By Judy Sanders, Secretary

"CELEBRATING 90 YEARS: LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD" was the theme for a very special 90th annual convention at the Best Western Kelly Inn in St. Cloud on November 5-7, 2010.

Friday Afternoon

For the first time, convention participants had the opportunity to preregister for the convention. This speeded up the process of getting agendas, banquet and lunch tickets (the entire package was $50.00) and enabled everyone to join in the many activities that included:

Exhibits/Sales: The Low Vision Store demonstrated the new Pearl camera used with Open Book Version 9 and the Topaz and Ruby hand-held magnifier from Freedom Scientific. There were demonstrations of braille displays and sales staff was available to answer questions about products.

Louis Braille Bicentennial silver dollars were available for sale. Those who have purchased coins are supporting the campaign to increase braille literacy.

Meeting: The National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota Seniors division held its annual meeting. They decided to sell cell phone holders as a fundraiser. Their officers are president, Joyce Scanlan; vice president, Harry Krueger; and secretary/treasurer, RoseAnn Faber.

Discussion: NFB 101 provided answers to the following questions: How does the organization work? How do I find out the organization's positions? What resources does it offer? How can I help? This was an opportunity for many of our new members to become more knowledgeable about the NFB. Our national representative, Mark Riccobono and our president, Jennifer Dunnam, conducted the discussion.

Committee: Our resolutions committee, chaired by Steve Decker, met to introduce the resolutions that are the foundation of Federation policy. Everyone had a chance to air their views and get an advance look at proposed resolutions that would be introduced to the convention.

Meeting: The National Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB) met to explore ways of increasing braille literacy and had its usual fun with braille games. Elections produced the following results: president, Melody Wartenbee; vice president, Amy Baron; secretary, Trudy Barrett; and treasurer, RoseAnn Faber.

Friday Evening

Meeting: The Minnesota Association of Blind Students (MABS) held the last meeting of the day. Their energy was evident throughout the convention with the selling of 50/50 raffle tickets. Their new officers are: president, Jordan Richardson; vice president, Alvin Jask; secretary, Anne Naber; and treasurer, Jean Rauschenbach.

The day ended with generous hospitality from our Central Minnesota chapter. Seeing old friends and meeting new ones made for an interesting time. The highlight of the evening was a fundraiser sponsored by MABS. Those wishing to show off their talent paid an entrant’s fee and shared their finest moments.

Saturday Morning

After a continental breakfast, President Jennifer Dunnam called the convention to order and introduced Reverend Ron Mahnke for an opening invocation. Andy Virden, president of our Central Minnesota chapter gave us some welcoming remarks and some history about the downtown area where we were located.

Outside the room, students were urged to meet David Reeves from the U.S. Department of Education, who had information regarding financial aid. Dick Davis was available throughout the convention to sell the Louis Braille Commemorative coins.

To celebrate our 90th convention throughout the day, Jeopardy-style questions tested our knowledge of our history.

Jeopardy answer: The year the NFB of Minnesota was founded.

Question from Tim Aune: What was 1920?

Charlotte Czarnecki explained how our annual bake auction would work. She and Kathy McGillivray coordinated a group of auctioneers. Bids were high making the auction a huge success. Convention participants donated all items.

