DISCLAIMER: This publication contains announcements from the Silicon Valley Council of the Blind and is also a forum for opinions relating to blindness issues. Signed articles reflect the views, and research, of their authors.
STATUS: SVCB is a 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the California Council of the Blind.
Monthly in-person meetings are held at the Santa Clara Valley Blind Center (Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired San Jose). Meetings run from 9:30 AM to 1 PM the third Saturday of the month and are open to all.
Many of my friends, family, and colleagues keep saying that we do not know where time goes, as I know we are in the last month of 2024! It has been a year with world events, an election, and milestones in our own lives as Chapter members of SVCB. Thanksgiving is just behind us, and since I began writing about gratitude this year, I encourage all of us to take several moments and identify the reasons to be grateful in our personal circle of life. We have many reasons to be grateful as a CCB Chapter and as a community of friends and supporters. I am grateful for the amazing individual and group leadership that SVCB demonstrates every month as we steward each other through good times and challenging times. Perhaps in one of our upcoming Chapter meetings, we can take a moment to express gratitude to each other as we begin a whole new year, 2025!
In our last meeting, we thanked Joe Silveria for his six years of service on the SVCB Board of Directors, and Joe assured us he will be an active participant in committee work and more. We will welcome Diane Wetzel to the Board, and we know Diane will bring a great perspective to the Board and our Chapter. Lorraine Brown has agreed to serve as Board mentor to Diane, an informal process from the past that we are putting into practice. Thank you, Joe, and welcome, Diane!
On December 14, from 11 am to 3 pm, we will gather at Vista Center, San Jose for our annual holiday party. We will be welcomed by a group of our members who have musical talents to the auditorium. Come prepared to sing along to holiday music and more. We will enjoy a wonderful catered lunch from Maggiano's Little Italy, and snacks and eggnog will await you.
Our entertainment program will be presented by Olga Loya, Storyteller. In her website, Olga writes, "Olga Loya was captivated by the vivid stories her Mexican grandmother and father would tell. Absorbing all their secrets and following the tendrils of memory that bind people and families, Olga fashioned and invented for herself, out of her own substance and imagination, a stirring universe of creation. Growing up in the barrio of East LA where family rituals and traditions were the center of her emotional life, the young Latina, performing improvisation as a girl, has mastered the expressive vocabulary of artful storytelling. With her poetic eloquence, Olga's stories are an impassioned quest to keep alive not only the fabric of her family but the larger Latino culture, richly robed in folktales, ancient myths, and history."
Contact David Hoffman to purchase your tickets, $30.00 for SVCB members and Vista Center clients, and $35.00 for guests. Please note that, to plan properly for the food, the cutoff date for purchasing your tickets is December 10.
Enjoy the days ahead, and we look forward to seeing you at the holiday party!
Hey, ready for the holiday party on December 14? We are! King has a special harness that lets him pull Star's walker. "Yeah, all she's gotta do is sit there and radiate happiness that tells me where to go. Hope she lets me loose so I can visit with other dogs. And I can tell you, I'll earn my chicken!" Yes, you will, and maybe some other things as well. And if you discover friends who'd like to be at the party, you can still register them for $35 until Monday, December 9.
We had a very nice program segment at the November meeting. We learned that sorta new member Diane Wetzel owns a business franchise called Sentsy, and you can buy scented candles and waxes to scent the environment. And as Diane's presentation commenced, I could smell various scents parading around, and figured she was teasing us. But it was just cookies! Anyway, you can hear Diane's program plus the business meeting at:
Welcome to new member John Stolp, who joined SVCB during the November meeting. And happy December birthdays to Celina Carey, Lorraine Brown, Milton Quenzer, and William Tipton. They'll be at the party, no excuses; say hello.
-Announcing the 2024 Audio Description Awards Gala Recipients
The 2024 Audio Description Awards Gala was held November 14 and featured celebrity guests, film clips, and multiple award categories. Created in 2021 to recognize achievement in audio description in entertainment and educational media, the Awards Gala was broadcast with captions, audio description, ASL interpretation, and Spanish dubbing and AD. Hosts Marilee Talkington and Alie B. Gorrie welcomed guests from the arts, entertainment, and sports worlds to celebrate accessible media.
You can hear the Gala on your Victor Stream by adding "ACB Events" to your podcast feeds.
-IVIE Business Expo Now Available
The edited recording of the IVIE Business Expo held Saturday, November 16, is now available to listen to on-demand and/or as a podcast at:
Be My Eyes is rolling out to a pair of Meta Ray-Ban Glasses near you!
If you already own Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, you may want to check that they are updated to the latest software release, in order to access Be My Eyes. Need help setting up? They've created a comprehensive setup guide, including an audio walkthrough, so you can get the most out of this hands-free experience. Visit the Help Center for a step-by-step guide to configuring the glasses, or our dedicated product page for additional information about Be My Eyes and Ray-Ban Meta Glasses.
