[IL-Talk] Fw: SUBJECT: Corrected with Approval of Minutes for September 2024 At Large Chapter Meeting

[David Meyer]

Forwarded message:

From: "michtlua at aol.com" <michtlua at aol.com>
to: David Meyer <datemeyer at mysero.net>
Cc: michtlua <michtlua at aol.com>
Subject: SUBJECT: Corrected with Approval of Minutes for September 2024 
At Large Chapter Meeting
Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2024 00:45:19 +0000 (UTC)

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 Advant 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.




APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR SEPTEMBER 2024 AT LARGE CHAPTER MEETING




A motion to approve the minutes was made by David Meyer. Debbie Pittman 
moved and Bill Reif seconded. All those in favor signified by saying 
"AYE" and the minutes were approved for September 2024.





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 
<mailto: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