The TAPING RECORDER March, 2004
News from & about Taping For The Blind, Inc. www.tapingfortheblind.org

ANNOUNCEMENT by Cynthia Franzetti--Taping For The Blind's very own Board
President and outspoken listener, Bob Bartlett, has been named one of this
year's three recipients of a prestigious community honor -- the SAVVY
Award, sponsored by Foley's and the Houston Chronicle. Bob will be
presented with the award at a dinner, which is also a fundraiser, on April 14.

Award winners select a charity that will be the beneficiary of the awards
dinner. As Bob's designated charity, Taping will receive 1/3 of the
proceeds from the dinner. All Taping volunteers will soon receive an
invitation by mail. We hope that everyone interested in attending can be
seated together to show the importance of Taping For The Blind to the
Houston community and to our volunteers.

The SAVVY Award is presented annually to outstanding civic volunteers to
honor and recognize their contributions. We all know Bob as a tireless
volunteer whose creative vision and dedication to Taping inspires and
motivates our small staff of four and our volunteer corps of 200 plus. You
may not know some of the following however:

? Currently serves Taping For The Blind as president of the Board of
Directors. He is the first president in our 36-year history to also use
our services.

? Leadership on the Board of Directors -- as a director from 1994 to
present and as president since January 2003

? Past chairman of the Listener's Committee, which provides advice for
program schedule decisions and conducts informal client surveys

? Launched a website two years ago for Taping For The Blind, and still
responds to initial inquiries the site generates

? Resurrected a monthly newsletter for our volunteer corps, which was
dropped in the wake of staff cutbacks, and has published it electronically
for the past three years

? Created an endowment for Taping For The Blind, which provides a vehicle
for donors who want a longer life for their gift

? Spearheaded a change in the organization's bylaws to create a new officer
position to the Board of Directors -- Vice President of Client Services

? Strengthened our organizational ties to the disabled community (Houston
Council of the Blind, Lighthouse of Houston, Texas Commission for the
Blind, City of Houston, American Foundation for the Blind) by speaking to
these groups and inviting their directors to serve on our Advisory Board

? Serves on the Quality Review Committee, which auditions potential readers
and provides feedback to existing volunteer readers

? Serves as spokesman for Taping For The Blind in media interviews,
scheduled speaking engagements, visits to funding sources, and recognition
events for
volunteers

Join me in offering congratulations to Bob for being recognized with the
SAVVY Award, and expressing thanks for his ongoing involvement with Taping.

******

Cynthia, thank you for this story! I am deeply honored to be receiving
this award. RLB

DESCRIPTION ACTIVITIES--Our event describers have been very busy with the
Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo that is in full swing now. Our parade
description was a big hit with the clients that were on site, but because
of a large public announcement system near our location, the simulcast
wasn't as successful. The enthusiastic announcer was a surprise to us and
we are formulating plans for next year's parade if the same thing happens,
but we were really glad those clients that were at the parade were so happy
with the work of our describers. Our description efforts are also underway
at the rodeo as our first effort started Saturday, March 6. We will have 5
more regularly scheduled performances to describe. Thanks to John
Borrowman, Trice Lawrence, Ted Pfister, Lisa Prince, and Bill White for
their hard work doing these descriptions. Our thanks to Dena Marks Sokolow
for her work on media coverage and for arranging the Houston Chronicle
interview at our first rodeo description this year (that story should
appear this week). We also thank Justin Blount, Cynthia Franzetti, David
Gillmore, and Jim Martinez for their efforts to assure our success in these
efforts.

LIGHT THE CANDLES--We wish a very Happy Birthday to each of the Taping
volunteers with March birthdays: 03/01 Dennis Tompkins; 03/03 Paul LeGros;
03/05 Kirk Chaisson, Jef Furtado; 03/06 George Frey; 03/11 K C Jobe; 03/12
David Holloway,
Margaret Walker; 03/24 Jane Freeman; 03/25 Jay Dinwiddie; 03/31 Trice Lawrence,
& Carol Worsnop. Let Ginger know if you have a March birthday but it was
not noted here.

RAMBLINGS--I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole
lot more as they get older when it dawned on me--they are cramming for
their finals.
As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve!

COOKIE RECIPE--We thought we would share a really great cookie recipe with
you this month:

Simply Delicious Cookies

1 package cake mix, ANY FLAVOR
1 c. Rice Krispies
1/2 c. margarine or butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients, blending well.
Form into 1-inch balls, pressing firmly.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 9-12 minutes, until lightly brown.
Cool 1 minute before moving to rack to cool.

Makes 3-4 dozen.

RLB