The first conference call for the proposed affiliate for diabetics was held on Jan. 12, 2005. There were about 16 people on the call. We went over the proposed constitution drawn up by ACB president Chris Gray. We decided to call the affiliate the American Council of the Blind Diabetics in Action (ACBDA). The final draft of the constitution was completed after the lengthy call.
ACBDA officers are: Dee Clayton, president; Patricia Wolf, first vice president; Steve Heesen, second vice president; Alice Ritchhart, secretary; and Jeff Bishop, treasurer. It was also decided that as we are planning this new affiliate, we will have a monthly conference call to discuss issues concerning the convention, i.e. meeting times, agendas, fund raising, membership and the many other items that comprise the founding of a new affiliate.
If you are interested in joining this new educational, informative affiliate, please send a check for $10 to Jeff Bishop at 1631 W. Maplewood Dr., Tucson, AZ 85746-3238. The charter for our new affiliate will be given at the ACB convention this July. The more members, the better!
The convention committee needs ideas for door prizes as well as actual door prizes for the 2005 Guide Dog Users, Inc. convention which will take place in Las Vegas. Please send any ideas that dogs would appreciate or blind people would enjoy. I will need the following information to contact the companies that make these products: the company's name, telephone number, web site, mailing address, e-mail address, contact name, and the amount the prizes are worth. You can send either the information or the prize to 2005 GDUI Door Prizes, c/o Jeff Lukacsena, 3905 Gun Club Road, Murrysville, PA 15668; e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]; call my cell phone, (412) 558-0229, or my home phone, (724) 325-1127.
All prizes must be in my hands no later than June 27, 2005. Please help make the 2005 GDUI convention a howl of a time for both the four-legged and two-legged friends. Anyone who submits a door prize will receive a federal income tax form to use to file for your 2005 income taxes.
It is time once again for the spring romp! The romp will be held the weekend of June 17 at Lewis & Clark College.
The registration fee includes Friday and Saturday accommodations, all meals on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. Don't be left out. For more information, or to receive a registration packet, contact Jan Chance at (541) 883-8227, or by e-mail, [email protected].
For more information about Guide Dog Users of Oregon, visit www.gduo.org.
We of Blind Information Technology Specialists (BITS), an ACB affiliate, are inviting you to become a member of our great organization. Our membership includes those using computer technology to enhance our lives, from highly qualified hardware and software developers and specialists to those using a PC simply as a tool to enhance our competency in daily work and play.
Our goal is equal accessibility for visually impaired persons to all facets of computer technology. In that vein, we need hard-working members to help us in our advocacy and/or to contribute technical expertise to advance our goals and to contribute technical articles to our newsletter. BITS has an e-mail list ([email protected]) and a chat room on www.for-the-people.com where we also meet formally on Saturday nights at 8 Eastern to discuss computer technology or even just to chat about the non-technical. We have had several directed chat rooms on topics of interest. We have a quarterly newsletter, "Bytes from BITS," containing equipment reviews and technical articles. BITS has an outstanding technical program of training and information each year at the ACB national convention, and awards the Kellie Cannon scholarship to a worthy student each year. To learn more about BITS, visit our web page, www.acb.org/bits.
For those of you interested, dues are $10-student, $15-non-voting associate, $25-full voting member, all on a fiscal year of July 1 to June 30. We would like to have you as a member. For more membership information, visit our web site, www.acb.org/bits, or contact treasurer Mary Abramson, 0 N 032 Ambleside Dr. #2402, Winfield, IL 60190-1904; phone (630) 231-5332, or e-mail [email protected]. Or contact Robert R. Rogers, BITS president, (513) 921-3186, e-mail [email protected]. When contacting us privately by e-mail, use the subject line of "bits information-comments."