CCB OUTLOOK Winter, 1999 Steve Dresser, Editor Published by The Connecticut Council of the Blind Alice Jackson, 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: THE STATE OF CCB REVISITING THE REALITIES OF TRANSPORTATION by John Mattioli IT'S ABOUT MOTIVATION! by Marcia Dresser BRAILLE BILL UPDATE by Alice Jackson BFI AUDIOBOOKS UPDATE by Julian Padowicz CCB NEWSMAKERS CCB FALL 1998 CONVENTION SUMMARY CCB STANDING COMMITTEES CCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS FROM THE EDITOR One of the on-going problems in any non-profit organization is how to raise money. It's mentioned at every board meeting, and discussed at every convention, often at great length. Fundraising is, in fact, the most important issue for organizations like CCB. Without it, we cannot exist. Over the years, CCB has engaged in numerous fundraising efforts, from candy sales to Tupperware parties, as well as the sale of t-shirts and cookbooks. One of our more interesting fundraisers is our cooperative venture with BFI AudioBooks, a company owned and run by CCB member Julian Padowicz. "BFI Update," an article in the last _Outlook, discusses the project and summarizes one of the books in the BFI AudioBooks catalog. This issue's update reports on the success of the project to date, and summarizes another of Julian's books. I see these articles not only as free advertising for BFI AudioBooks, but as a way for us to learn more about the books we're trying to sell. Remember, every time one of us sells an audio book, CCB gets 50% of the proceeds. If each of us sold just one book, CCB would earn over $500! And so, at my request, Julian has agreed to provide updates and discuss his books in the next several issues of the _Outlook. I was rather skeptical when I first heard that CCB and NFB of Connecticut would be working together to introduce a braille bill into the state legislature. Knowing that the two organizations are poles apart on many issues, I expected a lot of wrangling, and not much else. I'm happy to report that my skepticism was completely misplaced and, as you'll read later in these pages, the two groups have crafted a bill that we can all be proud of. I don't think there has been a fundamental change of philosophy in either organization, nor do I want or expect one. After all, "the blind" are individuals with diverse views, just like their sighted counterparts. I think, however, that our work on this project is a significant step forward. Now we know that we can put our differences aside and speak with one voice on important issues. I heartily applaud the work our two groups have done on a braille bill for Connecticut, and look forward to more joint ventures in the future. Together, we really _can make a difference!--Steve Dresser PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE: THE STATE OF CCB First of all, I want to extend my warmest wishes for a happy and healthy New Year to everyone and their families. The new year for me is always a time of reflection. This being the last year of the twentieth century, it will be a momentous one in many ways. We as an organization face many challenges at this time. We have already begun the new year with a project, working in cooperation with the NFB of Connecticut. The two organizations are meeting to create a braille bill to be presented to the current legislature. More information on this will be forthcoming. Becoming the president of the Connecticut Council of the Blind is a humbling experience for me. Because there were no other nominations, the election was a landslide, and I'm not sure exactly what this means. Do people see the office as so difficult that they don't want to take it upon themselves? Or, are our members so indifferent to what goes on that they will accept anyone who wants to be president? Or, (and this is highly unlikely), do people feel or think that their currently elected President is so good that the choice was inevitable? I don't know, nor does it matter at this point why I was chosen. The point is, I'm here, and I promise you that I will do my very best to uphold my responsibilities. I have great confidence in my Board of Directors, and in all of you. I have seen the Connecticut Council of the Blind go through a great many changes over the last four years. When I first joined, we did not have a scholarship fund, a toll-free number, or a Guide Dog Users of Connecticut chapter. The fact that we now have these proves that CCB is a growing and viable organization. Our members have good ideas which need to be acknowledged. We have lost some members who have relocated, and will continue, with the help of good publicity, to gain new ones. At our most recent convention, held in Hamden, I received my marching orders as your next president. There were some concerns voiced from the previous administration which I plan to address, along with some concerns of my own which I plan to share. The largest concern left to me is our scholarship fund. A motion was made and carried to suspend giving a scholarship until we have raised enough funds to bring our account up to $3,500. We all know that we need to raise money. However, we have been far too insular in our thinking. We need to go outside ourselves to the general public and to major corporations to obtain the kind of long-lasting funding that we need. In order to do this, we must solidify our 501(c)(3) status as a non-profit organization. This will take some time and