[hcb-l] Houston Council Beacon

From: RL Bartlett <rlb119@xxxxxxx>
To: acbt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 13:29:48 -0500

HOUSTON COUNCIL BEACON

Awarded the 2014 ACB Hollis K. Liggett Award
September 2014

September. Back to school. Oh, to be a kid again
this time of year! New lunchkits and crayons.
Meeting a new teacher and making new friends. And
then comes October and Halloween. November brings
family gatherings and school programs about the
pilgrims. Making a wish with a turkey wishbone!
But following closely comes the pressure of Santa
watching even while youre asleep to make sure
youre behaving. Being chosen to play an angel in
the Sunday School Christmas pageant. Having the
whole family gathered around to watch Charlie
Brown once again learn the true meaning of the
Christmas season. Oh, to be a kid again this time of year!

From our young-at-heart HCB president, Peggy Garrett
Hello, everyone! As the last days of summer speed
by, fall is on the way. Summer vacation is over
and children are returning to school with ringing
bells, hurrying to class, and of course the
dreaded homework! This is a time of both
excitement and stress for some children,
especially children who are visually impaired or
blind. It is vitally important that we encourage
and mentor as many of these children as we
possibly can to assure them that they can have a bright future.

One of the ways in which HCB strives to assist
children to achieve a higher education and
prepare for the future is through our annual
scholarships. Each year HCB offers scholarships
to students who are graduating high school and
have been accepted to an institution of higher
education or have graduated and are already
attending college, technical school, trade
school, etc. In addition we offer support and
encouragement as they work to complete their
education. This mentoring is a way of encouraging
our children to build high self-esteem and also
to become strong self-advocates.

We also advocate to ensure that children who are
blind or visually impaired receive the best
possible education. We know that this is required
in order for them to be prepared to compete in the world of employment.

We often hear the phrase children are our
future. We have both an opportunity and an
obligation to help our children to be the very
best that they can be, as others did for us.

So, please join us in our efforts to make a
difference in the lives of children who are blind
or visually impaired as they strive to become
contributing members of our society. Many of us
are ready to step aside and let the younger
generation take our places in the workforce and
in our organization. However, we must make sure
that they are prepared to make this transition. I
encourage you all to take some time to mentor a
child and share your life experiences of how you
achieved success. Let them know that they too can
overcome their challenges and achieve their
goals. Then we can step aside and know that the
work we have done has not been in vain and that
we have prepared the children to be future leaders that we can be proud of!
Peggy Garrett

Do I have to go? From now until December 18,
Mama Fus restaurant at 1574 W. Grey is donating
a portion of their proceeds to Houston Council of
the Blind. Yum! Go, enjoy! Take your friends.
Tell your friends. If we participate, remember,
nice people are more likely to continue to
support us. Like Chilis. September 9, October
14, November 11, and December 9 are the dates
when a portion of Chilis proceeds from the 3215
Southwest Freeway (Buffalo Speedway), 6121
Westheimer, and 2425 Katy Freeway (Sawyer
Heights) locations will go to HCB. You must have
a flyer with you so get one from Cuqui Soto or
have her send you one. No, have her send you
several so you can give them to your friends.
Another childhood lesson learned: Share.

Are we there yet? No, but we will be soon. The
ACBT Conference in San Antonio is just a few
weeks away. Join your friends and fellow HCB
members as we share and learn from each otherand
just have a great time being with the good folks
of ACBT. See you in San Antonio September 25-28!
(While you might not play Car Bingo on the way
there, we will be having Bingo Night Saturday night after the banquet.)

Im hungry! Theres nothing to eat. How often
did you say that as a child, and how often to you
feel that way as an adult? Since we last talked
about cereals, Cheerios has come out with yet
another variety: Cheerios Protein, with 7g of
protein, in cinnamon almond flavor and oats and
honey flavor. Bob Bartlett highly recommends
the new Club crackers in cornbread and jalapeno
cornbread flavors. (Great with soups and stews!)
And anticipating cooler weather, does anyone
else remember eating Cream of Wheat hot cereal
growing up? Guess what it now comes in banana
cream, Cinnabon, chocolate, whole grain, and
gluten-free varieties. But its not sweater
weather yet so heres a quick snack recipe that
will keep you cool in these last days of summer.
FROSTED BLUEBERRIES: Take a pint of fresh Texas
blueberries and rinse them. Drain well on a paper
towel. Using a toothpick, pick up individual
blueberries and thoroughly dip in vanilla yogurt.
(Or your flavor of choice.) Place on a cookie
sheet. Repeat. No need to use a new toothpick for
each blueberry either! Place the cookie sheet in
the freezer for 45 minutes. Take out and pop them
in your mouth. Now, thatll make you feel like a
kid again! Am I forgetting anything from the
grocery aisles? Oh, yesit wouldnt be The Beacon
without a report on the latest from Blue Bell.
How does Malt Shoppe ice cream sound, with bits
of malted milk balls in it? But wait, theres
more Theyve been running a contest to bring
back a flavor from the past and the winner will
be announced later in September. Kids love surprises!

