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ACB OF SOUTH CAROLINA
April 1999 NewsLetter

OFFICERS

President: Patsy Jones: Columbia
(803) 791-3368
First Vice President: Karen Bays:
Mt. Pleasant (843) 884-4760
Second Vice President: Susan Jones: Charleston (843) 577-6670
Secretary: Gwynette Hatcher: Charleston
(843) 766-0528
Treasurer: Todd Turansky: Augusta, GA
(706) 868-5832
The American Council of the Blind is the nation’s leading membership organization of blind and visually impaired people. It was founded in 1961 and incorporated in the District of Columbia.

The Council strives to improve the well-being of all blind and visually impaired people by: serving as a representative national organization of blind people; elevating the social, economic and cultural levels of blind people; improving educational and rehabilitation facilities and opportunities; cooperating with the public and private institutions and organizations concerned with blind services; encouraging and assisting all blind persons to develop their abilities and conducting a public education program to promote greater understanding of blindness and the capabilities of blind people.


1999 COMMITTEES

Registration Committee: Todd Turansky, (706) 868-5832; Janie Rogers, Gwynette Hatcher, and Betty Jones

Convention Program: Karen Bays (843) 884-4760; Janice Friedman, and John Harden

Scholarship: Patsy Jones (803) 791-3368; Malinda Goff, and Robert Rogers

Awards: Karen Bays, Todd Turansky, and Betty Jones

Constitution and Bylaws: Buelah Brazzell (803) 799-0330; Joyce Moreland, and Emily Elrod