effort. Last year, Jane French, of the Connecticut Institute for the Blind, offered to give a workshop on grant writing. I hope to set this up sometime this year for those who are interested in participating. There have been other ideas shared with me, involving raffles and the sale of raffle tickets. These are also definite possibilities for a one-time project. However, we need more than one-time projects if we are going to have a continuous cash flow. I believe that we need to rethink our purpose and set some long- range as well as short-range goals. Fundraising will fit under both categories. We need to focus in on fundraising and publicity during the coming year. This means that we must be clear on what we are about. We must be bold, taking stands on the issues that directly concern those who are blind, such as paratransit, public transportation, access to ATM machines, etc. We need to speak out more as an organization. We also need to put ourselves forth as a resource, willing to work cooperatively with towns, cities, bank managers, or whoever is involved. One of the positive things that came out of an informal discussion at our spring, 1996 convention is that we are a caring group of people. Let us put that caring to good use. Let us not only direct that caring toward each other, but towards those issues which matter to us. I need to hear from each and every one of you about your concerns. Your Board of Directors, which you have entrusted to carry out the working of this organization, is here to do your bidding. We have a voice-mail system which can be reached toll-free at 1-800-231-3349, or 521-6749 in the Hartford area. Please feel free to leave messages for me in mailbox 11, the President's mailbox, or call me at home. As committees form, they will also have mailboxes where you may leave messages. Let's talk with each other often, not just twice a year at conventions. --Alice Jackson REVISITING THE REALITIES OF TRANSPORTATION by John Mattioli The Connecticut Council of the Blind has long realized that transportation is one of the most critical problems faced by blind people these days. We spend a lot of time talking about the difficulties of getting a job, performing a job, or advancing in a job. Until recently, however, we've spent very little time talking about how to get to and from our jobs. There's no point discussing the accessibility of a work site if you can't even get there. At this summer's convention of the American Council of the Blind, Arthur Lopez, Director of Civil Rights for the Federal Transit Administration, presented an extremely educational discussion on transportation and the disabled. If you haven't already heard it, I urge you to give it a listen. There are three ways to obtain a copy. The simplest is to purchase convention tapes from ACB by calling (800) 424-8666. Mr. Lopez's presentation is also available from ACB's Web site as a realaudio file. Just point your web browser to http://www.acb.org and navigate to realaudio clips. There you'll find a presentation on civil rights, which includes the lecture on transportation. If you're interested in realaudio but don't want to download the files yourself, I have produced a CD-ROM containing all of the realaudio files from this summer's ACB convention, and will provide copies upon request. I would ask that anyone interested in a copy of this CD-ROM make a $5 donation to CCB. Meanwhile, I'd like to discuss transit issues here in Connecticut, and suggest ways to help improve things. As a resident of Hamden, I will concentrate on transportation in and around New Haven, although similar actions can be taken around the state to insure that service is the best it can be. Recently, in discussions concerning the recertification of paratransit riders' eligibility, it was suggested, to the dismay of many, that blindness should no longer be considered a sufficient condition of eligibility for paratransit service. However, in his presentation to the ACB convention in Orlando this summer, Arthur Lopez stated that blind people are indeed eligible for paratransit service, particularly in areas where drivers on fixed-route buses do not announce stops. While some drivers do call out stops in the New Haven area, it is certainly not the norm. Therefore, we should be eligible for service. Once we've obtained service, what kind of service can we expect? Even though the ADA transit guidelines are long, complex, and incomprehensible to most of us, a few things seem clear. It does no good to complain to transit personnel about what you dislike in the ADA guidelines. Transit employees didn't make the law, and can't change it. On the other hand, we need to tell providers when service is not in compliance with the law. Here are some of the services we can expect from public transportation and paratransit: Fixed route drivers are legally required to announce all TIME POINTS, but they don't have to announce any other STOPS. Time points are those stops on a bus schedule with times printed next to them. Paratransit will pick up and drop off riders within a three-quarter mile corridor of a fixed route, but is not required to do so outside this corridor. When drivers bend this rule, they are going above and beyond the call of duty. Paratransit drivers are not required to take you directly from your point of origin to your destination. They're allowed up to an hour to get you to a designated drop-off point. Paratransit drivers are