BLINDED VETERANS ASSOCIATION (BVA)
FLORIDA REGIONAL GROUP, INC.
3801 Coco Grove Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
FRG NEWSLETTER, 2010 FRG State Convention
Issue
FRG
President's Message: The 2010 FRG State
Convention is just around the corner and it's not too early to start making your
Convention arrangements. Aside from the Pizza
party on Thursday evening in the Hospitality Room, sponsored by Lisa Kreshmer, and the
Horse Shoe Pitching contest on the beach, coordinated by Bill Burgess, on Friday morning,
we are attempting to also have a tour of the Daytona Beach Talking Book Library, on
Thursday. This additional activity is
designed to make the Convention more exciting. We
are attempting to make transportation arrangements through the TB Library. If that does not work, we hope that several BV's
in attendance will have cars to assist with transportation.
The TB Library is only several miles from the hotel and it should not take more
than a few minutes to get there. In recent
years, BV's have attended the State Convention Business Meeting without registering with
the Convention. That situation did not
permit a check as to whether or not they were Members (M) or Associate Members (AM) in
good standing. The following policy has been
drafted by the FRG Board of Directors for use at the 2010 FRG Convention Business Meeting. It will also be presented to the membership at the
Convention, for consideration as an Amendment to the FRG By-Laws. Those M and AM in good standing desiring to vote
on the floor during the FRG
Convention Business meeting, must adhere to the following
policy: 1. Those individuals desiring to attend all of the
functions at the FRG Convention should register with the FRG Secretary by sending their
registration fee not less than 10 days prior to the start of the Convention. 2. Those
individuals planning to attend only the FRG Annual Business Meeting shall send in their
name to the Secretary not less than 10 days prior to the start of the Convention. 3. At
the start of the Business meeting
,The Secretary will have a current list of all Members and Associate Members in
good standing, who have sent in their registration fee and/or who have sent in their name
for the purposes of attending only the FRB Business Meeting. 4. The
Secretary will be responsible for this official roll call list which will consist of only
the Members and Associate Members in good standing who have been checked out in accordance
with the BVA National data base. Only those M
and Am on that list will be permitted to vote. 5. Any unusual circumstances that may arise and all
issues not covered by items 1 through 4, shall be taken up by the FRG Board of Directors
and their decision shall be considered final. This
is only a policy. If a M or AM approaches the
Secretary before the Business Meeting starts, with a valid membership card, his/her name
will be added to the voting list. On behalf
of the Board of Directors and myself, we wish you all a safe and enjoyable trip to and at
the FRG State Convention. Terry King FRG
President
FRG
Auxiliary President's Message: It's that
time again. Time for fun on the beach and
socializing with friends. As you know, the
FRG has extended the activities at the Convention with events on Thursday. I am looking forward to participating in all of
the events and hope that all of you do too. Remember
Saturday morning is our annual FRG Auxiliary Business meeting and most important, when we elect who will lead
the FRG Auxiliary for the next year. Please
think seriously of running for a position either on the Board or one of the Committee
Chairpersons. If I can do it, you most
certainly can. I am looking forward to having
all of the family members and friends of the BVA at our meeting. We need new ideas to keep the FRG Auxiliary the
best in the whole BVA. So, come on in and see
what we can do this year. Also, we could use
a few prizes for our grand raffle. If any of
you could manage to donate a little something, it would be greatly appreciated. Joanne King, FRG Auxiliary President.
FRG
State Convention: The Florida Regional
Group State Convention will be held at the Plaza Ocean Club Hotel , 640 North Atlantic
Avenue, Daytona Beach, Florida 32118. The formal meeting will begin at 3 PM on Friday,
April 30. and will conclude on Sunday morning, May 2.
The Plaza Ocean Club is a 190 room hotel directly on the Atlantic Ocean. Your Convention Committee secured the low rates of
only $79 per day, for 1 to 4 persons per room. All
rooms have refrigerators and micro waves. In
addition all rooms have ocean view balconies. These low convention rates will be in effect, on a space
available basis,3 days before and/or 3 days after the Convention. So, you may come early or stay late for an
extended vacation. The low Convention rates
are guaranteed for reservations made on or before April 13th. Reservations made after April 13th, will be at the
low Convention rate but only on a space available basis.
There will be another group at the hotel that weekend, so rooms will be at a
premium. We urge you to make your
reservations very soon to insure your accommodations.
You may cancel your reservation and receive
a full refund of your deposit, if you cancel 24 hours before noon on the day you were
scheduled to arrive. You will find a Hotel
Reservation Slip at the end of this Newsletter. Please
clip it off and send it to the Hotel along with your check for one night's room rate and
tax (the Tourist Development Tax is presently 12.5%) or you may use your credit card
number to guarantee your reservation. Other
than your deposit, the hotel will not accept
checks for your remaining charges. You must
have a credit card or cash. The Hotel toll
free reservation number is (800) 874-7420. There are 22 Hotels using that reservation number,
so be sure to specify the Plaza Ocean Club
Hotel. In addition, refer to the Blinded
Veterans Association-Florida Regional Group as the group which arranged the above
indicated rates.
