The UCB Buzz

A publication of

Utah Council of the Blind

February 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

Disclaimer.................................................................................................. 2

UCB Golden Anniversary Discount on Lifetime Memberships.................... 3

Many Thanks for Your Donations............................................................... 3

Labeling Your Victor SD Card.................................................................... 4

Wrap-Up on Annual UCB Christmas Party 2021........................................ 6

Meet Our Members.................................................................................... 8

Linda Holiday............................................ 8

Maurice Bowman.................................... 10

UCB Board of Directors Update............................................................... 13

New UCB Legislative Committee.............................................................. 16

Why a Coalition?..................................... 17

Orange and Cinnamon Spiced Nuts......................................................... 20

General UCB Information......................................................................... 21

Board of Directors and Management...... 22

2022 Board Meeting Schedule................ 23

Disclaimer

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.

UCB Golden Anniversary Discount on Lifetime Memberships

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.

Many Thanks for Your Donations

As we are receiving membership dues for 2022, we find that nearly half of our members are including additional donations in amounts from $10 to $1,000. We also received a bequest in excess of $12,000 from one of our members who passed away in 2021. We would like to express our deep appreciation to our members who remember and support us in these ways. Your generosity helps blind residents of Utah remain independent and productive.

Labeling Your Victor SD Card

By Tom Mitchell

WHAAAT? Labeling your Victor SD card! It can’t be done! You're right. The card is too small for any kind of braille label, and besides that, if you tried, you’d ruin your Victor Reader. But you can make a voice label that will help your Victor tell you what SD card you have.

But why would you want to label your Victor card? Well, I know a couple of friends who have a lot of cards with different kinds of material on them. But when they insert the cards, they’re not always sure if they had the right card or not. If they had a label on the card, they would know right away if they had the right card or not. That would save lots of time inserting, playing part of the card, and removing and replacing cards to get the right one. So a label would save time, and wear and tear on the machine. I have an SD card that says “Books and Podcasts”, and so I know that card has a couple hundred books I want to keep and some podcasts I want to save. It also has some other material on it, but it’s enough to tell me what card I have. I have another card that just says “Music”, and so I know it has lots of my favorite 50s, 60s, and 70s music, and a lot of my favorite artists like Perry Como, Nat King Cole, The Kingston Trio, The Beatles – lots of my favorite music. I have another card that says “Christmas Music”. That’s pretty self-explanatory. So it’s up to you to remember what you have on your cards and to label them to your tastes, not someone else’s.

Okay, so how to you voice-label your SD card. Unfortunately, you can’t do it with the Victor Reader itself. It requires a computer with Windows. I wish that they could change that in some future update.

On your computer, select the Notepad program and enter. Not Wordpad, NOTEPAD. Once you enter that program you are ready to write your label. The Victor will only recognize 50 characters. That’s all the room you have.

After you have made sure that your label is written as you want it, save the file with the following name: $vrlabel.txt.

After that, you must copy that file from your computer to the SD card. If you have a PC with an SD slot, no problem. Otherwise, you may have to find another way to copy the file to the SD card. The file should be placed in the root directory of the SD card, not in a separate folder. Once you have done that, whenever you put that card in your Victor, you will hear the filename you typed in that file

It’s really simpler than it sounds, but that’s all there is to it. And believe me, it will save lots of headaches.

Wrap-Up on Annual UCB Christmas Party 2021

By Sandy England

I felt this year’s Christmas party went very well – good food, good entertainment, wonderful door prizes and a delicious bake sale. We don’t want to forget Santa with his HO! HO! HO! and Merry Christmas. We had great vendors this year with wonderful new things to show us.

I would like to thank those who helped with this party. They include my committee: Michelle, Donni and Kate on her off time from the Woods Cross office. It took a lot of work, and that hard worked paid off. A big thank you. I don’t want to forget the donations from Costco, Lee’s Marketplace, Flake Pies, Leatherby's, Ream’s, Life Health Medical Center, Golden Corral, Alison’s Pantry, Kate's family, and my family for taking time out to serve and help us during this party. We received many donations from friends, neighbors, and families that made this year’s Christmas party a success. A big thank-you to Cindi Vega for maintaining the building and being there Friday night and Saturday and our own Sandy Ruconich for being willing to help with the credit card sales. Nikki’s group came through for us again when we needed things to be set up Friday night. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out; however, if I did, I’m truly sorry.

I know we on the Utah Council of the Blind Board thank you and appreciate your willingness to help our organization. I enjoyed being the chairperson this year and hope in the future I can be involved again. I would love to hear from anyone with suggestions for the next Christmas party.

