The UCB Buzz
A publication of
Utah Council of the Blind
April 2022
For the latest news updates, check out the website at utahblind.org
Mail correspondence to:
UCB
PO Box 1415
Bountiful, UT 84011-1415
E-mail us at utahblind@gmail.com
For credit card payments, to make reservations, or for other business,
call the business office at 801-245-9264.
The UCB Buzz is available in large print, Braille, audio CD, and by e-mail. If you would prefer to receive your newsletter in a different format, please call the UCB business office at 801-245-9264 or send an e-mail to utahblind@gmail.com and let us know.
In This Issue
Preparedness and Safety Conference
Playing the new NLS cartridges
UCB Golden Anniversary Discount on Lifetime Memberships
Board of Directors and Management
Articles and announcements included in this publication are presented for your information and interest. They reflect the opinions of the respective authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the UCB.
Last month we published a wonderful story about Howard Franklin of Utah County by John Jeppesen. That sparked within me what I hope will be a good idea.
All of us have someone in our lives, or maybe lots of someones, who have been a particular influence on us. Maybe they taught us courage, love, fortitude; something that made our lives easier and helped us; someone we’ll never forget. I have at least one, and I know you do, too. Who is your most influential person, and what made them so? We’d like to know. This person need not be blind, may not even have worked for the blind, but someone who made a big difference to you. I’d like to make this a regular series each month, or almost each month. I haven’t yet thought of a good title for the series, and maybe one of you will think of one. But my idea is something like a series Reader’s Digest used to run called “The Most Unforgettable Character I’ve Met.”
Your article wouldn’t have to be long if you don’t want to write a long one, or if you want to write one a few pages long, fine.
Please give it some thought and let us hear how someone influenced you. Who knows? Through you, they could become a continuing influence to someone else, just as Howard Franklin has done. I have had people tell me that they really loved that article and were impressed with what Howard Franklin did for the people around him. Also, I thank John Jeppesen for such a fine article last month, for hopefully sparking what could be a wonderful series of stories.
Remember, you can send your articles on these stories, household hints, recipes, or whatever you’d like, to me at tommit60@gmail.com. Or, if you wish to write them in Braille, large print, or even on tape, mail them to the UCB office in Woods Cross, as is listed at the end of this magazine. We’d all love to hear from you.
– Tom Mitchell
Save the Date!
UCB Preparedness
and Safety Conference Coming Saturday, May 14.
During the last
few years we've all experienced our fair share of
unexpected emergencies: an earthquake, a pandemic, and any number of personal
events we weren't expecting! So UCB's Conference Planning Committee decided it
would be a great idea to do a conference on preparedness and safety. The
conference will be Saturday, May 14, at DSBVI (250 North 1950 West, Salt Lake
City). Registration will only cost $10, which will include lunch and prizes,
and the conference will also be available via Zoom.
Speakers will
include a representative from Salt Lake Emergency Management who will discuss
how to prepare for disasters, a veterinarian who will talk about how to prepare
service animals and pets for unexpected emergencies, and a panel of visually
impaired Utahns in various stages of life (a mother with young children, a
bachelor living alone, and a working woman with older children); they will
discuss how to deal with home safety under various circumstances.
More information will appear in the May issue of the Buzz. Mark your calendars now and plan to attend!
By Monica Youngdell
Hello, everyone
far and near. We are pleased to be getting back to normal very slowly from a
bad pandemic and are trying to come up with new solutions that will bring our
organization back to full swing and make educational and social gatherings
possible in the very near future. However, we as a board, presidency and a
small organization cannot do this alone. We Need You!! Please write to Kate or
Anna and let them know your suggestions for future activities, educational
opportunities and other suggestions you may have to improve our organization. This
does not just include the sightless. It also includes people that would be
interested in working with the blind/visually impaired to improve the quality
of our service. We also would like to extend with friendship the opportunity to
be involved in a calling committee. This is a dire need as it will allow people
on the committee to reach out to new and current members alike to discuss our
services, get suggestions and better meet the needs of our members in our
organization throughout the state of Utah. With the activities committee
dissolved, this is important now more than ever as we are all trying very
desperately to get back to normal in our day to day lives, but for some this is
harder than usual as members may have multiple disabilities that would prevent
them from doing things that we all take for granted. So, I’m asking you to
assist in this task so we can all work together in this perilous time and make
this a better organization than ever by joining in a calling committee and
giving suggestions you think will work. You can write to me 24/7 at,
email, kitty1481@gmail.com or go to any of the Facebook twitter or
social pages or email addresses we may have in this issue or simply notify us
the old-fashioned way by phone or in person to anyone at a board meeting or the
UCB. office when it is opened. Thanks for your commitment and cooperation in
this hard time and God bless all of you.
