The UCB Buzz

A publication of

Utah Council of the Blind

January-February 2026

For the latest news updates, check out the website at utahblind.org, follow us on Facebook, and/or join our email list.

Contact Information:

E-mail us at utahblind@gmail.com

Call our business office at 801-245-9264

Mailing address:

Utah Council of the Blind

PO Box 1415

Bountiful UT 84011-1415

The UCB Buzz is available in large print, Braille, audio CD, and by e-mail. If you would prefer to receive your newsletter in a different format (or an additional format), please call or email and let us know.

We always appreciate hearing from our readers and receiving your contributions. Please send them to us via the contact information above.

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.

In This Issue

Membership Reminder 3

Sourdough Demonstration Class with Jenni Thompson. 3

Easter Basket Fundraiser 4

Legacy West Pioneers Beeping Easter Egg Hunt and Luncheon. 5

Braille Literacy Materials and Incentives. 6

What Is the Hype?. 8

Gratitude to Our Community Partners. 13

Special Thanks to Rocky Mountain Power Foundation. 16

Activities Calendar 17

Board of Directors Meetings. 19

UCB Board and Management 19

Membership Reminder

Just a reminder that membership dues were due January 1, 2026. If you have not paid current year dues by January 31 your membership will become inactive. If you are not sure whether you have paid or to pay by debit or credit card, contact the UCB office at 801-245-9264.

Sourdough Demonstration Class with Jenni Thompson

Who said making sourdough had to be hard or complex? Come learn how to make some easy to do and follow sourdough goodies! Learn how to use your sourdough starter when needed and only feed it when you are ready to use it. No more worrying about feeding it and discards every few days. This class will have different stages of the sourdough process available and will be hands-on. Come taste some yummy sourdough treats and be part of making something yummy! Warning – this will not be a gluten free class.

Saturday, February 7th, at DSBVI, 250 North 1950 West, SLC

From 10:30 am to 1:00 pm

Participation is limited, so please RSVP as early as possible, but not later than February 2nd, by calling or texting Jenni directly at 801-390-7863 with your name and phone number.

We will be serving soup for lunch with sourdough bread sticks and two different kinds of sourdough cookies for dessert.

Easter Basket Fundraiser

UCB Easter Basket Fundraiser! It's bigger and better with many really nice items donated. Order your basket by Monday, March 23rd, and pick up Saturday, March 28th at the Blind Center.

Small baskets are $15.00, Large baskets are $35.00 (one person) and Deluxe baskets (good for 1-2 people) are $70. Our baskets beat the store baskets out of the park. Plus 100% of the proceeds go to direct services for the blind. Tell your family, neighbors, co-workers. The baskets will be available for pick up at the UCB and Legacy West Pioneers Beeping Easter Egg Hunt and Luncheon on Saturday, March 28th, from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.

Please specify if the basket will be for a toddler, child, teen, or adult, and the gender. We have items to fill the baskets for everyone. On behalf of the UCB and all the wonderful donations from local stores, corporations, and individuals, we thank you. So don't hesitate to support this awesome fundraising event.

Call the office at 801-245-9264 to order yours.

Legacy West Pioneers Beeping Easter Egg Hunt and Luncheon

Please join us for our annual Easter Egg Hunt put on by the Legacy West Pioneers.

Saturday, March 28^th, from 10 am-1 pm, rain or shine

at the Blind Center, 250 North 1950 West, SLC

FREE for the whole family.

Those who are sighted may join in the fun searching for beeping eggs blindfolded.

After the egg hunt, a hotdog lunch will be served.

The UCB will also have a few filled Easter Baskets for purchase as well as a boutique to shop for Easter and Mother's Day items. Please call the office to RSVP at 801-245-9264

Braille Literacy Materials and Incentives

Good Morning!

My name is Sarah Erb, and I am writing to let you know about our little family owned company, Unicorn Soda Design Studio. We are a team of 3, and based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Whether you're a professional in the blindness field, a general education teacher, a community partner, or the coordinator for your regional Braille Challenge, we have some great play-based braille and tactile literacy products for you and your students/clients. Product pricing starts around $15 per item, and we can also design promotional materials upon request. We've developed many designs over the past 3 years since we opened our business, and are excited to bring these tactile items to educational teams around the country. We have games and literacy tools for tactile learners of all ages, from pre-schoolers to adults.

Several items within the $15-30 range are: Tactile Dice, Braille Alphabet Fidget (puzzle), Gem Quest (left right center game), Pig-Tac-Toe, Card boxes that hold brailled cards and double as a draw/discard when opened (Uno, Standard Playing Cards, Pinochle, Phase 10, Flip 7, Shanghai, Skip-Bo, Sleeping Queens, SkyJo), Conflict Resolution Dice (Rock Paper scissors).