Nominating: John Harden (803) 796-4887; Sam Frazier, and Robert Rogers

Resolution: Karen Bays, Gwynette Hatcher, and Susan Jones

Auction: Ollie Bledsoe (803) 324-4744; Emily Elrod, and Mac Nettles

Fund Raising: Karen Bays, Nancy Burtron, and William

Legislative: Beulah Brazzell, William Driggers, and Neil Morehead


PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

President Patsy E. Jones (803) 791-3368

Hello, All ACB of SC Members and Friends,
It is again my pleasure to talk with you via our newsletter. First I must apologize for something in the last newsletter. I have had several people tell me that the ACB of SC has had a newsletter before. So please except my apology and understand that I am relatively new to the ACB of South Carolina so I am not always aware of things that happened in the past.
We had an excellent combination board and members meeting on Saturday, March 13th, We had over twenty people present. A big thanks goes out to Columbia chapter member Nancy Burtron who arranged for us to meet at Saint Laurence Place and picked up all of the lunch makings. We also thank the ACB national Executive Director, Charlie Crawford, who joined us and provided a great deal of assistance in the form of advice and updates on things happening on the national level. It was a great meeting and I think big things will come out of it. We set three goals for our organization to accomplish between now and the end of the year 2000. These goals are: 1. Start at least three new chapters in the state by the end of 1999. 2. Make ourselves known for trying to get pedestrian safety laws made in South Carolina. Presently there is no pedestrian safety law in our state. 3. Work on making voting places accessible to all persons with a disability and for the elderly. As you probably already know, a bill has been introduced in Congress concerning accessible voting locations for persons with disabilities and the elderly. The transportation act past last year has regulations regarding pedestrian safety stuff in it. We will be working to develop accessible pedestrian signals for major street crossings in all of the major cities in the state. There is federal money available for this program and we intend to see that the blind and visually impaired in our state benefit from it.
Now I must discuss a matter that isn’t so pleasant. I know everybody is aware of the situation at the Commission for the Blind. There is still no permanent commissioner in place and two board members have been removed from the Board. One of them our own Nancy Knowles. This is not acceptable to me as your president and I have no doubt that it is not acceptable to you either. We can simply not let his kind of thing happen without making a protest. Ms. Knowles must be replaced by an ACB member! At present, there is at least one and possibly two NFB members on the Commission’s board. These people are Ms. Vicky Wray and Mr. Rex Wilson. Mr. Wilson is known to be on the NFB Advisory Board, so he is probably an associate member. There may be others on the Board who are “sleeping” members of NFB on the Board. In any case, we cannot allow new persons to be selected to be on the Board without their at least sharing our interests in seeing that the state agency for the blind begin serving the blind in a fashion that it has not done for a long time! Services to clients by the agency are almost nonexistent. I have received many phone calls concerning the problems at the agency. Mr. Yates, the SCCB board chairman, has told me that he receives calls daily from people who are not getting served satisfactorily by the agency. Therefore, we must take a strong stand about making the Board consumer driven and to insist that a qualified commissioner be hired to run the agency. Considering all of the problems that the agency has experienced during the last few years, I feel strongly that a commissioner should be selected who has had no ties with the agency or with either the ACB or the NFB of South Carolina. In short, we need a person who can look at the agency problems with a fresh unbiased eye. I guess almost everyone is aware that the Commission Board previously selected Mrs. Joan Miller of Kentucky for the new commissioner. The Budget and Control Board has effectively blocked her selection. I have been told by many NFB members that their leadership is mostly responsible for this situation. I have also received many calls from NFB members asking me what is ACB going to do about this situation and about the removal of the two people from the Board. Well, to misquote a late president, “Ask not what your agency for the blind can do for you, but what can you do for your agency for the blind”. If members of the NFB are unhappy about what their president is doing, why aren’t they standing up and speaking up for their beliefs and ideals? Why are they continuing to pay dues, attend meetings and so on of their organization. If you attend a church that does not teach what you believe the Bible teaches, most of you would leave that church and attend others until you found a group who believes as you do. So why aren’t dissatisfied members of NFB leaving the organization and looking for a group who agrees with their opinions? As far as I know there is nothing written in stone that says once an NFB member; always a NFB member.
To those of you in ACB of SC I say, what are you doing to make the Commission for the Blind serve your needs? Are you calling your state legislature members? Are you calling Governor Hodges office to complain? Are you ready and willing to carry a picket sign or sit in the lobby of the Governor’s office and protest what is being done to your agency? In short, are you committed to really making some changes for the blind in this state? Some people tell me that ACB of SC is too small a group to make a difference. I disagree. Many people didn’t think that David could kill Goliath with a sling shot, but he did! Many people say you can’t fight the government, but many have and many have won. We in ACB must be ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get the Commission for the Blind serving the blind of this state. If we always do what we have always done, we will get what we have always got and that is poor services provided by poor commissioners who have allowed others to dictate how the agency is run.
As I said earlier is this article, I am relatively new to the problems for blind and visually impaired people in this state. I came to work with the Commission in the Charleston office in June of 1987. I started hearing right away about the problems in the agency and the continuous disagreement between NFB and a variety of Commissioners over the years. I was told by my supervisor that it was not advisable to become involved with either of the consumer groups, so I didn’t. I am sorry I listened to him and didn’t join ACB right away. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that I understand there have been problems with the agency and NFB ever since the agency was formed in 1967. I think it’s time these problems ended! It’s time for a commissioner to be selected who will have no ties to anyone and who owes nobody any favors. Please speak up and help us get things moving for the blind toward a new and better agency!
On to a more pleasant subject. I want to congratulate the NFB president and all of the vending stand operators who so ably worked together to stop the set-a-side movement in the legislature. They proved that we can all work together when we have a common interest. Let’s get out there and find those things we have in common as blind and visually impaired people and work! Work! Work!
A note about our state convention. It is scheduled for the weekend of November 5-7. We will meet in Columbia. Our hotel committee has been working hard and should have a hotel confirmed by our June 5 board meeting. The program committee is planning something both different and exciting. Stay tuned for the next edition of this newsletter for more information.
Please remember that I want to hear from you. Please call me if you have any questions about what we are doing. God bless all of you until we meet again!

