CONTENTS
Happy Trails!
President’s Message
Report from the 2007 ACB
Legislative Seminar
NDAB Board Meeting Minutes,
Obituary: Sonia Orseth
28th Annual Ski
for Light 2007
Bridges To
Due Date for the Next
Promoter
HAPPY
TRAILS!
Well, here it is—my last editorial after
five terms as Promoter editor.
When this adventure began five years ago, I
had no idea at the time how long I’d hold this position. Even at this writing,
I still have very mixed feelings about leaving as editor. Again, my reasons for
resigning are personal, but I am sticking to my guns.
Perhaps I can illustrate my perspective
better with a personal story. Some years ago, I had a part-time job as a
public-radio station announcer. This job had come about after a lot of hours
spent volunteering at the station. I enjoyed the work; we played a variety of
music, there were a variety of duties, both on- and off-, the air.
Eventually, things reached a point of
diminishing returns. I couldn’t advance into a full-time or even a part-time
salaried staff position, and it was also very hard to make the experience count
for anything when it came to getting a commercial radio job—what some of us
part-time announcers called “real” jobs!
So I quit. At the time, on the surface it
probably didn’t look like a very good decision. But this job was not my sole
source of income at the time, and it paid minimum wage, with no benefits. I
felt the work was worth far more than what I was paid. Looking back, maybe I
let that bother me too much. But if you know me, you know that I am a man of
principle. (One of my co-workers there told me I was “conscientious to a
fault.”)
A year later, I learned about a broadcasting
school in
Sometimes you hear people say things like,
“Quitters never win, and winners never quit.” Oh, really? Well, sometimes you win by quitting! I’ve discontinued
doing certain things in my life because I
had to. Without going into a lot of detail, I had to quit. Either I
was totally unsuited for the activity, or the risks outweighed the rewards.
Once upon a time, I tried operating a home
business, and it was a complete disaster. I also had to quit a part-time job
because of a medical emergency that forced me off work.
I’ve made an effort to learn
from mistakes and failures like those, and I believe to the extent you learn
from your mistakes, they can, in fact, be an aid to your future success.
I realize I am going to be a tough act to
follow in this position. But I am confident that whoever takes the Promoter
will do a good job with it and represent our organization well. I offer my
expertise and advice to whomever NDAB elects as my replacement.
A few acknowledgements are in order. First
of all, I would like to thank my wife Mary for her support in this effort. I
thank her for listening to all these editorials and for her insights and
suggestions. She has helped save me from many a slip of the pen!
I also thank Mom and Dad for transportation
help getting the Promoter to and from the printer. I especially thank all of you in the NDAB who
voted for me and supported me. This was a big undertaking. Rest assured that
whatever happens, I will keep my ear to the ground on issues that concern us as
an organization.
I like to think of myself as an optimist who
keeps his eyes on the stars, although I don’t always see them.
Remember, an optimist is a fellow who, when
the chips are down, knows there’s a buffalo wandering around someplace!
Doug Stip, Editor
Hello, fellow NDABers.
It has been quite a strange spring this
year. Our weather used to be predictable, but not anymore.
I want to thank Kathy Larson and the
chairpersons throughout the state for their work on the Walkathon this year.
I don’t have much news this time. Be sure to
check your mailbox for your application to attend Convention. They should be
arriving in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to visiting with all of
you at
Have a great spring and mark your calendars
for the convention in June. I know I am excited to attend. My life would be
less without NDAB and I hope you feel the same. Don’t take your membership for
granted. Get involved, get excited, and see you at
It’s just about over! I’m
speaking of our 60th North Dakota Legislative Assembly! Some I know
would say that whenever they adjourn it will, thankfully, stop the pain that is
so often associated with the politics of these sessions!
The sessions of the
Legislature are so very important to every citizen of our State because the
legislature together with the Governor determines much of the public policy for
every citizen of our state. They also determine how the State spends the money
it collects from each of our citizens! For these reasons what the Legislature
does, or doesn’t do, should be of some interest to each of us.
