The Blind Missourian
                                       July 2018

Table of Contents

First Presidential Report by Shelia Wright                                   1

Resolution 2018-01                                                                       5   

Shiannne Ramsey is Headed for Los Angeles 
   by Kathy Hurley                                                                        6

Our South-Central Chapter Takes Shore Leave 
     After a Long Voyage by Gary Wunder                                   7

Transportation for Branson Missouri by Nathan Deeds               8

Farewell to Our Friend, Jessie by Rita Lynch                              9

Erick Coulter by Carol Coulter                                                   10

NFB Pledge                                                                                 11                                                              

First Presidential Report
by President Shelia Wright

One year ago, I was honored to be elected as President of the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri.  This report is not about me and what I have done, but is in fact about you--all of you, the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri. It in no way outlines everything that we’ve done over the last year, but it features some of the highlights.  

Before I begin talking about the specific work we have done, I would like to recognize Gary Wunder. Gary has been wonderful in terms of his encouragement and support. I am sure it must have been difficult to remain silent while I responded to questions that had for so many years been directed to him; yet he was determined to stand back and let me be the president. He truly understood that he had given up the presidency and that the decisions were mine as the newly elected president. At the same time, he was always there to talk through the issues I asked him about and give his opinions behind the scenes. In addition, he has been available for assignments whenever called upon. All of this was important to assuring a smooth transition for the NFB of Missouri affiliate and to me, and Gary has and will continue to be a wonderful mentor for me. He is one of the giants whose shoulders I stand on.

One of my first actions was to find someone that could serve on the Taskforce on Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance.  We had an unfilled seat on the taskforce, and I think that when it comes to education of blind students K-12, it is a dangerous place for us to be missing in action. Thank you, Jenny Carmack, for taking on this appointment and giving us a presence here once again.  

We were pleased that when the Children’s Vision Summit was held in November that the keynote speaker was none other than Carlton Walker. This was an idea Dacia Cole had promoted before leaving the Taskforce. Thank you to Jenny Carmack, Julie McGinnity, Kathy Hurley, Rita Lynch, Randy Carmack, and Amy Wilson who helped with the NFB booth at the Summit. 

We are very fortunate to have Gene Fleeman as President of our Missouri Association of Blind Merchants. This division is made up of blind persons who are managers in the Randolph-Sheppard Program, small business owners and other entrepreneurs. We have seen growth in the division this year and welcome several members who are either here today or listening online. In May, 2017, Gene Fleeman traveled to Washington DC for a Fly-in to work on issues related to the Randolph-Sheppard Program. In June the Missouri Association of Blind Merchants held a meeting during the Business Enterprise Program’s Annual Meeting at Grand Glaze Inn. Though it was a short meeting, we were glad to have an opportunity to talk with many of the BEP Managers about the NFB of Missouri and our work on behalf of blind venders. Thank you Gene Fleeman, Gary Wunder, and Jeff Wright.

Perhaps one of the most exciting programs is our Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning (BELL Academy). This past summer was our fourth summer to hold the BELL Academy in St. Louis. The individuals who volunteered gave two weeks of their summer to allow us to host this incredible program for blind children ages 4-12. Thank you to Debbie Wunder, our BELL Academy Coordinator, for your leadership, and thanks to all of the BELL Staff that makes this project so meaningful to our BELL Ringers. 

We are pleased to announce that this coming summer we will be offering the BELL Academy in both Kansas City and St. Louis. The dates for Kansas City are June 18-29 and St. Louis will be July 23-August 3. You will hear more about this later in the convention. 

Thanks to the NFB of Illinois and the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille, our affiliate was able to offer the Braille Readers Are Leaders Contest to K-12 students throughout Missouri. We did not have much lead time to advertise the program, but I am proud to announce that thirteen participants did submit reading logs and qualify for prizes. Congratulations to Holly Connor from Missouri who won first place in the 6th-8th Grade Division. We look forward to offering this program to young blind Missourians at the end of the year and hope even more readers from Missouri will participate.