GREENWOOD CHAPTER NEWS
President Joyce Moreland: (864) 543-3024


Membership:
We are currently in the middle of a membership drive and have had an increase this year in membership to a total of 18. We are using local printed media to get the word out about our chapter, and have had some success.

Fundraiser:
We are going to be having a fundraiser on Saturday April 24, 1999 at the Depot in 96, SC. The town is having their annual yard sale that day at the same location, and we will be set up inside with Hotdogs, Hotdog Plates, Homemade Baked Goods, and Lots of yard sale items, including some nice used furniture donated for the sale.

Food Bank:
We are currently working with the "Community Food Bank of the Piedmont" in order to get food items for our club members at a greatly reduced expense for the club. If anyone would like to see about getting into the program, you can contact them at: P.O. Box 873, Greenville, SC 29662, (864) 675-0350

Web Site:
The website that we initially set up last year has had some major expansions and upgrades, and will continue to be updated on a regular basis now. The website address is:
https://members.tripod.com/greenwoodacb/index
Our email address is: greenwoodacb@hotmail.com. please stop by and see our new look.

Activities:
We are planning to have an ice cream social at the home of Joyce and Keith Moreland in the upcoming months. And also a wiener roast at Lake Greenwood sometime in the fall. Please check the website for further information on these and other activities.

COLUMBIA CHAPTER NEWS
President: John Harden (803) 796-4887

At our December meeting/Christmas party we elected officers. Treasurer, Janie Rogers and Vice President Beulah Brazzell were re elected to another term. Charlie Hooker was elected to take over for our secretary, Patsy Jones. John Harden is our new president Taking over for Malinda Goff. We would like to thank Malinda and Patsy for the fine work they have done.
Malinda has done such a good job arranging programs for our meetings that John appointed her as the program committee of one. She promised us a real surprise for the January Meeting.
It was decided that we would help an underprivileged family have a Merry Christmas. Nancy Burtron, one of our newest members, knew of a family with 5 children, one of which is blind. We purchased cloths and toys for all the children.
Joe Ray, Deputy Commissioner at the Commission for the Blind spoke to us at our January meeting. He gave us an update on the change of command at the Commission. He was very interesting and informative and we would like to thank him for meeting with us.
News From Charleston
President: Karen Bays (843) 884-4760


The Charleston chapter is pleased to announce that its membership has increased to 23 individuals as of our January meeting. Our new members include: Max Hearn, Hattie Peagler, Sharon Norris, Bob Dufour, Susan Henley, Horace Hair and Melissa Chissman. We welcome them to ACB and are excited to have them as members of our chapter.
In December the chapter held elections for new officers. The results are as follows: Karen Bays, President, Annie Dubose, 1st Vice-President, Susan Jones, 2nd Vice President, Sharon Norris, Secretary and Gwynette Hatcher, Treasure. We want to thank our out going officers for their dedication and service to our chapter. We want to give a special thanks to Susan Jones who served tirelessly as our president for the past few terms.
The Charleston chapter has been involved in several activities. In October Susan Jones and Gwynette Hatcher were interviewed on the Noon news show on tv channel five. They provided information on ACB, blindness, and the convention that was held in Charleston. They did a great job and we are all proud of them and grateful for their courage to go on tv. Susan Jones also worked with Channel five to get the PSA from the national ACB office put on the air. In December the Charleston chapter held its annual Christmas party. As has become a tradition for our chapter, we again provided Christmas gifts for a blind child. This year the gifts included clothing and a talking calculator. This tradition has become very special to us and adds to the joy of our holiday season.
The Charleston chapter is planning to take a dinner cruise sometime late this spring or early summer. We are still working on details but if anyone is interested in joining us please call Karen Bays at (843)884-4760


Dear ACB friends:
Thank You for the beautiful M. S. Lowe award given to Richard and myself at the state convention in Charleston South Carolina. Words can never express what the award means to us. It is the greatest honor I have ever received because it came from ACB.
Love,
Gwynette