Feel free to check out a recent podcast from November 2025, highlighting our journey so far. Our strength is the iteration and designing of new products, and we are currently applying for grants to cover the design time for our Natural Order of Contractions manipulatives set for contracted braille instruction, and would love to learn about more organizations that could assist us with funding so that we are able to continue the time intensive design work we have started. Please feel free to share your leads for grant opportunities with us.

Kindly and gratefully,

Sarah Erb

Marketing and Development

801-556-6649

UnicornSodaDesignStudio.com

UnicornSodaDesign@gmail.com

865 W Lucy Ave, Salt Lake City, UT 84104

What Is the Hype?

by Shaun Payne

For countless years, glasses have been an essential part of life for the blind and visually impaired community. We rely on them either for corrective lenses that help us see as much as possible within the limits of our disability, or simply to cover and shield our eyes from the world. Whether we like it or not, glasses are as much a part of our daily lives as the white cane—we go nowhere without them, and we depend on them. For hundreds of years, glasses have fulfilled these two simple roles.

But with the dawn of artificial intelligence, the world has rapidly changed. Now, AI has transformed our community’s most used and important piece of apparel: our glasses. In June 2025, Meta released its third-generation smart AI glasses in partnership with Oakley. These new glasses offer significant improvements over the original Meta Gen-1 and the Gen-2 Ray-Ban partnership. The Oakley Gen-3 models feature better microphones, an improved camera, enhanced speakers, and a more advanced microchip. Combined with Meta’s December 2024 release of AI Live Mode, these glasses have become the central topic of conversation—and the source of much excitement—within the blind community.

A few weeks ago, I used a generous $1,000 adaptive technology grant from the Utah Council of the Blind—on which I serve as a committee member—to purchase the Oakley Vanguard Meta Smart AI glasses. Recently, our committee has seen a surge in grant requests from others hoping to obtain this technology. I had been curious about the hype and wanted to see if these glasses lived up to it. After a couple of weeks of daily use, I now fully understand the excitement. These glasses are, quite simply, one of the most liberating pieces of technology I have ever used as a blind individual.

There are two primary ways blind users can engage the built-in AI. The first is by asking, “Hey Meta, what’s in front of me?” The glasses then take a picture and describe what I am looking at with impressive detail. I can ask follow-up questions about the image to obtain deeper or more specific information. This feature alone is extremely helpful. Yet it pales in comparison to the second—and most powerful—feature: AI Live Mode.

Live Mode activates the camera continuously, allowing the AI to see the world in real time and interact with me just as a sighted person would. It is like having a helpful assistant standing beside me, seeing everything from my exact point of view. As long as you have high-speed internet, the responses are instantaneous and completely natural. The AI tells me where objects are, how far away they seem, and even guided me into the men’s restroom the other day. For the first time, I was able to independently navigate my large pantry—one of the most challenging areas in my home—and locate everything I needed, including specific spices on a rack with more than forty bottles.

Once I pick up a food item, I can ask follow-up questions such as how many servings are in the container, how many calories per serving, or what the cooking instructions are. Essentially, it can tell me anything normally found online about that product. I also took the glasses with me to dinner and, for the first time, read the menu entirely on my own. The AI doesn’t simply read top to bottom—I can ask specifically which steak options are available, and it will list only the steaks. The same works for any section of the menu. It was no different than having a sighted person guide me through my meal choices.

When my food arrived, I even asked the AI to describe the plate—what was closest to me, what was on the left or right—and it perfectly described the arrangement of my chicken cordon bleu, mashed potatoes, and carrots. What makes this experience remarkable is that it does not feel like talking to a machine. It feels like speaking with an extremely polite, intelligent assistant who answers precisely what you ask with patience and accuracy.

These glasses also integrate with multiple apps, including Be My Eyes, and offer many additional features that enrich the lives of blind users. The open-ear speakers provide excellent sound without blocking environmental audio, which we depend on heavily for safety and navigation. The Oakley Vanguards contain five microphones built into the frames, capturing your voice perfectly—even in a loud room, they can pick up a whisper. There are multiple styles available, including Meta’s own designs, Ray-Ban, and two Oakley styles, each offered in a variety of frame and lens colors. For those who need prescription lenses, most styles can be fitted by your optometrist—though, unfortunately, the Oakley Vanguard model does not support prescription lens installation.

One of the greatest strengths of this technology is that Meta can update the app with new features without requiring users to purchase new glasses. A pair of Meta smart glasses can now be obtained for less than the cost of a modern smartphone, starting around $299 and going up to about $499. If you are blind or have limited vision and do not yet own a pair, these glasses are unquestionably a must-have device. Alongside the white cane and the iPhone, this technology has now become one of the top three most important and accessible tools for the blind and visually impaired.