I haven’t mentioned the National Fitness Challenge yet, and I promise not to talk about it too long here. You have already seen our Sports and Recreation Committee in Action here today. We participated in this program through the United States Association of Blind Athletes and the Anthem Foundation from mid-March through the end of November. I do want to include it here though, to ask you to help me thank Robin House for the outstanding job she did managing this project for us. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Fitness Challenge and to those that were on the front lines assisting Robin with the many logistics. There’s lots of places one can look if he or she wants more details about this topic, so I’m stepping forward to my next topic.

I sometimes think Social Media has invaded our lives, but Amy Wilson has taken it on to help us spread the word about the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri. With both Facebook and Twitter, I believe it is possible to get the word out about our programs and our philosophy much faster. I think that our Social Media Committee invests a lot of thought and energy to develop and maintain a presence on the internet. Thank you, Amy Wilson, Dacia Cole, Britney Berk, Robyn Wallen, and Randy Carmack. The rest of us can help too by liking or sharing the posts. Let’s use social Media when it is appropriate to help us educate the world that blindness does not define us; however, let’s not allow it to replace the face to face communication that takes place when we are together or reach out to those we have not seen in a while.

Our webpage is becoming better and better every day with the work of Randy Carmack and the Webpage Committee that gives him feedback. Randy will be talking with you about the changes you will see when you visit us at NFBMO.org; so I will not steal his thunder in this report. Randy, just know how much we appreciate the many late-night hours you invest in keeping our webpage current and ever changing.

Daniel Garcia and the Public Relations Committee are mastering the art of writing press releases and working on other ways to promote the NFB of Missouri. I believe they have issued at least five press releases, including one for this convention. Thank you for your work over the past year.

Before leaving this whole focus on our communication team, I would be remiss not to mention Carol Coulter, our Blind Missourian Editor. Carol does a great job getting the Blind Missourian out; however, she would love to have more of you submitting articles for her to consider for publication.  I’d like to say thank you to Helen Stevens and Gary Wunder for proofing and Elisabeth Coulter who reads the audio version of the Blind Missourian. Carol always welcomes articles. Please feel free to write your reports and stories down and submit them for consideration by the editor. 

Our Blind Missourian is available in many formats: large print, NFB Newsline, email, and on thumb drive. If you don’t think one of these work for you, you can find it on the NFBMO Listserve or our state webpage. In other words, we put it out there and trust you will read and share it. 

We kicked off Meet the Blind Month with a White Cane Awareness proclamation, and I believe our chapters had at least eight meet the blind events.

We had an excellent team this year for the Washington Seminar, and although we did not have any members of Congress from Missouri cosponsoring our bills when we arrived in Washington D.C., we did not let it put a damper on us. Your representatives this year were:  Julie McGinnity, Daniel Garcia, Daniel Hodges, and Gary Wunder. As a result of our time on the hill, we now have Senator Blunt as a cosponsor on AIM High. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Blain Luetkemeyer have both signed on to the AIM High, and Representative Cleaver has cosponsored the Access Technology Affordability Act. While we are thrilled to have these members on as cosponsors, we still have some work to do. Please help with the follow-up that is needed to move us closer to our legislative goals.

On the state level our Governmental Affairs Chair is Roger Crome. Roger and the GA Committee have had their work cut out for them this year. Roger helped to obtain the proclamation, set up a very successful Jefferson City Seminar, and has represented us at hearings. Our GA Committee is one of the largest committees we have, and when we have meetings, it is one of the best attended. Everyone on it is engaged in what we are doing. It is an awesome team. Roger will talk later in the convention about the specific issues. Thank you Roger and Committee Members. Thank you also to Julie McGinnity, Rita Lynch, Kathy Hurley, Gary Wunder, and Brian Wekamp who have represented us at committee hearings in the House and Senate. 

On Sunday you will hear from Julie McGinnity about the activities of our Membership Committee which concluded with a very successful Membership Workshop on Friday afternoon here at this convention. The groundwork has been laid, and we must move forward with all of your help to spread the news about the National Federation of the Blind and help us build our ranks in Missouri.

