FLOWERS IN BLOOM: I told you in the closing of my last MCB Office News that by my next writing we would be thinking of planting flowers. Well, we have not done that yet, but I understand from Sandi that the tulip tree in front of the apartment building next door to our building is blossoming with many pinkish-white blooms. The forsythia is blooming and the jonquils are poking their yellow heads up. I even heard the whirr of a lawn mower this past weekend! All signs and sounds of spring!

BLIND PENSION LAWSUIT: Thanks to all of you who made the effort to attend the MCB lawsuit in Jefferson City on March 15. There were about 30 MCB members in attendance.

Many of you are probably wondering about the disposition of the MCB lawsuit regarding the blind pension. The judge decided early on March 15 that instead of having the second day of the trial on March 23 she would continue the trial on March 16. That made it better for those of us having to travel to Jefferson City. After two long days of testimonies, the judge said she would not hear any more that Friday evening. She will review the myriad of papers (which will take some time) and then make her decision. We will just await her decision which may be some weeks from now.

It is not appropriate for any of our members to contact the judge or the court staff. This holds true for all parties involved in the suit.

OFFICE CLOSING: The MCB office will be closed on April 6 in observance of Good Friday. It will also be closed on April 13 since both Sandi and I will be traveling to Joplin for the board meeting on the 14th. There will be a convention committee meeting on Friday afternoon, the 13th. Eldon has asked that both Sandi and I attend that meeting. CHANGES OF ADDRESS: We continue to receive returned copies of the “Chronicle” in both cassette and large print formats. The Post Office does not seem to forward things sent as “free matter”. That makes it all the more important that recipients or affiliates let the MCB office know as quickly as possible of any address changes or deaths.

Sandi does make an effort to locate the people whose “Chronicle” is returned. If the recipient is not a member of an affiliate or a member-at-large, we have no way of tracking them down. There are a number of people on the “Chronicle” mailing list who are not members of MCB but are interested in receiving the “Chronicle”. One does not have to be a member to receive it.

If you are able to receive emails, the “Chronicle” is available by email. Of course, there is no cost to providing it by email, so this would also be a cost-saving measure. Please contact the office and let us know if you would prefer receiving the “Chronicle” by email instead of another format. Of course, you will need to provide us with your email address. We will then forward your email address on to the editor who sends the email version directly to those recipients.

ACB CONVENTION GRANTS: This year’s ACB convention will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The dates are June 30-July 7.

A cover memo and grant applications have been sent to all affiliate presidents and members-at-large. They must be completed and returned to the MCB office no later than four pm on May 18, 2007. The amount of each grant will be determined by the number of applicants. Both legally blind and sighted members are eligible to apply. You must have become a member of MCB prior to February 1, 2007.

Checks will be mailed in early June. If you accept a grant from MCB to attend the ACB convention, it is required that you attend all business sessions of the convention. Recipients of grants who do not attend the convention must return their grant to the MCB office no later than July 15, 2007.

BUILDING USE: The MCB building continues to be used by various groups. On March 19 the Pin splitters Bowling League used the meeting room to hold a meeting.

On occasions Mind’s Eye meets with some of the beep ball players here in the large meeting room.

The MSB Boosters held a game day fundraiser on April 7.

GET-WELL WISHES: Early spring and change of seasons seems to have brought on a lot of sickness and mishaps among our members. First of all, Kathey continues to be at Cedar Valley Health Center. Progress continues to be slow, but even the slightest improvements give hope. We received word here in the office that Eleanor Moser of Lake Stockton has made several trips to the hospital and is currently hospitalized in Springfield. Eleanor is the President of Lake Stockton. Fortunately, Marie Thompson was able to escape having pneumonia, but her brother and sister (both in different states) have been admitted to the hospital in intensive care. Sharon Armstrong spent two weeks in Barnes Hospital but is home now. Tom and I are certainly glad to have her home again. John Iman was hospitalized for back surgery. He is out of the hospital and recovering at the home of a friend. Bill Benson had a mishap. He fell and somehow he broke his left ankle on both sides of his foot. He is hospitalized, also. Finally, we received word in the office today that Edna Freeman suffered a reopening of her incision from her knee replacement and is having surgery. Following the surgery she will spend some time in a nursing home to recover. To all of you and others whom we may not have heard about, we wish you a very speedy recovery and back to good health.

On a sad note Louella Wampler passed away in early April and was buried in Kahoka, Mo. Our sympathy goes out to her family. Louella was a member of UWB for many years.

A GRANDMOTHER’S STORY: I recently received a very touching phone call from a distraught and shocked grandmother. She had just returned home after spending six hours in an ophthalmologist’s office with her three-month old granddaughter. The grandmother cares for the child two days a week. They live in St. Louis County.

I don’t recall exactly the child’s medical diagnosis but in layman’s terms it is an underdeveloped optic nerve. The doctor had told the grandmother that they didn’t think the baby saw anything more than light.

The grandmother said she wants to do whatever she can to help this child in her development. She wanted to know what resources are available for a young child. I referred her to Delta Gamma who works exclusively with preschool-age blind and visually-impaired children.