Once you're set, all you must do is say, "Hey Meta, Be My Eyes," and you'll be connected to one of their 8.1 million global volunteers. The volunteer will view your surroundings through the camera on the glasses and be able to answer your questions and provide real-time descriptions.
-Exercise Your Creativity and Help Make National Park Brochures Accessible
Join the 2025 Descriptathon and help make national parks more accessible! ACB, the National Park Service, and UniDescription (UniD) are recruiting volunteers to create audio descriptions for selected national park brochures. Teams are composed of people who are sighted and people on the blindness spectrum, all of whom will collaborate to describe maps, paintings, and visual images within park brochures. All meetings are held remotely, so you might find yourself learning about a park in your state or across the continent.
The Descriptathon will be a full-day event, taking place February 25-27, 2025 (volunteers are expected to attend all three days). Participants will likely spend ten hours of prep time in the five weeks before the kick-off on February 25 (approximately two hours a week). During this prep time, team members will learn about audio Description, how to use the UniD tool to describe their brochure, and get to know their teammates. Four to six hours might be needed to finalize the brochure description after the three-day event. Volunteers should have solid computer skills and be comfortable learning new technology. If this sounds great and you're ready to commit and join a team, please email:
-FCC Seeks Comment on Customer Service Experience, Including Accessibility
On October 23, the Federal Communications Commission launched a formal proceeding to review the quality of support that cable, broadband, satellite TV, and voice service providers give their customers. The Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeks information on current customer service practices. It aims to empower consumers to easily cancel subscriptions, talk to live customer service representatives, easily consent to or decline automatic service renewals, and improve the accessibility of customer service engagement, among other things.
The Commission seeks to build a public record on the current state of customer support, and ways that the FCC can further protect families and businesses that rely on these critical services.
Specifically, the Commission seeks comments on:
Simple Cancellation: Providing more cancellation options and better disclosure, of cancellation practices at the point of sale and on bills.
Automatic Renewal of Service: Ensuring providers obtain explicit customer consent for broadband and voice service providers before automatically renewing a service and/or increasing prices after a trial or promotional period expires.
Access to Live Representatives: Helping to avoid bouncing consumers from one call menu list to another in a time-consuming effort to obtain resolution.
Installation, Outage, and Service Calls: Extending cable operator installation, outage, and service call rules to also apply to satellite TV, voice, and broadband services.
Individuals with Disabilities: Improving the accessibility of customer service resources for individuals with disabilities.
Expanded Cable Customer Resources: Updating current cable operator customer service requirements to reflect marketplace and technology changes.
Additionally, the NOI explores whether to harmonize the FCC's existing cable operator customer service rules with customer service requirements for voice, broadband, and Direct Broadcast Satellite (a.k.a. satellite TV) consumers. The Notice is part of a broader government effort, "Time is Money," to crack down on everyday headaches that waste our time and money.
The Black Hills Regional Ski for Light event celebrated its 45th anniversary this past January. The 2025 trip will depart from Omaha on Saturday, January 18th, with several stops along I-80 to pick up attendees. We will spend the night at the Best Western in Chadron, NE, where we will gather for dinner and a brief meeting. On Sunday morning, we will head to Deadwood, aiming to arrive by 2 p.m. Our activities will be based in Deadwood, with skiing at Terry Peak and cross-country skiing and snowshoeing at The Meadows. We will return on Friday, January 24th.
The event offers a variety of activities, including downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobile rides. Terry Peak features adaptive equipment, such as the mountain man sled, which allows both blind and physically disabled individuals to experience the thrill of skiing with the help of a strong guide.
Evening events are packed with fun, including a slot machine contest, a fantastic barbecue buffet provided by the local community, karaoke, dances, bumper cars on ice, and a table game room. There is so much more to share, but instead, we have included three links for you to explore:
The event's Facebook page, featuring many photos from the 2024 event.
If you have questions, contact Ward and Kathy Kinney at:
(402) 630-3640
-Survey on Navigation
McCoy Adkins, a student at Butler Tech, is working on a project that focuses on navigation and blind people. He has created a survey regarding current navigation tools in place, as well as ideas for future designs. Now he needs your help. If you are interested in participating, you can take the survey at:
From the ACB Dots and Dashes email: October 21, 2024
The HET is a wearable assistive technology device, that provides people who are blind, low vision, or have autism, with real-time access about others' non-verbal communication cues (NVC), during social interactions. Through an intuitive mapping of visual information, translated to a haptic (sense of touch) sensation, applied to the forearm. The HET device breaks down barriers to effective and engaging conversations by raising awareness of non-verbal communication queues in real time. The technology leverages AI/COMPUTER vision, to detect and recognize the emotions/facial expressions, gestures, and body language, received from an embedded camera on a pair of glasses. Then mapping the NVC to a dynamic haptic pattern, applied to the forearm of the user on a wearable sleeve. Each pattern generates a distinct and unique sensation along the forearm, corresponding to the facial expression, body language, or gesture, of the person or persons they are engaged in conversation with. With the HET you can tell if someone is happy, upset, going for a handshake or waving at you in real time. We are looking for beta testers that want to be at the forefront of technology, to be part of the development process, and help the community. If you're interested in participating, or have questions, contact Jack Walters via email at
The feature presentation of our November meeting was given by Diane Wetzel, who shared her experiences of working as an Independent Consultant for Scentsy. She related some of the challenges that running your own business can entail, tools and resources that she has used to increase her success, and the overall feelings of independence that come with entrepreneurship. This series of revelations and insights were brought forth in an interview format presented by the affable David Hoffman.