In
my last report, in keeping with the resolution on blindness rehabilitation
skills training for adults, that was adopted at our Convention that was held last June at the International Inn in
Williston,
I reported that I had drafted a proposal that, If enacted, would have added two
additional instructors to the staff at North Dakota Vision Services /School for
the Blind (NDVS/SB). I had an opportunity to testify twice on
this proposal before members of the State Legislature, first, on January 18th,
before the full Senate Appropriations Committee and then again on February 23rd
before the House Appropriations Sub-committee on Education and Environment.
The
budget for this proposal was drafted with the assistance of administrators and staff at North Dakota Vision Services
/ School for the Blind. The budget included salaries for the two employees and
also included some funding support for expenses that would be incurred to run
the proposed expanded adult NDBS/SB program.
The legislative action that was open to
us, during the session, which I pursued in my testimony, was to seek an
amendment to the budget for the proposal to add these two additional employees.
The personnel that would be hired into these positions would be employed to
expand upon the comprehensive blindness rehabilitation skills training program
that is already offered by NDVS/SB to the adults of our state. The additional
training proposed in my testimony suggested that the focus of the instruction
be directed toward the critical areas of mobility and orientation on the use of
the white cane and teaching skills on blindness assistive technology.
So whatever happened to this
proposal? In short, what happened was that we will, more than likely, get about
half of what was in our budget proposal, in essence, a half of a loaf! Is that
bad or good, you ask. Well, if you have any
acquaintance with how the legislative process works, particularly, here in
Another accomplishment from
the session that we can take much satisfaction from in conducting our advocacy
work within the legislative process, was the overwhelming defeat of the bill
that proposed to move NDVS/SB and merge it with the School for the Deaf in
It’s my opinion too that
there is some positive news to report from the legislative session regarding
funding for public transportation systems in
The Legislative session is a
very busy one, when one considers that legislators review and adopt the budgets
for all the institutions and agencies that receive state funding. Plus, the
Legislators always have to act upon a number of policy and taxation issues that
have to be scrutinized and acted upon because the Legislature is in session
only once every two years.
One of the big
disappointments that came out of this legislative session, for those of us who
advocate for Human and Disability Rights in North Dakota, was the failure of
the Legislature to enact legislation (Senate Bill 2121) that would have changed
the name of the North Dakota Department of Labor so that the words, “and Human
Rights” could be added to its title. Seventy percent of the work of the
Department of Labor is related to human rights enforcement and the words “human
rights” would have assisted those who are searching for the government entity
that has responsibility for human rights issues. It is hard to understand why
some legislators found a reason to vote against this proposal.
The biggest budget in state
government is that of the Department of Human Services. It is a combination of
state and federal dollars that fund a number of programs such as, Medicaid,
Vocational Rehabilitation and service programs for people with disabilities and
disadvantages. Most if not all, find that the DHS budget is too complicated to
fully understand because of the jargon and formulas that are used to compile
it.
A priority for us in the
community of people with disabilities during the session was to advocate
increasing the amount of funding in the Human Service Budget that is directed
toward home and community based services. We were able to do this collectively
through the North Dakota Disability Advocacy Consortium; the voice of the Consortium
during the Legislative sessions is Jim Moench, the Executive Director of the
Consortium. Jim testified on a number of bills that would have had the effect
of increasing the amount of funding for home and community services. I will try
to provide you with some of the results and analysis of what was or wasn’t
provided in the DHS Budget in my next Legislative Report. For now I will
conclude by saying “See you at the NDAB Convention where we can discuss any of
the details you might want to know about on outcomes from this past Legislative
Session!
