Spring 2009
Newsletter of
The East Bay Center for the Blind, Inc.
2928 Adeline St.
Berkeley, CA 94703
Phone: 510-843-6935
Fax: 510-843-6006
E-Mail: ebcb@pacbell.net
Web site: www.eastbaycenterfortheblind.org
Spring has sprung, and -- as we journalists say -- another issue of the newsletter will soon be "put to bed".
This issue is short, because I haven't received many contributions from members. Please share your tips and techniques for living with blindness or visual impairment, short articles, poems, recipes, announcements and/or ads. After all, this is your newsletter!!
I am particularly excited about an important milestone that our Center has reached. Members James and Evelyn Gillmore have donated a combination printer, fax machine, scanner and copier that will allow us to print the newsletter in-house. Lynne Laird has donated a refurbished embosser. We are thrilled beyond words to receive this very much needed equipment, and are extremely grateful to Lynne and the Gillmores!
As always, please email your newsletter contributions to me at daveedm@sbcglobal.net, or phone me at 510-665-9260.
Daveed Mandell
Dear Friends:
I want to let everyone know that we’ll be having a guest speaker at the upcoming business meeting. Lori Gray from Bay Area Recreation and Outreach Program (BORP), a Berkeley-based organization offering various recreational programs for persons with disabilities in the Bay Area, will be here to tell about upcoming outings and activities. BORP has obtained a new bus, and we’re hoping to plan some joint outings with BORP and EBCB for the summer. We had a wonderful outing with BORP to Wild Cat Canyon a year or so ago, and look forward to more adventures in the outdoors with them. You can also learn about trips to take with BORP on your own. Their phone number is 510-849-4663, their email address is info@borp.org, and their website is www.borp.org.
We’re starting our plans to remodel the kitchen and to look in to other improvements in our Center. If anyone has a favorite contractor for us to check out please let me or someone on the Board know.
Now is also the time for each of you to contact us with ideas for classes and activities you would like to have at the Center.
We’ve had two wonderful donations to the Center in the last month which you’ll read about elsewhere in this newsletter.
One of our volunteer consultants pointed out at our last board meeting that people give to people they know and care about, so remember to tell folks about our Center when they’re interested in donating to a worthy cause. We need and very much appreciate any support and help to promote and grow our Center.
We’re looking for a couch for the main room at the Center for an affordable price or as a donation. If you know of an available couch in good condition that needs a new home please contact me.
I hope to see you all at the business meeting in April, and don’t forget our Oldies Dance coming up in May. It will be a fun event; again you can read more about this in this newsletter. All my best to each of you for a good summer.
Jan Santos
Quarterly Business Meeting: The Center will hold its next quarterly business meeting on Saturday, April 25, from 1 to 4 PM. We will serve lunch, yet to be determined, which will cost $8 for members and $9 for guests. Please reserve your meal no later than Wednesday, April 22.
May "Spring Fling": New Center member Mike Gorman will be the DJ at the Center's first "Spring Fling", an Oldies Dance, which will take place on Saturday, May 23, from 3 to 7 PM. Mike says he has records and CDs going all the way back to the beginning of the twentieth century and beyond. He'll most likely spin discs from the 40s, 50s and 60s. We'll serve fried chicken, potato salad, trimmings and dessert. Please request your $10 plate no later than Wednesday, May 20.
Bake Sale: The Center's annual Bake Sale will occur on Saturday, June 27, from noon to 4 PM. Members are encouraged to bake and bring their favorite sugar-filled and/or sugar-free cakes, pies, cookies, candies, rolls and breads. Many tempting, tasty treats will be available. We will provide a $6 lunch plate, which should be ordered no later than Wednesday, June 24.
Submitted by Preston Moses
When there are bats in your belfry that flut, And your "comprenez-vous" rope is cut, And there's nobody home In the top of your dome, Your head's not a head -- It's a nut!
In May 2009, Social Security will distribute a one-time payment of $250 to Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries nationwide. The payments are provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. A leaflet which discusses distribution of the one-time payment in greater detail has been drafted by the Social Security Administration. Eligible individuals will receive a one-page notification of their payment via postal mail in April, and the payments will arrive in May. The leaflets will not be mailed, but are available online and printed copies are available for distribution. If you would like printed copies of the leaflet, please e-mail Lauren Hawkins at Lauren.Hawkins@ssa.gov or call her at 410-965-8726. To download the pamphlet: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10519.pdf
Submitted by Doug Nash
Fahrenheit and Centigrade Sat together in the shade; And neither one put up a fuss As to what the temperature was.
Many taxpayers may be missing a credit that could increase their federal income tax refunds by as much as $4,824. The IRS estimates that up to one in four taxpayers who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) fail to claim the credit. You may qualify if your income was less than $41,646 last year and you, or your spouse, worked or received disability retirement benefits under an employer plan and were under the minimum retirement age. For more information contact the IRS at 1-800-906-9887 or visit the web site www.irs.gov.
Submitted by Preston Moses
Q: What form of transportation does the Easter Bunny use to get to work? A: Rabbit transit. Q: Do you know why April is so tired? A: You would be, too, after a 31-day March! Q: What kind of eggs do wicked chickens lay? A: Deviled eggs. Q: What do they call it when rabbits study aviation? A: Hare-anautics.
The mission of the East Bay Center for the Blind, Inc., is to develop quality programs and services for blind and visually impaired people by providing a safe and supportive environment, while encouraging one another through leadership, interaction and the sharing of information, resources and skills. The Center's activities enhance independence, dignity and self-determination. As a self-governing organization of primarily blind and visually impaired persons, The East Bay Center for the Blind, Inc., is committed to remaining a living, working foundation of strength, as we participate in the larger community in all areas of our daily lives.
President: Jan Santos
First Vice-President: Daveed Mandell
Second Vice-President: Steve Fort
Recording Secretary: Patricia Nash
Corresponding Secretary: Ida Johnson
Treasurer: Lizz Deeff
Directors: Charlotte Criddell, Connie Kelley,
Katrina McCurdy, John Morin, Connie Skeen
If you or a friend would like to remember The East Bay Center for the Blind, Inc., in your will, you can do so by employing the following language: "I give, devise, and bequeath unto The East Bay center for the Blind, Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization in California, the sum of $___ (or ___) to be used for its worthy purposes on behalf of blind persons." Thank you.
"The great enemy of clear language is insincerity." -- George Orwell