Chapter News
by Alan BentsonOur chapter began the year with 31 members. Our Christmas party was a tasty event thanks to our caterer, Jackie Cabrera. In January, Adam Sullivan spoke to us about a martial arts self-defense class being offered to blind people in our area. The Audible Signal Committee is working with the City of Olympia to obtain grants to place audible signals around Olympia and replace some older bird sound signals with voice. Congratulations to Rich and Anna Dirk who are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary and to Dan and Kathy Matsen who are celebrating their 25th. We welcome Howard Ferguson back from Arizona and wish Shirley Atwater and Dotty Simonsen a great time during their extended stay in the same state.
We meet monthly at Ramblin Jacks restaurant in downtown Olympia. As of May 21, meetings will begin at 11:30 a.m. giving members and guests time to chat and enjoy their lunch prior to the start our business session at 12:15 p.m. View proceedings of past CCCB meetings on our chapter minutes page.
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Saturday, August 20, noon
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CCCB annual summer picnic at
LBA Park in southeast Olympia
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Friday,
Saturday & Sunday, September
9-11
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CCCB Candy
Sale at Lacey Fred Meyer, Ralph's Thriftway and Bayview Thriftway
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Saturday, September
17, 11:30 a.m.
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CCCB chapter meeting
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Friday,
Saturday & Sunday, September
23-25,
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CCCB Candy
Sale at Lacey Fred Meyer, Ralph's Thriftway and Bayview Thriftway
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Saturday, September 30
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ACB Fall Board Meeting at the Galt House Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky
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Saturday, October
15, 11:30 a.m.
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CCCB chapter meeting
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Saturday, October 15, immediately following the chapter meeting
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CCCB computer club meeting
Check our calendar page for more CCCB event dates, times and locations.
From the President's Desk
by Denise ColleyIn January, I began my final year as your WCB president, and this caused me to reflect on our accomplishments as an organization over the past three years. In 2008, the production of our WCB NEWSLINE went completely electronic, to include the editing of all article submissions. That same year our state membership reached an all-time high of 462 members. We were victorious in getting the supplemental budget request for the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) into the governor’s budget, as well as those of both the house and senate. And, in July, we witnessed the successful transfer of WTBBL from the City of Seattle to the Washington State Library. In 2009, I established my version of Office Hours, with calls being held on a quarterly basis. Board members have joined me on each call and our participation has grown from one to about nine. Topics discussed have included everything from the shortage of teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility instruction to happenings at the American Council of the Blind (ACB) Convention and growing our membership and getting them more involved on a state and local level. After experiencing some major issues with our website, a website oversight committee was appointed and our website was rebuilt and redesigned. It has a new look and feel and is a site we can all be very proud of. On the legislative front we were victorious in getting the Department of Services for the Blind to rethink and reverse their decision to close the residential apartments which are a part of the Orientation and Training Center. This was one of the proposals first presented to us by the department as part of making a major shift in the way services are being provided in order to meet budgetary constraints. In 2010, as part of balancing the state’s 2.6 billion dollar budget deficit, the governor proposed a restructuring and streamlining of state government. Contained in this streamlining proposal was the elimination of the Department of Services for the Blind as a separate state agency and transferring the Washington State School for the Blind to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The result of all this was a whirlwind of activity to include the development and distribution of informational fact sheets, visits to legislators, phone calls, emails, meetings with the governor’s policy staff, and testifying at town meetings and hearings. Neither of the two bills regarding these transfers came out of their respective committees. As winter nears an end, here’s hoping that spring brings each of us a renewed sense of commitment and a rebirth of energy to the work at hand.
Getting Around Our WebsiteAt the bottom of each web page a navigation bar links you to information about our chapter and its officers and committees, upcoming chapter events, meetings, links to helpful and interesting community resources, fundraising efforts, chapter documents including the constitution and bylaws, website policies including our privacy policy, contact information, and finally a site map listing all our pages with an option to search the text of the entire website.
Go to our In the Media page to find out what is happening in the blindness community.
Car donations are fast and easy with the WCB Vehicle Donation Program.
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![[Blind & VI Web Ring]](http://www.viguide.com/images/bvi1.gif)
