THE WHITE CANE BULLETIN Florida Council of The Blind, Inc. July – August 2019 Articles for the White Cane Bulletin must be submitted to Greg Lindberg no later than the 15th of the month before it is published. Greg’s email is: glindberg@gmail.com If you do not have access to a computer and email, please find someone in your chapter to help you. We want to hear from anyone who wants to contribute to our newsletter, so if you cannot find a way to submit your article, call Greg and he will be glad to assist you. Articles published in The White Cane Bulletin are in compliance with Public Law No. 104197, Copyright Law Amendment of 1996. This law allows authorized entities to distribute copies of previously published non-dramatic literary works in specialized formats, including Braille, audio or digital text that are exclusively for use by Blind people or those with disabilities. Any further distributing of such articles in another than a specialized format is an infringement of copyright. Those much-needed contributions, which are Tax-deductible, can be sent to the Florida Council of the Blind Treasurer, Mark Lear, at 708 Kristina Court, Port Orange, FL 32127. To remember the Florida Council of the Blind in your Last Will and Testament, you may include a special paragraph for that purpose in your Will or Trust. If your wishes are complex, please contact the FCB at 800-267-4448. The FCB is a 501(c)(3) organization. For other ways to support the Florida Council of the Blind, visit our Fundraising page found at www.fcb.org. ARE YOU MOVING? – Sally Benjamin If you are moving, please notify me of your new address so you will continue to receive your White Cane Bulletin. Also, if you know of anyone interested in joining FCB and who would like to receive the White Cane Bulletin and the Braille Forum, please contact me at: (850) 980-0205 or E-mail: salbenjamin@comcast.net TABLE OF CONTENTS President’s Message by Sheila Young … 4 2019 FCB State Awards by Shelley Sawyer … 5 From Recipient to Host: A Story of Growth and Success by Gabriel Lopez Kafati … 6 CCTB Update by Patricia Lipovsky … 7 GOCB Update by Martha James … 8 Mumbles from Miami by Paul Edwards … 8 Sarasota Council Update by Karen Christie … 10 Labor Day Weekend Blind Bowling Tournament by Kati Lear … 10 NFB and ACB Conventions by Anne Mauro … 11 Q&A with Nicholas McNeill by Greg Lindberg … 12 Eyes Wide Open by Cachet Wells … 14 Braille Stories by Charles Kercher … 15 Tech Corner by John Richards … 17 Poetry Corner by Shelley Sawyer … 17 This and That by Greg Lindberg … 18 FCB Officers, 2018 – 2020 … 10 2018-2020 FCB Chapter and Special Affiliate Officer Liaisons … 20 Handy Telephone Number References … 23 *** President’s Message July-August 2019 By Sheila Young Dear members and friends, It has been a full year, a very busy one at that, since I wrote my first message as president of FCB. If you weren’t able to attend the recent state convention in Orlando, I will give you a short synopsis of what we have done as an organization: Your Executive committee has been working very hard to assist any chapters with their individual needs, and I must say they have been doing a great job! If your chapter still has issues and we have not addressed them, please reach out to your officer liaison. (Their contact info is at the end of this publication.) Our organization was very well represented in St. Louis last year, and we are looking forward to doing the same in Rochester this year at the ACB National Conference and Convention. We voted to support our own Dan Spoone and wish him the best of luck in his pursuit of the office of ACB president. His home affiliate will be there to support him now and throughout his term! We also have been working to finalize the agreement with Charter thanks to the hard work and dedication of our member from Pinellas, Doug Towne. Of course, you have heard what an awesome presence we had in Washington, D.C. to walk in support of legislative efforts for the visually impaired community, and I do hope some new members will apply to be selected to attend next year. It is an awe-inspiring meeting and very educational when it comes to all issues involving blind and visually impaired persons. Our efforts toward accessible voting have once again been successful thanks to those who have worked so hard on this issue, in particular the Tallahassee Council of the Blind, and truly without the support of Jim Kracht, we would not have had such a great result! I felt our state convention was well attended, and thanks to your hotel coordinator, Mikey Wiseman and the Convention committee (Sally Benjamin, Debbie Grubb, Wanda Stokley, and many others) as well as our host chapter, GOCB, it could not have been much better! If I didn’t mention your name, please forgive me, but you know who you are and what you did! It certainly takes all of us to make it run smoothly! I did receive a few ideas after the convention, and please know I am here to listen to ideas and suggestions to make things better, even constructive criticism. We know we all aren’t perfect, and as your organization, we want to present workshops you will be interested in and will want to attend. We will be starting to plan for next year, so if there is something you feel needs to be made a priority, or if there is a topic you wish to have addressed, please feel free to contact me. I will be in need of a few new chairpersons, so if there is something you wish to contribute to, please also contact me. I am officially retiring from my day job on June 26th, and I have to say I don’t know how anyone does this job efficiently while being employed! Please remember that I am only a phone call or e-mail away. I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful and safe summer and hope to see you in Orlando for our midyear board meeting! Sincerely, Sheila Young, FCB president Sheilayoung125@att.net 