[IL-Talk] at large minutes november 2024

[datemeyer at sbcglobal.net]

NFBI AT LARGE CHAPTER MINUTES

November 3rd, 2024

ZOOM meeting

CALL TO ORDER

At Large Chapter President, David Meyer, called the meeting to order at 7:04
PM. Persons in  attendance included At Large Chapter President David Meyer,
Vice President Linda Hendle, Denise  Avont on behalf of Marilyn Green, Bill
Reif, Ken Schad, Jean Johnson, Joel Johnson, Eileen  Truschke, Michelle
Ault, Yvonne Agyarko, Leslie Hamric, Debbie Pittman, Jemal Powell, and
Michal  Nowicki.

Persons in attendance introduced themselves and shared one thing they were
thankful for since we  are getting close to the Thanksgiving Season.

PROGRAM

Debbie Pittman introduced the program item and shared with us some new
technology that she heard on  the Ohio List serve and it is called Glide. 

 We listened to the Glide Demonstration video. In this video, Luke
Buckberrough, one of the  co-founders of Glide, explained how they are
expecting Glide to be used to get around.

In the view, Amos Miller is sitting on a bench along a pedestrian sidewalk
in his local  neighborhood and Glide is standing upright next to him. Glide
has two black all-terrain wheels  about 7 inches in diameter. It has a
rounded cylindrical body that is split horizontally with a  black bottom and
a white top with a visibility LED illumination ring separating the two. It
features a magenta colored bumper at the front that also serves as a support
for standing it  upright. The bumper can also be used as a handle to pick it
up. A white telescopic stem connects to  the base of a triangular shaped
handle. The handle has a comfortable black grip featuring two  haptic
surfaces and buttons in the center. It also has a microphone array, a
speaker for voice  interactions, and a forward facing camera. 

The video demonstrates Amos taking Glide on a walk. Glide keeps him on a
safe path, avoiding  obstacles, but looks for his input on turning left,
right or crossing intersections to get him to  his final designation. Glide
has target and path detection and finds the line. Glide will always  notify
you when it has found the line ahead. As Amos is approaching the end of the
next block, he  plans to cross the road to his right. Glide announces the
options and Amos selects the right  option, thereby selecting the crosswalk
on his right as his target. Glide confirms his selection.  Amos begins to
feel a gentle haptic buzz in the handle grip. This is called the tracking
buzz and  it's Glides way of telling him "I've got the Target, follow me".
Glide first guides him a little to  the left to avoid a pillar and lines him
up to approach the curb on his right. He feels the  increased resistance in
the wheels telling him to slow down. Glide will apply the breaks to bring
him to a complete stop right to the end of the curb. Glide tells him the
crosswalk is reached.

This video is on You Tube. There is a advertisement in the middle of the
video. The device did take  Amos to the smoothie shop. The Glide also showed
him where the door was and showed him where the  counter was. The video does
remind some people of using a Guide Dog except you have command buttons
instead of giving verbal commands that you would give a Guide Dog.

With this device you still do need to have your orientation in order to
effectively use this  device. It will tell you what's ahead, just like a
Guide Dog would, by the way it behaves and  reacts.

Amos Miller, who was featured in the video, is the founder and CEO of this
device and is Blind.

PRESIDENTIAL RELEASE 543

David Meyer stated that this is the second in the series of the new
Presidential Releases.

We are celebrating the 84th Anniversary of the NFB here in November 2024. We
are being encouraged  to discuss what events in the history of our movement
have been most important to us. It is a  interesting question and leads us
into the next important question which is what are we most  excited about
for the movement in the future. The reason to understand the past, what we
have done,  and where we have been, is to have inspiration for where we
still need to go, and what we still  need to do. We are also encouraged to
make this an opportunity for the chapter to post something in  social media
and send it to the communications group at the national office,
communications at nfb.org . In this video or audio we should state what we're
excited about for the future of the Federation.

President Riccobono said that one of our most persistent problems that we
have been facing since  1940, and will continue to face into the future, is
correcting the public understanding about  blindness. We need to break down
those misconceptions.and help the average person in society know  the
stories of blind people in a authentic way. There is a real need to gather
more of our stories  in writing, in audio form, or in video, so we can
continue to inform the public on the  understanding of blindness. Our
stories are one of the most powerful tools we have when we talk  about the
work of the NFB, our philosophy, and the difference it makes in our lives.
One source for  getting inspiration for stories is our Kernel books. These
books are short stories about the lives  that blind people lead and the
difference the NFB has made in those stories. These Kernel book  stories
could be a way to create a platform for us to talk about our stories within
chapter  meetings. The Kernel book stories could also be great way to
practice braille and to get ready for  our Braille Readers are Leaders
contest that will be coming up in the next month or so. The Kernel  books
are available on our web site in text and audio form. You can go to NFB.org
to find them. We  can use the Kernel book stories to encourage members to
write new stories for the monitor, for our  podcast, and for our blog. Our
stories are really one of the most powerful tools that we have. It  is a
great opportunity as a way to talk about the work of the NFB and sharing the
power of our  movement.