Our past year was an active one as could be seen in the reports from President Jennifer Dunnam and our national representative Mark Riccobono. Jennifer reported that we played an active role in choosing the new director for State Services for the Blind (SSB) and have made clear that we will be in constant contact with them about how they can deliver the best services possible for all blind Minnesotans. At last year's convention, we passed a resolution suggesting that the Communication Center at SSB start producing electronic texts. SSB is investigating how to do that. Due to Federation inquiries and another resolution about the low successful closure rate for employment of SSB customers, we are now actively involved in a task force that is trying to determine how to raise the rate. We were active participants in helping to raise standards for accessible data given out by state government. We were also successful in enhancing the training for counselors at SSB so that they are now required to have six weeks of training. It is now in state law. We were the only blindness organization to call legislators’ attention to a mistake they had made in figuring SSB's budget for the coming year. We participated in listening sessions held by the Minnesota Employment Policy Initiative. This project aims to increase employment for people with disabilities in Minnesota. They will be producing policy briefs that will be available to employers or anyone else who might be interested in them. We continue to provide feedback to them on the policy brief about blindness. We continue to work with the Secretary of State's office on doing outreach to voters with disabilities and promoting nonvisual access at the polls. We continue to work to bring youth into our movement through Teen Night and Saturday School for younger children. We conducted an event in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Education, State Services for the Blind and Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions (BLIND), Incorporated called Transition to Independence. We made two presentations to the Statewide Vision Network made up of the teachers of blind children. After many years of work, we finally have a sign at our headquarters building that identifies us to the world. We continue sending our message through Twitter and Facebook. We have been holding conference calls for members at large. We had 83 people attend our national convention. We hope that number will increase in Orlando. Jennifer expressed appreciation for the chance to work with such dedicated and hardworking members. We will continue to work on all these and other issues in the coming years. For Jennifer’s complete presentation, see the Winter 2011 issue of this publication.

Jeopardy answer: This Minnesota resolution called upon all teachers in the state to teach braille.

Question: What is 26-02? It was in 1926 and we wanted Grade 2 to be taught to blind children. (No one got it right.)

Mark Riccobono, executive director of the NFB Jernigan Institute, gave our national report. He began by talking about our current concerns in Congress. First, there is the Technology Bill of Rights. Much technology today, both in the home and in the workplace, is no longer usable nonvisually. He also told us that we are seeking a standard of sound emission for quiet cars for the safety of all pedestrians. (Note: Since our convention, Congress passed and the president signed the Pedestrian Safety Act.) Our next Washington Seminar occurs on January 31-February 3, 2011. Before the Washington Seminar, many members will attend the first "Blind Driver Challenge" which will allow a blind person to drive a car. It will take place on the Daytona speedway and we want a big audience to witness this momentous event. No longer will people be able to say that we can't accomplish anything. We need never limit ourselves again. Through our efforts there is now a commission (Riccobono is the NFB representative) to find ways to insure access to education materials at the higher education level. This does not just mean books; there are kiosks, Websites, and class materials that are not accessible. We want publishers to provide their material in an accessible format when they are first available to the public. We are also working with builders of e-book readers. Through a settlement with eBay, the NFB is creating opportunities for blind people to set up their own businesses on eBay.

Our newest leadership program is the "Teachers of Tomorrow." We are looking for individuals who want to teach blind children and we will train them in positive attitudes toward blindness so they can incorporate those attitudes in the classroom. We were reminded of the many free programs sponsored by the NFB such as free white canes and NFB-NEWSLINE®. The entire collection of the Braille Monitor has been digitized. We are looking for interviews to create our history and file it at the Jernigan Institute. On the education front, we have our science academies and we have the BEL program (Braille Enrichment Literacy). We are looking for three affiliates in addition to the nine who did it last summer to participate in this program. We are also getting ready for the third annual Youth Slam. Riccobono ended his remarks by reminding us that in order to keep these programs going we have to fund them. We should all register for the Race for Independence. Our work improves our lives; we make a real difference. One way to donate is through the “Text To Give” program. Text the word blind to 85944 and donate $10. When we make speeches, we should ask our audience to use their cell phones and text.

Kristin Oien, the new Blind/Visually Impaired Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education, presented “Promoting Literacy and Quality Education for Blind Students in Minnesota”. Ms. Oien has extensive experience in teaching blind children orientation and mobility and other subjects such as braille. Most recently, she worked as a member of a diagnostic team for blind, deaf/blind and deaf student in Honolulu. The policy for Special Education in Minnesota is to provide leadership to ensure a high quality education for all Minnesota's children and youth with disabilities. There are 427 blind and visually impaired students in Minnesota. For Ms. Oien's complete presentation, see the Winter 2011 issue of this publication.