407-425-9200 (home) 321-663-8893 (cell) *** 2019 FCB State Awards By Shelley Sawyer At this year’s state convention, the FCB Awards committee was pleased and proud to recognize several valuable FCB members and community advocates. The Awards committee members for this year were Shelley Sawyer, Cassandra Jessie, and Gabriel Lopez-Kafati. The committee would like to thank those people who took the time to nominate these well-qualified individuals. The 2019 award recipients certainly embody the spirit of the Florida Council of the Blind. In addition to 14 chapter and special interest affiliate awards, submitted by appreciative affiliates, five state awards, all named in honor of former leaders and advocates for the independence of blind and visually impaired persons, as well as two special presidential awards were presented. This year, the Cooke chapter president’s award was presented to Leslie Spoone. The Dolly Gamble Award was received by Paul Edwards. Bill Freeman was awarded the Just Bill award. The R. Henry P. Johnson Award was presented to Paul Lewis. Jim Kracht received the W. A. Ouzts award. Our president, Sheila Young, presented special president’s awards to Patti Cordell and Debbie Grubb for their hard work, dedication, and the special assistance she has received from both of them. The new chair, Cassandra Jessie, along with Gabriel Lopez-Kafati and the newest committee member, Barbara Brown, will be accepting award nominations for next year. Those much-appreciated individuals will be honored at the 2020 state convention in Maitland. Remember, the deadline to nominate people who deserve recognition will be announced by the committee. If you know of and appreciate someone who has provided outstanding service to people who are blind, please nominate him or her so we can all share in the recognition of that person at our next FCB awards banquet. It was my honor and pleasure to serve on the Awards Committee for the past three years. I wish to thank Cassandra Jessie and Gabriel Lopez-Kafati for their assistance this past year and to Sheila Young and Jason Goldfield for working with me and teaching me how the committee works. It was a learning experience and a lot of fun as well. *** From Recipient to Host: A Story of Growth and Success By Gabriel Lopez Kafati, Education and Leadership committee chair It was May of 2013 when I attended my first convention of the Florida Council of the Blind (FCB) in Orlando. I was invited as one of FCB’s scholarship recipients. That was a year of several milestones in my life. I had recently completed the first year toward my MBA. I was awarded FCB’s Teresa Blessing Scholarship, and I was getting ready to attend Guiding Eyes where I would be matched with my beautiful and smart guide dog, Posh. Being an FCB scholarship recipient brought me into the FCB family. The connections I made, the advice I received, and the support I got were all essential elements that helped me secure my success in every aspect of my life. I quickly became involved within the structure of the organization, not only as a way to give back, but also as a way to have a platform from which I could spread the word and let others know that this was a support system they would not want to miss. Chief among my involvement with FCB was the opportunity I received to serve on the Education and Leadership Committee. Fast-forward to May of 2018 when newly elected FCB president, Sheila Young appointed me to Chair the Education and Leadership committee. Having served on the Committee under Sheila’s own direction, I had an understanding of FCB’s scholarship program. Now, I was faced with the honor and challenge of directing FCB’s efforts towards attracting, selecting, celebrating, and engaging the students who would become our scholarship recipients for the following couple of years. The process of advertising our four scholarships was exciting and filled me with anticipation. Receiving so many stunning applications filled me with joy. Now, the mere thought of having to select one out of so many well-deserving applicants per scholarship terrified me. We received an impressive number of inspiring applications. This was sure to make our selection process a daunting task. Fortunately, my committee is formed by such bright and diverse individuals, all of whom were actively present during our selection process. The decisions were not easy, but after much deliberation, the Education and Leadership committee selected three bright students who promise to bring much to our organization. Ms. Florela Francois from Miami was awarded our Gayle M. Krause-Edwards Scholarship. An immigrant from Haiti, Florela has learned the English language to the point to which she volunteers as a translator in her local church. She maintains an impressive GPA while she works towards a dual degree in human services and social work. Ms. Amanda Lannan from Orlando was awarded our Teresa Blessing Scholarship. A devoted mother and wife, Amanda has worked as a teacher of the vision impaired and is currently completing her Ph.D. in special education. Mr. Brandon Butzberger from West Palm Beach was awarded our Timothy Turpin Scholarship. At his young age, Brandon maintained a stellar level in his high school and college-level courses, all while helping other students as a tutor and getting ready to start his path toward his degree in clinical psychology. Co-hosting the awards banquet this past May in Orlando was an exhilarating experience. Getting the chance to be able to meet with each scholarship recipient and introduce them to the FCB family took me back to 2013 when I was in their place. On the emotional side of things, I was full of excitement to share with our recipients how proud I was of hosting them, and how much I wish that they will receive everything I have received and continue to receive from FCB, and even more. On the logistical side