REPORT FROM THE 2007 ACB
LEGISLATIVE SEMINAR
By
Allan Peterson
The trip I made to this
year’s ACB Legislative Seminar turned out to be a bit of an adventure! The ACB
Seminar was held from Sunday, February 25th through Tuesday,
February 27th. The weather, on the 24th, the day that my
flight left from
I did make it to the Seminar
the next day and was able to participate and learn about the issues that we
were encouraged to discuss when we made our visits with our congressional
delegations on Tuesday, February 27th. The seminar was structured so
that we were given presentations on six different legislative issues that I
will briefly discuss later in this article.
A very good NDAB friend from
the past was present at this year’s ACB Seminar! Lynne Krumm was part of the
six member
The highlight of the Seminar,
always for me, is the visits that are made to Capitol Hill to visit with our
respective state congressional delegations. In my case that means that these
visits take place with our
These visits are so important
in many respects, because we do get a private audience with the congressional
staffs of the Senators and Congressman. I’ve had the opportunity to come to
know many of them and they have come to know me as well! I’m impressed when I’m
greeted by my first name when I walk into the door to their offices! It is also
so very true that it is the congressional staffs that do the research on the
issues and then accordingly advise their bosses –the bosses are, of course,
Senators (Dorgan & Conrad) and Congressman Pomeroy.
Because the Democrats are now
in the majority in Congress and since are congressional delegation are all
Democrats plus each has accumulated seniority, their status and power has
increased significantly! Senator Conrad in fact now chairs the Senate Budget
Committee and Senator Dorgan and Congressman Pomeroy also hold leadership
positions.
It was repeated many times,
throughout the Seminar, that we, as the constituents of the people in Congress,
have their ear because we are the ones that vote for them and can keep them in
office, if we choose to do so. So the Seminar is also important because it lets
Congress know that many of their constituents are members of the American
Council of the Blind and, in the case of our congressional delegation, they
know that many of their constituents are members of North Dakota Association of
the Blind!
All of my visits went well!
Congressman Pomeroy made time in his busy schedule to visit with me for about a
half an hour. I also scheduled visits to the members of the
The priorities addressed at
this year’s ACB Legislative Seminar included:
(1)
Access to Paper
currency. In 2002, ACB filed a lawsuit that sought to require that tactile
features be added to paper currency that is issued by the U.S. Government. The
tactile features would allow people, who cannot read the denominations on
bills, with some means to determine the value of each bill. Last November,
District Judge James Robertson ruled in favor of ACB’s lawsuit and ordered the
(2)
Access to the
Ballot. ACB, together with a number of other entities interested in improving
access to the printed ballot, strongly advocated for enactment of the Help
America Vote Act (HAVA) that was passed in 2002. Through HAVA, federal funds
were made available to the states to enable them to purchase accessible voting
machines so that people with disabilities would have the opportunity to vote a
secret, independent ballot. However, since the electronic machines have been
installed, there have been concerns raised regarding their security and
reliability. Many are now advocating for a “paper trail” so that there is a documented
permanent record of the vote. Presently, there are a number of bills in
Congress that deal with the voting process. Our message to Congress is that,
whatever happens with legislation on the voting process that we continue to
maintain our right to a secret independent ballot, which we can verify, to be
accurate.
(3) Telecommunications with regard to
People with disabilities. Telecommunications does not only include audio or
descriptive video, but also includes access to emergency and weather related
warnings that are commonly scrolled across the bottom of television screens.
Huge strides are currently being made in the area of telecommunications; in
fact, many refer to this point in time as the “digital revolution”! The concern
is that many of the new technologies being developed aren’t being designed with
accessibility in mind. Our message to Congress is that whenever they consider
legislation in this area, that it be comprehensive and include safeguards that
will assure that new technologies in telecommunications include the necessary
accommodations for people with disabilities.
(4)
Social Security
was among the priorities that were addressed at the ACB Seminar. Because
Congress is considering raising the level of the minimum wage, it has the
potential to endanger the incomes of many people who work and also receive
benefits from the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program. At this
point in time, there isn’t any legislation in Congress to address this issue
but we wanted to make members of Congress aware of the potential problems that
exist for people with disabilities when the minimum wage is raised. The obvious
remedy would be to raise or eliminate the SGA Substantial Gainful Activity
amount that is allowed under SSDI guidelines.