I am not only satisfied with the Meta Oakley Vanguard Smart AI glasses—I am overwhelmingly impressed.

Gratitude to Our Community Partners

By Sandy England and Kate Balzly

The Utah Council of the Blind extends our sincere and heartfelt thanks to the many businesses that generously donated to support our activities and fundraising efforts this year. Your kindness and commitment have made a meaningful difference in the lives of blind and visually impaired individuals throughout our community.

Because of your support, we are able to host inclusive activities, provide opportunities for social connection, and offer programs that promote independence, confidence, and full participation in community life. Each event, fundraiser, and outreach opportunity you help make possible strengthens our mission and reminds our members that they are valued, supported, and seen.

Local businesses play a vital role in building strong, inclusive communities. Your willingness to give back—whether through financial contributions, in-kind donations, or sponsorship—demonstrates a true understanding of the importance of accessibility, equity, and opportunity for all.

Thank you for standing with the Utah Council of the Blind and for investing in a more inclusive future.

Arctic Circle

Black Bear Diners, West Jordan and Draper

Shake Shack, Murray

Papa John’s Pizza, West Jordan

Texas Roadhouse, Taylorsville

Jim’s Restaurant, Riverton

Flake Pies, South Jordan

Ream’s, West Jordan

Lees’ Market Place, North Salt Lake

Great Harvest Bread, Taylorsville

Pizza Pie Café, West Jordan

Nothing Bundt Cakes, Sandy

Hale Center Theatre, Sandy

Costco in Sandy, Murray, South Jordan

Pizza Hut, Salt Lake City

Also, thanks to all of the individuals who supported our Easter baskets, Halloween party, Christmas stockings, bake sale and Shop ‘Til You Drop UCB boutique. The fundraisers were great! For those of you who missed out this year please join us next year. We had things for everyone on your list plus baked goods which you could take home and enjoy.

We can always use help with these projects, so if you care to help this year, please contact Kate at the UCB office or Sandy England.

Special Thanks to Rocky Mountain Power Foundation

The UCB expresses our gratitude to the Rocky Mountain Power Foundation for providing a generous grant to the Subsidized Transportation Program.

The Rocky Mountain Power Foundation is part of the PacifiCorp Foundation, one of the largest utility-endowed foundations in the United States. The foundation was created by PacifiCorp, an energy company that serves over 2 million customers across a diverse six-state region as Rocky Mountain Power (Utah, Wyoming and Idaho) and Pacific Power (Oregon, Washington and California). The foundation’s mission, through charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of the communities served by Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power. Since it started in 1988, the foundation has awarded more than $60 million to nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit www.rockymountainpower.net/foundation or www.pacificpower.net/foundation

Activities Calendar

February 7, 2026, 10:30 am-1:00 pm – Sourdough Demonstration Class with Jenni Thompson – DSBVI – (Jenni Thompson)

March 23, 2026 – deadline for ordering Easter Baskets

March 28, 2026, 10:00 am-1:00 pm – Legacy West Pioneers Easter Egg Hunt and Luncheon (In conjunction with Easter basket fundraiser and Easter boutique) – DSBVI – (Legacy West Pioneers, Kate Balzly and Sandy England)

April 18, 2026, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Smart Glasses Activity – Zoom – Watch for updates (Sandy Ruconich)

May 2, 2026 – Exploring the World of Bees – DSBVI – Watch for updates (Anna Jeffery)

May 9, 2026, 12:00-2:00 p.m., Luncheon in Sanpete – Watch for updates (Dennie Clark)

July 24-31, 2026, American Council of the Blind Convention, St. Louis, Missouri

September 14 and 16, 2026, Utah State Fair – Fairpark – Watch for updates (Kate Balzly)

September 18-19, 2026 – Statewide Training Conference, Logan – Watch for updates (Juanita Gentry and Anna Jeffery)

September 19, 2026, Annual Business Meeting – Watch for updates

November 7, 2026, Craft Day – DSBVI – Watch for updates (Kira Larkin)

December 5, 2026 – Holiday Celebration “Polar Express” – DSBVI (Cordie Weed)
Christmas Boutique and Bake Sale – UCB Only (Kate Balzly and Sandy England)

Board of Directors Meetings

Members are invited to attend meetings of the Board of Directors. Meetings are held via Zoom. To be placed on the agenda or attend a meeting, email utahblind@gmail.com or call 801-245-9264.

April 9, 2026, 4:45 p.m.

June 4, 2026, 4:45 p.m.

October 1, 2026, 4:45 p.m., attendance by invitation only

January 7, 2027, 4:45 p.m.