SCKCB Minutes of March 15, 2006

The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. at the Alive Center 1818 31W Bypass in Bowling Green, KY. There were 19 people present, plus two special guests: Haleigh Craig, a four-year-old legally blind girl, and her mother, Angela Craig. Haleigh is the recipient of Little Sniffer (the blind bear that was raffled off at our White Cane Safety Day). Sue Robinson, Sniffer's creator made the presentation. There was a reporter and photographer from the Bowling Green Daily News also present to report the story. Before Haleigh and her mother left, President Milliman asked Angela to tell us a little bit about Haleigh. He also encouraged her to join our SCKCB organization so she could learn more about blind people and see that there are many options available to Haleigh in the future.

After the presentation of Sniffer to Haleigh, the meeting continued with the reading of the minutes, by Secretary, Palma Milliman. They were approved as read. Max Robinson then gave the Treasurer's report. The current balance in our bank account is $4,031.39. This report was also approved as read.

Old Business: President Milliman announced that there had been a tour arranged for our group at the American Printing House for the Blind on Saturday, April 8th. Michael Cleveland, a very accomplished Bluegrass musician, will be performing at APH that Saturday. There may also be a possibility of being able to tour LC Industries. While some members had conflicting activities already scheduled for that day, five members expressed an interest in going, and so, it was decided that we would make the trip.

New Business: President Milliman stated that the 2006 ACB National Convention was going to be in Jacksonville, Florida this summer in July and encouraged everyone to attend if they could. Ron, Palma, and Max are planning on attending. They will be driving, and offered to take a few more members with them.

Special Program: Getting Better Acquainted: Since we have several new members, each member present was asked to introduce themselves to the group and tell us about themselves (e.g. retired, student, professional career, etc.), and very briefly what type of eyesight limitation they had, and what their favorite hobbies or activities were. Member, Nancy Imran, from Palestine, was asked to compare and contrast being a blind person in Palestine verses the United States. She said that a lot of blind people in the U.S. complain about not having what they need in order to function, but in Palestine all she had was a Braillewriter. Americans tend to complain about what they think they don't have, when in reality, they have a whole lot more than the rest of the world.

Our next meeting will be on April 19th, and our guest speaker will be Dr. Gerald Sullivan.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Palma Milliman, Secretary