on a fixed schedule, and should show up at your origin, wait a short time, and depart with or without you. Keeping a driver waiting is not an option. Your tardiness can cause a late arrival at the next stop. Paratransit drivers must obey all traffic and safety laws. They may not take roads such as the Merritt Parkway if they drive commercial registry vehicles. Seat belts may or may not be required, but should be worn as a prudent safety measure. If you take any form of public transportation and find that your carrier follows all these rules all the time, your transit system deserves an award. CCB should certainly recognize those who exceed our expectations. Most of us have learned to live with transportation-related frustrations such as long waits for vans, and the inability to obtain subscription or one-time rides when needed. Appointments have been missed because of scheduling methods that can vary pick-up time as much as a half hour before or after the time requested without notice. Long waits on hold when attempting to schedule rides only add to the frustration. These and many other problems are becoming increasingly prevalent here in the New Haven area. New Haven Paratransit employees cite several reasons for these problems. The first, and most commonly used excuse is monetary. In this day of ever tighter budgets, it is likely that the transit organizations are attempting to provide more service with less money. The second most common excuse is computer malfunction. Whenever schedules get messed up, or a requested change is either done incorrectly or not done at all, the computer becomes the culprit. Perhaps there is some validity to these claims, but it is hard to imagine how a computer can magically change or forget the address or time it has been given. When drivers are late, they almost always claim it is because the office creates schedules that are impossible to keep. Obviously, unusually heavy traffic can also cause a driver to be late, but one would expect an organization in the transit business to know the times and locations of typical heavy traffic and adjust schedules accordingly. The Connecticut Council of the Blind cannot sit quietly by watching this decline and discussing it amongst ourselves. We need to call attention to these problems! Perhaps transit organizations are doing as well as they can with the money they have, and they really do need more. If so, we need to inform the people in charge of funding transportation. Maybe the level of staffing should be increased, or employees need better training to reduce clerical, administrative, and scheduling errors. Again, people need to know. You can help by documenting the problems you encounter. Back in July, I started keeping a log of every trip I schedule (or attempt to schedule) with paratransit. My log includes: Time and date of my call; time, date, and location of my pick-up; time the van gets there; location of my destination; and time the van reaches the destination. In addition to rides I schedule on a regular basis, I include subscriptions and cancellations. For subscription rides, I put the notations "Subs." and "n/a" where I would normally enter the date and time of my call. For cancellations, I put "cancel" where the arrival time would go. When rides are unavailable, I put an asterisk next to the date I called. Even though keeping this kind of a log may be tedious and difficult, it is the most effective way to present our case for improving paratransit. Our logs will provide concrete examples that we can show to transit personnel, newspaper reporters, people in Congress, and others. Our logs will also help us to focus on the problems. For example, my rides are usually either very reasonable or totally unacceptable. Rarely do I have a ride that is somewhat long. Rarely are drivers only a little late. From this evidence I suggest that heavy traffic is certainly an issue, but not the major problem transit personnel would have you believe. Three important points emerge from this discussion. First, you are eligible for paratransit service even if your only disability is visual impairment. This service may frustrate you at times, but when operating properly it is an extremely valuable tool for increasing your mobility. Second, it is important to keep a detailed log of your paratransit activities. Detailed logs will allow CCB to target both good and bad performance in paratransit systems throughout Connecticut. Finally, as this issue affects all elderly and disabled travelers, CCB is currently considering a joint effort with the National Federation of the Blind of Connecticut and other advocacy groups. If this cooperative effort goes forward, we can demonstrate to others in our community that CCB really is making a difference! IT'S ABOUT MOTIVATION! by Marcia Dresser We're proud to announce that CCB has teamed up with CIB/Oak Hill School to bring nationally renowned image consultant Lynn Cooper to Connecticut for an exciting, informative seminar on Saturday, March 27. Funding for this seminar was made possible through a very generous grant obtained by Oak Hill School. CCB is assisting with mailing, phone support, brailling Lynn's materials, and travel arrangements. If all goes well, CCB could earn up to $600, depending on expenses. Regardless of the monetary gain, this is an excellent opportunity for us to have our name in lights. Many of you have already received the flyer from Oak Hill. For those