Much of our work is not a big event, but is essential work that not everyone is aware of. Our work to be sure that surveys are completed to monitor and provide feedback to Uber and ensure that persons using service animals are not denied service by Uber and rideshare companies is one such program. Thank you to Robyn Wallen for heading up our efforts here in Missouri. She has done an awesome job, and it is not over. We ask if you travel with a dog guide or with others that use a dog guide, that you complete the survey. We need reports on trips, not only when there are problems, but when drivers do all the right things too. This is a project that will continue for several more years. When you see messages from Robyn about spreading the news and getting surveys in treat it like big news and help renew interest.  

I’d also like to thank those that helped with the testing of Automatic Teller Machines. This too was in follow up to litigation and our Missouri affiliate members tested over twenty machines.

This report would not be complete if I did not recognize our NFB of Missouri Board of Directors. We have a strong board with much talent. I appreciate the support you have provided throughout the year. Your willingness to step forward and accept new assignments have been key in our success this year. I am confident that future leaders are emerging among us. Let’s go build the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri.

Resolution 2018-01
A Resolution Regarding the AV START ACT to Promote Access to Autonomous Vehicles for the Blind
     WHEREAS, The Blind Driver Challenge is an initiative of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute which successfully demonstrated that blind people can safely operate a motor vehicle equipped with the proper non-visual interface; and

     WHEREAS, fully autonomous vehicles will provide equal access to reliable, affordable, flexible, and barrier-free transportation to the blind and others with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, Missouri Senator Roy Blunt was one of the initial co-sponsors of the American Vision for Safer Transportation Through Advancement of Revolutionary Technologies (AV START) Act (S. 1885); and

     WHEREAS, the AV START Act will promote access to fully autonomous vehicles for the blind and others with disabilities by preventing discriminatory licensing practices and by encouraging the development of fully accessible user interfaces: Now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Missouri in convention assembled this 7th day of April, 2018, in the City of Jefferson, Missouri, that we commend Senator Roy Blunt for his support for legislation that will greatly enhance transportation options for the blind; and

     Be IT Further Resolved that we urge the U. S. Senate to promptly pass the AV START Act so that blind people may have access to the same fully autonomous vehicles at the same time and at the same price as other drivers, thus increasing independent travel, freedom, and economic opportunities for the blind.

Shianne Ramsey is headed for Los Angeles
by Kathy Hurley

Shianne Ramsey competed in the regional Braille Challenge at the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis on February 14th, 2017. She competed in the Apprentice category which is for first and second graders. Shianne was one of the top ten students in the United States in her category to qualify to go to the National Braille Challenge, which is held in Los Angeles, California. 

The Apprentice group was tested on spelling, both uncontracted and contracted Braille, reading comprehension, and proofreading. Shianne is a great speller. One of her favorite things to read is the Braille Spelling Dictionary. 

Shianne was nervous and excited about competing at regional and very excited about going to California to compete. Her Mom, Sierra Vinyard, as well as Ron and Kathy Hurley her Great-grandparents, will be going with her.  Shianne will meet other blind students from all over the United States in California and get a chance for some fun while there. I believe her choice for a fun activity on Friday is the water park. We will be staying on the University of Southern California campus and meals are provided. There will be an award banquet Saturday night with the top three winners in each category announced and awarded prizes. 

Shianne is an excellent Braille reader and writer. She has attended BELL since she was four years old, and I believe it has been a great help to her. She also has an excellent Teacher of the Visually Impaired, Louise Whitworth, who has been her teacher in the public-school system since preschool. Shianne has an involved and large family who support her in learning. She has two little brothers, Talon, one year old and Brantley, two years old. They love their big sister, and she loves to play with them and read to them when she can get them to set still!

The Braille Institute sponsors Braille Challenge and is the only competition of its kind in the United States. Braille Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to eliminate barriers to a fulfilling life caused by blindness. They are located in Southern California with six centers and 220 community outreach centers. 

More to come next time after our trip to California.  

Our South-Central Chapter Takes Shore Leave After a Long Voyage
by Gary Wunder

In the early 1990s our membership committee took a week to travel to Rolla, our hope being to find people interested in starting a chapter. We struck gold and found several who were interested. Our chapter covering Rolla, Salem, and surrounding areas was chartered in 1991 and has been active since then.