Go clean your room before you play. What room
do WE have to keep clean the most? The kitchen,
of course. Here are some very important tips
provided by Karen Sprague. Cooking grease and
oil, meat fats, shortening, butter and margarine
all contribute to the buildup of harmful fats,
oils, and grease (FOG) in our sewer systems.
Although FOG floats when warm, it solidifies as
it flows down the cooler sewer pipes. Although
commercial kitchens are regulated by the City of
Houston and are required to install grease traps,
residential kitchens are not. Remember these two
common mistakes: Garbage disposals are not
effective for FOG disposal; running hot tap water
will not float the FOG down the pipe safely. It
will cool and harden as it travels. Help stop FOG
buildup by collecting grease in containers (e.g.,
used can, glass jars) and disposing of the
hardened grease with your regular trash.

And we will have more practical solutions in the
December edition of The Beacon. In the meantime,
though, you can learn about the City of Houstons
Corral the Grease program at
<http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/utilities/corral_grease.html>http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/utilities/corral_grease.html

Can you come out and play? From Michael
Garrett, when the big boys play: The Bayou City
Heat, Houstons area beep baseball team,
journeyed to Rochester, Minnesota, for the World
Series of Beep Baseball. Things started well for
the guys in Tuesdays round robin. The Heat came
out blazing, with strong hitting and stout
defense only surrendering a handful of points in
the first two games. But by the third game of the
day, misfortune began to set in. The injury bug
bit, and bit hard. Two guys pulled hamstrings and
another separated his shoulder. Needless to say,
that impacted the defense and the Colorado Storm
emerged victorious. The injuries kept on coming;
cracked ribs, another shoulder dislocation and
other nicks and bruises overtook the team. The
ball club gutted it out. The team won three of
the next five games, including a heroic 7-run
comeback victory over Boston. That big win over
Boston took a lot out of the guys and they
couldnt fight off the Colorado team again in the
elimination game. Even in the face of all of
those injuries, the Heat finished fourth overall
out of 19 teams. In addition, two players,
Darrell Minor and Tanner Gers, made the offensive
all-tournament team. Tanner was .011 percentage
points from being Offensive MVP, with a batting
average of .739. The team learned a lot about
each other and itself as a group.

I got straight As! I got straight As!
Attaboy! From Doc Bradley, a reminder of how we
can all be best of the best ACB/ACBT/HCB
members: Wake Up it is not too late to wake up
and give something to HCB. Stand Up if you like
what HCB is for, stand up for it. Show Up when
you are asked to do something for HCB, you need
to show up and do your part. Take Up to believe
in something like HCB you have to take up the
flag for it. Back Up when you are asked for
support you should be ready to back up HCB. Reach
Up sometimes we need to reach up and take hold
of the ring and make sure we know that you are
with the rest of us. Look Up dont let yourself
just walk around and look at the ground. Look up
and see what the folks before you have done, and
then look up and ask the Lord to help you and
HCB. Now take a look at the big word UP, and hear
what I am going to say. U stands for
understanding. P stands for Power, and we need to
know how much power our words have. So be careful
what you say and how you say it.
I dont have any friends. Nobody likes me. From
Bob Bartlett: We are changing our lists from the Yahoo Groups site to
the Free Lists site. This will require people to subscribe to the new
list in order to keep the information flowing. The Houston Council
list is affected by this, and in order to
continue your membership on this list, here is
what you need to do. Signing up for the new lists
requires you send an email note to the following address:
<mailto:Hcb-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>Hcb-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
with the word subscribe in the subject of that
note. After entering subscribe in the subject
line, send the note. You will receive a note back
from Free Lists that will make certain you want
to join the hcb-l list. When you have reviewed
this note, simply use the reply function of your
mail processing program and send the reply back.
This will get you added to the list. We are
suggesting that you remain subscribed to the
Yahoo Groups list for the time being to get you
through the transition to the new list.

I said Id bring 2 dozen cupcakes for school in
the morning. DATES TO REMEMBER (ahead of time)
HCB meetings: September 7, October 5, November 2.
White Cane Safety Day (October 15) will be
celebrated Friday, October 24, 10 a.m. 2 p.m.,
at the Houston Library Plaza, 500 McKinney,
downtown. Texas RehabACTION Network is sponsoring
this FREE event. If you need more information,
contact Benigno Aceves at 713-802-3127.
Bake sale: November 22, 8:30 a.m. 1 p.m., Fiesta, 8130 Kirby Drive.