Our agenda had an unexpected guest, Sean Whalen, past president of the NFB's national student division. The students have a new and improved Website, listserv, and their newsletter The Student Slate is better than ever. Students are traveling throughout the country to reach out to students. Students are participating in the Braille Readers are Leaders contest and sponsoring a fundraiser where they are asking for Pennies for Pages to reward their reading.

"New Frontiers" gave us the opportunity to meet four staff members who are either new or who have changed their position at BLIND, Incorporated, (Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions). Shawn Mayo, executive director, talked about always wanting to upgrade teaching practices while sticking to the tried and true methods of success. They now have a Communications class that combines the teaching of computers and braille taught by Emily Wharton and Ryan Strunk. Emily pointed out that technology helps make braille more available than ever; for instance, by using speech output on a notetaker with a braille display, the student gets immediate feedback about their accuracy. Ryan Strunk told of a student who used his ability to scan, word process and braille to produce a restaurant menu. His success was lauded on Twitter; other businesses picked up the message and spread it even further. BLIND has developed a new curriculum for braille based on memorizing the braille code and then learning to recognize the position of the dots.

George Wurtzel, the new industrial arts instructor, has a long career in the furniture-construction field that is unusual for a blind person. He is now showing blind people that their dreams can become reality. Whether it is fixing windows, sawing down trees or fixing a dishwasher, they do it all!

Sharon Monthei is a certified English Language Learner (ELL) instructor and developed a program specifically for blind students. Most ELL classes rely on pictures; Sharon incorporates teaching braille and English at the same time. She has taught 17 students from seven different countries.

Meet the Blind Month is now a tradition in Minnesota and throughout the country. Sheila Koenig reported that the Metro Chapter participated in Macy’s Department Store's Shop For A Cause and members leafleted on Nicollet Mall and in the Uptown area of Minneapolis. Our state affiliate has a Facebook page where we posted biographies of blind individuals. We staffed a table at the Education Minnesota conference.

One of the ways that members support our national movement is through the PAC (Preauthorized Check) plan. It allows members to have a predetermined amount of money withdrawn from their checking account and donated to the NFB. Al Spooner reminded all of us why we should participate. Several Federationists increased already existing plans or started new plans.

During lunch, we met the staff and students from Blindness: Learning In New Dimensions (BLIND), Incorporated. This is the only consumer-directed blindness training center in the state and it is fitting that they celebrate their success with the National Federation of the Blind.

Saturday Afternoon

Our afternoon session began with another Jeopardy question.

Jeopardy answer: On December 28, 1920, this organization adopted a policy in support of this travel device.

Question: What are whistles? This was a preliminary solution to let the public know that a blind person needed assistance in crossing the street. It preceded the wide use of the white cane. (No one got it right)

The first speaker for our afternoon session was the new director for the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind in Faribault, John Davis. He is starting his 12th year at the Academy; he taught science and was athletic director. Davis talked about various construction projects and staff changes. We urged Mr. Davis to become familiar and participate in the many programs for youth sponsored by the NFB.

Jeopardy Answer: Three Minnesotans held for an hour in Six Flags over Georgia for not giving up their canes in 2004.

Question from Sheila Koenig: Who are Zach Ellingson, Mike Sahyun and Brandon Ball?

Jon Benson, director of SSB’s Administrative Unit, gave our State Services for the Blind (SSB) Update. He spoke on behalf of Richard Strong, SSB's Director. After thanking the NFB for its continued support, he warned us that SSB and all state agencies are in for serious budget problems. There could be a $6 billion budget shortfall in the coming biennium. Benson provided updates from the following units at SSB: WorkForce Development Unit that serves transition-age customers and those seeking employment, Assistive and Adaptive Technology Unit that advises customers about the best accessible technology that will meet their needs, Audio Services that records textbooks and other material for customers, Radio Talking Book that broadcasts books, newspapers and magazines, Braille that produces textbooks and other material in braille, and Senior Services Unit that provides services and information to those wanting independent living services but not necessarily employment. For specific details about SSB's activities, see his complete remarks in the Winter 2011 issue of this publication.

