November newsletter The TAPING RECORDER November 2007 News from & about Taping For The Blind, Inc. Celebrating 40 Years of Turning Sight Into Sound http://www.tapingfortheblind.org MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT The following announcement is from Randy de La Garza, President of the Taping Board of Directors: Dear Fellow Volunteers, I am sad to report that our executive director of many years, Cynthia Franzetti, has submitted her resignation and will be pursuing other opportunities. It goes without saying that all of us will miss her. We wish her the very best in her new endeavors. To paraphrase Ted Pfister's apt observation, Cynthia has taken us from a sort of cottage industry to a first-class non-profit that is second to none. We owe her our thanks and gratitude for that. It is always difficult to have a long-time colleague move on, especially one who is as well liked as Cynthia, but I hope you agree that change is opportunity, and we will seize this opportunity to bring fresh ideas to our beloved agency. Your board of directors is grateful to each and every one of you for your dedication and talents, without which we could not exist, and we are looking forward to a new year filled with optimism. I hope to see all of you at our Holiday Party on December 5 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. We will raise a glass to Cynthia and be thankful for all our blessings. All my best, Randy de La Garza President Board of Directors Thank you, Randy, for your thoughtful comments. Please let me add that "The only constant is change"--this is the motto of Discover magazine, and very appropriate. We all wish the best for Cynthia and thank her for her efforts on behalf of Taping. GOLF EVENT SUCCESSFUL We are very pleased to report on the excellent success of the first annual Taping Golf Classic hosted by Bill Brown and Jerry Hanlon. We had a full golf course, a bunch of celebrities who were wonderful, a beautiful day, great items in both the silent auction and the live auction, and great food from the Longwood kitchens. This was our first-ever golf event, and while we were apprehensive about so many factors involved, all worked out wonderfully well as the event was first-class and a great financial success for Taping. We will write more in next month's RECORDER and name the many people who contributed to the success of this event. (We are always wary of leaving a vital name out so that is why we are stalling! Plus this is another good reason for you to watch for the next edition of the RECORDER.) LIGHT THE CANDLES We honor the following Taping volunteers celebrating their birthdays in November. They are: 11/01 Linda Gibson, Charles Tigner; 11/02 Katherine Sintihakis; 11/12 Carl Hess; 11/15 Scott Ward; 11/17 Sandra Reid; 11/19 Anita Simpson; 11/22 Bunny Cherin, Dan Downey; and 11/28 Diego Demaya. We offer our usual reminder, that if your name did not appear in this list and you have a November birthday, please notify any staff member so we can update our records. HOLIDAY PARTY The annual Taping Holiday Party will be Wednesday, December 5, 2007, from 5 to 7 p.m. at 3935 Essex Lane. Please join us for this wonderful event and share the fellowship of the season with your friends in volunteering. THANKSGIVING HOURS Please remember that the building will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday (11/21), and that we will have reduced hours for Thanksgiving (11/22) and the Friday following the holiday (11/23). The building will be open from 7 a.m. until noon from 11/22 through 11/25. We resume our normal hours on Monday, 11/26. We hope that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! DANCE SALAD FESTIVAL INFORMATION Taping volunteer Fran Sanders has asked us to let you know about the following upcoming event: Enjoy a FREE evening of world-class dance on film at A Touring Taste of Dance Salad Festival, Wednesday, November 28, 2007, at 6:30 p.m. Co-presenters, Dance Salad Festival and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, will screen a film of highlights from the 2007 Festival performances of Dance Salad Festival at the Museum's Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonnet, 77005. A reception hosted by the MFAH will follow in the foyer of the Caroline Weiss Law Building. For up-to-date information on the 2008 Dance Salad Festival and photo gallery, please visit www.dancesalad.org. RLB