Club Vibes Logo
I mage of Dragonfly

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER/NOVEMBER,  2019
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
10- Board meeting, 6:00 pm
13-15-Wilderness at the Smokies award trip
20-Member fundraising committee meeting/member meeting
Member meeting, 6:00 pm
21-Lion's Club Breakfast-get tickets from Sue 

OCTOBER CALENDAR 
4-General meeting, 6:00 pm
17-Member committee meeting, 6:00 pm
19-Turning Leaf Tour
20-Tandem bicycling, 2:00-4:00  pm; Cherokee Blvd (weather permitting)

NOVEMBER CALENDAR
 2-Annual board planning meeting; 9:00 am
10-Christmas shopping and scavenger hunt
23- Board member and guest thank you party; 5:00 pm
BACK TO SCHOOL 
A new school year has started and to help guarantee success, we have some articles that will be helpful to every student. To help you locate these articles, they are listed here along with the section where you will find them.

Blog-Ten Tech Skills Every College Student Needs
Members-Back to School Tips Every Student Needs
Tech News-ILAB for Independence in the Science Lab

Good Luck in the new school year!!
Freedom to Fly Blog
WHAT IS NEW THIS MONTH ON OUR BLOG PAGE?
Congratulations to John on his award! (see below)

John has more issues of "The Dog Blog" in which he describes the beginning of the future guide dog's life and all of the unique and strange things he will encounter as a guide dog. John also describes the formal training of the dog and the process for matching it with its future handler. 

 As promised, we have additional blogs for those non-dog readers. 

AWARD WINNING BLOG
The following blog was originally written by John in 2016. An expansion of that article titled, "Education Outside the Classroom"  was published by the American Printing House for the Blind, and is the winner of the Ned E. Freeman Excellence in Writing Award for 2019. The award was announced at the American Council of the Blind national conference in July. Congratulations, John, for receiving this award and thank you for this and the many wonderful blogs that you have written.
 
THE 12 SECRETS TO RAISING A SUCCESSFUL BLIND CHILD
It is a difficult job to raise a child. If you are the parent or guardian of a blind child, there are extra challenges that you face to insure that your child becomes a successful adult. This is the article for which John received the award.

Tech skills are a pre-requisite for a successful college career. This is especially true for blind or low vision students.  Just exactly which skills are essential?  Continue reading

THE DOG BLOG: CREATING THE RIGHT DOG
How does a puppy get ready to be trained as a guide dog? To find out,  continue reading.

THE DOG BLOG: MATCH.COM FOR DOGS 
There is more to assigning a dog to its future handler than just telling the handler to "pick one".  Personality and physical traits of both the dog and handler need to be considered for a good match. For more about the process,  Continue reading

COMMENTS
We would like to hear from you. Add your comments at  http://club-vibes.org/blog/ or at the blog on our Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/groups/clubvibesgroup/

SUBSCRIBE
To guarantee that you do not miss any of our blogs, you can subscribe to them on our website,  http://club-vibes.org/blog/

NEWS
CONGRATULATIONS TO CASSIE AND JIM ON THE BIRTH OF THEIR DAUGHTER LAYLA!

BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY
Another great party hosted by Delta Gamma. The theme was County Fair and we enjoyed typical fair food of hot dogs, chips, and cotton candy.  We also enjoyed karaoke-what would a Delta Gamma party be without karaoke?  We had a lot of fun and are now ready to tackle school. Thank you Delta Gamma!

TRIP PLANNED FOR MEMBERS WITH AWARD POINTS
Photo; indoor wave pool at Wilderness at the Smokies

Ten Club VIBES members who have earned the required number of points through various contributions to the Club will be rewarded with a weekend trip to Wilderness at the Smokies September 13- 15. We will check in Friday afternoon and start zipping down the water slides and riding the waves in the wave pool. Saturday morning we will begin the day with a bike ride followed by cooling off and having more fun at the water park. After enjoying more of the waterslides and indoor ropes course on Sunday, the group will head home.  Members can earn points by attending meetings, organizing events such as the visit by Tim Burchett, providing snacks, writing articles for the newsletter, and many other activities.