(5)
Congress may
sometime during this session consider legislation called the Americans with
Disabilities Restoration Act. Because the courts through their rulings have
limited the original scope and intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) there are many in the disability community that want legislation enacted
that would restore the safeguards that they thought were established in the Act
that was passed in 1990. Our message to members of Congress was to support this
legislation.
(6)
A continuing concern for ACB is to maintain
the Randolph Shepherd priority that was granted in 1936 to people who are blind
so that they can operate vending and dining facilities in federal buildings and
installations. There are members of Congress that have expressed their desire
to eliminate this priority. Consequently, this issue continues to be a huge
concern for ACB and others who advocate for this excellent business opportunity
for people who are blind. Our message was to have the priority maintained and
strengthened.
My trip back to
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Kathy, Sheryl, Tammy, Renae, Rom, Allan,
Karlyn, and Rick
Also present: Loris Van Berkom, Janelle Olson, and Stan
Larson
President Rick Feldman called
the board meeting to order at
Karlyn read the minutes from
the 2006 NDAB Convention. Corrections
were made as follows: Loris was
Chairman; not Co-Chairman, and the word “Association” was missing after the
words
Karlyn read the minutes from
the 2006 post convention board meeting from
Karlyn read the minutes from
the
Renae gave the Treasurer’s
Report. She recently moved a CD from the
US Bank to the Community Bank, due to a better rate of interest. She has a new computer now, and all the files
for NDAB including QuickBooks and Microsoft Office were transferred.
One member of NDAB requests
that her dues be returned to her due to personal reasons, and the board agreed
to this.
Kathy reported that money is
coming in for the white cane drive. For
the Herberger’s coupons, NDAB will man the three doors and will receive the
proceeds from these doors on November 4th from
1.
CAMP: Loris reported there were 55 participants,
and an article will be included in the Promoter.
2.
FAMILY ADJUSTMENT
SEMINAR: There were some bumps along the
road, but the seminar will be occurring on Saturday. Next year, the seminar will be in
3.
MEMBERSHIP: On August 25th, the board approved
the following people for membership in NDAB- Milissa Miller, Karla Hill, Steven
Baum, and Bob Foster.
4.
SPORTS &
RECREATION: There was no report.
5.
SCHOLARSHIP: Tammy stated that letters will be sent out
this year in November. E-mails didn’t
work the best last year.
6.
LEGISLATIVE: Allan has scheduled to meet with the
Administrators from School for the Blind and Vocational Rehab on October 23rd
from
The final copy of the revised
NDAB brochure, prepared by Kathy, was read by Karlyn. There was one additional
revision made. Karlyn moved to accept the brochure as changed. The motion was
seconded and carried. One thousand copies of the brochure will be printed.
Rick asked the Board to think
of some ideas for future discussion and planning for what we want to do about
the old trailer at camp. A future plan
is needed.
A spring board meeting will
be scheduled via a phone conference.
Allan stated that donations
are being requested by ACB for an auction fundraiser. There was no action taken.
The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Karlyn Frantsen, Secretary
Sonia
Orseth
Sonia Orseth, 73, Fargo died
Monday, February 5, 2007, in her home under the care of Hospice of the Red
River Valley.