Meet Our Members

By Anna Jeffery

Linda Holiday

Linda was born and raised in Salt Lake City. She is the oldest of four girls and remembers as a child holding her little sisters when they were small. She also remembers her sister taking her to her friend's house, which she enjoyed. Linda recalls a family trip to Hawaii. She remembers time with her family and bringing back some fun souvenirs.

Linda went to school at the Utah State School for the Blind in Ogden and enjoyed her time there. After graduating, she worked at Industries for the Blind for two years. She then worked at Channel 4 Television, where she was a receptionist. She worked there for thirty-five years and two months. During her time at Channel 4 she loved meeting and getting to know governors, congressmen, and senators. She remembers a time when she was all alone at the front desk and the intercom was not working, so she had to greet people at the door. One particular night there was a man with a gun. Linda did not panic. She got the manager, who then got the man to leave. She loved her time at Channel 4 Television.

Linda’s hobbies include reading good books; eating at her favorite restaurant, Dee’s Family Restaurant; and listening to BYU basketball. She records the game on her Victor Reader Stream so she is sure to not miss any of the action.

Linda’s advice: "The best thing to do is persevere and do the best you can do.” She says “Sometimes things can be hard; you just do what you feel comfortable doing and do the best you can.”

Linda has been a huge asset to the UCB. For the past fourteen years she has been the voice of The Utah Connection. She has kept people updated, reported messages that people left, and shared many great tidbits of information with listeners.

We want to thank Linda for her many hours of service. As we say goodbye to The Utah Connection, we look forward to new forms of communication and hope Linda will continue to be a contributor to them.

Maurice Bowman

Maurice was born in Colonial Dublin, Chihuahua, Mexico, a colony established by a group of Mormon Pioneers in the 1800s that is still considered a Mormon colony today. Maurice is the oldest of nine children and has three sisters and five brothers. He remembers, as a child, his father teaching him about working hard on the small farm where Maurice learned the skills of gardening and other farming chores.

When Maurice was one, his family moved to Utah. He attended one year at the Utah State School for the Blind in Ogden before being mainstreamed into public school. His family returned to Mexico, and he attended school there. He finished his secondary education at the Arizona School for the Blind where he graduated first in his class. During these years, he earned his Eagle Scout Award. One of his merit badges was in photography. As this was such an unusual accomplishment for a blind scout, he was interviewed and appeared on the NBC Today Show, sharing with them experiences of blind people achieving goals and showing his merit badge photos taken from a scouting Jamboree.

He continued his education by attending Arizona State University for his freshman year, after which he served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the New Mexico Arizona Mission. He then finished his schooling at BYU, where he graduated with a degree in secondary education and met his lovely wife, Rosanne. Together they raised two children and are enjoying four beautiful grandchildren with another coming soon.

After graduation, Maurice taught Career Education at Pleasant Grove High School. He then worked at Verizon for twenty-five years, providing communication services for businesses in Utah and surrounding states. After leaving Verizon, he worked as an independent broker for Sumo Communications.

Maurice enjoys singing with his wife in a community choir, Utah Voices Thanks to his dad, he enjoys gardening in the spring, summer and fall months. He also enjoys checking out books from the Library for the Blind. and reading them. He loves to travel with his family and reflects on a time when he was able to go on a humanitarian trip to South Africa.

Advice from Maurice: "Never give up; there is always a way to accomplish your dreams and achieve success."

Maurice has helped the UCB out in many ways. He has served on the Activity Committee for several years, coming up with and fallowing through with many fun activities. He has worked as a team lead for our Skills Development Program, teaching braille and other blindness skills. You can always find Maurice after a UCB activity helping clean up, putting chairs and tables away and visiting with others.

UCB Board of Directors Update

The January meeting is typically a busy one for our Board of Directors, and this year was no exception. It, of course, marked the beginning of the terms of office for our three new board members, Kira Larkin, Jeana Nielsen, and Shelly Hendricksen. Jeana Nielsen was appointed to fill a partial term in the secretary position. We appreciate her being qualified and willing to accept this position.