of things, I was so fortunate to rely on a committee and an organization, both of which always had my back. As I look forward to another year as Chair of the Education and Leadership Committee, I have to keep looking back at the growth FCB has fostered in me. From being a scholarship recipient to becoming the Chair of the very own committee that gave me that first opportunity fills me with immense feelings of humility and pride all together. At the same time, I have to look into the future. As much as I am enjoying my spot within my committee, I can’t wait until the time in which one of our talented recipients of 2019 will lead FCB’s scholarship program. In closing, I want to congratulate our scholarship recipients of 2019. I want to urge others to apply for 2020. And, most importantly, I want to remind past and future recipients that FCB is a welcoming family full of opportunities for all of us. *** CCTB Update By Patricia Lipovsky Hi, all, This year at our state convention, the Coalition and Concerns of the Totally Blind (CCTB) had its elections. I’m very excited to bring you up to date on who the new officers are. They are as follows: President, Patricia A. Lipovsky Vice President, Sherry Molengraft Membership Secretary, Annely Rose Recording Secretary, Irene Hewett Treasurer, Barbara Brown For those who may not be familiar with this affiliate, as I know we have some new members, I would like to take a moment to tell you a little about us and what we do. Our primary focus is folks with no usable vision or who are totally blind. However, anyone interested in blindness is welcome to join. Our mission is to help improve the success of people who are totally blind, or who have no usable vision, through support and collective efforts to ensure equal opportunity and accessibility to programs and services throughout the state of Florida. We have quarterly conference calls on which various topics are discussed, projects are planned, and ideas and questions are shared. We also meet once a year in person at the Florida Council of the Blind state convention where we generally have a speaker, give away prizes, and get to know each other. If you would like more information, would like to join, or would like to sit in on one of our conference calls to see what we are all about, please feel free to contact me by phone at (386) 255-0288 or by e-mail at plipovsky@cfl.rr.com. Thank you. Remember, blindness is not the end of the world, but an adjustment to daily living where creativity and a positive attitude play an important role. *** GOCB Update By Martha James the annual FCB state convention was very successful, being held from May 16 to May 19 in Orlando. We look forward to a lot of good things to come, as the convention will be held in the Orlando area (Maitland) again next year. On June 1, the chapter's annual awards and scholarship luncheon was held at Red Lobster. There were no scholarships awarded this year. There were two chapter awards that were given. One went to Jim Brooks and the other went to Norma Mendez. GOCB will hold its next business meeting in September. However, we will get together over the summer socially. We have a pool party planned for August 3 at the home of Gary Sinclair. Thanks, once again, Gary, for opening your lovely home to us. In addition, for those with computer access, GOCB is on Facebook. You can find us on Facebook by typing in "GOCB." *** Mumbles From Miami Not Enough Time, Part 2: Podcasting with the Victor Reader Stream By Paul Edwards In my last article, I explained what podcasts are and suggested they are a wonderful resource for people who are blind. I also indicated that there are a huge number of podcatcher programs out there which can be downloaded for your computer or for your phone. This makes it difficult to provide specific instructions for your phone or your computer. I decided that it would make sense to talk about accessing podcasts using the Victor Reader Stream. In general, other devices and applications will use some of the same principles that the Stream uses so that by choosing one device, I can highlight some of the general principles of accessing podcasts. I am going to assume that you know how to use your Stream and will spend no time describing the Stream. What I am about to describe applies to the Victor Reader Stream Second Generation and the Victor Reader Trek. These devices have the same controls and operate in exactly the same way. To access podcasts, you must be connected to the Internet. Again, how you do that is beyond the scope of this article. Use the round button in the center at the top to get to "online bookshelves." Then use the number one key to get to podcasts. I am going to assume that you are going to podcasts for the first time. In that case, you will get to the place I am going to describe. If you are already subscribed to podcasts, you will be pointed to the last podcast you had accessed. There are three different ways of adding podcasts to your Stream. When you first arrive, your Stream will say "add podcast feed." You must then hit the pound key which we will call enter from now on. Once you press the enter key, you will be at a point where you can choose one of three ways to add podcast feeds. The simplest choice and the one we will discuss first is "browse by category." We will talk about the other two options: "Humanware suggested podcasts" and "title search" in a little while. To move among these three choices, use the 2 and 8 keys, which are the Stream's equivalent of the up and down arrows. When you hear the Stream say: browse by category," press the enter key. If you are at the top of the list, you will hear "arts." Use the down arrow to cycle through the other categories where "technology" is the last one. There are sixteen categories. Let us suppose that you are like me and like the arts. So you press enter on the very first