Blinded Veterans Association
Charter by the United States Congress
Florida Regional Group
3801 Coco Grove Avenue
Miami, Florida 33133
(305) 446-8008
e mail
gstocking@bellsouth.net
FRG web site: www.bvafrg.org
NEWSLETTER - October 2012
FRG President's
Message: Hello Fellow Blinded Veteran Association
members. I hope that all is going well
with you all. I hope that you did not
suffer any hardships from hurricane Isaac.
Remember to stock up on supplies.
Don’t wait until the last second prepare and plan ahead. I phone, I pad, and I pod training and even
the apple desk top are all the rage. Our
own former president Paul Kaminski provided information about the
devices at the National convention. The
West palm blind rehab center is also following the lead of the Biloxi and Birmingham
blind rehab centers by offering training in these devices. The VIST support group is a very important
tool in the fight against depression and we thank the VIST coordinators for
having these monthly meetings. They are
important so that we can share each others experiences with someone who also
has a loss of sight. We the Blinded
Veterans Association FRG would like to welcome the new BVA officers and we are looking forward to working with them in the future. I hope that you are thinking of volunteering
at your VA medical center. Let's help
the VIST coordinator locate the many missing blind vets in our state. I hope to bump into you at the luncheon, until
then. Darryl Goldsmith, FRG President
FRG Meeting Notice: The next meeting
of the Florida Regional Group will be held on Saturday, November 3rd, at "Capt'n
Fishbones" Restaurant in the Shell Factory, 2787 Tamiami Trail in North
Ft. Myers. The meeting will begin with a
period of socializing at 11:30 AM, followed by lunch at noon. For lunch, you may select from the following:
half Roasted Chicken, or Broiled Fish with Lemon Caper Sauce,
either with Baked Potato, or Sliced Loin of Pork with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, either
of the 3 with Green Beans Almandine, Toss Salad, Rolls & Butter, Iced Tea
or Coffee, and strawberry Cheesecake. The
cost of the luncheon will be $5 per person, including tax and tip. There will be an informational meeting
following lunch. A National Legislative
up-date will be presented.
Representatives from the VA will be on hand to provide information of
interest to BV's and their families. FRG
activities for the coming months will be described. This is your opportunity to make suggestions
and recommendations regarding the FRG activities.
The restaurant has asked us to notify them as to the number who will be
attending and the type of luncheon desired by October 31st. Please make your reservations prior to that
date by writing to Southwest district Director Bob
Walczak at 24263 Riverfront Drive, Port Charlotte, FL 33980 (941) 875-9876
email milwallyg@comcast.net. You may
also call in Punta Gorda Terry King (941) 505-7747 or Bill Stockslager at (941)
276-1561 ; Poindexter Martin Johnson Sarasota (941) 955-4348; John Thomas, St.
James City, (239) 283-1708; Bill Cullen Ft. Myers Beach (239) 463-3587; Joseph
Taylor Cape Coral (239) 823-0744;
Charles Moon Port Charlotte (941) 627-1426; Wesley Burkhart North Ft. Myers (239)
997-5450; Charles McCormick Marco Island (239) 642-5629; Laurie Charles Ft.
Myers VIST (239) 939-3939 ex 6284. The
restaurant needs the reservation information in order to prepare properly for
our meeting. To get to Capt'n Fishbones Restaurant,
go North on I 75 to Exit 143, then Go West on Bayshore (State Road 78) 6.3
miles to "Old" US 41. Turn
right (North) about 1.5 miles to the "Shell Factory, which will be on the
west side of Old US 41. Going South on I 75, take Exit 158 and go West on Tucker's Grade a
short distance to US 41. Turn
left (South) and go about 13 miles to the Shell Factory. Free Parking is available next to the
restaurant. Check with your fellow Blinded veterans, family members, and
friends and make plans to join us on Saturday, November 3rd in North
Ft. Myers. Please join us there.
Last year, a number of BV's made reservations but did not attend or
cancel. Consequently the FRG had to pay for
each reservation under our guarantee.
Although you only pay $5 for the lunch, the FRG subsidizes it with an
additional $13. If you make a
reservation and can't come, please cancel, so the FRG won't have to pay the $18
for each reservation we guarantee. If
you can't come, please call and cancel it before October 31.
My Blind Rehab Center Experience:
I walk down the sidewalk with my new cane rolling out in front of
me. I can see well enough to be aware of
where the sidewalk meets the grass so I have no problem keeping it between the
lines. The problem for me is the
discontinuities or “Toe Catchers”, so I am listening for the clicks, taps and
snaps. Taps are where the cane rolls
over normal sidewalk expansion joints.