not on Oak Hill's mailing list, look for your flyer in the envelope with this newsletter. If you haven't received a flyer, please contact us at CCB's toll-free number. Lynn is a dynamic and inspiring speaker. I've already made some small changes in my life as a result of her suggestions. If you decide to attend the seminar, I know you'll find it worthwhile and fun. BRAILLE BILL UPDATE by Alice Jackson CCB members Alice Jackson, Marcia Dresser, and David Bates met with members of the NFB of Connecticut, Mary Brunoli, Maureen Carr, Ben Snow, and Mark Tardiff, on January 2, 1999. We worked with the NFB model bill, as well as other bills from other states which had already passed braille bills. We took the best from all of them and will be submitting a braille bill to the current legislature. At present, we have four sponsors: Rep. Richard Tulisano, Sen. Gary LeBeau, Rep. Kevin Ryan, and Sen. John Fonfara, who is a member of the Education Committee. Having a sponsor on this committee is extremely helpful, since the bill must be approved by the Education Committee before it can be brought to the floor of both houses. This is only the beginning! Your help will be needed not only to write to and/or call your representatives, but to provide testimony. The passage of a braille bill is not only important for the future education of children, it is important because we will have accomplished it in cooperation with the NFB of Connecticut. I sincerely hope that we will be able to work together on future projects. BFI AUDIOBOOKS UPDATE by Julian Padowicz The article about Julian Padowicz's audio book, "Cat Lovers Only," which appeared in our last issue, resulted in the purchase of 8 copies by CCB members, and a gain of $59.80 for our treasury. This time, Julian discusses another of his titles, "Who's in Charge Around Here? A Guide to Dealing with the Irate Customer and other Angry and Upset People." * * * Watching a supermarket manager totally mishandle a situation involving an irate customer, it occurred to me to share some people management skills I had acquired during my many years as an industrial filmmaker. My concern over the issue goes back much further than that supermarket incident. As a husband, a father, and a father-in-law, I have been made well aware of the ignorance of most people in the area of handling interpersonal conflict. What I saw and heard that misguided supermarket manager do, I have seen and heard people do many times when confronted with an upset partner, friend, or customer. I realized that the research I had done for some films I made many years ago for a corporate client introduced me to information that could help people deal more constructively with such problems. The key to the whole issue, of course, is that when a person is upset, he or she is in no mood to listen to reason. Anger and frustration are not intellectual attitudes, but unpleasant emotions which must be dealt with before reason and logic can be brought into the picture. Therefore, a sales or service person confronted by an upset customer, or a husband or wife confronted by an angry spouse must allow the other person to express his/her emotion. Mrs. Brown, upset that her new washing machine isn't doing a good job, or a wife angry that her husband is late for dinner for the third time this week, need to express that feeling, and should be given the opportunity before the store manager or husband offers what may be a perfectly reasonable explanation. Acknowledging the validity of the upset person's feeling is a great way to diffuse a potentially dangerous situation. So I sat down and wrote the script for an audio book that explains this principle and illustrates ways to apply it under different circumstances. Because many people find it difficult to stand by while someone accuses them or their product of bad things, I also point out that it is not the person making the most noise who is in command of the situation, but the one who has the flexibility to sit back and give appropriate responses. As a result, I entitled the audio book, "Who's in Charge Around Here?" and then explained what it was all about by adding, "A Guide to Dealing With the Irate Customer and Other Angry and Upset People." This audio book has been praised by both industrial psychologists and family therapists as an effective educational instrument. It runs one hour and twenty minutes and is available, through Marcia Dresser, for $12.95, plus shipping and handling and sales tax. And if you get to Marcia while she still has some left from a convention that she took them to last summer, you may be able to avoid the shipping and handling charge. You may also manage to avoid much future unpleasantness in interpersonal relations. * * * Remember that each time a CCB member purchases one of these audio books or gets a non-member to buy one, that member receives a credit of 15% of the selling price towards another audio book. For further information on this, contact Marcia Dresser at (860) 521-6749. If you live outside the Hartford area, call 1-800-231-3349. CCB NEWSMAKERS Tammy Robbins has just completed home-based training with Icon, her new black Labrador retriever from Freedom Guide Dogs in Cassville, New York. Started by a former Fidelco instructor and his wife, Freedom now provides Connecticut residents the option of training at home with their dog guides. Best of luck, Tammy and Icon! Marcia Dresser has been appointed to the Test