NFB of Maine News Matters for June, 2012
Vol.2 Issue 6
June 21, 2012
editor: Patricia E. C. Estes, Affiliate President
Getting ready for the 2012 NFB National Convention and more!
On June 21st, we had another very productive and fun meeting of our Lighthouse At Large Chapter of the NFB of Maine by conference call. Be watching for Secretary Dorothy's minutes to really fill you in, if you missed it, or to remind you if you were present. I would like to thank Walter for chairing the meeting and next month the rotation to chair falls to roger or Leon on the third Thursday of July from seven to eight in the evening. Dorothy Woitesek will get the chapter meeting information out as it approaches.
We had eight in attendance on our Lighthouse Chapter call, with a couple of people on the board needing to be excused due to unusual circumstances.
There are two items to be focused on for right now:
*Skip and I and Roger Cusson will be leaving this Friday for the National Convention in Dallas for a week. Our Board meeting therefore, will be the second Thursday in July by conference call. I think that some of convention will be streamed and perhaps Roger could fill us in on that so those back here in Maine could pick up on a bit of the excitement!
*THE BETA PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS is coming right up on Saturday, August 11, in Auburn at the Fireside Inn. It is free to attend and there will be juice and muffins beginning at eight and a sandwich buffet for lunch. Please contact the students of any age that you know and share this information with them. This BETA Program is not an NFB program, but is open to everyone, much like our Open to All Calls were. Our objective is to meet the students in Maine, get them together and then have regular and fun activities that will assist them with confidence and hope for their future. I will know more about just what the day will hold as we get students telling me what they would like to do/learn at a day like this. Garrick Scott from Georgia is great with the youth of all ages and we have an accomplished eight year old boy as well as a Masters student in her twenties attending. We have others who have not, yet, attended college or training program for blindness skills and we also encourage you to join us to mentor and to be inspired to move forward in your own lives! So...PLEASE call or give the contact info to either Leon or myself so that we can talk with the students. Garrick is ready to speak with them, their parents and any others who run programs for the students in Maine. Garrick can explain this best and his enthusiasm for successful blind students with a positive mindset is so very contagious! Here's where we can begin to change what it means to be blind in Maine! (The BETA Program for Students will be a continuing activity in Maine and Garrick Scott will train us about what comes next in order to accomplish this on Sunday morning.)
Please contact me or Leon Proctor with any questions and especially if you have the name of a student or parent you would like us to reach out to or if you would like to speak with Garrick Scott, yourself.
Thank you all for helping us to do more than just "warehouse" our blind students in Maine-
Patricia C. Estes
President
NFB of Maine
207 344 8292