The UCB
Flier
A publication of
Utah Council
of the Blind
November
2018
For the latest news
updates call the Utah Connection 801-299-0670 or 1‑800-273-4569. (You may
also leave a message at the end of the announcement.)
Mail
correspondence to: UCB, PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415. E-mail us at ucb.board@gmail.com.
The UCB Flier is available in large print, Braille,
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If you would prefer to receive your newsletter in a different format, please
call the Utah Connection or send an e-mail to ucb.board@gmail.com and let us know.
In
This Issue
President’s Message.................................................................................. 3
Messiah Sing
Along.................................................................................... 4
Christmas
Boutique & Bake Sale................................................................ 5
Christmas
Party.......................................................................................... 7
Self-Defense
Class for Women.................................................................. 8
Affordable
Care Act Open Enrollment...................................................... 10
VFO is Now
Vispero................................................................................. 10
Magnetic
Charging Option for Electronic Devices.................................... 11
General UCB Information......................................................................... 14
Christmas
Party Reservation Form........................................................... 15
Disclaimer
Articles and
announcements included in this publication are presented for your information
and interest. They reflect the opinions of the respective authors and are not necessarily
endorsed by the UCB.
Another month has flown by. It is so hard to believe that 2018 is almost over. For those of us counting shopping days, we have 84 days left until Christmas.
The beginning of January marks a new beginning for the UCB board, as well. Our new Vice President is Donni Mitchell. Janis Stanger and Monica Youngdell will also be joining us. Cordie Weed will be serving on the board, but will no longer be Vice President. We are very glad to have them.
We also want to thank Patricia Beaman for her time of service with us. We will still look forward to her wonderful work with the boutique on November 30, and December 1. TerriLynne Pomeroy and Michael Neal will be leaving the board. We want to take the time to thank them for their service.
Edel Alvarado will be joining us and taking care of the newsletter for a time, but we’re hoping she will remain with us for the long run. You can email your articles to newsletterucb@gmail.com or give her a call at 801-556-6992.
The Utah Council of the Blind has many wonderful members, and we hope that this year will be a time when we can see growth in volunteers among the members. One way that we could use your help is for those of you who are teacher trainers or those of you who have benefitted from teacher training to draft a letter telling us how it helps you. This is a program that is seriously needed, and we need to let everyone know how important it is. You can email letters to lgertsch@comcast.net or tinakt67@live.com Your participation would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Tina Terry
You will be thrilled to know that the UCB was able to obtain tickets again this year for November 24 as everyone gathers to sing the Messiah along with the Utah Symphony. Last year those who attended claimed that it was one of the best experiences they had had in a long time. At 7:30 on Saturday night you can join with the Utah Symphony and raise your voice to the beautiful strains of Handel’s Messiah. It is just the thing to turn your thoughts to the Spirit of Christmas. Tickets are $10 each. Call 801-292-1156 to reserve yours. The tickets are limited, so don't wait too long. Send you check to the UCB at PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415 or call Tina to use your credit card for the purchase. Tina can be reached at 801-245-9264. Those wishing to participate need to be able to get to Abravanel Hall on their own. Hope to see you there.
UCB will, once again, be sponsoring the ever-popular Christmas boutique on Friday, November 30, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 1, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at DSBVI, 250 N 1950 W, Salt Lake City. If you wish to sell your creations, table rental is $10.00. You may reserve your table by contacting Tina Terry at tinakt67@live.com or 801-245-9264 and sending your check in the amount of $10.00 to: UCB, PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415. All are invited to join us to pick up some great Christmas gifts or fun items just for yourself.
We will also be holding a bake sale from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 1, in conjunction with the Christmas Party and Boutique. As usual, we are requesting donations of baked goods and other goodies from our members to sell on this day. Please call Tina Terry at 801-245-9264 to let her know the details of your donations. We do ask that they be plated or wrapped ready for purchase, since we do not have a way to re-package them at the sale. Be sure to bring a bit of extra cash to the Christmas party to shop both the bake sale and the boutique. Happy holidays, and happy shopping!
Our annual Christmas Party is going to be on Saturday, December 1st, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. It will be held at DSBVI at 250 N. 1950 W., Salt Lake City. It is going to be a brunch meal of scrambled eggs, ham, hashbrowns, fruit, and pastries. We will plan on eating about 11:00 a.m., with entertainment scheduled at noon. There will be gifts for the children, a visit from Santa, and treats for all. There will also be a bake sale and a gift boutique for people to do some shopping before the meal and after the entertainment. I am planning on having an activity for the children during the entertainment so that we can all enjoy.
In order to have enough food for all, we need to know if you are coming. We must have your reservations by no later than November 26th. Adult meals are $6.00 each, and children ages 3-11 are $3.00 each. Children younger than 3 can eat for free. Please fill out your registration form (found at the end of The Flier) and get it back to us no later than November 26th. People who do not reserve a meal WILL NOT BE FED. Hope to see you there for fun, food, and music.