category. You use the 4 and 6 keys, which are the Stream's version of left and right arrows, to choose individual podcasts. I hit the 6 key once and came to "fresh air" and pressed the enter key. (Remember that's the pound key.) Your Stream will probably say "please wait" a couple of times and will then say "you have been subscribed to a new podcast feed." Congratulations, you have successfully added a feed! You can go through the whole list of podcast choices in this category. There are two hundred in each category. This means you will be able to choose from 3,200 choices. There are actually a huge number of choices in each category that are not included. I am a little disappointed that Humanware has set an upper limit of 200, which applies even when you search by title. This is too bad because it means that there are some podcast options you will never see. We will actually get to this when we choose by title. I have a suggestion. After you have chosen two or three podcasts, stop. When you have chosen a podcast, your Stream immediately begins to download episodes. By default, it will download the latest three episodes. You can change that! Remember, your Stream will only download podcasts when the machine is on and connected to Wi-Fi. So, to be sure you get your podcasts, you need to turn your Stream on for a part of each day when you're at home and connected. Depending on the speed of your Wi-Fi, a half hour or so after you have chosen a few podcasts, they should be ready to play. If you use your 1 key to move away from your podcasts and go back, it will take you to the last podcast you selected. The difference now, though, is that your Stream should say let's say: "fresh air, three new episodes." Once you have listened to a podcast, you can and should delete it. To do that, press the 3 key once and the enter key twice. The reason you should have to do this has to do with space. The more podcasts you subscribe to, the more space that three episodes of each take up. If you really love an episode, you can save it to your SD card by pressing the three key twice and then the enter key twice. A second way of getting a podcast is using the title search mode. When you press enter on "title search," you will be asked to enter the name of the podcast you want. You use your keypad just as you used to use your phone keypad to enter text. To make it simple, let's search for "bbc." Hit the two key twice, and then twice again (for two “BB,” then hit the two key three times for “C,” and then press enter. After a while, you should see the first of 200 results. There are actually more than twice that many, but the stream only allows 200. Choose podcasts the same way as you did the last time. The final approach allows you to choose from podcasts chosen by Humanware. By default, you will be shown those chosen for North America. However, you can change that to feeds from the UK or from Australia/New Zealand in the podcast menu where you can also do a number of things which I will not describe in this article. This is not a full account of all you need to know to get the most out of the podcast function on your Stream, but it's close. Podcasts are amazing! Try them! In the next article, I will tell you about some of the podcasts I like and why. *** Sarasota Council Update By Karen Christie Yes, it has certainly been a while since my last write-up for the WCB. The meetings for March and April had no guest speakers. Therefore, they ended quite early, and it was more like a time for everyone to be able to socialize and mingle. May’s meeting was held on the 11th at Applebees. This is usually the meeting where our council would present the scholarships to the recipients, but since no one applied this year, this was more like a meet-and-eat luncheon. After the readings of the minutes from April as well as the Treasurer’s report, we had the whole rest of the time to just enjoy each other’s company as we ate our meals. June’s meeting was held on the 8th at Der Dutchman, a local Amish restaurant. It was rather quiet since there weren’t as many members present, but it was another fun time for socializing. Our July meeting will be held at Gecko’s, and the one for August will be at Red Lobster, but our business meetings will start again in September. I can’t believe it’s June already, and now that the meet-and-eats have begun, we most likely won’t see a lot of our members since many of them go up north for the summer months. If there are any stories in the meantime regarding business within our council, I will report in the next WCB issue about that, but otherwise, I hope everyone has a nice summer, and I’ll look forward to writing once again come September. *** Labor Day Weekend Blind Bowling Tournament By Kati Lear The Daytona Beach Blind Bowlers will be hosting their twentieth Sunshine Invitational Blind Bowling Tournament over the Labor Day weekend from Friday, August 30 through Sunday, September 1, 2019. Friday evening is a meet-and-greet party at the hotel. On Saturday morning, we will bowl the Team event, and on Saturday afternoon, we will bowl a 9-pin No-tap fundraiser. On Saturday evening, we will have a banquet at the hotel. On Sunday morning, we will bowl the Doubles/Singles event. The tournament concludes Sunday evening with a race pool party at the hotel. We will be staying at the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center: 2700 North Atlantic Avenue Daytona Beach, FL 32118 Room rates are $109 plus tax per night. To make a reservation, call 386-672-3770. This hotel is on the beach and is across the street from restaurants, shopping, and Publix. For pricing information and other questions, please call me at 386-788-0463 or email me at kati386@bellsouth.net. *** NFB And ACB Conventions, By Anne Mauro The National Federation of the Blind and the American Council of the Blind are different because each