A DAY AT THE ISLAND
by Mike Milley
One of the benefits to members consistently earning points is the ability to cash them in on fun trips like  a day on The Island in Pigeon Forge. Our first order of business was a visit to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum. As we entered, everyone received a listening device. As we walked through the museum with our guides, it was helpful to hear a  detailed audio description and a history behind each display. The museum contained a wide variety of crime-related exhibits ranging from the early days of torture using the thumbscrew to displays about the notorious criminals Bonnie and Clyde, and Al Capone, aka Scarface. There was even the famous white Ford Bronco driven by O.J. Simpson during that infamous high-speed chase. The events of 911 were also represented. At the bank exhibit,  guests were challenged to crack their old fashion bank safe, but to my knowledge, nobody could do it. The lie detector test was pretty interesting. I had never seen a polygraph machine before and that's the honest truth. Finally, we were all finger-printed and arrested for various charges. I was arrested for a DUI.
 
After we all were released, it was off to enjoy some tasty pizza at Mellow Mushroom and then shopping on the island. I had no idea there was such a place as the Beef Jerky Outlet but what a cool place! They had at least 20 different flavors of Beef Jerky and allowed you to sample whatever you wanted. I also enjoyed checking out the dancing water. Literally, music would play and the water would move to the music. Finally, it was refreshing to round out the day with a little ice cream.
 
Photo: Group of "convicts" at Alcatraz, Pigeon Forge

We couldn't have done this without the help of some great volunteers! Thanks to everyone who helped to make this fun day happen!

CONGRESSMAN BURCHETT VISITS VIBES MEETING
by Owen Neil 
Photo; VIBES members meet with Congressman Burchett
Congressman Tim Burchett and field representative Denise Lambert visited the Club Vibes general meeting on August 2nd.  After Club Vibes members introduced themselves, the congressman talked about his path to his current office, noting his office would always be reachable and ready to help.  The congressman replied to a variety of questions, including the IMP requirement for homeschooled students, access to technology, transportation, autonomous vehicles.  Representative Burchett seemed interested in the issues about employment, specifically the issue around vocational rehab offices and referral to ability one agencies, accommodations for students at all educational institutions, the need for adequate transportation, as well as accessible street signs and sidewalks. Other areas of concern included access to services such as orientation and mobility and finding meaningful, gainful employment in our district.   Representative Burchett said he was willing to tackle our issues and discussed how he, as a State Senator, was instrumental in preserving funding for the TBE program.  The meeting ended with the congressman distributing his business card and inviting members to follow up with his office.   

LIONS RECYCLE FOR SIGHT 
Do you have an old pair of eyeglasses or hearing aids laying about that you no longer need? If so the Lions can recycle them for you and get them to someone who can use them.

The West Knox Eyeglass and Hearing Aids collection boxes can be found at many area locations where the public can donate used eyeglasses & hearing aids to be recycled.

For a list of donation locations,  click here

WHAT A COINCIDENCE!
Sue recently received an interesting email from "Be My Eyes", an app that blind folks can use to identify something such as what which of these neckties is the one with blue stripes. The user calls a phone number and is connected with a volunteer who will identify the object in question via the users iPhone camera.  The email sent to Sue was to encourage her to be brave and make that first call (strangely, Sue had already made that first call). To help Sue build up the courage for that first call (that she had already made), they sent her a testimonial from another Be My Eyes user describing that experience.  What a surprise when Sue realized that the testimonial was written by Marian, a Club VIBES member.  Marian's story
Photo: Marian with her guide dog


Thanks to Marian for sharing her story with 'Be My Eyes"

BEEPING KICKBALL LEAGUE
Club VIBES member Tabitha Jackson and Daniel Alexander from the city of Knoxville would like to form a league to play beeping kickball on a regular basis.  If you are interested or know of anyone interested, please send an email to Club VIBES at info@club-vibes-org.  This is open to both visually impaired and those without visual limitations.
MEMBERS CORNER
CAMPBELL AND ILLYA ON WBIR
Live-At-Five-At-Four demonstrated the app "Be My Eyes" for viewers by showing VIBES members Illya and Campbell use it to grocery shop.  This app allows a blind user to connect with a sighted volunteer through the iPhone. The blind user takes a photo of the item in question and the sighted volunteer identifies it and can answer questions about the item. To watch the story on WBIR,  click here

DISCLOSING YOUR DISABILITY
Since employers are not allowed to ask about the presence of a disability on job applications, what is the best approach to disclosing this information? For a discussion about possible strategies and the rights of the applicant,  click here

