were continuing to write letters to Washington reporting problems with the New Haven Paratransit system. GDUCT. GDUCT President Cheree Heppe reported that the last GDUCT newsletter went out in both braille and large print. She also said legislation had been passed protecting guide and service dogs that are attacked by roaming dogs. She said the legislative breakfast in February had been a success. Jeanne Dugas, Treasurer of GDUCT, reported that the GDUCT bank account has been opened. Marcia said the CCB Board had authorized that $50 in seed money be given to GDUCT. She also welcomed Jeanne to the CCB Board of Directors as GDUCT's representative. Nominating Committee. Steve Dresser, Chairman of the Nominating Committee, reminded us that this fall we will be electing a new slate of CCB officers. He asked that anyone interested in serving with him on the Nominating Committee, or anyone with suggestions of nominees contact him. Marcia mentioned that being on the Board is a big responsibility, and recommended that anyone interested in serving on the Board also contact Steve. Jan Frost asked about the purpose of board members at large. Bryan McGucken explained that members at large are appointed by the president, and provide suggestions for projects or legislation the Board might be working on. He also said it was important for members at large to be on two or three CCB committees, and that this position was a kind of training ground for those interested in being officers. Steve Dresser added that members at large act as liaisons between the Board and the general membership. Marcia and Bryan reminded us that board meetings are open to members interested in attending. Scholarship. April Hutchins, Chairman of the CCB Scholarship Committee, invited the rest of her committee, Dan Mills, Kathie Mills, and Jeanne Dugas, to join her at the front of the room, and thanked them for serving with her. She then introduced this year's scholarship recipient, Karen Alison. The committee and the rest of the membership congratulated Karen, and April presented her with both a print and a braille copy of the scholarship award. Karen, a junior at Montville High School, attended the convention with her family, and expressed her gratitude for the scholarship. She said she would use the money to help pay expenses at the University of Connecticut, where she hopes to study either psychology or education. * * * CCB Projects Marcia said the design for our affiliate's square to go on the ACB quilt has been sent to a woman in Kentucky who has offered to make the squares for all the affiliates. Our square will read, "CCB, together we can make a difference," and will have our logo on it. The quilt will be raffled off at the ACB National Convention as a combined fundraiser for the Mid-Tennessee Council of the Blind and ACB. The affiliate who wins the quilt will keep it for a year, and bring it back to next year's national convention to be raffled off again. The proceeds will then be split between ACB, Mid-Tennessee, and the winning affiliate from this year. When no more interest is shown in the quilt, it will be hung in the ACB national office in Washington. CCB members were encouraged to contribute money for us to buy chances on the quilt at this year's ACB National Convention. Marcia said the CCB Board had decided to pursue a fundraising project proposed by Julian Padowicz, a CCB member who writes, produces, and publishes audio books. He offered a 50% commission on any books sold by CCB. People interested in buying the books can either order them through CCB, or directly from Julian's company. There were catalogs at the convention, and Marcia said there would be a list of available books in the next newsletter. She also said Julian would submit an article about the project, which will also be published in the newsletter. Marcia read a notice from the ACB National Office regarding Oral Miller's resignation as ACB's Executive Director. Each affiliate or special interest group was given an opportunity to submit either a letter or resolution to be put into a commemorative booklet which will be presented to Oral Miller at the national convention. Marcia suggested that we craft a resolution to be passed by the membership expressing our appreciation for Oral Miller's years of service to ACB, and particularly to CCB. Cheree Heppe and Jan Frost agreed to craft and submit a resolution to be voted on later in the convention. Fundraising. Marcia said the candy sales were a success, and that most of the money has been turned in. She thanked everyone who had sold candy for their participation. She also reminded us that we still need to come up with other fundraising ideas. Cheree Heppe said she would look into the possibility of a local cruise line donating space for a dinner cruise. Jan Frost suggested that we try to get a radio personality, such as Ray Dunnaway from WTIC 1080, to host the CCB fundraiser. Kathie Mills said she would investigate the possibility of someone from a radio station coming to a store such as Shaw's to help sell CCB mugs and t-shirts. Carol Gillispie said she would talk to Paula, the Tupperware demonstrator, about doing another Tupperware party as a fundraiser. * * * New Business Marcia said the CCB Thermoform machine, which has been at Dave Bates' house for the last five years, needed servicing and cleaning. She said it would cost around $200 to ship the machine back to the manufacturer for inspection, and asked the membership if this would be a logical course of action. After a lengthy discussion, it was moved that we allocate $250 to have the machine inspected. After more discussion, however, the motion was defeated. A motion was then passed to donate the machine to Carol Gillispie. She accepted the donation, and said that if the machine could be repaired, we might use it to make braille copies of the CCB cookbook. Marcia said she would like to come up with a standard amount of seed money to be given to new CCB chapters. She also said that the wording of the CCB constitution should be changed, and appointed Dan Mills to chair a committee for this task. She said she