It was Diane's love of scented candles, and her concerns with fire and open flames, that led to her discovery of the Scentsy product line. Scentsy's primary line of products are a series of wax warmers that allow for a paraffin wax cube, imbued with essential oils, to be melted, allowing their scent profile to fill your rooms. No flame, smoke, or soot is produced in this completely safe method of scent delivery, allowing for the enjoyment of scented candles but without the concerns a traditional candle would bring.
With a multitude of wax scents available, over 80 individual fragrances currently, it's easy to find a pleasant scent to compliment your mood and activities. With Scent Categories such as Fresh, Spice, Holiday, and Bakery to name just a few, the perfect wax pairing is awaiting you. In addition to the wax warmers, Scentsy has a wide range of additional scented products, household cleaners, room sprays, and special limited-edition items licensed from major studios such as Marvel and Disney; and even more fun products in their extensive line of offerings!
With the holidays fast approaching, Scentsy becomes a great option for gift giving. Contact Diane if you are interested in exploring their range of products and get to know it through her enthusiasm, Diane's passion is sure to get you hooked! The deadline for ordering to ensure timely delivery this time of year is December 15, 2024. Also, if you are interested in learning more about becoming involved with Scentsy as a personal business opportunity, Diane can help walk you through those options as well!
It's me again, the Hh/BC/LGF of your SVCB Giants fan club, with some distressing news. As only two people have so far agreed to bring snacks for our 2025 goodies games, they may have to be canceled. Sorry to break it to you this way, but no goodies games can take place unless some of you fans show up with delicious tidbits to share. Even the old Churro Man won't be there! Blast! As head of your fan club, I've sure been looking forward to those games! And I'm sure you have, too. But it's not too late to save the day. You still have time to be a hero in 2025, so do take a minute and sign up by contacting me either by phone at:
Recipes contributed by Suzanne Smith from Delicious Amish Recipes
Moist Bread Filling
Ingredients
4 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 quarts soft bread cubes
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 teaspoon onion, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon sage or poultry seasoning (optional)
Directions
Beat eggs. Add milk. Pour over bread cubes.
Combine butter and seasonings. Add to bread cubes, and mix well.
Filling can be baked in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or it can be used as stuffing for foul.
If baking in a casserole dish, cover tightly for the first 30 minutes, then remove cover, to allow browning during the last 15 minutes of baking.
Makes 6 servings.
Shoo-Fly Pie
Ingredients
Bottom layer:
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup light molasses
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup of boiling water
2/3 cup cold water
unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Crumbs:
2 cups of flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup shortening or lard
Directions
Begin with the bottom layer, stirring the eggs into 1 cup brown sugar. Add molasses. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Add cooled water, then combine with sugar and egg mixture. Pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie shell.
Cut the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and shortening together until crumbly. Sprinkle over the bottom layer.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake for 50 minutes longer, or until done.
When prompted for a participant code, press the Pound key.
Note that the above Zoom call-in information is used for SVCB's virtual link to monthly in-person membership meetings.
2. Shows Described by AudioVision Bay Area
For all productions (Golden Gate, Orpheum Theatres, Broadway San Francisco, and Broadway San Jose), tickets are generally on sale four weeks before the production opens. To charge tickets and reserve receivers, call:
Audio described shows by TheatreWorks have resumed, with descriptions by Gravity. Pre-register for tickets that include a free "show talk" 30 minutes before the show, at the TheatreWorks box office at:
The monthly "Let's Talk Low Vision" conferences are held on the third Tuesday of the month at 8:30 PM Eastern. Archives are at the Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI) Official website at:
7. Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP)
BORP believes that everyone should have access to the unique challenges that outdoor recreation provides, and makes every effort to accommodate each person's needs, including providing transportation and volunteer support. For event listings, call Lori Gray at:
December 14, 2 PM: Santa Cruz Shakespeare presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Vets Hall in downtown Santa Cruz, with descriptions by AudioVision Bay Area, see notes.
December 16, noon: January 2024 SVCB newsletter deadline
December 22, 1 PM: SHREK, The Musical, with descriptions by AudioVision Bay Area, SJCPA, see notes.
December 28 at 8 PM and 29 at 2 PM: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, with descriptions by Gravity, MVCPA, see notes.
January 2025
January 2 2025, 7:30 to 9 PM: SVCB Board meeting. If you wish to participate in this meeting, Contact Alice Turner.
January 7, 5:30 to 7 PM: Breast cancer support group meeting. For questions, call Lori Scharff at: