MCB OFFICE NEWS

Spring, winter and back to spring all in one month! It’s been said that if you don’t like the weather in Missouri, just wait five minutes and it will change. For those who like the different seasons we certainly do have them in Missouri.

ACB GRANT APPLICATIONS: The grant applications are coming in. If you are planning to go to Minneapolis and have not yet submitted your request for a grant, you need to hurry and send us your completed application. The deadline for submitting applications is four p.m. on May 18, 2007. None will be considered if they are received after that date.

A letter will then be sent to those who have submitted an application, telling them how much the MCB grant will be. If, by then, you find you are unable to go to Minneapolis, please let the office know by May 29. Following that checks will be written and mailed the early part of June.

CONDOLENCES: We received the news of John Straine’s death after our April Office News had been printed. Our condolences to his wife, Sophie, and The Joplin Service Club.

OFFICE CLOSING: The MCB office will be closed for Memorial Day on May 28.

BLIND PENSION LAWSUIT: As of this writing we have had no word from our attorneys as to the outcome of the lawsuit. The judge needed to review many, many papers first; then hear the closing arguments from the attorneys, before a decision would be made.

BUILDING USE: On April 11 MCB received a letter from the Missouri Gaming Commission, stating that the Missouri Council is in violation of the gaming regulations. It had been reported to them that there was a bingo held here on April 7 and that MCB was making lots of money having bingos. I had to reply to them in writing that we would discontinue holding bingos and Game Days.

Upon receipt of the letter I phoned the Division Manager, Jane Bax, to inquire what we would need to do in order to hold the bingos and Game Days. I informed her that, first of all, we held a Game Day on April 7, which was a fundraiser for the MSB Boosters. I also told her that MCB itself makes absolutely no money on the bingos but that the groups who use our building are the ones who have fundraisers.

The letter that was sent to us was also copied to the Attorney General, the Metropolitan Police and the Circuit Court attorney in St. Louis.

It was unfortunate that someone felt they needed to report us to the Gaming Commission but, worse yet, they didn’t have their facts straight.

As a result of all of this the MCB Board voted to not hold any more bingos or Game Days in our building. It was also voted not to store the MCB bingo boards in the building as a precautionary measure.

The rule is this: “if a person puts up something of value to take a chance on winning something of value, it is considered gambling.”

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM BOARD MEETING: Kathey Wheeler has resigned as President of MCB due to her illness and incapacity to function at this time. Since Phyllis Lovett has been First Vice President, she automatically moved into the Presidency. Phyllis will hold this office till October of 2008. In accordance with the MCB Bylaws the President appoints people to fill the vacancies on the Board with regard to officers and directors and they serve until the next Convention. Phyllis appointed Linda Gerken to fill the vacancy of First Vice President, and Marie Thompson to fill the vacancy that Linda created by moving from Director to First Vice President. Both Linda and Marie will serve until our October convention this fall. At that time elections will need to be held for those two positions.

Another action taken by the MCB Board was to elect one of its members to receive a lifetime membership in ACB. Leroy Welch was elected to be that recipient. I feel sure all of us recognize Leroy’s faithfulness to both MCB and ACB. Congratulations, Leroy.

CONVENTION PREREGISTRATION: This year’s MCB Convention will be Oct. 4-7. The opening session of the Convention will be Friday afternoon at 1:30. Our Convention site is Joplin and the hotel is the Holiday Inn at 3615 Rangeline.

The office will begin taking pre-registrations for the 2007 Convention August 1. The deadline for submitting pre-registrations will be September 1, 2007. Any pre-registration postmarked after September 1 will not be accepted as a pre-registration. The registration fee for those pre-registering is $5.00. The cost of the banquet this year is $23.00 and the hospitality meal is $2.00. Pre-registrations must be accompanied by full payment for those activities the person wishes to attend.

MAJOR EVENTS: I have heard raving reports on both the Children’s Vision Summit and Power Up. MCB member Patti Schonlau is currently the chairperson of the 401 Blind Task Force. Through Rehab Services and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, this task force is responsible for the Children’s Vision Summit. Their attendance this year was 260.

We were represented at the Power Up Conference by Bev Kaskadden and Franklin Johnson. Chip Hailey was also present as a member of the Advisory Council of the Missouri Assistive Technology Program.

The “Chronicle”: As many of you know by now, Bill Benson was hospitalized on March 30 for a broken ankle. If that wasn’t enough, he experienced a heart attack and had to have bypass surgery and a valve replacement. At this writing he is still hospitalized but is improving slowly. He hopes to be back soon. In the meantime Janelle Edwards has agreed to step in and help out with the June issue of the “Chronicle”. Many thanks to Janelle.

FROM HER PERSPECTIVE: Margaret, an elderly woman, called our office recently wanting to talk about her frustration of dealing with her recently diagnosed macular degeneration. She claimed that she had been going to one of the best ophthalmologists in St. Louis for years and was never told that she had macular degeneration. She knew that she was seeing less all the time, so she went to other ophthalmologists who immediately told her she had macular degeneration.

Interestingly enough, she herself had worked for an ophthalmologist in New Jersey for some years. After that she had opened her own optical shop. In addition, she was a nurse.

Margaret’s question to me was “Is anyone researching macular degeneration?”

Margaret lives with her sister. She is fearful of going out alone since she doesn’t see curbs etc. Frequently, she fought back tears.

Even though Margaret had worked in the vision field and undoubtedly had knowledge that many do not have, she was experiencing a high level of frustration.