June/July, 2021 
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS SUMMER?
Summer is a time to spread your wings. Leave your comfort zone and try new experiences. Maybe even practice some of the skills that you have learned this year. It is important to keep on top of things so you will not be rusty when the new school year begins. Here are some ideas to help you on your way to a fulfilling and fun summer.

WANT TO GO TO SUMMER CAMP?
Summer is here. Have you made plans that will provide you with fun, new, and enriching experiences? Have you thought about summer camp? There are several day and overnight camps in the Ashville area that will give you an opportunity to stray from your comfort zone, encouraging you to stretch yourself, make lifelong friends, and have a fun and amazing week you will remember your whole life! You can choose from including Zoom day camp for kids in grades K-12 and a couple of sleepover camps for kids in grades rising 8-12. these take place in the mountains just outside of Ashville NC and are for blind and visually impaired kids. All camps are free of charge.

OVERNIGHT CAMP
What: IFB Solution, Outdoor residential summer camps
Where: Asheville, North Carolina
When: July 2021, Apply NOW!
Who: Rising 8-12 grade students who are blind or visually-impaired

Sunday, July 4 – Friday, July 9
S.E.E. Camp H2O is an overnight camp for kids who are blind or visually impaired, and who are looking for a traditional camp experience. This will be a blended camp sharing the experience with normally sighted kids.

Sunday, July 25 – Thursday, July 29
S.E.E Adventure Camp is an overnight camp where participants will hike, raft, climb, swim, and zip in and around the Nantahala Gorge at overnight camp in Western North Carolina.

DAY CAMP (VIA ZOOM)
Grades K-12
Sunday, July 4 – Friday, July 9
Virtual Day Camp will offer a mix of activities, including arts and crafts, music, and collaborative games.

For more information and to register click here to go to the web page for I.F.B.Solutions

WORK ON THOSE BRAILLE SKILLS
"The NFB BELL Academy provides children with Braille and nonvisual skills instruction through fun, hands-on learning activities. It is a summer program that prepares blind and low-vision children to grow into confident and independent blind people who live the lives they want". It is offered virtually in 2021. Options are available for beginner, intermediate, and advanced students for the following dates:
  • Session 2 - July 19-30, 2021
  • Session 3 - August 9-20, 2021
For more information and registration click here
All Club Vibes activities will be via Zoom unless otherwise noted

JUNE CALENDAR
4-Member Meeting; 7:00 pm
6,13,20,27- Fit For Battle; 3:00 pm
8-Board Meeting; in person on the Buckley's patio; 6:00 pm
13, 27-Chat on the Porch; 7:00 pm
17-Leadership Meeting; 7:00 pm
18-The Core
20-Book Club; 7:00 pm

JULY CALENDAR
11,18,25- Fit For Battle; 3:00 pm
18, 25-Chat on the Porch; 7:00 pm
15-Leadership Meeting; 7:00 pm
16-The Core; 7:00 pm
18-Book Club; 7:00 pm

AUGUST CALENDAR
6-Member Meeting;7:00 pm

WHAT IS NEW THIS MONTH ON OUR BLOG PAGE?
ONLY ONE BLIND PERSON AT A TIME AND NO MORE
When a blind or visually impaired person independently uses the services of such places as public transportation, retail establishments, entertainment venues, or many other places, they sometimes need to depend on the assistance of an employee to help them complete their "mission". Usually, the employee who provides assistance is very willing and helpful. When instead of one blind person there are two, the situation changes dramatically. Click here to read John's experiences in traveling alone and how things change when traveling with his wife who is also blind.

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
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NEWS
FALL TRIP
As Covid rates fall and vaccination rates increase, some Vibes gatherings will slowly and safely return to in-person. A fall in-person event is in the planning stages and the tentative idea is to rent a large house (hopefully with a pool) in the Gatlinburg area for a weekend in-person fun.

JACOBY IS DOING GREAT!
Jacoby continues with his recovery from kidney transplant surgery. He remains under the watchful eyes of his doctors and remains under quarantine, but life for him is becoming more and more normal. He is thankful for all of the support he has received.

ZOOM ACTIVITIES CONTINUE
Zoom gatherings have been very successful and have allowed a much wider variety and participation than meeting in person. Some meetings will remain on Zoom such as the book club, Battle for Fitness, Chat on the Porch, Core, Membership, and Leadership meetings.

SUMMER CONVENTIONS REMAIN VIRTUAL
The National Federation of the Blind will be held July 6 through 10, 2021 and the American Council of the Blind convention will be held July 16 through 23, 2021 both with virtual formats. We strongly encourage you to attend one or both of these conventions right from home. They both provide great opportunities for all of those with visual impairments or those in the field to keep up to date with the latest in technology, news related to vision loss, keep up with old friends, and make new ones.

NFB Convention, July 6-10, now has registration open. Register here There is no charge but donations are welcome. For those attending for the first time, there is a Rookie Roundup on June 29, at 8:30 pm. As a registered attendee, you will receive daily Zoom links to the sessions that you wish to attend.

ACB Convention, July 16-23, also has registration open by clicking on the registration web page. Register Here. There is a $25.00 fee for members and $40.00 fee for nonmembers and you will receive Zoom links to attend sessions of your choice.
MEMBERS
CORE
by Owen
We have been conducting career sessions that we call CORE for blind and low-vision teens and young adults to enable them to excel in their careers of choice. With each session, professionals, themselves blind or visually impaired, from various fields of work, present topics beneficial to those with visual impairments for their career development. We recently had our third CORE presentation.

The first session was on resume building and following up after an interview. We were advised not to list our street address on our resume, just city and state. Another presentation talked about owning your career, doing your research, making sure you obtain training or certification to qualify for that specific career and once hired, make sure you obtain any additional training to qualify for promotions.

Recurring themes with all three presentations include using volunteer experiences and internships, either paid or unpaid, to build your resume, and how to deal with common obstacles that occur during the interview. Another focus was the importance of demonstrating your skills in using assistive technology to perform tasks required on the job and talking about how you will be able to get to work on time.

Our most recent session stressed having a group of advocates who can speak about your capabilities is important. We learned about some resources in case we need help with advocacy, and that we can contact Disability Rights Tennessee or advocacy@acb.org

TECH AND MEDIA
PEN FRIEND
An easy-to-use labeling device is the Pen Friend. The user attaches a small sticker to whatever they want to label and then record by speaking into the Pen Friend what they want about the object. You might label cans and packages of food. To "read" the label, merely touch the pen to the label sticker and hear what you recorded. You can erase and re-use stickers. The Pen Friend is sold through Maxi-Aids. Click here to go to their web page for more details and ordering information.
 THANK YOU TO OUR PROGRAM PARTNERS FOR 2020-2021    
PLATINUM 
DELTA GAMMA FRATERNITY 
THE NALLS SHERBAKOFF GROUP LLC.
SILVER
WEST KNOX LIONS CLUB  
SMOKY MOUNTAIN WHEELMEN

BRONZE    
Ruth E. Bailey, D.D.S.
COSMETIC DENTISTRY OF KNOXVILLE