Development Committee, sponsored by NLS and APH, which will rewrite the National Literary Braille Competency Test. This test will be designed to assess the skills and knowledge of braille instructors. The committee hopes to complete its work by December, 2000. CCB FALL 1998 CONVENTION SUMMARY The CCB fall, 1998 convention took place the weekend of Friday, October 30 to Sunday, November 1 at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Whitney Avenue in Hamden. We started off at 8:00 P.M. on Friday with a "game night" run by Shirley Phelon. There were several games of Bingo with prizes for the winners, as well as Uno, and plenty of socialization with friends. Snacks were provided, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. At 9:30 A.M. on Saturday, President Marcia Dresser called the meeting to order and asked that a moment of silence be observed in remembrance of Harriet Axelson, a founding member of CCB who had passed away during the summer. Convention Committee Chairman Shirley Phelon thanked her committee for all its hard work. Door prize tickets were distributed, and an ongoing contest was announced. Recording Secretary April Hutchins called the roll, and 28 members were present. Marcia welcomed our guests: Debbie Grubb from the ACB Board of Directors, Joel Zeph, Lori Scharff, and Mike Godino from New York, and Dianne Duhame. The spring 1998 convention minutes were approved as presented in the CCB _Outlook. Nominating Committee Chairman Steve Dresser presented the slate of candidates for CCB officers who will serve for the next two years: President Alice Jackson, First Vice President John Mattioli, Second Vice President Dave Bates, Third Vice President Camille Petrecca, Recording Secretary Cheree Heppe, Corresponding Secretary Bryan McGucken, and Treasurer Roland Soucy. Marcia and Steve said nominations from the floor would be welcome during the elections that afternoon. Marcia thanked the Nominating Committee for its hard work. Marcia asked the standing committee chairmen to report on each committee's activities, and what they'd like to see in the future. Steve Dresser, editor of the _Outlook, said that the newsletter has gotten much bigger in the last two years, and that he would like to have more help in producing the print and large print newsletter. He also said that articles are always welcome. John Mattioli reported that membership has grown 25% during the last four years. He said he would like to do another mass mailing to drum up more members, and asked for help with the hard work involved. Regarding publicity, John said we need to do a better job of distributing brochures. Regarding transportation, Cheree Heppe stated that she will probably be resigning from the advisory committee for the Greater Hartford Transit System due to a conflict in her schedule which would prevent her from attending meetings. Dan Mills said he hadn't been able to attend recent meetings due to his father's illness. Alice Jackson reported that the advisory committee for the Greater New Haven Transit System has not met in months. Cheree Heppe reported that Guide Dog Users of Connecticut has gained a couple of new members. She said GDUCT is working on fundraising ideas, as well as education and public awareness projects. GDUCT Vice President April Hutchins reported that GDUCT was affiliated with Guide Dog Users Inc. during the 1998 ACB convention. Marcia reported on various CCB fundraising projects. She said the candy sale for the Scholarship Fund was very successful, but stressed the need to build up the general CCB fund. She mentioned Kim Soucy's idea of having a dance in the spring, modeled after the old BESB dances. Joel Zeph, from Clever Devices in New York, spoke about a new automated system for announcing bus stops. Mike Godino assisted in the demonstration of the system, which is run by satellite and uses an easily understandable human voice to announce stops. The system is being tested in a few cities around the country. A motion was made, seconded, and carried to leave the format and site of the spring convention up to the Convention Committee. Marcia spoke of a joint project with Oak Hill and probably BESB which would take place in late March. Lynn Cooper, an image consultant, has agreed to put on a day-long seminar for 20 blind and legally blind adults and 20 blind and legally blind teenagers. Ms. Cooper would give a talk in the morning, and after lunch she would meet with half the group at a time while the other half met with a personal shopper from a store such as Filene's. This project would also be a fundraiser for CCB. The membership responded favorably to this idea. Marcia said Oak Hill is working on a grant proposal to pay for all the costs of the seminar. Much of open forum was devoted to a discussion of the proposed CCB benefit dance. Two of the major issues were the amount of work involved, and the cost. After much brainstorming, the membership thought it might be a good idea to have the dance in cooperation with another nonproffit organization to minimize the cost, divide up the work load, and increase attendance. John Mattioli moved that granting of the scholarship be suspended until the scholarship fund contains at least $3,500. After some discussion, the motion carried. Dan Mills was the winner of this year's Distinguished Service Award for his dedication and contributions to CCB. He was presented with a certificate of appreciation, and gave a