Jeopardy answer: An early nickname for this organization.

Question from Pat Barrett: What is the MOB (Minnesota Organization of the Blind, the name of the organization from 1920 to 1973)?

Catherine Durivage, Director of the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library, gave her usual informative report filled with practical advice about ways we can improve our own library service. In past reports, we heard about staffing difficulties; while the library is not yet fully staffed, staff has increased. She expressed gratitude for all the NFB's work with the legislature to help bring about the staff improvements. We heard a lot about the conversion to digital books and we learned that the new NLS Digital player is now available to all patrons. She gave us hints that we should keep in mind when returning books. Not only can we borrow books we can use our computer to download them. Even with all these new ways to obtain books, we should keep our cassette players because it will be a few years before the whole collection is converted to the digital format. The library wants to make use of listservs, blogs and other forms of high technology. See Ms. Durivage's full report in the Winter 2011 issue of this publication.

"Life-Changing Adventures" was presented by three BLIND, Incorporated students who once again demonstrated through their words that if we believe in our own abilities there is little that we can't do. Hannah Furney came to us from Ohio but claims Minnesota as her home now. She told us of a camping trip taken by staff and students last summer where she and Steve Decker, a blind instructor, were part of a group that went tubing down a river. They became separated from the group and got caught on a tree. It was the instructor that figured out what to do showing Hannah that blindness did not stop them from solving their own problems. She has also learned that when a skill seems difficult, patience can be rewarded with success.

James Smith arrived from Kansas and thanked the Federation audience for making him comfortable with his blindness. His experiences in Kansas had been extremely negative and he is grateful to learn that life does not have to be that way. Mr. Smith can control his own destiny.

Virginia Walden has been legally blind all her life but lived her life as a sighted person who couldn't compete. Ginny had many successes in her life before she came to Minnesota; she earned a Master's degree in divinity and she worked on the streets of Chicago with women who needed help. But she never felt comfortable with herself and could tell that something was missing. Ginny sensed this gap in her life and searched the World Wide Web for blindness, braille and white canes. She found the Braille Monitor, the NFB, and a completely new way of thinking. Each day she is now challenged to determine whether she is equal with others who are not blind. She is now able to take risks and knows that she will keep evolving.

"Building the Organization, Shaping the Future" was a new experience for longtime convention goers. We engaged in group discussions exploring what it is that draws us to the Federation and how can we build our organization to strengthen it. After the discussion, groups reported to the full audience. Most of us came to the NFB because we wanted more control over our lives; we may have encountered discrimination or we may have felt a lack of independence. We came for a support system that we will probably always find valuable. We can share with other blind people why we are here and hope to strike a chord that will draw them in. Several groups mentioned the importance of combining our special interest groups with chapters and finding tasks to involve everybody. We must always be open to new ideas while remembering the tried and true things that have worked for years. Notes were taken with specific suggestions so that we can put our ideas into practice.

The NFB of Minnesota is a member of Community Shares Minnesota, a federation of organizations that believe in social justice and raise money for their causes. Most of the money is raised through workplace giving but the member organizations are expected to help raise money. Toward that end, a 50/50 raffle was held with the winner getting half the proceeds, and the rest was donated to Community Shares Minnesota.

Saturday Evening

The prelude to an exciting banquet was a social hour where, along with pleasant conversation, people took their last chance at purchasing raffle tickets for the student division and for Community Shares Minnesota.

