The TAPING RECORDER May 18, 2001 No. 05-02
News from and about Taping For The Blind Inc.

GOING DIGITAL! (by Cynthia Franzetti)… Good news! The Cullen Foundation
has pledged a grant of $50,000 towards
Taping’s sorely needed equipment conversion to digital. The grant will be
used to replace equipment in the Radio Room and Production Room this
summer, and it lays the groundwork for our efforts to secure monies for the
remaining equipment and building needs.

Digital equipment in the Radio Room and Production Room is vital to
continuing current levels of service to clients who listen to HTBR, and it is
a necessary step for making our signal more widely available to more
clients via the internet.

This grant has been two years in the making with involvement from many
parties:
Kudos to Jim Martinez and his "Tech Committee" of George Holsomback, Jim
Bratton, Chris Kiersted and Ted Pfister, who examined the various options
on the market, interviewed current users, selected the equipment deemed
right for us, and brought forth an itemized proposal.

Thanks to Taping’s 2000 Board Executive Committee (Betty Sanders, Jeff
Clarke, Chris Kiersted, Ted Pfister, Nadine Saffell, and Sarah Braham) who
approved the equipment.

Kudos to John Deming, who assessed building needs and sought competitive
bids for big ticket items, as well as to Cheryl Donaho, who gave advice and
prices for items such as carpet and paint.

Many thanks to Chris Kiersted and Sam Bertron who helped edit the written
proposal. Thanks to Joe Laughlin and David Cindric for approaching their
friends who are Trustees of the Cullen Foundation. Finally, thanks to
Chris Kiersted, whose contact helped secure a meeting with the Cullen
Foundation, and to Chris, Bob Bartlett, and Cynthia Franzetti who
represented Taping in this meeting.

AND THE WINNER IS… - Hope you noticed that we now have a name for this
distinguished publication! Congratulations to Nate Swerdlin for submitting
the winning entry! And thanks to all of you that submitted entries - there
was some really good thinking that went on developing ideas. Nate wins the
$50 gift certificate for Dave & Buster’s plus some power cards for game
playing. It is ironic that Nate got the prize donated for us. Thanks to
Nate’s sister, Deborah Swerdlin, who works at Dave & Buster’s, and to the
good folks at Dave & Buster’s for their generous donation. Nate is also
authorized to put "I Named the Newsletter" on his T-shirt, but he will
have to buy that himself.

ENDOWMENT…The Board of Directors has authorized the use of a designated
fund for Taping with the Greater Houston Community Foundation. This was
done at their April 19 meeting. This means an endowment fund has been
established and funded (thanks to donations by Bob Bartlett and Leila
Reynolds) for the exclusive benefit of Taping For The Blind Inc. This step
was taken to have another tool in our development tool bag. Funding of
this endowment should eventually allow us to get a good portion of our
operating requirements from the endowment, but that is a long way off.
Our goal is to insure that Taping will be around for a very long time.
Thanks to Bob Bartlett, Ted Pfister, and David Cindric for their work on
the Endowment Formation Committee.

GREAT PARTY…The Volunteer Reception was held April 22, 2001 and if you
weren’t there, you missed a good time. Lots of good food and much good
fellowship as we honored our greatest asset, our volunteers, for the
wonderful work they do. John Deming was honored as the Outstanding
Volunteer for his hard work on the roof project, as well as his reading
work and work on the Board. Certificates were given recognizing hours
worked for the year 2000. Service awards for five, ten, fifteen, twenty,
and more years of service to the organization were also given (these are
listed below). Thanks to Avery Bonnee for her hard work putting this party
together! We also thank Connie Wright, Deborah Filip, and Marcie Corder for
their help. We must also thank Otto Schlamme and Julian Spring for their
help with the adult beverages. And we also thank the others who donated
goodies—it was a great spread!

TOP 10 LIST…You think Letterman has good top 10 lists? Well, check this
one out. Here are the top ten volunteers in terms of hours worked for
Taping: 1. Marty Ryan; 2. Deborah Filip; 3. Paul LeGros; 4. Fred Dawson;
5. Chris Kiersted; 6. David Gillmore; 7. Ted Pfister, Jr.; 8. John
Deming; 9. Sam Bertron; and 10. Dick Hokenson. The minimum to make this
list was over 200 hours, and Marty Ryan had over 700 hours. Let’s give each
and every one of them a big round of applause! Well done, folks.

MORE THANKS…We want to thank Bill Gordon, Outreach Committee Chairman, for
getting art work done for Taping as well as paying for the printing of
program guide jackets. Thanks also go to Susan Boggio for getting
brochures and bookmarks printed at Ridgeway using the new art work.

SERVICE AWARDS…As part of our volunteer recognition, we must take note of
the following awards for service to Taping: 30 years—Carl Hess; Otto
Schlamme; Betty Williams; Ben Woodson; 20 years—Ted Pfister, Jr.; 15
years—Charlie Boyd; Agnes Hortobagyi; Paul LeGros; Doug Miller; Robin Rice;
Donna Wilkins; 10 years—Chris Bell; Sam Bertron; Bill Brown; Floy
Crutchfield; Cheryl Donaho; Gladys Forde; Joan Gallo; Bill Gordon; Lyn
Green; K. C. Jobe; Lynn Johnson; Mary Farish Johnston; Lewis Kana;
Elizabeth Meredith; Diana Mitchell; Sarah Roush; Sarah St. John; Sandy
Vanderburg; Rick Walter; Scott Ward; and Sarah Wilson. We will list 5 year
winners in our next edition. Another big round of applause for all the
hours worked by these folks!

CONGRATULATIONS!…If you notice Sarah Roush looking especially pleased, it
may be because of a brand new grandson—we’re all very happy for you and
your family, Sarah!

REMEMBER…Your comments, questions, and story suggestions are welcomed by
Bob Bartlett, our editor, at rlb19@.... You may also give them to
Cynthia Franzetti if you are computer impaired.

RLB