KCB Board Meeting – July, 2016
The monthly meeting of the Kentucky Council of the Blind Board of Directors was held via conference call on Monday, July 18, 2016. President Deb Lewis called the meeting to order at 8:05 PM eastern time. Answering the roll call were Deb Lewis, Joey Couch, Rick Boggess, Carla Ruschival, Amanda Selm, Debbie Deatherage, Natalie Beyers, Bill Roberts, Frank Campbell, Shirley Stivers and Josh Gentry. Elaine Weisbard checked in late. Deb Trevino, Bill Deatherage, “Cisco” Slusher, Bill Wright, Gerry Slusher and Lisa McKeown were absent. Guest Adam Ruschival was also present.
President Deb Lewis called for reading the June 20 board meeting minutes and summary. Since copies were distributed in advance, Joey Couch made a motion to dispense with their reading and for approval. The motion was seconded by Natalie Beyers and unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Carla Ruschival presented her report for June. Joey Couch made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded by Josh Gentry and unanimously approved.
Chapter Reports
Eastern Kentucky Christian Council: Frank Campbell reported their picnic will be held from 3-7 PM on July 23 at shelter 1 in Perry Park in Hazard.
Northern Kentucky Council: No report.
Greater Louisville Council: Debbie Deatherage reported 27 people attended GLCB Roundabout on July 15 after a two week convention break. Sister Grace is volunteering to read mail and other items at Roundabout. Training on iPhone and iPad is being incorporated into the sessions.
Tri-State Library Users Group: Since Bill Wright was not present, Amanda Selm indicated that the group will have a dinner meeting at Logan’s Roadhouse on Shelbyville Road on July 19 from 6:30 to 8:30.
Guide Dog Users of Kentucky: Josh Gentry reported that 10-12 people participated in the walk on June 24. Members, including Deb Lewis, have attended the Humane Society Summer Camp to talk about guide dogs.
Support Alliance of the Visually Impaired: Bill Roberts reported that 14 members and 2 guests attended the chapter’s July 14 meeting. Several members were absent due to bad weather and illness. Members talked about a gift from the Owensboro Lions Club and voted to accept an offer from Pat Elder from Elder Pipe to purchase two bowling rails. The chapter hopes to have a bowling fundraiser this fall or winter. Officer Courtney Yerington from the Owensboro Police Department will talk about scams at the August 9 meeting. Members also voted to pursue 501c(3).
KCB Next Generation: Amanda Selm reported the chapter was unable to have a July meeting. She reported they have better participation when using social media like Facebook for meetings. Deb Lewis will join chapter members to host a transition activity (refreshments and an art activity) for clients at the McDowell Center on July 21. Members hope to consider rescheduling the picnic in September at their next meeting.
Committees
PR/Membership: Rick Boggess reported the committee did not meet in July due to the ACB convention. The next meeting will be at 7 PM on August 3 on the conference line.
Old Business
President Deb Lewis thanked Secretary Rick Boggess for sending a thank you letter to the Greater Louisville Downtown Lions Club for their donation.
Carla Ruschival and Debbie Deatherage provided reports about the ACB convention in Minneapolis. Debbie was one of eight ACB Leadership Fellows sponsored by JP Morgan Chase to attend the convention. She attended an excellent leadership seminar on Saturday afternoon, spoke briefly at the opening Sunday night session and lead the pledge on July 4. Carla Ruschival reported the July 17 Sound Prints contains an interview with Debbie Deatherage, an excerpt from her presentation for Jim’s Shaw’s Angel Page, and more. Other convention highlights include an excellent president’s report, many contested elections and more. Auction proceeds were down, but the ACB Walk is approaching its $60,000 goal. Walk donations will be accepted through July 31. The 2017 convention will be in Reno and the 2018 convention will be in St. Louis. Convention sessions are archived on the ACB Radio webpage under the new “events” link or available as a podcast through iTunes. There are plans to include lots of other materials in the “events” page archive.
New Business
Elaine Weisbard made a motion that KCB provide doughnuts for the July 22 SRC Meeting. The motioned was seconded by Carla Ruschival and unanimously approved.
President Deb Lewis participated in a recent conference call related to audio description and web accessibility sponsored by AFB and ACB. People are encouraged to submit comments about why audio description is important to them. Send comments (including name and location) to comment@afb.net. There is an online survey. Carla will resend the link.
Carla Ruschival encouraged the board to begin thinking about whether they would like a speaker from ACB for the KCB convention on November 11-12. After some discussion, Rik Boggess made a motion that KCB invite Dan Spoon and to extend that invitation to Jeff Bishop if Dan is unable to attend. The motion was seconded by Amanda Selm and unanimously approved.
Carla Ruschival reported that Congress has approved wording allowing NLS to provide equipment to display braille. This should allow them to distribute the Orbit Reader 20 and help insure that the price of the readers remains low.
Announcements and Adjournment
Carla Ruschival announced that Joe Elliott will become the new director of Kentucky Business Enterprises on August 1. This fills a position which was not filled when Richard Nesbitt retired. Scott Fricano is still Assistant Director.
Carla Ruschival made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Natalie Beyers and unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:08 PM.
Submitted by Rick Boggess, KCB Secretary
Download Summary: KCBBoardMeetingJuly2016
