The TAPING RECORDER February, 2005
News from & about Taping For The Blind, Inc. www.tapingfortheblind.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS--We want to lead this edition off with recognition for
the members of our Board of Directors. They have a serious challenge in
making certain that goals--both financial and operational--are
achieved. That may sound pretty simple, but be assured it isn't. Our
Board works on specific areas through committees set up for particular
purposes, and while we do try to match interests with committee
assignments, all Directors get to work on our Development Committee at one
time or another as fundraising is key to our viability and success. Other
committees include Planning, Technology, Listeners, Personnel, and
Outreach/Public Relations. We have a series of objectives that the Board
approved in their first quarterly meeting in January, and these committees
are assigned to do the work required to achieve our goals. Let's list our
Directors so you know who they are (those with * by their names are new to
the Board this year): Bob Bartlett, Bill Canning, Cher Colbert*, Randy de
La Garza, Larry Foust, Jerry Hanlon*, John Hesse, Bill Jackson*, Ulyesse
LeGrange, Chris Kiersted, Dr. Steven Maranville, Janet Parisi, Mary
Pedersen, Ellin Royds, Nadine Saffell, Betti Saunders, Dena Marks Sokolow,
and David Thomas*. These are the people with the votes and the
responsibility for running our organization. They all serve as volunteers
and receive no compensation for their work, other than the feeling that
goes along with a job well done. Some are readers and others aren't, but
all are contributing to a dynamite Board and we have higher goals than ever
before, so thank these folks if you get the opportunity.

In addition to those sitting on the Board, we have two Lifetime
Directors, Ted Pfister and Leila Reynolds. They were so named for their
outstanding and long-standing contributions to Taping. We also have
Advisory Directors. These people have an interest in the success of Taping
but generally are not interested in regular board service. Our Advisory
Directors are Sam Bertron, Susan Boggio, Dr. Ed Bradley, Sarah Braham, Bill
Brown, John Deming, Gib DuTerroil, Michael Garrett, David Gillmore, Scott
Hochberg, Richard J. V. Johnson, Mary Farish Johnston, Beverly Kaufman, Kym
King, Joe Laughlin, Lila Muse, Robin Rice, Denny Scott, Morgan Smith, and
Bill Weaver. We sincerely appreciate all that these people bring to the
table on behalf of Taping--it's nice to have good friends!

DESCRIPTION--This year we are celebrating ten years of describing the rodeo
parade and rodeo performances for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We
will talk about this much more in our next newsletter. For now let's thank
the following describers and their descriptions: "Little Shop of Horrors"
on January 16 at the Hobby Center described by Trice Lawrence; "After the
Fall" on February 6 at the Alley Theatre, described by Allan Kohlwes; and
"Anything Goes" on February 6 at TUTS, described by Bill Kreps. Your
reporter personally enjoyed "Little Shop of Horrors" in spite of technical
problems. And here is a partial quote from a note that came into the Taping
electronic mailbox regarding Description--"Thank you for your assistance in
providing this valuable service." That's why we do the work, and we are
always glad to hear from our customers!
SPECIAL THANKS--We want to offer special thanks to our Custom Recording
readers for their dedication and efforts. We have a number of textbooks,
and we sincerely appreciate your working so hard to make these difficult
books accessible!

GET WELL WISHES--Thanks to Scott Goddard who continues to record in spite
of carrying his broken arm in a cast (we found out as we were going to
press that the cast has been removed and all is well for Scott). Get well
soon to Tina Atkins who took a fall recently and will be out for a
while. More get well wishes go to Betsy Sevy who underwent a successful
kidney transplant recently.

WELCOME BACK--We are glad Josephine Tarr is back after a bout with the
flu. And we are glad that Cynthia Franzetti is doing better after her
struggle with "the crud."

LIGHT THE CANDLES--While we are late in getting this edition out, we still
offer birthday congratulations to the following individuals: 02/02 Margaret
Carl; 02/05 Cullom Connely; 02/07 Karl Seibert; 02/09 Sylvia Ross; 02/10
Kandace Shyer; 02/14 John Campbell, Jim Holliday; 02/15 Robin Ferguson;
02/16 Nancy Davis; 02/18 Geetha Martin; 02/21 Joan Gallo; 02/23 Cathi
Cannon; 02/26 Morton Fefer, Kay Schill; 02/27 David Gillmore; and 02/29
Dorothy Frazee. If you celebrate your birthday and don't see your name in
this list, please let Ginger know.

MARATHON WRAPUP--Our participation in the HP Houston Marathon was a great
success again this year so we want to say some "Thank You"s. First, our
runners: Michelle Bailey, Bob Daugherty, Gilbert Flores, Joan Katz, Dr.
Kimin Kim, Whitney La Rocca, Ted Pfister, Alan Ping, Anita Simpson, Dena
Marks Sokolow, and Tyler Spaulding. What a great group of folks, and while
some were not able to run, they brought in money anyway! And, by the way,
if you want to donate and have that donation credited to our internal
totals, it is not too late--contact Ginger with your donation.

Our Hoopla Brigade was in fine, full voice and had a number of
brand new noisemakers to boot. Head Cheermaster Lynn Johnson, together
with Ginger Gish, Katie Damon, Victoria & Bob Bartlett, along with a lot of
others who stopped by all did us proud. Our friends from KUHF were there
in all their glory as they did a live broadcast from what the HP Houston
Marathon Course committee has dubbed one of the top 10 places to view the race.

Here are a few more tidbits about the race:

We do custom recording for Michelle Bailey's aunt so Michelle is
very familiar with us. Unfortunately Michelle was involved in a car wreck
the night before the race and was not able to run. We are pleased to
report she is back training again and expects to be ready for next year.

Bob Daugherty teaches at J. Frank Dobie High School and his
students support him generously. No, grade improvement is not for
sale! It's for a great cause!

Tyler Spaulding is in the business of selling Hummers. If you are
in the market for one of these automotive beauties, he hopes you will get
in touch with him. More information is available
at: http://www.hummer.davidtaylor.com

Alan Ping ran in memory of his friend (and former Taping
volunteer) Captain Andy Houghton. Our thanks to Alan for this wonderful
tribute to a fallen soldier. You can read more about Captain Houghton
at: http://www.andyhoughton.org

Joan Katz is a Custom Recording volunteer and her whole family
runs. They were featured on a Channel 11 (KHOU) story promoting the race.

We want to thank veteran HTBR readers Ted Pfister, Anita Simpson,
and Dena Marks Sokolow for the great work they do on our radio station, as
well as for their faithful efforts in running on behalf of Taping!

RLB