Taps are where the cane rolls over discontinuities of less than a
quarter inch. Snaps are where the
discontinuity is between a quarter inch and a half inch. I have been spending time at busy
intersection listening to the sounds of the engines as they accelerate across
the street or idle around the corner in a right turn. Not doing any crossing yet, just
familiarizing myself with the sounds. I
have to be careful with the Power of the white cane. I got on the Tri-Rail and a young girl
jumps up and sings out, “You sit here
Mister!” and she has her arms spread out blocking anyone else from grabbing the seat.
Didn’t really want to sit down, but I couldn’t deny her an opportunity
to do a good deed, so I sat down and thanked her. I was standing on the far side of an
intersection just listening to the motor sounds. I had my white cane out on the traffic side
just as I was taught in mobility skills.
Car rolls across the intersection and pulls to the curb. Young guy gets out and runs back to me, grabs
my elbow and punches the pedestrian button and says, “No Sweat, I’ve got
you”. The light changes and across we
go. Needless to say, if I just want to
stand there, the Cane is going to get folded up and stored in the sheath that I
made in Manual Skills. It has been said,
“You can do any job in the world if you have the right tool”. I always extend on that and say, “If you have
a tool, then jobs that could be done with that tool become immediately
apparent”, and so it is with the tools and skills provided at the Blind Rehab
Center.
Case #1 I have a Skill saw that I haven’t used since I went blind. Now I have a Click Rule that allows me to
make the measurements and I can use my vice to hold the wood stock and act as a
cutting guide. It’s not a big thing,
but it is empowering.
Case #2; Prior to the Blind Rehab
Center experience, I fell asleep trying to read the BVA-FRG Bulletin because my
eyes got tired. With my new computer,
scanner, printer, speaker combo package I got at the BRC, I am able to scan the
bulletin and then the computer just starts reading the bulletin to me with inflection.
Case #3; Living Skills taught me how to
make a Cake. Probably not going to make
another cake but that pointed me in the right direction and I have been
inspired and now I boil my own hotdogs in the Microwave. Hey, it’s a start.
OK, so, Birds Eye View! I had
grown lazy, unkempt and undisciplined. I
went to Rehab and spent six weeks with military people. Reveille at 0600, chow at 0645, First class
at 0800. At 0800, I hear, Knock knock “Good Morning Mister McCoy, Did you finish your
homework? Post Rehab. My new talking watch sounds Reveille at 0600,
breakfast at 0645, walk the Dog at 0700, Hit the Mall at 0800 (one lap equals
1.2 miles) since the mall doesn’t open for business until 10am it’s a ghost
town. Just I and the other mall walkers
and the new mothers with their racing strollers working off the weight gained
during pregnancy. 0930 starts the rest of the day coming up to speed on the new
equipment and software. Hope you get as
much out of Blind Rehab as I did!
Since returning home, I have been asked, "But, Was it worth
it?" My Answer, "Yes, it was
well worth it on several levels!"
Of course I had to work my way past DENIAL before I began to get
anything out of it. I stayed in denial
until I went into the Manual Skills Room and the guy said, "OK let's see
you measure this board and Rip it to 3 and 7/16 inches wide without cutting
your Thumbs off. He then gave me a Click
Rule so I could set the distance from the Blade to the Rip Guide by counting
the clicks instead of messing around with a Ruler and a Magnifying device. Then he showed me how to set the feather
Blocks to hold the board in place without using my thumbs or finger tips. Can
you imagine the adrenalin rush when the instructor examined the board I cut and
said, "Good Job"? That is
where I moved out of Denial and in to Reality.
So, what were the Take Aways?
1. Socialization. Hey, the Vets on that floor could tell some
great stories and they could comprehend the stories I had to tell. 2.
Tools and Equipment to deal with impending/increasing blindness. 3.
Training Specifics on the use of the tools and equipment and application
to daily life.
4.
A Reawakening to the concept of "Adapt and Improvise". Of course, number 4 above was the most
important "Takeaway". The
awareness of the adaptations and improvisations they presented to enable me to
cut boards, cross streets, cook a meal, cause my
computer to read my documents to me out loud extends out to all of life. So, yes, it was worth it! It was a "Life Changing"
Experience.