Master of Ceremonies Andy Virden enlivened the banquet with his down-home sense of humor. After Pat Barrett's invocation and introduction of the head table, we engaged in a bit of spirited singing of NFB songs. Ryan Strunk was the winner of $50.00 in the Metro Chapter essay contest and Muzamil Yahya won the random drawing for $50.00 from all those who entered the contest.

Kari Hanson was awarded a $1,500 scholarship to attend the University of Minnesota at Morris.

The climax of NFB conventions is the foundation of our existence. Mark Riccobono gave our banquet address. He shared his story and all of us found parts of it with which we could identify. Maybe it was the isolation of being left out of childhood activities or self-imposed limitations and those placed on us by others; maybe it was learning too late the place that braille should play in our successes; or whether it was finally knowing that there were people everywhere who can help make the road to independence much easier, we have all lived some part of his story. His oratory inspired his audience to want to give back so that we can share with others how lucky we are to have the opportunities and successes that we experience. We are fortunate to be a part of making history for all blind people. His closing remarks brought us full circle, as he told us of the birth of his children — and the news that his youngest might be blind. His fears for her did not involve the physical loss of sight, but had more to do with whether she would have an educational system that could meet her needs. Never has the work of the National Federation of the Blind seemed so important!

All of us left the banquet carrying a gift of a pizza cutter courtesy of the Central Minnesota chapter.

After a long day, many still found the energy to enjoy further hospitality. It helped that we gained an extra hour of sleep by turning our clocks back from Daylight Savings Time.

Sunday Morning

Even with that extra hour, Sunday morning came early and all were present for our final session.

One of the Federation's major activities is influencing legislation that improves the lives of blind Minnesotans. We are effective at this because of the work of our local chapters in a unified effort throughout the state. We need only look at our host chapter to see how a little effort establishes good rapport with local legislators. We were pleased to hear remarks from Representative Larry Haws, outgoing member of the legislature from St. Cloud. He gave us a primer on how to get to know all the new legislators so that we can continue our successes. It was apparent that he considered Andy Virden his friend and he wanted to serve us well during his tenure. Among other things, he helped the Minnesota State Braille and Talking Book Library obtain additional staff. Jennifer presented Mr. Haws with a Louis Braille coin in honor of his appreciation of braille literacy.

Jeopardy answer: This was the first major purchase of property by this organization.

Question from Judy Sanders: What was the Home and Center for the Blind? The property was purchased in 1924, and a building constructed. This building provided housing, meetings, socials, and entertainment programs from 1929 to 1980. Joyce Scanlan reminded us that while the home solved serious housing discrimination problems faced by blind people, this organization also worked tirelessly at the legislature to eliminate such discrimination.

Tom Scanlan reported that our treasury has a net income but our fundraising is down and we cannot predict what will happen with grants, foundations and individual contributions.

We heard reports from our chapters and divisions that included conference calls for members at large to keep everyone involved. Members are distributing literature, fundraising and spreading the word to potential recruits.

Jeopardy answer: The year that the first issue of the Minnesota Bulletin was published.

Question from Joanne Stark: 1935.

A moment of silence remembered those members and supporters whom we lost this year.

Election results were as follows: vice president, Steve Jacobson; treasurer, Tom Scanlan; first board position, Pat Barrett; and second board position, Joyce Scanlan. Our current officers and board members who were not up for election are president, Jennifer Dunnam; secretary, Judy Sanders; board members, Jan Bailey, Charlene Guggisberg, and Sheila Koenig.

Jeopardy answer: The year that Joyce Scanlan was first elected president of this organization.

Question from Judy Sanders: What is 1973? We heard a sound clip from the convention that elected her.

Jeopardy answer: The largest protest held by blind people in Minnesota.

Question from Judy Sanders: What is 1980 when we marched to the Minneapolis Society for the Blind? We heard another sound clip from the march.

Steve Decker, chair of the resolutions committee, thanked his committee: Joyce Scanlan, Shawn Mayo, Mike Sahyun, and Jan Bailey. This year we had a single resolution expressing our concerns about the upcoming budget of State Services for the Blind. The resolution was passed unanimously and follows this article.