organization has different views and policies. NFB formed in 1940 and was one organization. Some members didn’t like the organization’s policies and left to form the American Council of the Blind in 1960. I was a member of the NFB for a number of years. When I joined ACB, I was told by the president of the NFB chapter that he was suspending my membership. I was upset and thought I could be in any organization I chose. The NFB, which is the largest organization of the blind in the United States, has its national convention each year, and every state has its own state convention. I’ve been to both NFB and ACB conventions. The difference between NFB and ACB conventions is the members. NFB members are very dedicated, as are ACB members. The NFB convention meetings are longer, usually at least two hours for general sessions. The NFB wants its members to be on time for all meetings. ACB general sessions are shorter, and you don’t have to be exactly on time. Plus, people come and go. The NFB has a good exhibit hall, and ACB does as well. Also, the NFB doesn’t have a Friends in Art Showcase talent show or anything similar like ACB does. Plus, ACB broadcasts many of its events at conventions on ACB Radio. NFB doesn’t have an Internet radio station. NFB convention banquets are long. ACB convention banquets are shorter with good guest speakers. The FCB state convention had talking book narrators Jack and Jill Fox as banquet guest speakers. Both NFB and ACB conventions have good auctions. Overall, I prefer going to ACB conventions. *** Q&A with Nicholas McNeill By Greg Lindberg I recently had the chance to catch up with Nicholas McNeill, a 29-year-old member of the Halifax Council of the Blind. Nicholas has made some big strides as one of the younger members of FCB over the past few years, and I wanted to share his story with our readers. Q: Where were you born and where did you grow up? A: I was born in West Palm Beach, FL. I lived in Wisconsin for a few years in my teens but mainly grew up and have lived in Florida ever since. I’m glad to have experienced the major transitions in weather up north but am happy to be living in Florida. Q: What is your visual impairment? A: I was born with ocular albinism and nystagmus. I also have ptosis. This means my eyes are very sensitive to light, and my ability to focus my vision and peripheral vision are affected. One of my eyes is definitely better than the other. My vision has remained pretty stable over time. Q: How did you first learn about FCB and the Halifax chapter? A: I applied for an FCB scholarship in 2013 when I was in college. I was awarded the scholarship and was introduced to the Halifax chapter and FCB. Doug and Nancy Hall were two of the first people I met. They took me under their wing, mentored me, and introduced me to what advocacy is all about. Q: Where did you go to college? A: I earned a bachelor’s degree in photography from the University of Central Florida. I took my classes at the UCF location at Daytona State College. Q: What positions have you held within the Halifax chapter, FCB, and ACB? A: I am currently first vice president of the Halifax chapter. I am a member of the FCB Education and Leadership committee. I also take photos for the council. I’m also a member of the ACB Next Generation committee. Q: You received the DKM First-Timer Award to attend the ACB national convention in St. Louis in 2018. What was that experience like? A: It was an awesome experience. I’d say it was overwhelmingly good. There were 10 paid workshops I attended, along with the workshops as a First-Timer Award winner and some of the free ones. So, I was honestly pretty exhausted by the third day. It was great learning about grassroots efforts for increasing membership to ACB and learning about all the advocacy work going on. I got to meet so many great people and got to talk to some of the scholarship winners. I talked to them about the benefits of joining ACB and why advocacy is so important. Q: How do you think ACB can recruit more younger members? A: I think our organization has to market itself as a more appealing group. I honestly didn’t understand a lot of the acronyms and affiliates within ACB for a while. If we had an image that was more educational and could actually show people the amazing benefits of advocacy work, I think people would realize how powerful it is to be able to make your voice heard and make a difference in the world. This is something I think a lot of younger people just don’t understand. I also think offering giveaways or other incentives to younger people to join our council would help get them more engaged. Q: You attended the ACB legislative seminar and visited Capitol Hill for the first time this past February. What was that experience like? A: It was really cool. I think I enjoyed that trip more than the national convention last year because it was more goal-oriented and gave us the chance to accomplish a lot of advocacy. Walking the halls of Capitol Hill, there was definitely a certain electricity in the air. It was also interesting to see the connectivity between the states and the national reach of ACB. Plus, this was the first time I got to really get to know Debbie Grubb and how much of an advocate she is for FCB. Q: What kind of work have you done professionally? A: I’ve done a lot with photography and taking photos at weddings and other events. I’ve been working with a business plan developer and would like to start a production business focused more on videography. My goal is to produce marketing videos for companies using narrative storytelling. As far as accessibility for this work, I am partial to using Mac computers. I can zoom in on images and videos to manipulate them. I’ve also discovered how I can use a separate larger screen alongside a camera when I’m actually shooting photos and videos to help me see the images better. I’ve