Bessie Yonetani
Oakes
Jul 16, 1945 — Mar 3, 2022
Bessie Yonetani Oakes passed away on March 03, 2022, at the age of
76 after a long bout with medical issues. She was born July 16, 1945, to Yukimi
and Tatsuo "Kay" Yonetani in Ogden, Utah.
She graduated from Ogden High School and received her BS and MS from the
University of Utah.
She began her
career with the Granite School District, and later went to work for the State
of Utah for the Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled. She retired from
the State after thirty-six years of service as the Program Manager for the
library. Bessie was an avid reader and a sports fan especially for the
University of Utah teams, Utah Jazz, and the Denver Broncos.
Bessie is
survived by her siblings Glen (Nanette), Dale (Emelita),
Mage (Wm Case), and Dennis; two stepsons Jeff (Rosa) Oakes and Ben (June)
Oakes; nieces Jessica Yonetani and Lindsay (Dan)
Wilbur; nephew Conner Yonetani and grandniece Yumiko
Wilbur; grandchildren Jeff Oakes Jr., Amanda Oakes, Nicole Oakes, and Cody
Oakes, her beloved uncle Ben Tsuchida, and various
cousins. She was preceded in death by her husband John, parents, sister Nina,
and stepson Brian.
Thank you to the
doctors and staff that helped Bessie especially Drs. Daines,
Gregg, Desaultels, and Gopinath.
A private family
Graveside Service will be held and officiated by Rev. Jerry Hirano of the Buddhist
Church. Services entrusted to Lindquist’s Ogden Mortuary, 3408 Washington Blvd.
In lieu of
flowers please donate to the Utah Food Bank, or Humane Society of Utah, or the
Utah Library for the Blind and Disabled.
Here are some
comments from those who worked with Bessie while at the library.
Bessie and I worked together for over 30 years at the State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. She was always a faithful and loyal employee. She helped build our library to be the best library for the blind and physically handicapped in the nation according to Frank Kurt Cylke, the director of the National Library Service for the Blind. Bessie and I enjoyed a close personal relationship. She knew and cared about my family and I knew and cared about hers as well. She was one of the greatest employees the State Library Division ever had. My wife, Jeannie, and I will miss her. We will always remember her.
Jerry Buttars
March 10, 2022
I will miss Bessie so much. She was a wonderful mentor and dear friend, and I learned so much about living and life from her. Bessie was a patch of bright sunshine in a cloudy sky. Bess, I imagine you in the hereafter, enjoying a spicy Hamachi roll and a cup of tea, and laughing with joy because you feel so well.
Lisa Nelson
March 10, 2022
I worked with Bessie for many years at the State Library. She was a great employee—always reliable, steady as a rock, and full of common sense and good humor. No matter what the challenge, Bessie always pulled through in great style. She was a great friend too, well liked and respected by all. My condolences to all who knew and loved her.
Amy Owen
March 9, 2022
Scan notes and save them to your device with Scanmarker Air.
Scan text in an instant, and translate it into 70 languages, with this smart scanning pen.
When you need to scan a line of text, or even whole paragraphs, the pen-shaped Scanmarker Air gets the job done quickly and efficiently. Its optical character recognition quickly and accurately digitizes text. Then, the portable scanner sends the captured data to your iPhone, Mac or other device via Bluetooth.
This time-saving digital scanning pen enables super-accurate, multilingual text scanning of any printed text. Just drag it across a line in a book, and watch the words instantly appear on your screen for easy access on your devices later.
It integrates with a wide range of programs, too. So, whether you’re taking notes in Word or Evernote, adding data to Excel, or sharing quotes or information on social media, you can digitize the text quickly and access it immediately.