The article that was suggested was the audio recording of one of our classic
Kernel book stories.  The article is the title article from the Kernel book
titled "Wall to Wall Thanksgiving" which was  released in 1997. The author
of that article is Barbara Pierce and she will be celebrating her 80th
birthday in November 2024. Mary Ellen Jernigan also turned 80 a few weeks
ago.

The last item he wants to bring up on this release is related to gratitude.
President Riccobono had  some sad news but it also is an opportunity to
share a bunch of gratitude. John Cheadle of Maryland  passed away. He has
made positive contributions towards blind people and non blind people,
parents  of blind children and others across the country. His contributions
really touch every corner of our  nation. President Riccobono has a deep
amount of gratitude for having been in his circle, to have  been influenced
by him and to have had the opportunity to learn from him and his experience
as a  non blind person who was deeply committed to the organized blind
movement. One story that comes to  President Riccobono"s mind is that John
Cheadle had the assignment to teach some blind individuals  how to drive
when technology was being tested for the Blind Driver Challenge. Some blind
individuals have never been drivers and John Cheadle was the instructor and
also the navigation  system. President Riccobono reflected on a time when he
learned how to drive for the challenge with  John Cheadle. Looking back, it
was a fun moment he shared with him.

He hopes all our chapters get out there, tell stories, review our Kernel
books and use them as a  source of inspiration and he wishes everyone a
Happy Veterans Day, Happy Federation Anniversary and  a Happy Thanksgiving.

The next part of the Presidential Release President Riccobono played the
audio for the Kernel book  "The Wall to Wall Thanksgiving" by Barbara
Pierce. She is no stranger to Kernel book readers and  appears on the pages
frequently. We can read her heartwarming account of her young families
efforts  to celebrate traditional American holidays while living in London.

If anyone would like to listen to the book and may need assistance listening
to it, Bill Reif  stated he is willing to help members find it.

STATE PRESIDENTS REPORT

Denise Avant is here on behalf of state president Marilyn Green. Marilyn
would want to wish  everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and would like to
thank everyone for a great state convention.  At our state convention we
welcomed many first timers as well as reconnected with old friends.
Feedback is welcomed about the 2024 convention as well as any ideas we may
have on the 2025  convention. which is the weekend of October 17th 2025. We
can send feedback or ideas to her at  president at nfbofillinois.org .

Next item is Washington Seminar 2025. The applications for Washington
Seminar 2025 are now  available. We can go to nfbofillinois.org and download
the application. The dates are February 3rd  to the 6th. It is noted that
Illinois usually comes in on that Sunday and then we are generally  done
with all our appointments by that Wednesday. If you questions about
Washington Seminar or  about the application you can contact President Green
or Denise or Dustin Cather. They are the co  chairs for federal legislation.
If you need assistance to fill out the application you can call  President
Green at 312-343-8396 and she will be happy to help you fill it out or have
someone  assist you.

On December 1st we will have the scholarship applications for our National
Scholarships Program. We  can find that at NFB.org/scholarships. We award 30
scholarships to deserving blind collage students  in the amount of 8000.00
apiece. We can also be on the lookout for our state scholarship  application
which will be uploaded during the month of December. State Scholarships to
be given  away is decided by the board. This past year there were two,
sometimes we have had three, and  sometimes as many as four or five. The
board has yet to make that determination on how many will be  given out next
year. It will be dependent on what the budget shows we have. In the past it
has been  5000.00 per state scholarship and last year we had two.

Also be on the lookout for information about our National Convention in New
Orleans, Louisiana. The

dates are July 8th thru the 13th and we will be hearing more about it in
places like the Braille  Monitor and our List serves.

OLD BUSINESS

We do not have any old business to be covered at this time.

NEW BUSINESS

Seeing that it is election season, people were asked to do letters to the
editor column on the  importance of having electric ballot return. If
someone wants to vote by mail we currently have  delivery but no return.
Denise has already written to the Chicago Tribune, and the Sun Times.

The next At Large meeting will be Sunday, December 1st.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Michelle Ault

Secretary