would appoint the rest of the committee later, based on interest. The membership moved that Marcia be given the authority to appoint a delegate and an alternate delegate to the ACB National Convention in July. It was moved that $150 be given to both the delegate and the alternate delegate to defray convention expenses. The motion was defeated. A motion reducing the amount to $100 for each delegate was carried. Following the Scholarship Committee's presentation, Cheree Heppe introduced our first speaker, Linda Levine, from the Parks and Recreation Department. Linda gave an interesting and informative presentation on the ADA and how it relates to the accessibility of parks and recreational facilities in Connecticut. Linda and the membership discussed ways of improving site accessibility, such as braille signs and brochures about the various sites. We broke for lunch at 12:30. We reconvened at 1:45, and Marcia asked if a resolution had been crafted to present to Oral Miller. Cheree Heppe read the resolution on which she and Jan Frost had worked. It was approved, with the addition of the number of years Mr. Miller has served ACB, and the year in which he visited our state convention. April Hutchins announced that she had brought 100 brochures to distribute to interested members, and asked anyone wishing to take some to see her before the end of the day. Marcia thanked John Mattioli for his hard work in coordinating the trip to Framingham, Massachusetts on February 28. She also thanked Carol Gillispie for coordinating transportation from New Haven. John said there would be more about the success of the trip in the next newsletter. Marcia said Laurie Doyle had offered to coordinate the distribution and sale of the books we will be selling for Julian Padowicz. She publicly thanked Laurie for her generous offer. On behalf of Alice Jackson, Marcia brought up the question of whether or not to have another overnight fall convention based on the low attendance last fall. Membership felt that although the attendance was low, there was a need for the socialization the overnight convention would allow. A motion was carried to pursue having another overnight convention, with the location to be determined by the Convention Committee. John and Marcia recommended that anyone with programming suggestions for the next convention let the Convention Committee know. At that point, Marcia introduced our second speaker, Lois Bonanni, from Directions Unlimited. Lois has helped organize tours for disabled people, including those who are visually impaired. She gave an informative presentation in which she shared several amusing anecdotes. At about 3:00 P.M. the convention adjourned so GDUCT could have its meeting. Our last speaker, Susan Sullivan, who was also to have been the featured speaker for GDUCT, was unable to be at the convention. The membership had time to socialize and enjoy the wine and cheese party until 5:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, April Hutchins Recording Secretary CCB CLASSIFIED [The listings of products and services in this column are provided free of charge for the benefit of our readers, and should not be considered as endorsements. The Connecticut Council of the Blind cannot be held responsible for the reliability of products and/or services mentioned.] * * * For sale: Aria notetaker in excellent condition. Comes complete with accessory cables, RAM card, and instruction manual on cassette. Price, $1,000 or best offer. Call Steve Dresser at 521-8903 weekdays after 5:00 P.M. or on weekends. Special thanks to Julian Padowicz, Alice Jackson, Dave McLean, Kim Soucy, and Dave Bates for their contributions to this issue of the CCB _Outlook. If you'd like to contribute to the next issue, please have your article ready by January 8, 1999. You may submit your article in braille, on cassette or computer disk, via e-mail, or over the phone. If you want to dictate your article, please leave a message on our voice-mail system, and I'll return your call. Remember, this newsletter is nothing without your help, so please keep those articles coming! CCB STANDING COMMITTEES Convention (Voice-mail box 20): Shirley Phelon, (860) 289-5697 Legislative (Voice-mail box 14): Dave Bates, (860) 257-0602 Membership (Voice-mail box 15): John Mattioli, (203) 288-7734 Newsletter (Voice-mail box 13): Steve Dresser, (860) 521-8903 Publicity (Voice-mail box 16): John Mattioli, (203) 288-7734 Scholarship (Voice-mail box 17): April Hutchins, (860) 649-6740 Transportation (Voice-mail box 18): Dan Mills, (860) 643-8442 Ways and Means (fund-raising) (Voice-mail box 19): Dave Bates, (860) 257-0602 Nominating (Voice-mail box 13): Steve Dresser, (860) 521-8903 You can leave messages for committee chairs and board members on our toll-free line (800) 231-3349, or (860) 521-6749 in the Hartford area. President Marcia Dresser is an ex officio member of all committees. CCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Marcia Dresser 142 Webster Hill Boulevard West Hartford 06107 (860) 521-6749 Toll-free (800) 231-3349 Voice-mail: box 11 First Vice President: Steve Dresser 142 Webster Hill Boulevard West Hartford 06107 (860) 521-8903 E-mail: 71241.2666@compuserve.com Second Vice President: John Mattioli 835 Mix Avenue, Apt. L-6 Hamden 06514 (203) 288-7734 E-mail: mattioli@concentric.net Third Vice President: Alice Jackson 191 Centerbrook Road Hamden 06518 (203) 281-0676 E-mail: alicej@concentric.net Treasurer: Roland Soucy 15 Shawnee Road East Hartford 06118 (860) 895-8157 E-mail: Wtrskii@aol.com Recording Secretary: April Hutchins 129 Eldridge Street Manchester 06040 (860) 649-6740 Corresponding Secretary: Cheree Heppe 68 Gilman Street Hartford 06114-2536 (860) 296-4922 E-mail: clheppe@ntplx.net Immediate Past President: Dave Bates 44 Garden Street Wethersfield 06109 (860) 257-0602 Board Member at Large: Bryan McGucken 11 Hillside Lane Wallingford 06492 (203) 265-2452 Board Member at Large: Shirley Phelon 60 Elmer Street East Hartford 06108 (860) 289-5697 GDUCT Representative: Jeanne Dugas 22 Emerald Avenue, Apt. 2 Willimantic 06226 (860) 423-8868 E-mail: jingles@ntplx.net