Sonia Swanke was born
Obituary Postscript: What the
obituary cannot capture is Sonia’s love of life and
her many great passions. First among her passions was her strong and abiding
faith in God, second was her love of family third was her friends and she had
many, a fourth passion was her love for her school and the Bison, Sonia was a cheerleader
for the Bison Athletic program while she was a student at NDSU. She spent
eighteen years of her life in
Sonia’s 10-year-old grandson,
Jerad Buchanan, wrote this poem in honor of his grandmother:
The Camel’s Last Journey
She looks out on the land
before her,
She has traveled most of it,
carrying the load of those she holds most dearest,
She has set her course for
one last journey,
This trip she will take
alone,
She sets out west following
the setting sun,
She takes no food or water,
It is her faith that will
feed her on her journey,
She doesn’t look back,
The oasis is right ahead,
Allah Akbar
28th Annual Ski for Light 2007
By Marie Topp, Katrina Wendel and Dave
Sundeen
This
year was a year of change for Ski for Light Instead of going to
ND
participants started the trip very early in
The
North Dakota Association of the Blind (NDAB) participates in The Ski for Light
program annually. The Ski for Light
mission is to promote the physical fitness of blind/visually impaired and
mobility impaired individuals by sponsoring active, vigorous outdoor
activities. Able-bodied individuals
join, one on one, with the disabled individuals to pursue these
activities. In a unique relaxed atmosphere,
the partners share their common interest and experiences in the outdoors at the
same time learn from each other.
Each
day was spent on
Races were held on Thursday, with the awards
banquet following that the evening.
The entertainment found Dave Sundeen singing
a special song which he has sung the past several years. He was presented a garden hose from the
manager of the Spearfish Sears' store.
Dave is available to answer any questions one might have about his
performance or the relationship to the Sears garden hose.
The
Cross Country:
Tammy Winn of
Krista Doubek of
David McCloud of
Dave Sundeen of Buxton won
second place in the 5-K division and first place in the rally race.
Dennis Nez of Parshall won
the rally race in the 1-k
Rom Thielman of
Down Hill:
Todd Folmer of
Marlin Ogden of Newton won
first place split race.
Congratulations to all who
participated! Thank you Volunteers and
Guides for another successful trip to Ski for Light!
We would like to give a special thank you to
the following groups who truly make this trip possible: the North Dakota Association of the Blind
(NDAB), North Dakota School for the Blind Foundation (NDSB), Gateway Lions of
Fargo and an extra special Thank you to Judy Iten for her continued support on
behalf of her business Judy’s Leisure Tours for providing the bus!
By Evelyn Hildebrand
The ACB Convention opening led by Chris Gray
was an interesting and heartwarming experience. Chris Gray brought us up to
date on the events of ACB and what needed to be addressed at this convention.
How proud we were to have Alan Peterson
accept the new charter for the
We know it took several trips to
We had an exceptional privilege to hear Mike
Hanson, blind survivor of 9/11, present his story. He said, “the
handicap we face is our attitude and the attitudes of others—we need to be
prepared to make changes and persevere in whatever we do.” He and his guide dog
had prepared for crises—his dog led him from the 78th floor. He
encouraged others, told firemen to help others. He knew the building was coming
down, but his dog led him to safety through the cloud of dust and smoke.
He has moved to
We had a tremendous day seeing
The trip to the ocean was an
amazing experience—to hear, see, smell, and walk or swim in the warm water. No
one cared how wet they got in their clothes—yes, several had not worn
swimsuits, but that didn’t stop them from enjoying the ocean.
We had a terrific trip to the
The
Information will be coming
about the 2007 Convention in
Summer
Camp is Coming Soon!
It’s really hard to remember
the warm summer days of August when spring has been so cold and so long in
coming, but it’s not too early to make plans to attend the 2007 NDAB Summer
Camp held at the Elks Camp Grassick August 12-19. Some new classes are in the works along with
some of the old stand-bys. The banquet
theme this year is country western so gather up your cowboy boots, hat and
denim to wear that night.
. Watch for your camp information form and
application some time after our convention and before the end of June. The applications will be due back by July 15th.
The caning department is
looking for some floor lamps that could be used to help light up the workspace
in Cabin 5. Please contact Helen
Baumgartner at 663-8878 if you have a lamp that you would be willing to
bring. She will be able to answer any of
your questions regarding which kind of lamp would work the best.