brief acceptance speech which included a word of thanks to his wife Kathie, who was unable to attend the convention. At 12:30, we broke for lunch. We reconvened at 1:55. Mary Brunoli of the NFB of Connecticut read a proposed braille bill which she had helped to put together. She encouraged CCB and NFB to work together to get the bill passed. [Editor's note: Following Mary Brunoli's presentation, Joseph Courtney, Barbara Kennelly's running mate, visited us briefly. He thanked us for our support, and said that Ms. Kennelly was committed to helping blind people in Connecticut.] Roland Soucy gave the treasurer's report as of Friday, October 30, 1998. The checking account contains $872.80; the savings account contains $3,959.05; the scholarship CD contains $2,031.18. In 1998, we collected $985 in membership dues, and received an endowment check for $500 from Oxford Health Plan. We made $70 on the trip to the New Haven Ravens game, and $126.50 on the trip to see "Titanic." We made $152.97 from the spring convention. We made $750 from the candy sale, which was our biggest fundraiser. By dividing that amount by the number of people who had sold candy, Roland showed that each person made $32.60 for CCB. Roland observed that if all CCB members could have sold that amount, CCB would have made $2,053.80. The treasurer's report was accepted as read. The entire slate of candidates put forth by the Nominating Committee was elected by acclamation, with the exception of Bryan McGucken, who ran for Corresponding Secretary. Jeanne Dugas was nominated from the floor. After brief speeches by both candidates, Bryan McGucken was elected Corresponding Secretary by secret ballot. Our new president Alice Jackson gave a brief speech in which she stated that she was humbled by her election as CCB's president. She said she was excited about the work ahead, and that we most need to concentrate on fundraising and publicity. Dan Mills led us in a round of applause for Marcia and her outgoing administration. Marcia thanked her officers for all of their hard work, and welcomed the new administration. At 3:30, the business meeting adjourned so that GDUCT could meet. During our banquet, which began at 6:00 P.M., Carol Gillispie was announced as the winner of the contest for writing down the most song titles containing a color. After dinner, Debbie Grubb, our guest from the ACB Board of Directors, spoke to us about the braille bill. Debbie is the affiliate liaison for Guide Dog Users Inc., and was instrumental in the passage of Maryland's braille bill. She talked about the importance of using the right language in the bill. She advised us that while it is good to work with other organizations such as the NFB of Connecticut, it is important to make sure we let our voice be heard, and that our input is recognized. Debbie brought along 10 copies of the Maryland law for members to see. At 8:00 P.M. we went our separate ways for the evening. At 9:30 on Sunday morning, Rodney Thompson, a motivational speaker, talked to us about the importance of keeping a positive attitude when it comes to achieving goals. He said each one of us has been given a special gift which is our best quality. He asked everyone to share what they considered to be their best quality. The 1998 CCB fall convention adjourned at 11:30 A.M. Respectfully Submitted, April Hutchins Recording Secretary ======================================== Special thanks to John Mattioli, Marcia Dresser, Alice Jackson, and Julian Padowicz 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 Friday, April 16. 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): Barbara Blejewski, (860) 721-8601 Marcia Dresser, (860) 521-8903 Legislative (Voice-mail box 14): Dave Bates, (860) 257-0602 Membership (Voice-mail box 15): Marcia Dresser, (860) 521-8903 Newsletter (Voice-mail box 13): Steve Dresser, (860) 521-8903 Publicity (Voice-mail box 16): Camille Petrecca, (860) 563-2259 Scholarship (Voice-mail box 17): Laurie Mattioli, (203) 288-7734 Transportation (Voice-mail box 18): No chair at present Ways and Means (fund-raising) (Voice-mail box 19): John Mattioli, (203) 288-7734 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 Alice Jackson is an ex officio member of all committees. CCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Alice Jackson 191 Centerbrook Road Hamden 06518 (203) 281-0676 Voice-mail: box 11 E-mail: alicej@concentric.net First Vice President: John Mattioli 835 Mix Avenue, Apt. L-6 Hamden 06514 (203) 288-7734 E-mail: mattioli@concentric.net Second Vice President: Dave Bates 44 Garden Street Wethersfield 06109 (860) 257-0602 Third Vice President: Camille Petrecca: 2 Tabshey Court Wethersfield, 06109 (860) 563-2259 Treasurer: Roland Soucy 15 Shawnee Road East Hartford 06118 (860) 895-8157 Voice-mail: Box 12 E-mail: Wtrskii@aol.com Recording Secretary: Cheree Heppe 68 Gilman Street Hartford 06114-2536 (860) 296-4922 E-mail: clheppe@ntplx.net Corresponding Secretary: Bryan McGucken 11 Hilside Lane Wallingford, 06492 (203) 265-2452 Immediate Past President: Marcia Dresser 142 Webster Hill Boulevard West Hartford 06107 (860) 521-8903 Board Member at Large: Barbara Blejewski 4 Tabshey Court Wethersfield, CT 06109 (860) 721-8601 Board Member at Large: Tina Ciarciello 966 Silas Deane Highway, Apartment A15 Wethersfield, 06109 (860) 529-8923 GDUCT Representative: Jeanne Dugas 337 Hartford Avenue Wethersfield, 06109 (860) 529-1019 E-mail: jingles@ntplx.net