Convention
Registration Fee: The Convention
Registration Fee will be $35 per person (for each BV, family member, or friend attending). However, an early registration fee of only $30
per person will be in effect for registration received on or
before April 13th. The registration fee will
cover general Convention activities, including the dinner-dance on Friday night, the
Hospitality Room, and Banquet on Saturday night. Please
make your check payable to the BVA and send it to: 3801
Coco Grove Avenue, Miami, FL 33133. Please
include the first and last name of each person registering, so that we will be able to
make name tags prior to the start of the Convention.
It will be helpful if you will send your registration fee in advance.
This will greatly speed up the late registration at the
Convention. Remember to send your hotel
reservation slip and deposit to the Plaza Ocean Club in Daytona Beach and your Convention
Registration Fee to the BVA in Miami.
Convention
Schedule: As indicated in President
King's message above, several activities are being planned prior to the formal start of
the Convention Friday afternoon, April 30. A
proposed trip to the Daytona Talking Book Library is tentatively planned Thursday
afternoon. Thursday evening the Hospitality
Room will be open from 6 to 10 PM. A Pizza
Party will be held there from 6 to 8 PM. For
those coming to the Convention early, this is an opportunity to socialize and have a good
time. The fourth annual Horseshoe Pitching
Contest will be held at 9 on Friday morning, on the beach in front of the hotel. The Convention Late Registration Desk will
open at 1 PM on Friday, April 30. If you have
not pre-registered, you may pay your late Registration at that time. If you have pre-registered, stop by the
Registration table in the Hotel Lobby and pick up your name tags and Convention Program.
The
Convention will begin at 3 PM on Friday, April 30 with an Informational Seminar for
Blinded Veterans and their families. At 7 PM
on Friday evening, a Dinner-Dance will be held in the Ballroom. This will be an evening for good food, good times, good fun, and good music.
The
Annual Florida Regional Group Business Meeting will be held at 9 AM on Saturday, May 1, in
the Ballroom. At that meeting, reports
regarding FRG activities for the past year will be made.
A legislative up-date will be presented. Plans
for FRG activities for the coming year will be discussed.
Any proposed amendments to the FRG
By-Laws, will be considered. The elections
for FRG Officers and District Directors for
the coming year will be held. The election
and instruction of a Delegate and Alternate Delegates to the BVA National Convention in
Washington, D.C., will also be held. Proposed
resolutions for presentation to the BVA National Convention will be considered. All Members (M) and Associate Members (AM) in
(Print out the
hotel reservation slip on the othe end of this newsletter and send it to the Plaza Ocean
Club)
Florida are encouraged to attend this Business Meeting and
assist in planning the direction the FRG will take in the coming year.
The
FRG Auxiliary will hold its annual meeting in the Osprey Room at 9 AM on Saturday.
FRG Auxiliary Officers are planning their meeting for the
State Convention. Spouses, family
members, and friends of the
BVA should plan to attend this FRG Auxiliary meeting. At that time, the Auxiliary will plan their
activities and elect Officers for the coming year.
At
2 PM on Saturday, a second Informational Seminar will be held. The Convention will close with the Installation
Banquet on Saturday evening. There will be a
period of socializing in the Hospitality Room before and after the Banquet.
FRG
District Meeting: Prior to the FRG State
Convention, a FRG Southeast District meeting will be held at the Tropical Acres Steakhouse
2500 Griffin road in Ft. Lauderdale, on Saturday, February 27. The meeting will begin at 11:30 AM with a period
of Socializing followed by lunch at noon. For
lunch you may have either Sliced Sirloin of Beef or Stuffed Breast of Chicken and salad,
potatoes, vegetable, rolls and butter, iced tea or coffee and dessert. The price of the lunch will be $5 per person,
including tax and tip. FRG President Terry
King will preside at the meeting following lunch. The
restaurant has asked us to notify them as to the number who will be attending and the type
of meal desired by February 24. Please make
your reservations prior to that date by writing to George Stocking at: 3801 Coco Grove Avenue, Miami, FL 33133 or call:
(305) 446-8008. In West Palm Beach,
call FRG Southeast District Director Chuck Kays (407)873-7993. You may also call:
Roberta Goldstein, Miami VAMC VIST Coordinator, at (305) 575-7000 ex 3607, April
Barnes , Broward VA Outpatient Clinic VIST Coordinator, at:
(954) 625-8730, or Jackie Vanbomel West Palm Beach VAMC VIST Coordinator, at: (561) 422-5260.
Jackie Vanbomel and Roberta Goldstein are attempting to arrange transportation to
the meeting from Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties, respectively. This transportation will leave from the West Palm
Beach and Miami VAMC. If you need such
transportation, contact Jackie or Roberta.
Hotel Reservation Slip
Blinded Veterans Association
Plaza Ocean Club Hotel
Florida Regional Group
640 North Atlantic Avenue
State Convention
Daytona Beach, Florida 32118
Name____________________________________ Telephone no.
___________________________
Street
Date of
Date of
Address__________________________________________Arrival_______ depart__________
City______________________________________________
State______Zip__________
Complete this Reservation Slip and send it with your check
in the amount of $79 plus 12.5% tax or your
credit
card number to the Plaza Ocean Club Hotel before April 13th to guarantee your reservation. Or call, Toll Free
(800) 874-7420. Be sure to notify the hotel
you will attend the BVA FRG Convention at the Plaza Ocean Club
Hotel, to insure the low Convention rates.