identified several accessibility options for this type of work. I also want to mention that I want my work to be seen as an art form rather than being known as a visually impaired photographer or producer. I’d rather my work speak for itself. (You can check out some of his work at www.nicholasmcneill.com) Q: What are your hobbies? A: I enjoy traveling, fishing, hunting, camping, and outdoor activities in general. I’ve also been into woodworking and carpentry. I built a raised deck out of lumber behind the patio of our house. I’ve also created birdhouses, entertainment centers, and other more decorative items. I’ve considered starting a nonprofit for people with disabilities to learn woodworking skills so they could actually design and create small projects. I think it could be very empowering. *** Eyes wide open By Cachet Wells They say that where there is passion, there is also the potential for change. When a person becomes passionate about something that they love, a spark ignites to make everything around it better. We are in a season where it is not time for us to now just flicker on, but to be a beam of hope and life –one that is filled with independence of self and confidence in self in a world that should be accessible to everyone. So many have found that ray of sunshine in newly acquired chapter and affiliate friendships, skills acquire through vocational rehab, Braille and low vision aids, but there are so many others awaiting. Those that are looking to find a place to belong, a place with like-minded and differently abled persons and a place that they can make a difference for themselves and those who are blind or visually impaired. I enjoy the valuable information, tools, and resources that are shared at the local level and at the state convention, but I leave wanting more. We can't afford to say "We've made it" when there is so much more to be done and accomplished. How can we bridge the gap between awareness and membership, information and interaction, fellowship and fun to bring a higher level of attention to our cause? We must become more engaging and appealing to those under the age of 50 who will make joining us inviting to them. If we don't present ourselves as an organization that is concerned with the total person, then we will not become relevant until their level of impairment changes. We should desire to be a community of individuals that are inviting to others not just as a resource for help, but a resource to get involved in as a volunteer. What is it that makes you stand out? How can you encourage someone else to get involved with your local chapter's mission and vision to increase membership and community involvement? Don't sit back and hold onto your inabilities an think that they will carry you where you desire to be. If you want to bring awareness through advocacy, start by changing your mindset. When you are equipped with the necessary tools and support, you can bring change to the community of blindness that will draw others to inquire and get involved in our local chapters and state gatherings. We are a very active group of individuals and that should be represented in everything that we do. Let us do more to include the younger demographic of individuals now. This will allow us to teach them through our successes and failures that work or don’t work for us. To be there to guide them along the way to an innovative new outlook that may be more enthusiastic and appealing to those of all ages. Let us be a bridge that can pour into them the wealth of information and knowledge we've learned along the way that will always continue to increase membership and our identity in our communities globally. *** Braille Stories By Charles Kercher Editor’s Note: The following two stories were written by FCB member Charles Kercher of the Manatee County Council of the Blind for a Braille class he was taking at the Lighthouse of Manasota. With my deepest regret, I am saddened to inform our readers that Charles passed away on May 20, 2019. His wife of 44 years, Liz, was kind enough to share the tribute to Charles, which follows his two stories. On behalf of FCB, I’d like to send our deepest condolences to Liz and the Kercher family. Going from Wyoming to Michigan I was ten years old. My parents were divorcing. It had been decided that, along with my three-year-old brother, I would be taken to Michigan to live with my father's parents. My freckled-cannonball brother and I climbed into my father's 1937 Ford. We were accompanied by our bubblegum-chewing Fox terrier by the name of George. All of us were in the front seat along with my father. I have memories of long two-lane highways and houses with rooms for rent and gas stations. I think that the trip was not long and tedious, in my memory. I spent a lot of the time teaching the cannonball to whistle. My father and I never tired of listening to the results. Also there was George chewing bubblegum and just being George. We arrived at our destination of Cass City, Michigan. I was to find my new caregivers--Grandfather and Grandmother--to be just wonderful. Also the great little town of Cass City. --- Cass City, Michigan The town of Cass City, Michigan, was a metropolis to me. It had a full block of stores on both sides of the famously wide Main Street. There were three churches, and sitting atop a small hill on the north side of town a large, beautiful building: it was the all-grade pride and joy of town: Cass High. Our new home was a large house with a balcony on one side and a cupola on the other. It had almost the whole block to itself. It seemed like a castle to me. I think that my father’s parents must have wondered what they had signed onto. A couple of days after we arrived, we heard a commotion outside and when I opened the door, what I saw was the freckled cannonball, my little brother, running as fast as he could, being chased by