January is also when we set up our basic committee structure for the year. Following are the committee assignments made at this board meeting:

Executive Committee (defined in the Bylaws): Anna Jeffery, Donni Mitchell, Jeana Nielsen, Vicki Flake, Sandy Ruconich

Elections Committee: Shelly Hendricksen (chair), Donni Mitchell, Vicki Flake

Membership Committee: Aunilie Hathaway (chair), Jeana Nielsen, Tracey Lasiloo, Vicki Flake

Rules and Bylaws Committee: Vicki Flake (chair), Anna Jeffery, Aunilie Hathaway, Sandy Ruconich

Statewide Training Conference Committee: Anna Jeffery (chair), Dennie Clark, Sandy Ruconich, Vicki Flake

UCB Golden Anniversary Celebration Committee: Anna Jeffery (chair), Aunilie Hathaway, Sandy Ruconich, Mindy Larson, Vicki Flake

Personal Braille Program Committee: Kira Larsen (chair), Vicki Flake

Adaptive Technology Program Committee: Matt Barnhill (chair), Elizabeth Anderson, Eric Carrillo

Community Projects Committee: JD Seely (chair), Cordie Weed, Jenni Thompson

Scholarship Committee: Erin Nightingale (chair)

Awards Committee: Sandy England (chair)

Finance Committee: Vicki Flake (chair), Kate Balzly, Jeana Nielsen, Aunilie Hathaway

Calling Committee: Monica Youngdell (chair), Maurice Bowman, Shelly Hendricksen

Website Committee: John Lipsey (chair)

Publications Committee: Tom Mitchell (chair), Shelly Hendricksen

Legislative Committee: Sabra Ewing (chair)

Skills Development Program Management Team: Anna Jeffery, Supervisor; Dennie Clark, Assistant Supervisor; Sandy Ruconich, Executive Director

As you can see, some of the committees still need additional members. Also, the committee structure is fluid and may change throughout the year. If you have expertise or an interest in any of the committees, please let us know by sending an email to ucb.board@gmail.com. If you'd like to contact any specific board member or committee chair, please put their name in the subject of the email. This is a good way to contact board members regarding any other topic, as well.

All board meetings and most committee meetings are being held by Zoom, which allows participation by members from all areas of the state and makes it easier for most of us to participate.

New UCB Legislative Committee

As you noticed from the previous article, the UCB Board of Directors has reinstated a committee that has been missing since the passing of Leslie Gertsch, the Legislative Committee. Sabra Ewing has volunteered to chair this committee, for which we are extremely grateful. Although UCB is prohibited from lobbying as an organization, we can and do provide education and encourage our members to participate in the legislative process. If you have any interest in this process, please contact Sabra through ucb.board@gmail.com.

This is an important time to be involved, since the Utah State Legislature began its 45-day 2022 session on January 18th, and it will conclude on March 4th. There is always much going on during this short time, so it helps to have a sizeable group watching and working on legislation that impacts on our lives. In addition to collaborating with Sabra, you may also want to become involved with the Legislative Coalition for People with Disabilities, which says of itself:

Why a Coalition?

As with many things in life, the work, the risk taking, and dedication of a few have made life better for many. There exists today a wide array of services for people with disabilities. These services have emerged because of grassroots advocacy by people with disabilities, their families, friends, and caring professionals. The results of advocacy have been encouraging in the past twenty-five years, but the battles guaranteeing the rights of individuals with disabilities are far from over.

Since its inception in 1981, the Coalition has successfully advocated for progressive changes for people with disabilities. The LCPD is made up of individuals with disabilities, their families, advocacy groups, providers, professionals, and agencies. You do not need experience in advocacy work to get involved.

Advocacy means "to speak up, to plead the case of another, or to champion a cause." The LCPD makes being an advocate easier by providing a network of support, experience, training, and by dividing responsibilities to enable advocates to focus their energies on single issues.

For more information or to become involved with LCPD, go to their website at lcpdut.org.

There is also a state webpage at le.utah.gov where you can find all information involving the legislature. You can:

find out who your legislators are by entering your address

get information on individual legislators

get a calendar of dates and meeting schedules

get information on bills that are before the legislature

sign up to follow the progress of individual bills and get notices and agendas of committee meetings as well as the minutes of meetings

find all current laws and track their history

find links to make contact with individual legislators to express your concerns

find contact information to ask questions and get more information about how you can interact with committees and individual legislators

obtain all kinds of interesting information.

Check out le.utah.gov. It is an interesting world to visit, and contact Sabra at ucb.board@gmail.com to get involved.

Orange and Cinnamon Spiced Nuts

2 cups whole blanched almonds

1 1/2 cups pecan halves

1 1/2 cups whole almonds

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, whites only

1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest

1/2 cup butter

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spread all nuts into a 15 by 10 by 1-inch baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally, 20-25 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in bowl. Beat egg whites in bowl at high speed, scraping bowl often, until soft peaks form. Continue beating, gradually adding sugar mixture, until stiff peaks form. Gently stir in nuts and orange zest.

Melt butter 4-6 minutes in oven in same pan. Spread nut mixture into pan. Bake, stirring every 10 minutes, 20-30 minutes or until nuts are brown and no butter remains. Cool completely. Store in airtight container.

General UCB Information

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, e.g. the deadline for the March newsletter is February 15^th. 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.