I
would like to say thank you to those that nagged me into going to the BRC, The
Nursing staff that made my life pleasant, the Training staff that coped with my
Block headedness and provided valuable take aways skills. A special thanks to the Dietician Catherine
who went out of her way to call my daughter at home to close the loop on my
dietary needs and finally, to the Vets that provided the good humor, good
conversation and great stories to fill the evenings. Thank you all. Jim McCoy
BVA National convention:
The BVA National Convention was held in Galveston, Texas August 20-24. The September FRG Newsletter was sent to the
printer prior to the Convention so a report about Convention activities was not
included. Prior to the start of the
Convention, the Board of Directors met to finalize the Annual Report to the
Convention including a proposed budget for BVA fiscal year 2012-2013. On Monday morning Operation Peer Support
(OPS) began at which a number of newly Blinded Veterans from Iraq and
Afghanistan participated. In addition to
those BV's attending for the first time, there were a number who had attended
previous BVA Conventions in attendance. The new BV', along with their family
member took part in a week long series of activities to assist in their return
to civilian life. Beginning on Tuesday and
running to Thursday, a number of exhibitors displayed a variety of adaptive
equipment and sensory aids to those in attendance. The Convention opened wit the President's
Reception on Monday evening. The Opening
Business session was held on Tuesday morning at which Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric Shinseki was our key note speaker. The membership accepted the BVA Annual Report
and approved the 2012-2013 BVA Budget. That afternoon the By-Laws and Resolutions
Committee met. The Committee recommended
passage of several housekeeping By Laws to bring the Article on BVA Conventions
up to date. An amendment submitted by
Mark Cornell to add a low vision category of membership was discussed and was
not recommended for passage by the committee.
The Committee also recommended13 previously passed resolutions and one
new resolution for approval by the Convention.
Wednesday morning several speakers presented information to those in
attendance. The Father Carroll Luncheon
was held with Carl Gusto, Executive Director of the American Foundation for the
Blind as Guest Speaker. On Wednesday afternoon,
the six BVA Districts held caucuses to review the report of the By Law and
Resolutions Committee. In addition the
candidates for BVA National office were invited to speak to the various
caucuses. The final Business Meeting was
held on Thursday morning. The By-Laws
and Resolutions Committee report was presented.
The By Laws designed to streamline the operation of the Convention were
passed. When the Committees
recommendation to not pass the low vision category of membership By Law
amendment, was brought up, Mark Cornell withdrew his amendment. The membership voted to pass all 14
resolutions. These resolutions will
appear on the BVA web site www.bva.org. The following Blinded Veterans were reelected
to lead the BVA for the coming year:
President - Sam Huhm (Pennsylvania); Vice President - Mark Cornell
(South Texas); Secretary - Dale Stamper (Idaho); and Treasurer Roy Young
(Greater Houston). The Spokane Inland
Empire Regional Group will host the 2013 BVA Convention in Spokane, Washington. Although several Regional Groups expressed
interest in the 2014 Convention, there were no complete bids presented. The annual Awards Banquet was held on Thursday
night. Tom Hicks from the Northern Arizona
Regional Group received the Major General Melvin J. Maas Vocational Achievement
Award for his personal Rehabilitation.
He is the VIST Coordinator at the Phoenix VAMC. Randall Burrigan from Southern Arizona received
the Irving Diener Award for his work with his Regional Group. The David Schnair Award was presented to Enrique
Sanchez for his work as a Volunteer National Service Officer for the New York
Regional Group. The Gold Gavel for the
largest numerical increase in membership was presented to the Missouri Regional
Group. The Southern Arizona Regional
Group won the Silver Gavel, for the largest percentage increase. After the installation of BVA and BVA
Auxiliary Officers, Following the benediction, President Huhn closed the 67th
BVA National Convention.
We look forward to meeting you at the next meeting of the FRG at Capt'n
Fishbones restaurant in North Ft. Myers on Saturday, November 3rd. Call one of those listed above to make your
reservations. If you make a reservationn
and can't come, please call and cancel it before October 31st. Join
us in North Ft. Myers for an informative and enjoyable
afternoon.
FRG and BVA Meeting Schedule
November 3 FRG
Meeting Cap'n Fishbone Restaurant in Ft. Myers
December 1st FRG
Meeting in Seminole
January 5th FRG
Meeting Ocala Hilton Hotel
February 2nd FRG
Meeting in Tampa
March ? FRG
Meeting in Ft. Lauderdale
May 2-5 FRG
State Convention Plaza Ocean Club in Daytona
August 19-23 BVA
National Convention Spokane, Washington
Newsletter Staff
Darryl Goldsmith FRG
President
Jim McCoy FRG Southeast District Director
George Stocking Newslettter Editor