If you know of someone who
would be eligible to attend and is not an NDAB member, please give us his or
her name and phone number and we will contact him or her. Below are the
NDAB
Summer Camp Guidelines
PURPOSE
1. To provide an opportunity for
persons who are visually impaired to come in contact with persons with similar
impairments and share a common concern.
2. To help in the process of
adjusting to blindness.
3. To provide an opportunity to
learn new skills, techniques, and leisure time activities to enhance the
quality of life.
ELIGIBILITY
1. Must be at least 18 years of
age with vision loss as the primary disability.
2. Must be capable of
participating in the program set-up for camp.
a. Must be able to care for ones personal needs including bathing,
dressing, eating, etc.
b. Must be physically able to get oneself around the camp grounds, with
the exclusion of difficulty with mobility due to vision loss.
3. Must be cooperative and
demonstrate willingness to abide by the regulations of camp.
a. Alcoholic beverages and/or unauthorized drugs are not allowed on the
camp grounds. Any violators will be
promptly sent home at their own expense.
b. All campers must remain overnight at camp.
c. Campers must attend the entire week of camp unless other arrangements
have been made with the co-camp directors, or a situation arises, such as an
illness or a family emergency.
d. Participants must notify one of the directors if leaving the campus
for any reason.
4. Must demonstrate respect for
authority.
5. Must display consideration
for fellow campers.
The following guidelines regarding
camp attendance based on geographical issues were adopted at the 2003
convention.
1.
Any adult who is
visually impaired and not a
2.
One member of ACB
leadership will be eligible to attend the NDAB Summer Camp annually at no cost.
3.
Any adult who is
visually impaired and who lives in another state other than
4.
Camp capacity,
which is set by the Elks Camp Grassick Director, is 60 people. Residents of
5.
Any member of
NDAB who moved out of state but continued to pay their annual dues would be
eligible to attend camp at no cost.
Submitted by Loris Van Berkom
and Rick Feldman,
GRAND
FORKS—(By Olga Neal)
Convention Update
[Please Note: Some of these scheduled hours may be subject to
change, so please pay attention to your Convention Registration notice when you
get it! There are several things you
will need to inform us about, using the Registration form.]
Vendor demonstrations, registration, and supper will be in
the gym at the School for the Blind, Friday, June 8th. Registration will be at
In order to get the benefit of the lower room rate at the
Holiday Inn, you must make your reservation by May 20! Be sure to state that you are with the North
Dakota Association of the Blind. The
number of the Holiday Inn is: (701) 772-7131.
Registration will continue Saturday morning at GF Goodribs.
As most of you probably know, Don is at the Good Samaritan
Center in Larimore. We visit him at
least twice, sometimes three times a week.
The adjustment has been somewhat difficult, but he's doing quite well.
Watch for your registration form in May! Have a Happy Easter, and we'll see all of you
at the Convention!
FARGO—(By
Shereen Faber) Greetings to all! This year the groundhog couldn’t
have been more wrong, at least in our area. Spring was a long time coming, and
we really appreciate the nice weather now that it is here. This month at our
support group meeting we had
We have had a
couple of excellent plays. The first being a fabulous
performance of "
Everyone is doing
just fine in
We are very sorry
to be losing Doug as our Promoter editor; he has done such a fine job. Wish we
could talk him into staying on, as he is going to have some big shoes to fill.
Have a great spring, best to everyone.
MINOT—(By Deloris Stenvold) Evelyn Schumacher’s address is
Box 174, Room 108 Kenmare, ND 58746. She would enjoy hearing from you. She was
in the hospital for a few days in April.
I celebrated my 80th birthday
Feb. 17 (actual day Feb. 24). Five children and their spouses, 15 grandchildren
and six great-grandchildren plus over 100 guests attended. The party was held
at
The support group had Stan Mosser as a
speaker in March. In April the speaker was from Companions for Children. About
12 to 15 attend. We meet the third Thursday of the month at the
MINOT—(By Doug and Mary Stip and Carol Schmitt) The
The
The due date for the next edition of the
Promoter is