Blind Coloradoan Blog
September 27, 2022
Writer,
Aggregator: Kevan Worley.
Contributors: Dan Burke & Erin Daley. With assistance from Lisa Bonderson
National Federation Of The Blind Of Colorado, President, Jessica Beecham.
Email, jbbeecham@gmail.com
Here is what you need to know-
Registration is live!
Registration for state convention is open for you. We will be in Greeley together from the afternoon of October 27 thru the morning of October 30. Education, employment, guide dogs, library services, rehabilitation, goal ball, receptions, dance, the arts, a first-rate fundraising auction, door prizes, local chapter reports, technologies, martial arts, entrepreneurship, information for parents and families, communities of faith, spotlight on our Colorado Center for the Blind, and so very much more! All roads lead to Greeley! We welcome each of you to be a part of us. https://nfbco.org/civicrm/event/register?id=4&reset=1 This will be our first state convention presided over by Jessica Beecham. She says she and her team are planning a stellar convention. Dr. Kenneth Jernigan would say it will be a wap dollinger of a convention. Complete conference agenda to be posted soon.
NFBCO 6 Dot Dash, another huge success! State convention on the way. Big doings at the Colorado Center for the Blind and more.
You can tell fall is here. Yes. The mornings are getting cooler. Rainy days are upon us, and the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado is getting busy! Local chapters across the state are conducting public education activities as we celebrate Blindness, Achievement & Equality month in October. Our new Northern Colorado chapter, based in Fort Collins, has begun planning for concerted action to deal with the lack of public transportation options in their area. The chapter hopes to receive a charter of affiliation at the upcoming state convention. The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado put out a call for state convention presentations. We received nineteen proposals! Thus, ensuring some extraordinary and diverse content at the upcoming convention in Greeley, October 27-Sunday morning, October 30. You will not want to miss the convention. Long-time federation leader Ever Lee Hairston, have you read her book, will be our conventions national representative. Hairston is a noted civil rights leader, author, speaker, and grassroots organizer. She marched with Dr. King and will share her story and perspective on the empowering philosophy of the federation during her time with us at the convention. You will want to meet Ever Lee. She is a woman of grace and grit. The above are just a few of the fall happenings. There is much more! Read on!
NFB Colorado Springs Chapter to co-sponsor White Cane Awareness Day Celebration by Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind at Acacia Park
It has become a tradition. Students, staff, and supporters of Colorado's residential school for the blind gather in downtown Colorado Springs at noon to voice the aspirations of blind students and adults. The music and presentations by students and teachers call attention to the white cane as a symbol of safety, independence, school spirit, and a quest for equality of opportunity. This year the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Springs, the Colorado Springs Downtown Lions Club, and Worley Enterprises is proud to serve as sponsors. We cordially invite the community to join us and honor these kids the day before the official White Cane Awareness Day. It is all a part of blind equality achievement month. We call attention to the principal of the blind school Jamie Lugo and her team for their imagination and energy. We thank them for nurturing the up-and-coming generation of people who are blind.
Going once, going twice, SOLD!
We often hear that our annual auction is one of your favorite parts of the convention. In recent years, your auctioneer has been the talented and energetic Maryann Migliorelli. She has gathered up all the items from members and chapters as she auctions the items throughout the convention. Gary Van Dorn, Kevin Kovacs, Lisa Bonderson, and others scurry about the convention hall collecting money. This year Maryann has decided to put her talent and energy elsewhere, leaving me, Kevan Worley, to be the auction chair. Our NFBCO auction is known for high-quality items. So, please, members and chapters, we are looking for your homemade items, donated merchandise, gift certificates, hotel stays, beautiful pieces of jewelry, and more. We know that there will be another Colorado Springs tourist package. We know that our Colorado Association of Blind Merchants president will help us earn some bread by donating one of her fabulous homemade bread baskets. We know that we have some Broncos and Avalanche paraphernalia up for bid. And Julie Nissen is donating an amazing Talnua Whiskey set. It's sure to be one of the highlights. Please contact me for further information at 303-929-2369 or kevan@nfbco.org. Note this is a huge part of our convention fundraising. We are looking for items to be at least $100 in value. The Colorado Center for the Blind students association is working to put together a few things that will be less expensive so that all may join in the fun.
Boo!
From the aggregator: Perhaps you have seen this from Denver Chapter President Blind Coloradan Co-pilot Dan Burke. This is some scary stuff. Read on! If you Dare!
Halloween Fun Fest!