Good morning ladies,
For my next belt advancement in taekwondo I need to do a 40-hour service project. I wanted to do something to give back to the blind community and thought a self-defense class would be fun!
I am looking to put the class together on a Saturday in January. The class would be free! It would be 2 hours long, located in Clearfield (easy access by bus and paratransit. You could also take frontrunner and I can make arrangements for rides to and from the front runner).
Master Shiba would be instructing the class. She is amazing and is a 5th degree black belt. We would make sure we have a one-on-one teacher in training for each blind/visually impaired woman who is participating in the class.
I would need a minimum of 10 women or teenage girls 12 and older in order to put this all together.
This class would cover the basics or self-defense. We would talk about kindness and mental understanding, how to handle different situations, how to use your body to protect yourself, and then, we would have some light hands-on activities to work on and practice.
If you are interested or know of others who might be, please let me know ASAP. My email address is jenzo5@hotmail.com or phone 801-390-7863.
I am super excited about this and look forward to hearing from you!
Smiles,
Jenni Thompson
Reminder—sign up dates for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) are coming soon. It is a short registration period this year: November 1 through December 15. To sign up go to www.healthcare.gov.
If any of you have called Freedom Scientific recently, you may have noticed that you are hearing a new name. The new name for VFO is now Vispero. They are still going to have the products such as JAWS and Fusion.
Jaws 2019 will be coming out soon, and there is good news for those of you who are out of date and would like to become current. Vispero now has the option of a fee of $90.00. It would be an annual subscription such as Microsoft 365. This would allow the user to jump from a very outdated version of JAWS to the newest version without having to pay for each update that you need to make. Those of us who are current will still be able to use the SMA program to keep getting updates. We have also just learned that if you are on a fixed income or are retired, JAWS can be purchased for $125.00. This is exciting if you are a first-time purchaser. It is good to know that we have options to purchase without paying the $900 cost that JAWS normally is. We can use NVDA, Microsoft Narrator, and other screen readers, but this makes the option of purchasing JAWS a more reachable goal for us.
If you are retired or on a fixed income, you can call Freedom Scientific/Vispero at 1(800)444-4443 and talk to them about how to purchase for the lower price.
I have been hearing about magnetic cables online for devices such as the Victor Reader and the iPhone. There have been concerns about the internal connecters on the Victor Reader products having problems, so I decided to purchase the magnetic cable and see if it would help mine last longer. In this article I will try and explain how it works.
The package comes with a cable and two connecters. One is for a micro usb connecter, which is the type used by the Victor Reader Stream and Victor Reader Trek. It also comes with a lightning connecter, which is used by the iPhone. The little connecter is inserted in the charging port of the Victor Reader or the iPhone. The smaller end of the cable is magnetized and slips right onto the connecter. You would then plug the other end into a regular usb port to charge as usual. This means you would use your regular Victor Reader Stream connecter to connect to the wall outlet.
I have been very happy with the magnetic cables overall. I can see benefits on several levels:
1. You would not be constantly pulling the cord from your unit, therefore possibly loosening the internal connecter.
2. If you have problems finding out which way to plug the cord into your Victor Reader or iPhone, you only plug it in once and then use the magnet to connect, making it much easier to manage.
3. If you have problems getting your fingers coordinated to plug in such small connecters, again it would minimize that problem.
The downfalls of this device are:
1. You must make sure to tilt the cable to one side allowing the magnetic connection to be broken rather than yank the cord straight out.
2. Remember that the connecter is very small. If it does get yanked out of your Victor or iPhone, make sure you check the end of your cord to see if it is still there.
3. Because it is very small, it would be very easy to lose and hard for those of us who are blind to be able to find.
I mentioned in the Presidents letter that there were 84 shopping days until Christmas. This is, of course, from the day I am writing this article. I would totally recommend the magnetic cable as a stocking stuffer this year. These cables can be purchased online. I purchased mine through the Harbolt Company. Their web address is harboltco.com. I also found them on Blind Bargains and Amazon.
Donni Mitchell volunteers in the UCB Office at DSBVI, 250 N 1950 W, Salt Lake City, UT, from 12:00 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. If you wish to make a purchase, we recommend you give her a call at 801-520-3766 to be sure she is there when you visit to purchase cab coupons, t-shirts, screwdriver/hammers, 20/20 pens, signature guides, or measuring cups and spoons.
Name(s) of person or people in group:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phone number: _______________________
Names and ages of children age 3-11 so that gifts from Santa
can be arranged:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Number of blind and visually impaired who are 12 or older: _____________________
Please send this form and money by November 26th to UCB, PO Box 1415, Bountiful, UT 84011-1415.
For questions or if you need special accommodations, contact Kira Larkin at 801-898-5472.
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