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The New Jersey Council of the Blind
CHRONICLE
July, 2014

The New Jersey Council of the Blind’s mission is to strive for the betterment of the blind and visually impaired community. The purpose of this publication is to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas, opinions and information that concern blind and visually impaired people.

We thank Audiovision, the Radio Reading Service of the New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center for the use of their recording studio to produce the cassette and digital formats that are aired on Audiovision and our website http://www.njcounciloftheblind.org. For more information about Audiovision call 1-800-792-8322 or visit their website at http://www.audiovision-nj.org. We thank John Hart of Audiovision and our webmaster, Dave Casterline for their contributions to the Chronicle. The Chronicle is read by Bob Lucas. The NJCB Chronicle is also available on Newsline. If you do not have a Newsline subscription, contact Reader Services at the New Jersey Talking Book and Braille Center at 1-800-792-8322 to get signed up for a Newsline subscription. Four quarterly newsletters are sent to members free of charge in either large print, audio cassette or E-mail. You may obtain the current and back issues of the Chronicle and other information from our web site.

The New Jersey Council of the Blind (NJCB) is a 501 (c) 3 corporation. Much appreciated tax deductible donations may be sent to the Treasurer of NJCB.

Articles to be included in the NJCB Chronicle, requests for copies of the newsletter or membership information should be sent to NJCB, 520 Ewingville Road, Ewing, NJ 08638. They may also be e-mailed to njcounciloftheblind@verizon.net or phoned to (609) 882-2446. All information must be received by September 1st to be included in the next issue of the Chronicle.

The NJCB officers are: President, Larry Morgan, 53 Pollman Ave., Hamilton, NJ 08619, (609) 588-5012; First Vice President Frank Schack (973) 595-0116; Second Vice President Joyce Sowa (732) 596-9675; Secretary Ottilie Lucas (609) 882-2446 and Treasurer Bob Lucas, 520 Ewingville Road, Ewing, NJ 08638, (609) 882-2446.

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Meeting Notice

The next quarterly meeting of NJCB will be hosted by The New Jersey Blind Citizens' Association (BCA) at Camp Happiness at 18 Burlington Ave., Leonardo, NJ 07737 on Saturday, July 26, 2014. A picnic lunch will be served at 12 Noon for a cost of $5.00; the meeting will begin at 1 PM and will be over at about 4 PM. In order for them to prepare enough food call the BCA office at (732) 291-0878 by July 17th to let them know that you are coming. One person from each organization can call with a group count. We are looking forward to seeing you there.
Directions:

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President’s Message

We are finally into summer. This is the time of year we get to enjoy with our family and friends. We go to the shore; we go to outdoor parties and picnics; we go to baseball games and the list goes on and on. This is such a welcome sight after the winter we all experienced.

Our next meeting at Camp Happiness will be very informative. We will be providing updates on the ACB National Conference, the Strategic Planning Board and the presentation of the Scholarship Award to Richard Ferrer of West Cape May. Both he and his parents will be in attendance.

In addition to our updates, let’s not forget our “How do you do it?” portion of the meeting. The next meeting and our October Conference will be very productive. Now… if you really want to know what is happening in the blindness community both locally and nationally, you should make every attempt to attend these meetings.

NJCB is your gateway to the community and your chance to express your opinions. We as officers are working hard to make the organization work hard for you.

See you at the meeting.

Larry Morgan, President, NJCB

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NJCB Conference

NJCB will be having its biennial conference at the Grace Lutheran Church on Saturday, October 25th, 2014. We will register and have a continental breakfast from 8:30 to 9:00 AM. A business meeting with election of new officers will follow. We are inviting Daniel Frye from CBVI and Adam Szczepaniak from NJSLTBBC. These gentlemen will fill us in on several changes that have happened in the last year or two. We are having deli sandwiches, salads, desserts and drinks for our lunch. We are still in the process of setting up the afternoon schedule. Some of the issues that are being considered are:

  1. A discussion on the new CBVI Strategic Plan
  2. A legislator discussing Dusty’s Law
  3. A talk about identity theft
  4. How do we travel?