BACK TO SCHOOL TIPS FROM AFB
Useful tips to help blind and low vision students have a successful and independent school year are presented in this article which appeared in the July 2019 issue of Access World, a publication from the American Foundation for the Blind.  It covers such topics as communicating with your instructors about your needs, ordering alternate format textbooks, test-taking, note-taking, and in-class assignments or pop quizzes. To read the article,   click here

MEMBER UPDATES
We are pleased to report that Sarah is doing well as a student in the Physician Assistant program at Lincoln Memorial University and working through some challenges in accomodations. She was able to participate in the Butterfly Walk on a brief break from school. Way to go, Sarah!

Illya attended Adventure Camp in North Carolina where activities included  zip line, paddle boarding, hiking and white water rafting.  This camp is open to students in grades 8-12. Participants must be independent in travel and self-care and willing to try new things. We will provide more information in upcoming newsletters. 

Illya is aslo beginning his studies at Pellissippi State.  Good luck, Illya

Sophie is beginning her college career at Johnson University.  We wish her good luck and smooth sailing.  

NEW MEMBER
We welcome a new member, Vanessa Rodriguez.  Vanessa is with Tennessee Business Enterprise.
FUNDRAISING
BUTTERFLY WALK
Club VIBES is thankful for all of the help received from many organizations and individuals. The Butterfly Walk, a fundraiser for Children's hospital, gave VIBES
              Photo: Team Vibes at Butterfly 5k
members an opportunity to be an organization that helps others and have fun at the same time. The Club VIBES team walked the 5k in a loop through the Ft. Sanders neighborhood, beginning and ending at World's Fair Park. The highlight of the walk was when the participants passed Children's Hospital where they were given water and cheered on by many of the young patients. Following the walk was the Burger Bash. Each walker was given tickets that they could redeem for very creative sliders from different vendors. One creation included peanut butter, honey, and jalapeno jam in addition to the burger.  We send a special thank you to the Delta Gamma ladies who served as volunteer guides and to Sarah for organizing Club VIBES participation in this event.

SEPTEMBER YARD SALE
Clean out those closets and the garage and bring unwanted items to the Buckley's house by September 26 for our yard sale on the 28-29th.  A percentage of the sale of your items will go to Club VIBES.  What an easy way to de-clutter and help VIBES!  We need board members to help with the sale. 

BELK CHARITY DAY
Watch for our next Belk Charity Day in the fall.
TECH NEWS
ILAB FOR INDEPENDENCE IN THE SCIENCE
ILAB is an organization whose goal is to make the experience in the science lab more accessible and meaningful for the blind or low vision high school and college student through the development of talking tools and methods for carrying out experiments independently.  For more information on their web site,  Click here .

ACCESSIBLE PRODUCTS HOTLINE
There are many electronic products on the market today and it is a daunting task for blind and visually impaired shoppers to know which are accessible to them.  This new hotline will identify the top accessible products in various categories such as microwaves, headsets, voice memo recorders, and several others.  To learn how to use this hotline,  click here 

AIRA IS NOW FREE!
Blind and low vision persons with a smartphone can download the AIRA app for free and use it for quick information about what is around them or what they are looking at. Calls can be made from anywhere but must be less than five minutes.  For longer calls, several subscription plans are available.  For details,  click here
NOTICE
NEXT NEWSLETTER
Watch for our next Newsletter in mid-November. Emails will keep you informed of important information that you might need before then.
PARTNERS
THANK YOU TO OUR PROGRAM PARTNERS FOR 2018-19
PLATINUM- Delta Gamma Fraternity and Nalls Sherbakoff
GOLD-Group One Mediation Training Inc.
SILVER-Smoky Mountain Wheelmen
BRONZE-Blount County Eye Center and West Knox Lion's Club

  THANK YOU TO OUR PROGRAM PARTNERS  FOR 2018-20


       PLATINUM                        GOLD                                  SILVER                                 BRONZE
                                     
     Delta Gamma                Group One                       Smoky Mountain                       Blount County
        Fraternity           Mediation Training Inc               Wheelman                                Eye Center


                                                                                                                     Nalls Sherbakoff                                                                                                           West Knox                                                                                                                                                        Lion's Club
    Li                                                                                                                         Lion's 

                                                                                                                           L  Lion's C;ub