September Newsletter The TAPING RECORDER September 2007 News from & about Sight into Sound Celebrating 40 years of Turning Sight Into Sound http://www.sightintosound.org WHAT’S IN A NAME? With the advent of our revised schedule we have stopped using “HTBR” and its associated explanation in favor of “Turning Sight Into Sound”--we have used that as our motto for a number of years. As we reviewed the possibility of renaming Taping, we simply couldn’t agree on any of the proposed new names, but we all agreed that “Turning Sight Into Sound” was very popular and could give us a fresher sound. And so, thanks to all of you for embracing this “new” moniker, and thanks to David Gillmore for all the researching he did on the naming project. We are in the process of getting a trademark and copyright and whatever else the lawyers think we may need to call it ours. So far comments are very favorable from our audience. And speaking of our audience, our Listeners Campaign for Fall 2007 is well underway. We have introduced our revised schedule for this programming year, so thanks to Jim Martinez and his staff for putting these details in place. Thanks again to David Gillmore, Vice President of Client Services, and his Listeners Committee for their help as well. We are trying to increase contributions with gifts for donating at various price levels, so we’ll let you know how that works out. And before we leave this topic, a GREAT BIG Thank You to the following volunteers who helped stuff letters for our mailing: Lisa Roper, Fred Dawson, Kathy Osman, Nancy Daly, Ann Holliday, Jim Holliday, Paul Lester, Cullom Connely, Pat Pilkington, Mary Pedersen, Art Pedersen, Tom Milburn, Jean Frey, and George Frey . Thank you again! TAPING FOR THE BLIND GOLF CLASSIC The latest number I have heard for entries for the Taping Golf Classic hosted by Bill Brown is 90. Yes, 90 golfers have already signed up; please get entered as soon as you can. You get a price break if you enter before September 30, 2007 ($125 between now and the end of September, $150 thereafter). Your entry also entitles you to a practice round at Longwood for only $25--a sweet break on that price. The committees for this event are busy getting prizes for the silent auction as well as items for the goodie bag. Do not get shut out--enter now! The event will be held Friday morning, November 2, at the Longwood Golf Club. Our sincere thanks to Jerry Hanlon, Vice President of Planning, for his outstanding efforts leading this project. Further thanks to the following volunteers who helped with the mail stuffing for this event: Mort Fefer, Gordon Laird, Cullom Connely, Lynette McGlammery, Kathy Osman, Laura Upton, Donna Colson, Art Pedersen, and Marcie Corder . MARATHON SIGN-UP PARTY REPORT We were capably represented at the Houston Marathon sign-up party by Carol Pierce, Pat Pilkington, and Bob Bartlett. The gathering was downtown in Sam Houston Park. We had a great location, midway between the beer truck and a great band, but the primary problem was we had very few runners show up. This was a problem for all the charities represented there, not just for Taping. We had two runners sign to be part of our running team, and the main reason they were there is that they had promised to show up. This writer is not certain why this event was moved from Memorial Park to the Downtown venue, but we hope they reconsider this next year. In the meantime, if you run or have friends who run, why not run for a reason and support Taping? Contact Carol Pierce for more information on getting involved. Thanks to the help of Dena Marks Sokolow, we have some very cool hats for our runners with the Taping logo. And thanks to Carol for a great job of keeping in touch with our running team. HOUSING & EMPLOYMENT RESOURCE EXPO (HERE) We don’t always talk about visits we make when going on behalf of Taping, but we’ll make an exception for this one. It was sponsored by the City of Houston as well as several other groups and was very well attended. Fred Dawson and Bob Bartlett (looking cool in their new Taping lids) represented our efforts. We made a lot of contacts, but one stood out for me. One lady came by and thanked us and Taping for being such a wonderful help for her brother who has a learning disability. We did a number of books for him and he was so grateful for our help as it assured his success. Those are the stories that warm your heart, and for those of you doing the work we do, thank you again, and again, and again! One more little story about this: Bob had very explicit instructions about how to get to the parking lot we were to be in, and Fred told several folks he would still be wandering around looking for the place if not for those instructions--he credits this as a case of the blind leading the sighted. And here are some observations from Fred Dawson: “…I really thought the turnout and response was great--especially the involvement and opportunities for Taping. But going beyond that, take a look at some of the variety of people and characters that passed by our booth and stopped to talk. They included: 1.A poetry guy that was interested in volunteering if he could read poetry. 2.A radio guy who promised to spread the word about Taping and expand our coverage by thousands of his listeners. 3. A truck driver who could not read or comprehend. 4. A bi-polar schizophrenic looking for help. 5. A person who wanted to volunteer as a Spanish reader. 6.A released ex-hostage from an Oman prison--and his legal problems. Those were only 6 of many people who stopped by to talk--and I'm sure there were more, in addition to the many that had legitimate and solvable situations where Taping’s services could be of help. Sort of like the old radio show­“The Passing Parade.” Thanks for your contribution, Fred, as well as all the work you do for Taping! LIGHT THE CANDLES We offer the warmest of birthday wishes for the Taping volunteers who have September birthdays. They are: 09/04 Janet Parisi; 09/05 Joe Laughlin, Dena Marks Sokolow; 09/07 Bernard Lewis; 09/08 Dennis Spellman; 09/09 Betti Saunders; 09/17 George Manley; 09/20 Bill Brown, Anne Chatoney; 09/22 Carolyn Babb; and 09/28 Anne Sharpe. If your September birthday is not acknowledged on this list, please notify any staff member so we can update our records. LOTS MORE We have lots more to report but we’ll save it for our October effort. Thanks again for the great work you do! RLB