I double dog dare you! Proving that nothing can
hold you back from adventure, I have this
first-person report on indoor skydiving from
Carla Jo Bratton in Denton, TX. I have always
wanted to skydive and never have. Scott, my
husband, surprised me this year with indoor
skydiving for my birthday. Scott had called ahead
to make sure they could accommodate a blind
flyer. At that time they hadnt done any blind
people, but by the time we went in June, they
had. After registering we went up to the flight
area. This is a huge, 4-story wind tunnel that
is glassed in so people outside can see the
flyers. I went into our class with a group of
about 10 other people; some had flown before, but
most hadnt. Dave and Aaron were our
instructors. Sighted flyers are guided with hand
signals and I used touch signals. They explain
all about suiting up and how to fall into the
tunnel, how to move very slowly as fast movements
will make you jerk around. Keep your chin up,
legs bent at the knees and arms bent at angles.
The most important and the hardest thing is to
relax. There was a Y-shaped bench that I laid on
to feel the position my body should be; the upper
part of my body was on the long part of the Y
with my legs separated and bent. So, now Im off
to suit up in a full body jumpsuit that fits
right over your clothes. You wear tie shoes, like
sneakers. I put on goggles, earplugs, and a
helmet. The jumpsuit has handles in different
places on the outside so the instructor can move
you around in the tunnel. I had two 2-minute
flights with a high fly at the end of my second
flight. (I know 2 minutes doesnt sound like a
lot of time, but trust me, it is when you are in
there on your belly with winds of 120 miles per
hour holding you up.) I stepped to the opening of
the tunnel and just fell in tummy first. The
instructors are in the tunnel, standing to the
side to help out. It was such a wild ride; its
hard to describe the feeling. I didnt feel like
I was falling, just flying. While I was sitting,
waiting for my next turn, I was very shaky, a
true adrenalin rush. I reached up and felt my
face and realized I had drool all across the side
of my face. Then it was time for my second flight
and my high fly. At the end of my second flight,
they boosted the air speed up and I shot up about
40 feet higher, really fast. During this last
flight, I thought, forget it, they arent going
to let me bump into the wall so I just relaxed
and enjoyed it. During my high fly, Dave spun me
around 360 degrees about 8 times. What a rush! I
stepped out and my group all hugged me. I asked
Dave, why didnt you tell me I had drool all over
my face? He said, Thats how we know youre
having fun, smiling and laughing. I highly
recommend this experience for the thrill-seeker
in all of us!
<http://www.windtunnelskydiving.com/contact-us.php>Contact
Wind Tunnel Skydiving at 1-888-519-1802 for FREE
information about availability.

Dont call me a goofy-foot when my boardslide is
gnarlier than yours. Yeah, whatever. You
mightve heard about the new skateboard park in
Houston, along Kuykendahl Road off I-45. Did you
know that artist Dixie Friend Gay designed a
26-foot-long mosaic for the park that is just
about 19 inches high, perfect for tiny explorers?
It is very colorful and very textural, she says
of the mural, which is in Dylans Park, a section
adjacent to the skate park and dedicated to
children with special needs. The area is designed
to engage children who are sight impaired,
hearing impaired, autistic, or wheelchair-bound.

Knock. Knock. Whos there? To this editor,
there are few joys in life lovelier than a
childs laughter. We need to remember that joy and laugh more. So
What do you call a lazy baby kangaroo? A pouch potato!
What does a daddy buffalo say when his son goes to school? Bison.
Why dont you see elephants playing hide and
seek? Because theyre REALLY good at it!
What do you get when you cross a chicken with an
octopus? Hot wings for everyone!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. And maybe
Some items on HCB members wish lists include a
Victor Reader Stream, good health, books and more
books (specifically Bill OReillys Killing Jesus
and Killing Kennedy), a trip to Disney World, a
laptop computer, a new job, a braille dictionary,
a hand loom and weaving lessons, a $1,000 gift
card to Williams-Sonoma (someone has been very,
very good this year apparently), the Book Port DT
sold by the American Printing House for the
Blind, and the greatest wish of all from Peggy
and Michael Garrett: Our Christmas wish is that
everyone will know the love of Jesus Christ and
experience Salvation and share that love with
others; to see all of my children, grandchildren
and great-grandchildren healthy, productive, and
spreading the love of Jesus everywhere they go.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate it, maam. To ACBT
President Kenneth Semien and HCB President Peggy
Garrett who never gave up on getting The Beacon
recognized for the Liggett Award from ACB. This
is YOUR newsletter, HCB membersbe proud of it and continue to contribute.

A BEACON TO GUIDE YOU There are no seven
wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.
There are seven million. Walt Steightiff

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[hcb-l] Houston Council Beacon

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