Summer 2006
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
By Daveed Mandell
Welcome to the summer issue of Keeping In Touch. Let me first apologize for our nonexistent spring newsletter, because of illness.
We would like to thank the volunteers who have worked so hard during the year to help make the Center's events resounding successes. Our ticket sales for our March fundraiser were phenomenal, and we appreciate the hard work of the members who organized that event.
Center President Lizz Deeff asks if blind people in the community would like to have their mail and other pertinent material read to them by volunteers. If so, the Center will look for and schedule volunteer readers. Please contact the Center if interested.
We wish to express our appreciation to the Berkeley Adult School, which has bent over backwards to accommodate us by providing instructors for several of the Center's classes. We would like to continue offering our popular Ceramics, Exercise and Movement, and Music Appreciation classes, and encourage additional interest and participation. Please call the Center for more details or to sign up.
Thanks to Jan Santos and Jewel McGinnis for their contributions to this issue of the newsletter. If you would like to offer short articles, informational items, recipes, announcements or ads for upcoming issues, please contact me at my email address, daveedm@sbcglobal.net, or by phone at 510-665-9260.
Quarterly Business Meeting: The Center's summer quarterly business meeting will be held on Saturday, July 22, from 1 to 4 PM. The lunch menu will consist of herbed baked chicken, salad, potato, vegetable and dessert. Members pay $8, and guests $9. Please reserve your lunch plate no later than Wednesday, July 19.
Annual Picnic: Come one, come all, to the Center's annual picnic on Saturday, August 26, from 12 to 4 PM. We will partake of, among other summer barbecue fare, hamburgers and hot dogs. The cost is $9 across the board. Please make your reservations no later than Wednesday, August 23.
Annual Summer Outing: This summer, we will all meet at the Center for fun, games and lunch on Saturday, September 16, from 2 to 6 PM. Please request your $6 picnic lunch no later than Wednesday, September 13.
The Center offers several classes, and we welcome additional participants. If you would like to join one or more classes, please call the Center. Please note our current class schedule, as follows:
Computer classes are offered Tuesday through Friday. If interested, please contact the Center and speak with Connie or Jan.
We are pleased to announce that Claude Everett is now the Center's Grants Committee Chair. Claude has worked for many years in nonprofit organizations and is quite familiar with applying for and obtaining grants. Other committee members are Lizz Deeff, Ex Officio; Daveed Mandell; Patricia Nash and Peter Pardini. Please feel free to call the Center to contact Claude or any other committee member with any grants-related ideas or suggestions.
During the summer the Center will be closed on the following days:
Are you hankering for some mouth-watering delicacies this summer? If so, the Center's cookbook, Our Favorite Recipes, is for you! Available in braille and large print, the book costs $20, plus $3 for shipping and handling. To order your copy, please call the Center.
Recipe Submitted By Jan Santos
Press moisture out of zucchini with hands. Mix together zucchini, egg and half the cheddar and mozarella cheeses. Spread in lightly greased 10 by 15-inch pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
Saute beef, onion, garlic, bell pepper, mushrooms, oregano and salt in frying pan. Add tomato sauce. Pour mixture over zucchini and spread. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar and mozarella cheeses. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake until lightly brown, about 20 minutes. To serve, cut into squares. Serves 6.
Submitted by Jewel McGinnis
Hello, and welcome to the Mental Health Hotline. If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, ask someone to press 2 for you. If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6. If you are paranoid, we know what you are and what you want; stay on the line and we'll trace your call. If you're delusional, press 7, and your call will be transfered to the Mother Ship. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully, and a small voice will tell you what number to press. If you're depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press; no one will answer you. If you are dyslexic, press 6 9, 6 9, 6 9, 6 9. If you have a nervous disorder, please fidget with the pound key until the beep; after the beep, please wait for the beep. If you have a short-term memory loss, please try your call again later. And if you have low self-esteem, hang up; all of our operators are too busy to talk to you.
"The whole secret of life is to be interested in
one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well."
-- Horace Walpole