The Scanmarker Air is designed for ultimate convenience. It scans 3,000 characters per minute, which means it can hoover up a full line of text in just one second. Almost anything is game: The pen works on texts, numbers and barcodes.
The Scanmarker Air also has some advanced scanning tricks up its sleeves. It scans and translates into more than 70 languages. And it can even read scanned text aloud.
The digital highlighter’s 100mAh battery supports seven days of regular use, so you can take it with you to class or meetings without having to constantly worry about a charge. Its accuracy and ease of use earned it 4 stars on Amazon after nearly 4,000 ratings.
The DTBM (Digital Talking Book Machine) contains software that allows it to read more than one book or magazine stored on a USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) or digital cartridge. This is known as Bookshelf mode.
To enter Bookshelf mode, hold down the green, square Play/Stop button at the front of your digital machine. After about five seconds you will hear a beep and the machine will announce "Bookshelf."
Then it will announce the name of the book or magazine that was most recently played.
To move to another book or magazine, press either the rewind (RW) or fast-forward (FF) buttons. (These are the triangular white buttons on either side of the Play/Stop button.) The player always announces the titles of the books.
For example, if there are five books stored on the flash drive or cartridge, and the last book played was in the second position: press FF to move forward to the third book, or press RW to move back to the first book.
When you hear the title of the book you want, tap the Play/Stop button to select that book.
Believe it or not, we don’t have any recipes this month, but we do have two short tips you may find useful.
First of all, through a couple of circumstances, one item was left out of the recipe for apple dumplings, but only in the audio edition. The CDs didn’t get the information that you should preheat the oven to 425 degrees. That information was in the braille, and large print editions, and is online.
By Sandi England
I have found that when you bring brownies or cakes out of the oven put foil on top. This can be done on almost any bake goods. What does this do? It puts moisture back into what you have baked, and it seems to taste so much better.
By Ellen Moulder
I’ve used this tip for many years, and it prevents socks going out the dryer vent: Sort socks by color and put in zippered lingerie bags (also known as linen bags or net bags). Wash with like colors.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the UCB we are offering lifetime memberships at a $50.00 discount anytime during 2022. This means that you can purchase a lifetime membership for $200 rather than the usual $250. We encourage all members to take advantage of this opportunity. To pay by debit or credit card, contact Kate at 801-245-9264. To pay by check, mail your check to: UCB Membership, PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415.
Donni Mitchell, our vice president, volunteers in the UCB Office at DSBVI, 250 N 1950 W, Salt Lake City, UT, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm on Wednesdays. She is happy to answer questions, help with purchases, visit with you on topics of interest, and make referrals when appropriate.
We are always looking for articles, book reviews, or interesting tidbits of information from our readers or other interested persons. The deadline for submitting items for publication is the 15th of the month. You may e-mail any articles you wish to submit to tommit60@gmail.com; send Braille, print, or audio to UCB Buzz, PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415; or drop them off to Donni at the DSBVI office. Please allow extra time for processing Braille, print, or audio.
Members are invited and encouraged to attend meetings of the Board of Directors. Meetings will typically be held the first Thursday of each month at 4:45 p.m. via Zoom.
If you have questions or concerns for any board member, to be placed on the agenda of a board meeting, or just to attend a meeting, e-mail utahblind@gmail.com or call 801-245-9264.
Anna Jeffery, President
Donni Mitchell, Vice President
Jeana Nielsen, Secretary
Vicki Flake, Treasurer
Sandy Ruconich, Executive Director
Aunilie Hathaway
Monica Youngdell
Sandy England
Kira Larkin
Shelly Hendricksen
Kate Balzly, Chief Operating Officer
Thursday, April 7, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 5, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, June 2, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, July 7, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, August 4, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, September 1, 4:45 p.m.
Annual Business Meeting, Saturday, September 17, 10:00 a.m. (for all members)
Thursday, October 6, 4:45 p.m.
Budget and Training Meeting, Saturday, October 15, 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, November 3, 4:45 p.m.
Thursday, December 1, 4:45 p.m.
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Utah Council of the
Blind FREE MATTER
PO Box 1415 FOR THE BLIND
Bountiful UT 84011-1415 AND DISABLED