We will have door prizes, 50/50s and other prizes throughout the day.

Mark your calendar and fill out the registration form at the end of this newsletter and send it to:

NJCB
C/O Bob Lucas, Treasurer
520 Ewingville Road
Ewing, NJ 08638

Hope to see you there!

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SCILS Initiative

A new free to the consumer initiative for those 55 and older and who are eligible for CBVI services involves the provision of a paid companion for up to four hours of weekly assistance in performing such tasks as reading mail, paying bills, shopping, writing letters and transportation to medical appointments. The companion must be 18 years old and must be identified by the consumer. The companion will undergo a state and federal background check and if hired, will be paid $15.00 per hour. CBVI case workers will refer interested consumers to the program which is administered by the Division of Disability Services. The toll free number of DDS is 888-285-3036 should anyone wish to register or call for more information.

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CVS & Walgreens Now Offer Talking Prescriptions

(Portions excerpted from the May 2014 issue of the ACB Braille Forum) CVS/pharmacy has announced that it now provides ScripTalk talking prescription labels for prescriptions ordered for home delivery through its online pharmacy, CVS.com. The labels are free to CVS.com pharmacy customers who are blind or visually impaired. If you order prescriptions from CVS.com and would benefit from talking labels, you may request the labels with a prescription ordered through cvs.com. Contact CVS at 1-888-861-4363.

Walgreens is offering a device called the Talking Pill Reminder at its retail stores throughout their chain. This device will be provided free of charge with prescription medications that Walgreens dispenses to its pharmacy customers who are blind or who have visual impairments. The Talking Pill Reminder can be recorded to speak the information on the customer’s prescription medication label, and also has an audible alarm to remind patients when to take a medication. In addition to providing the Talking Pill Reminder, Walgreens also offers large print patient information sheets to customers who have visual impairments.

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The Booklet of Braille Contractions

This article is excerpted from the May 2014 issue of the ACB Braille Forum.

The Jenny Beck Chapter of the Braille Revival League has produced a booklet entitled The Booklet of Braille Contractions that contains all the braille contractions, and a note on Unified English Braille. This booklet does not have the complete changes of the Unified English Braille Contractions but is good for a resource. Hopefully, the UEB changes will be made available in a similar format in the near future. It is spiral bound, brailled on 8 1/2" by 11" paper and is available with either paper or plastic covers. If you would like to purchase one of these booklets, the costs are as follows: paper covers, $7; plastic covers, $9. There will be a $1 mailing charge.

To get one of your own, send a check made out to the Braille Revival League to: May Davis, 133 W. Ashland St., Doylestown, PA 18901.

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Protecting Canadian Service Animals

On May 5, 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper proposed a law designed to protect service animals. The law, which has been dubbed “Quanto’s Law”, is a response to the killing of a Canadian police dog named Quanto by a suspect who was fleeing the police. The law imposes very strict penalties to anyone convicted of injuring or killing a service animal. Quanto’s Law is patterned after the recently enacted Dusty’s Law here in New Jersey. We are thankful for our legislature’s and governor’s trail blazing. There is a movement afoot to federalize this type of law thanks to their efforts.

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Braille Trail Opens in Mt. Olive

(Excerpted from the Daily Record) A hiking trail through the woods designed specifically for the blind and visually impaired officially opened on Monday, April 28, 2014. The Morris Canal Greenway Braille Trail is a one mile path that starts on Plane Street in Stanhope, travels along the towpath of the Morris Canal and ends on Continental Drive in Mount Olive. The Daily Record article features a picture of NJCB’s Peggy Kane hiking the trail on opening day. The article notes that this is Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2, expected to be completed in July, will add two more miles to the trail and will be connecting to the Sussex Branch Trail.

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Come to the MCAB Picnic

The Mercer County Association of the Blind's picnic will be at the Trenton Elks on Saturday, August 2, 2014 from noon to about 4 PM. There is always lots of homemade food and great fellowship. Let Bob or Ottilie know if you would like to come. Call (609) 882-2446 or e-mail Ottilie@verizon.net before July 15th.