Every group needs someone with the desire and motivation to be a chapter president, and Barbara Griffin was our hero. After a week on the radio and in the newspaper, the Saturday for organizing came, and we had about fifteen people present. Some would come and go, but we were growing and optimistic.

The chapter soon formed a warm working relationship with their local Walmart, and although some of our chapters could not get Walmart to let us fundraise, they were especially helpful to those in our Southcentral Chapter. The chapter wasn't content with candy or peanuts. They came with a grill, burgers, and hot dogs. They also managed to enlist the help of the Lions Club in the area for some much-needed labor.

Our South-Central chapter has been blessed with some fine people. I mentioned Barbara earlier. Then there was Cheryl Roach, Susie Nichols, and Mary Ann Pryor, all significant leaders who kept the chapter together and moving forward. Later came our longest-serving president, Helen Parker, who liked to call herself the Old Blind Woman or OBW. She is now in her late 90s and after two decades of leadership she has concluded she just can’t do the job any longer.

Of course, the chapter presidents are only the most obvious leaders, but in our South-Central Chapter there have been many more. Jean Trammell and her daughter Tina have been especially helpful. So too has Fran Morris. Clarine Belshe has been so good about helping people from St. James attend. Then there is the person who writes to me frequently with chapter updates and request that we visit. Her name is Kathe Hooton. She joined in 1994, but her husband Rex joined before she did and has been a significant contributor in his own right. As happens, people move away, people become ill and die, and we have sadly watched as our membership has decreased. The faithful are still the faithful, but when the balance of age gets very one-sided, it becomes harder to interest young or even middle-aged folks to get involved. The chapter has racked its collective brain about what to do, but nothing they have tried to increase membership has been successful. The affiliate board has been approached, and though the will is there, we have not been able to find young people either to bolster our existing chapter or to start a more student oriented one.

So, for the moment we are putting the chapter on hold, recognizing the love and spirit that made it a part of our family for a quarter of a century and always hoping to help it resume active status. We appreciate all of those who helped us have a presence there, and we hope to have good news about a chapter there someday soon.

Transportation for Branson Missouri
By Nathan Deeds

This year in sixth-grade as a part of Pirate Challenge, which was my schools gifted program, we did a project that would make a difference in the community. The first thing I did in the project was decide on a topic. We were told to find something that bothered us in our community. I chose the problem of Branson not having adequate public transportation. I chose it as my problem because I went with my family to Winter Park, Colorado in the fall of 2017. I found that it was smaller than Branson and had a nice public bus system. It could be used by locals and tourists. Many people in Branson don't have cars so they have to walk to work and this is hard because there are not very many sidewalks. The bus system could also help tourists who didn't want to drive or didn't have cars. 

Then we were told to find as much information on our topic as possible. I researched among other things transportation funding and other tourist towns with public transportation. I compiled this information into a brochure that I gave to my class, but I decided that I should make a bigger difference. I decided I would present my findings to the city administrator of Branson. He thought the presentation was interesting and it turns out he also wanted public transportation in the area as well. He decided to have me present the presentation to the Branson City Board of Aldermen. I think the presentation to the Board of Aldermen went quite well. After that the newspaper and the TV news picked up the story.

Farewell to Our Friend, Jessie
by Rita Lynch

On Thursday, June 7th at 4 a.m. our friend, Jessie Ruth Ling, received the call of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and her soul was welcomed into her heavenly home. Jessie was 87 years old, but you wouldn’t have known that by seeing and knowing her. The visitation and funeral mass was held on Saturday morning, June 9th at St Joseph Cathedral here in Jefferson City with Father Merz as the celebrant. In his eulogy Father Merz introduced Jessie as being beautifully relationable- beautifully sociable. This was a perfect explanation of Jessie.  
 