October 15, 2022, at the Colorado Center for the Blind
Hosted by NFB Denver Chapter
Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 15, to join the Denver Chapter at the Colorado Center for the Blind for a Halloween Fun Fest!
We will have a short meeting from 11-12, followed by a spooky and fun-filled party from 12-3!
Costume contest! Come dressed in your best costume for our costume contest! Fun prizes for outstanding kids' costumes and cash prizes for the top adult costumes!
Food treats and pumpkin decorating! Let's not forget tasty food and even better, company to celebrate the season! Apple cider is a must, and we will have trick-or-treating and pumpkin decorating for the little ones and fun games for the grown-up children in the rest of us!
Halloween movie Hocus Pocus!
We will also have a Hocus Pocus screening during the party to put a spell on die-hard fans of the season.
Please RSVP to Erin Daley at daleyem@gmail.com by October 8 so that we can get a headcount. You don't want to miss this afternoon of fun with your federation friends and family!
Preservation of Historical Documents Project By Peggy Chong
From the aggregator: It's important that we call this to everyone's attention. For some, history is dry and daunting, but for many, history is exciting. One of the most exciting projects this affiliate has ever taken on is our Preservation of Historical Documents. The project has been led with earnestness by "the blind history lady" Peggy Chong. She has had the imagination and commitment to put together and lead an amazing group of volunteers sifting through documents, boxes, and piles. Finding ways to make these materials legible and organized is a task I can't imagine. But they have done it. As we contemplate a national museum in Baltimore highlighting the civil rights struggle of blind Americans through our stories in a completely accessible and interactive way, we can celebrate the work being accomplished by Peggy and her team. Here is what Peggy says about an upcoming celebration.
October 14, 2022, 4-6 pm.
National Federation of the Blind of Colorado celebrates Preservation of Historical Documents Project
Colorado Center for the Blind at 2233 W. Shepperd Ave. Littleton
A celebration of the National Federation of the Blind of Colorado's efforts to preserve long-forgotten records and memorabilia found in the basement of the Colorado Center for the Blind after a leaky pipe burst has been completed.
Records of the history of blind activities in Colorado, dating back to 1915, have been saved for anyone to read, research, and learn of the real-life stories of the blind in Colorado. More importantly, they are accessible to the blind!
Even in "Special Collections," this compilation of minutes, news articles, publications, and assorted files are unique. Nowhere is such a collection available documenting any disability group and its members. Organizational material from the United Workers for the Blind, The Colorado Federation of the Blind, The Denver Area Association for the Blind, and The National Federation of the Blind, are represented in this collection. News articles highlighting employment, special events, laws, and more weave a history of the struggles and triumphs of blind individuals and as a whole.
Through the Colorado Virtual Library and the Plains to Peaks Collective Service Hub, (PPC) of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), established to bring together the unique digital collections of the cultural heritage organizations within the states of Colorado and Wyoming, our blind history is preserved and readily accessible to all, including the blind! The DPLA website is a portal that allows visitors to discover and then go directly to the digital collection of the history of the Blind of Colorado.
Join us on October 14 to celebrate as we honor the dozens of volunteers who made this possible. Colorado Representative David Ortiz will address the group on the importance of knowing our history in the disability community. A gift of our collection will be presented to Nichole Chrissis of the Jacobus ten Broek Library in Baltimore, Maryland.
Tours of the Colorado Center for the Blind will be available at 3 pm. Please RSVP for your tour.
For more information, contact.
Peggy Chong
303-745-0473
Colorado Center for the Blind youth fall actives underway
From the aggregator: Anahit LaBarre directs our youth activities. She has truly done a fantastic job over this past year. From time to time, I receive a newsletter from her highlighting the program's accomplishments and upcoming activities. Here is one of the upcoming activities our families and blind kiddos should know about. I wish I could go with them.
A Day at NCAR in Boulder!
We're heading for the hills, or at least the foothills of Boulder, on Saturday, October 8, to learn about the atmosphere, weather, and climate at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR. NCAR's educational staff is putting together a program with tactile materials so our students can explore and learn more about our climate, the changes it is undergoing, and what we can do about it. We will be in touch with exact details and a sign-up link.
Tech tips by Curtis Chong
From the aggregator: we frequently feature tech tips from our guru Curtis Chong. We were happy to receive this note just before posting this blog.
Drafts have been a feature in the iOS Mail app for a while, but many users aren't aware of this hidden gem. The feature (like its macOS Mail counterpart) allows users to stop composing an email, save it, and then return to the message later to send it. Let's see what's involved in using the drafts feature in all versions of iOS.
