By Lori Peglow

Meet the Members

Ron Mahnke joined the CMCNFB over seven years ago.  Andy Virden was the chapter president at that time.  After the death of Andy, Ron was elected President.  He took last year off but was elected again in September of 2014.  Ron has a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa.  He was born with this condition.  Retinitis Pigmentosa causes loss of sight gradually.  The night vision is the first vision lost.  The peripheral vision is lost next, and then vision is reduced to “gun barrel” vision followed by total loss of sight.

Ron is a pastor and a member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  He is also a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church of St Cloud and attends services at the Good Shepherd home.  He was also a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor and a Licensed Professional Counselor.  He married his wife, Barb, on December 27, 47 years ago.  They have two children, their son Bradley, and their daughter Dara.  They have three granddaughters and one grandson.

Ron is still very active.  He formerly enjoyed fishing and hunting.  He still enjoys Bible History, American History and Theology.  He writes papers and is the editor of a paper called “The Blind Side.”  He has written papers on marriage, a paper called ARMM that stands for American Rural Ministry Model.  This paper is currently being copyrighted.

The technology that Ron relies on is a tape recorder, DVD’s and CD’s, and the telephone.  He used to use the computer but now he records his papers and has a typist who puts his works together and makes the diagrams for him.  Ron also stays in touch with former students.  And he is very active as chapter president.  He keeps up on the National Federation news and reports it to the local chapter.

His advice to others is that we need to face our fears.  Unless we face them, they don’t go away.  He faces them with his religious faith.  The support and love from his wife Barb and his family have been great.  They have given him love, prayers and encouragement through the years.

Annual Events in the Area

Our annual fund raising spaghetti dinner is at the Eagles Club in Waite Park on Friday, January 16, 2015 from 4:30 pm to 7:30 pm.  The cost is $7 for adults, $3 for children ages 6 to 12.  Children under six are free.

Little Cane Sales.  Our chapter will be selling candy canes to raise funds.  The canes are being put together by Lori Valo and Scott Tatro.

Beth Moline and Gail Gruber-Bengston will be representing the chapter at Louis Braille Day at the St. Cloud Library on the 1^st Saturday of January 2015.

Todd McKee and Beth Moline have been working on business cards for the chapter.  Some of the cards will have the information about the CMCNFB in Braille on the back of the cards.  Members of the chapter will hand out the cards to introduce people to the chapter and let them know when meetings are held.

Jim Cecil, Bev Stavrum, Beth Moline, Gayle Gruber-Bengston and other members help share information about the National Federation of the Blind at the Whitney Center.