some other kids. He made it up the steps and onto the porch with me. Then he turned and stuck out his tongue. And had crapped his pants. Then there was my bubblegum-chewing dog, George. He had learned in Wyoming to howl at night with the coyotes and had shown a remarkable talent. I think he was very pleased to find out he could do a solo act for this new audience. My Grandfather soon learned that George was wrong. I am sure that I would be a better person if I could have been allowed to have George’s company for the rest of his appointed years. I found one morning that he was, and still is, gone. --- Charles Kercher, May 5, 2019 Charles Fredrick Kercher: 9-18-1931 – 5-20-2019 Born in Rawlins, Wyoming, Charles moved to Cass City, Michigan in 1942 and graduated from Cass City High School. He received training for TV and radio service at a local technical school. After an apprenticeship at Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan, he was employed as a master electrician at the University of Michigan as well as by Electric Service Co. in Ann Arbor. Chuck was the patriarch of his immediate family, which included six children, 24 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren. He also considered two step-children, five step-grandchildren, and two step-great-grandchildren as his own. Chuck has two sisters. His brother and parents preceded him in death. After family, Chuck’s lifelong love was music. He played professionally since age 14 until his passing at age 87. He and Liz, his wife of 44 years, entertained at the Sarasota Friendship Center on a volunteer basis for more than 22 years. He also played in the St. Augustine Orchestra during his time there where he and Liz owned a full-service music store. Other volunteer music was performed in travels around the country at facilities in New Orleans, Texas, California, Oregon, Minnesota, Virginia, and Michigan. He played many instruments professionally, including trumpet, cornet, trombone, flute, clarinet, and the various saxophones. Chuck enjoyed his service at the Sarasota Friendship Center and was grateful for the care he received at the Lighthouse Vision Loss Education Center. *** Tech Corner By John Richards (For the Technology committee) Zoom Conferencing At the 2019 FCB state convention, a web conference took place using Zoom communications software. Zoom is a cloud-based remote conferencing program available to persons using the iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS platforms. Zoom offers audio and video conferencing services to its subscribers. In our case, we used only audio conferencing for our seminar. Business and individual subscribers have the option to use both audio and video conferencing for their presentations. What an individual or business uses depends upon the pricing plan they purchase. FCB used the premium plan for individuals. Zoom also offers a free basic plan for individuals, and that would have worked for us as long as the meeting did not exceed 40 minutes. The free plan gives one the ability to host up to 100 participants, host unlimited one-on-one meetings, and host group meetings up to 40 minutes. Participants can also join a Zoom meeting via teleconferencing/audio conferencing using a traditional telephone. You don't have to be a Zoom subscriber. However, the host has to be a subscriber and extend to you the appropriate dial-in procedures and information. Zoom participants engaged in the FCB seminar ended up using the dial-in phone option because the Internet connection at the hotel proved to be less than adequate for us at that time. Below is a link to the seminar using Zoom held at the 2019 FCB annual convention. https://fcb.org/2019%20-%20FCB%2066th%20Annual%20State%20Convention%20Opening%20Ceremonies.mp3 *** Poetry Corner By Shelley Sawyer Greetings, dear readers: I was asked by our president to submit a Poem for Independence Day. This seemed like a reasonable request, so I began researching. Folks, I found some really weird stuff out there. I did find some of the classics, of course, such as Paul Revere’s “Ride,” which I felt was a bit too long and was written in language we don’t use much these days. I read poems that graphically outlined all of the many problems this country faces today. I didn’t feel that we needed to be reminded of those. When it came right down to choosing something, what I came back to was truly my favorite poem about America. I do believe that this was actually one of my first selections when I started the Poetry Corner. That was a long time ago, though, and these words do not grow old, in my opinion. Sheila, this one is for you. America the Beautiful" — By Katharine Lee Bates O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with Brotherhood From Sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine! O beautiful for patriot’s dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! *** This and That By Greg Lindberg “This and That” is a regular feature that consists of various tips, tricks, recipes, and a potpourri of other items of interest. If you come across anything like this or have an original idea you’d like to share, feel free to send it to me for consideration in this section. Spotlighting the BeSpecular App By Greg Lindberg Those of you with smartphones and tablets are probably well aware of apps like Be My Eyes, Seeing AI, AIRA, and others. But you might not know about one called BeSpecular as I only learned of this one a few months ago thanks to a Facebook friend, Liz Olexa, who is president of the Lehigh Valley Council of the Blind in Pennsylvania. BeSpecular, which is available for Apple and Android devices, is an app that allows users to send photos or images to volunteers who can respond with descriptions or other feedback for the user. You can either take a photo using your device with the app or upload a photo or screenshot you have saved