Cost: Free to MCAB members and $5.00 for all others.
Place: Trenton Elks Lodge, 42 Decou Ave. in West Trenton (the cross street is Central Avenue.)
Bob Lucas’ cell phone: 609-638-4232

Directions:

From the North:

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From the East:

From the South:

Have a safe trip and we hope to see you there.

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CHAPTER REPORTS

Mercer County Association of the Blind. Hi All. We enjoyed both our winter birthday dinner and the pizza donated annually by the Bumberas at our May meeting and other goodies donated by other members. Several of our members were in attendance at the Friends’ meeting at the Joseph Kohn Training Center on June 7th. We will have a birthday celebration in early July with our members who have birthdays from May through October. Many of us are going to a night with The Trenton Thunder at Arm & Hammer Park, formerly Waterfront Park, on July 24, 2014. Larry Morgan and the Lucases will be representing NJCB at the ACB Conference and Convention in Las Vegas in July. Bob Collins and Vickie Curley will also be attending. Eddie Ricks and his fiancé will be tying the knot in Las Vegas. We are looking forward to the NJCB quarterly meeting at Camp Happiness. This is always a fun day. We invite everyone to our annual picnic at the Trenton Elks on August 2, 2014. Details are in a previous article. As you can tell, we keep very busy. We are looking forward to the activities in the fall. We will share more about them in our next issue.

Have a great and safe summer.

New Jersey Blind Citizens Association. Submitted by Stacy Stefanski, Director. The NJBCA has purchased a much needed, new 13 passenger transportation bus. This vehicle replaces our old van which was at the end of its useful life. The new van will ensure safe, reliable transportation for our participants that utilize the service for many years to come.

We held our biggest fundraiser of the year on Friday, May 30th. The gift auction helps raise critical funds for our organization. This was our 9th annual auction, and planning is already underway for next year. We hope that some of you might be able to join us next year for an evening of fun!

After a short hiatus, our art program is up and running again! We have welcomed a new volunteer instructor, who is an artist well versed in different types of media. Our participants have been busy painting, sculpting and having a wonderful time learning new artistic skills. Did we happen to mention that the instructor is blind? Not only is she helping them learn art, she is helping those having difficulty dealing with vision loss learn that it is not the end of the world, and that there are just ‘different’ ways of doing things.

The NJBCA is looking forward to hosting the quarterly meeting in July, and hope to see you there! Call our office at (732) 291-0878 to let us know how many will be coming on July 26th.

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MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Thursday, July 24, 2014, “Covering the Bases” with the Trenton Thunder will be held at the Arm and Hammer Park at 6 PM.

Saturday, July 26, 2014, The NJCB quarterly meeting will be held at Camp Happiness in Leonardo, NJ hosted by NJ Blind Citizens Association. More details are in the Meeting Notice.

Saturday, August 2, 2014. The Mercer County Association of the Blind summer picnic. Check prior article for more details.

Saturday, October 25, 2014. The NJCB Biennial Conference will be held at Grace Lutheran Church in Perth Amboy. A registration form is at the end of this newsletter and more details and directions will be in the October issue of the NJCB Chronicle.

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NOTE: Disclaimer. The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the New Jersey Council of the Blind officers and/or members. The editor reserves the right to edit articles submitted for both space and content.

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NJCB 2014 Conference Registration Form

Date: Saturday October 25, 2014 from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM
Place: Grace Lutheran Church, 600 New Brunswick Ave., Perth Amboy, NJ 08861
Cost: $30.00

To register for the Conference fill out the form below and send it with your check payable to NJCB to our Treasurer, Bob Lucas, 520 Ewingville Road, Ewing, NJ 08638 by October 15, 2014.

(609) 882-2446
REGISTRATION FORM

Name:

Address:

Phone:

E-mail address:

I would like my program in Braille ___ Large Print ___ or Cassette___

Meal Choice:

__ Roast Beef Sandwich

__ Turkey Sandwich

__ Italian Hoagie

__ Tuna Salad Sandwich

Total cost: $30.00

Any questions? Call (609) 882-2446.