First, compose an email by performing these steps.
1. Open Mail.
2. Select (double tap for VoiceOver users) the Compose button.
3. Start to fill out the subject and body of the message.
4. To save the message as a draft, tap (double tap for VoiceOver users) the Cancel button, and then tap (double tap for VoiceOver users) Save Draft in the pop-up that appears. The message will disappear, but it will be saved in the Drafts folder.
To open a saved draft, tap and hold (single-finger triple tap for VoiceOver users) on the new message's Compose button in the toolbar (the same one you tapped to create a new message). A Drafts pop-up will appear.
In this view, you will see a listing of all available drafts that can be continued. To continue a draft, tap it (VoiceOver users, double tap it), and a new Compose view will open that has all of the message details filled in as you left them when saving. When you're finished composing the draft, select (double tap on) the Send button as normal to send the message to the recipient.
NFBCO 6 Dot Dash, another successful NFBCO event.
From the aggregator: First! And definitely, foremost, a huge thank you to all those who participated in any way in support of our 5th annual dash! The staff and students at CCB and our planning and operations crew had a busy afternoon on September 9 before our September 10 dash. The forecasters said the rains were coming, and indeed they did. NFBCO president Jessica Beecham and her crew decided to move all activities indoors except for the dash itself. We are so fortunate to have this fantastic facility. By the morning of the race, everything had been reorganized. The marshalls were on the course. The food truck was on its way. The puppy kissing booth sponsored by Guiding Eyes was open. Volunteers were arriving. The donated beverages and snacks were on tables. Exhibitors were set to exhibit products and services. People were registering and picking up their race packets.
There was high energy and camaraderie in the air. Opening ceremonies we held in the CCB lunchroom. Later that morning, the blind beer tasting with products donated by our friends at Breckenridge Brewery would begin. At 8:45, state representative David Ortiz addressed the assemblage. After David’s inspiring remarks, many headed outside to a misty morning for the start of the dash. The weather may have been poor, but the federation's philosophy and spirit of volunteerism were rich with excitement and possibility. I am told we plan to have another NFBCO 6 Dot Dash next year. By the way, the food truck had amazing burritos, tacos, and fiesta fries. And the helpings were huge!
Stepping into Greatness by Gail Hamilton
From the aggregator: Gail Hamilton is a member of our federation and active in our Colorado Association of Guide Dog Users. She is an author, speaker, and blogger. We thought you might be interested in Gail's latest blog.
Stepping into Your Greatness
This week, my marketer/publisher asked me if I was all in and willing to step into my Greatness. This got me thinking. Before I can Soar into my Greatness or ask you to soar into your Greatness, we have to be willing to take one step into our Greatness. And what keeps us from taking that step is fear.
• Fear of the unknown
• Fear of success
• Fear of failing
• Fear of not knowing how
• Fear of high expectations
• Fear of low expectations
• Fear of anything.
How do we face that fear/step into our Greatness? At the end of the day, we have to take action. However, at least for me, before I can get to that step, I have to ensure I'm in alignment with my Self/spirit and have an attitude of gratitude. If not, I may need to go back and tweak one of these areas.
My best way of tweaking is journaling, praying, walking, exercising, and meditating. By indulging in self-care practices, getting clear on who I am, and keeping focused on my dreams and goals—not the negativity or expectations of others—I can do what Mine to do with joy and ease.
What about you?
How are you stepping into your Greatness?
Are you "all in" with your dreams?
If not, what's stopping you from stepping into them?
In her book Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting, Lynn Grabhorn says something to the effect that you have to "want your dream, feel your dream, and believe that your dream will come true," and I always add you must live your dream.
To want your dream, you have to know what you don't want.
To feel your dream, you have to be able to imagine it.
To believe your dream will come true, you must have faith in something bigger.
And, to live your dream, you have to be willing to move, step, and take action.
Are you ready to step, soar, and take action?
I'm challenging you to let go of your fear. Bless it for being there, release it from your heart, and forgive yourself for judging you. Everything is as it should be. Everything is in divine order. This is just a gentle reminder that you were born for a purpose full of light and promise. Use that twinge of fear as a message that this is what you're supposed to do. Then, instead of fretting or analyzing, step up, step out, and step into your Greatness. In this way, you will change the way you see and change the way you live.
Inspired by Gail's Posts?
Gail is a powerful international motivational speaker, trainer, and author. She guides and inspires audiences to recognize and shed their fears so they too can soar into their Greatness. Gail is available for keynote presentations, concurrent sessions, workshops, and retreats.