previously in your photos. The second part of this feature is nice because you can take a screenshot of a website or another screen on your phone and then upload it to be viewed by someone else for a visual explanation. Most other apps only allow you to show a live view from your device’s camera, so this can be handy if you want a description of a photo on Facebook, an e-mail with graphics, one of those annoying captcha images, etc. Another cool feature of this app is how you can ask for and receive assistance. You can either record a voice message to go along with your image submission or type out a message of text with what specifically you want the volunteer to tell you. For example, you might say, “Please describe what the people look like in this photo my friend, Sheila, posted on Facebook.” You can either speak this as a voice recording or type it out as text. Then the volunteer on the other end can reply via either a recorded voice message or via text. The first response usually takes at least a minute or two to come back, so it’s not really an app you’d want to use in a pinch. But it is neat to hear someone else’s voice and get their first name when they respond. Plus, responses are saved in the app, which is very convenient in some cases should you wish to go back and listen to a response. You can also ask for multiple responses to the same request from different volunteers. It’s fascinating how different each response can be – some are far more descriptive and helpful than others. But as long as you’re specific enough in your accompanying message, you should receive the help you need in a reasonable timeframe. This is a free app and just another potential tool you can put in your toolbox. Like I mentioned, it’s not the fastest, but it does have some unique features I haven’t found in other apps. *** FCB OFFICERS, 2018 – 2020 President, Sheila Young 2304 Amherst Ave., Orlando, FL 32804 sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 1st Vice-President, Mikey Wiseman 591 E. 15th St., Hialeah, FL 33010 wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 2nd Vice President, Cassandra Jessie 408 White St., Daytona Beach, FL 32114 cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Treasurer, Mark Lear 708 Kristina Court, Port Orange, FL 32127 learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Membership Secretary, Sally Benjamin 1009 Concord Road, Apt. 106, Tallahassee, FL 32308 salbenjamin@comcast.net (850) 980-0205 Recording Secretary, Mary Tyson 291 Eddie Ave., Holly Hill, FL 32117 mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Immediate Past President, James Kracht 9901 SW 138th Street, Miami, FL 33176 jkk48@bellsouth.net (305) 251-6983 or (407) 378-3477 Editor of White Cane Bulletin, Greg Lindberg 3145 Meadow View Ln., Palm Harbor, FL  34683 glindberg@gmail.com (727) 543-9807 FCB Administrative Assistant, Kati Lear (800) 267-4448 (386) 763-3836     floridacouncil@comcast.net *** 2018-2020 FCB CHAPTER & SPECIAL AFFILIATE OFFICER LIAISONS Please contact your officer liaison if we can be of assistance or if you need anything from the Executive Committee. Broward Council of the Blind: James Kracht jkk48@bellsouth.net (305) 251-6983 Clay Council of the Blind: Mark Lear learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Greater Miami Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Greater Orlando Council of the Blind: Mark Lear learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Halifax Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Jacksonville Council of the Blind: Cassandra Jessie cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Manatee County Council of the Blind: Sally Benjamin salbenjamin@comcast.net (850) 980-0205 Miami Beach Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Miami Metro Council of the Blind: James Kracht jkk48@bellsouth.net (305) 251-6983 Northwest Florida Chapter of the Florida Council of the Blind: Mikey Wiseman wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 Palm Beach Council of the Blind: Sally Benjamin salbenjamin@comcast.net (850) 980-0205 Pinellas Council of the Blind: Sheila Young sheilayoung125@att.net (407) 425-9200 Sarasota Council of the Blind: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 South Sarasota County Council of the Blind: Mikey Wiseman wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 Southwest Florida Council of the Blind: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Tallahassee Council of the Blind: Cassandra Jessie cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Tampa Council of the Blind: Sally Benjamin salbenjamin@comcast.net (850) 980-0205 Braille Revival League of Florida: Mikey Wiseman wisemanmikey@gmail.com (305) 331-4870 Coalition for the Concerns of the Totally Blind: Mark Lear learm52@icloud.com (386) 788-0463 Florida Council of Citizens with Low Vision: Cassandra Jessie cassandrajessie@gmail.com (850) 980-0177 Guide Dog Users of Florida: Mary Tyson mtyson541@bellsouth.net (386) 212-9496 Randolph Shepherd Vendors of Florida: James Kracht jkk48@bellsouth.net (305) 251-6983 *** Handy Telephone Number References Project Insight: (800) 267-4448 Bureau of Braille & Talking Book Library: (800) 226-6075 Division of Blind Services, State Office: (800) 342-1828 American Council of The Blind: (800) 424-8666 (Available 3:00 to 5:30 P.M. EST Monday-Friday only) ACB Legislative Hotline: (800) 424-8666 (Available evenings 8:00 P.M. to 12:00 Midnight EST and weekends 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. only) AT&T Disability Services: (800)872-3883 Press 00 and speak with your long distance carrier, or Florida only: (800)982-2891 BellSouth Disability Services: (800)982-2891 (From anywhere) Social Security: (800) 772-1213 (24-hour voice and touch tone accessible - THE END- FLORIDA COUNCIL OF THE BLIND 1009 Concord Road, Apt. 106 Tallahassee, FL 32308 21 1