I met Jessie about ten years ago when I was a rehabilitation teacher. She was at that time struggling with losing a good deal of her eye sight due to Macular Degeneration. She was very open to learning the blindness skills which helped her to continue to be independent and successful as a wife and homemaker. She was so very grateful for the services she received. Jessie was interested in becoming a part of the National Federation of the Blind, and she hit the ground running. Jessie became active in all areas of chapter activities. Whether it was fundraising such as candy sales, yard sales, walk-a-thon or bake sales, Jessie was always there to help. She also thoroughly enjoyed the social activities. Remember those delicious chocolate chip cookies that were available at our recent state convention in the hospitality room; those were made by Jessie. Unfortunately, there will be no more homemade jellies available at our chapter table in the exhibit area at state conventions. Our Jessie was truly a loyal and treasured member, and we will miss her tremendously.
 
Jessie worked for over twenty-one years as a Physical Therapist Assistant at a local hospital here in Jefferson City. She and her late husband Roger were very active in their church, St. Joseph Cathedral, and in other community organizations. Upon retiring Jessie cared for her husband until his death in October, 2014. She is survived by her two daughters and a son, seven grandchildren, and several great grandchildren as well as a sister and many other relatives and friends.

In order for you to truly appreciate Jessie’s adventurous spirit, here are a couple things she was brave enough to try. When Jessie was sixty years old, at a family get together she decided she was going to ride her grandson’s three speed bicycle. As she got on and started down the hill, she did not know the brakes were on the handlebars. Well, they say she finally stopped down in the lagoon. When she was eighty-six years old, she was at our walk-a-thon and decided she was going to ride on the back of my tandem bike. Guess what, my friends, she did climb on and peddled and rode it all the way around the lake, but she did allow Dave East to do the steering.
 
Jessie was born on the Bend of the Gasconade River, and she loved the water and the outdoors and the sand between her toes. Jessie did not get cheated out of having fun. She truly enjoyed life and made the best of every opportunity that came her way.

We were so glad that Jessie was able to be at our state convention banquet, and she really enjoyed it. Her medical troubles really began in early May, and just five weeks later she was gone. We know she’s with her loved ones who had gone before her, and we are truly happy for her. We appreciate all she did to help us, and our special memories of Jessie will last forever.  May she rest in peace.

Erick Coulter
by Carol Coulter

Erick Coulter a long-time member of the Columbia Chapter and brother to Gene Coulter, passed away on April 13, 2018. Erick was a very quiet and gentle soul and while he only attended a few meetings, he always asked about what was going on and kept up through the minutes and other emails that were sent. Erick was born on September 24, 1951 in Denver, CO. He was a computer programmer for several years in Denver until home computers became more popular. Erick loved trains, old televisions shows and music. Erick also loved his echo which allowed him to keep up with the news, weather, listen to jokes and listen to a wide variety of music. Erick was also very creative when it came to using his echo. Erick’s speech wasn’t always very clear so he would use his computer and have JAWS relay the commands to his echo. He will be greatly missed by his family.

PLEDGE OF THE
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

I pledge to participate actively in the effort of the National Federation of the Blind to achieve equality, opportunity, and security for the blind: to support the policies and programs of the Federation and to abide by its Constitution.

Board of Directors
National Federation of the Blind of Missouri

Officers:
Shelia Wright, President			           Julie McGinnity, First Vice President 
Gene Fleeman, Second Vice President           Dacia Cole, Recording Secretary
Erin Magoon, Corresponding Secretary         Carol Coulter, Treasurer

Board Members:
Eugene Coulter 		Roger Crome	                      Jenny Carmack
Amy Wilson		          Chris Tisdal		 	            Melissa Kane
Daniel Garcia	          President Emeritus, Gary Wunder

Chapter Presidents
Dacia Cole, Columbia                  		   Amy Wilson, Old Drum Chapter
Melissa Kane, Jefferson City	        		   Ben Vercellone, Springfield
Daniel Garcia, Kansas City          	 	   Chris Tisdal, Lewis and Clark	  
Roger Crome, Mineral Area Chapter                Dan Keller, Show-Me State Chapter

Blind Missourian Editor Carol Coulter
Proof Readers Helen Stevens, Shelia Wright, and Gary Wunder
Read by Elisabeth Coulter                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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