Jeopardy answer: The year and the location of the latest protest conducted by the NFB of Minnesota.

Question from Kathy McGillivray and Tom TeBockhorst: What is 2008 in Rochester in front of a movie theater showing "Blindness" that portrayed blindness in a negative way? We heard another sound clip from television coverage.

Jeopardy answer: The first year that Tom Scanlan was elected treasurer.

Question from Joyce Scanlan: What was 1974? We got another sound clip.

Several Federationists who serve on advisory councils reported to the convention. Judy Sanders serves on the Statewide Independent Living Council and reported that this Council has been invited to meet at SSB so they can learn more about what that agency does. Judy also joined Steve Jacobson on an advisory committee to the Secretary of State to do outreach to people with disabilities to increase the number of registered voters. We had the opportunity to promote use of the AutoMARK that gives nonvisual access to the ballot.

The Site Council that advises the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind wants to narrow its focus to advocating for a mentoring program for the students. Carolyn Barnes is the NFB representative on the Council.

Tom Scanlan serves as the NFB representative on the State Rehabilitation Council Blind that works with SSB. Also serving on that Council at the time of the convention were Steve Jacobson, Ken Trebelhorn, Jan Bailey and Judy Sanders as its chair. The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), as a part of its oversight responsibilities, brought a monitoring team to Minnesota and met with several Federationists to get our views about service delivery to consumers. One of their points for improvement had to do with the agency being buried too deeply in its parent department, the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED.) The council is also working on trying to find ways to increase the successful employment rate of SSB customers. Federationists are urged to attend council meetings and participate on council committees.

Jeopardy answer: 1951.

Question from Jan Bailey: When did Andy Virden join the NFB?

Jeopardy answer: We have a current Minnesotan who inspired one of our NFB speeches.

Question from Shawn Mayo: Who is Emily Zitek? Emily wrote one of the letters featured in "The Nature of Independence" by Kenneth Jernigan.

Jennifer talked about the great array of NFB literature that continues to inspire us. She would like to know what piece of literature or article had particular meaning for us; we may print some of these in the Minnesota Bulletin to share with newer members. A lot of our history is on our Website. In particular, she recommended an article from 2007 by Joyce Scanlan entitled "How Our Organization Came To Be."

Jeopardy answer: The year that the NFB of Minnesota and BLIND moved into the Pillsbury mansion.

Question from Pat Barrett: What is 1994? This sound clip featured the ringing of several miniature freedom bells to celebrate the grand opening.

Jeopardy answer: The number of articles published in the NFB's Kernel Book series written by Minnesotans.

Question from Jan Bailey: What are ten?

Dick Davis announced that we sold $620 worth of commemorative coins. There are still more to sell.

We thanked Tim Aune and Steve Jacobson for all the sound clips from the Jeopardy questions.

Our bake sale auction, held throughout the convention, yielded us $3,361.

Closing remarks from Andy Virden, on behalf of our host chapter, and Mark Riccobono, our national representative, ended a convention that showed lots of energy and came away with lots of ambitious plans.

Resolution A10-01

Regarding adequate funding for senior services

WHEREAS, State Services for the Blind's senior services unit provides a variety of services to blind seniors in the state of Minnesota, especially crucial adjustment to blindness training in the home or through group classes, as well as access to information and resources; and

WHEREAS, these services are essential for many seniors who wish to maintain their independence; and

WHEREAS, these crucial services can be provided for a one time cost of 20 to 50 percent of a single month of assisted living or nursing home care which would otherwise go on for years; and

WHEREAS, as the population continues to age, these services will be important to an ever-growing number of older Minnesotans; now therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota in convention assembled this 7th day of November, 2010 in the city of St. Cloud, that this organization call upon the governor and the state legislature to provide adequate funding for senior services for blind Minnesotans.