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

GIFT OF FURNITURE--We are betting that you have noticed a different look,
with a large amount of new office furniture donated to Taping by Jenkens &
Gilchrist, one of Houston's leading law firms. Our sincere thanks to
volunteer reader and Board member Larry Foust for making this happen. We
received 3 partner's desks, 17 file cabinets, and a large assortment of
chairs. This has really made a difference in our appearance throughout the
building. We are most grateful for this kind donation.

AUTHOR VISITS--We were very pleased to welcome author Andrea White for a
visit recently. She wrote the book currently running on our "Young Adults
Book Hour" on HTBR. Volunteer reader Lisa Prince is reading "Surviving
Antarctica: Reality TV 2083." The author is also Mayor Bill White's
wife. Mrs. White was absolutely charming and read an introduction for the
reading. She also recorded a spot for our upcoming Listeners Campaign as
well as a station break. She is a natural on the microphone, and it was a
genuine treat to meet her.

NEW KIDS PROGRAM UNDERWAY--We have a good start on a new program, which
will feature young people between 11 and 17 reading for blind & visually
impaired kids. This program started as the result of a request to allow
youngsters to do this as a community service. We will not put these kids
through the normal audition process, and we will evaluate work done on a
case-by-case basis. They will not be reading on HTBR, but this will be a
variation on our custom recording service. We have tested the first
youngster and he did pretty well. We asked him to bring a book he wanted
to read, and he brought a Newberry Award winner; and with volunteer reader
and Board member Mary Pedersen's guidance, he got the first chapter
recorded. As it seems with all young people, he took to the equipment and
software like the proverbial duck to water, and his confidence seemed to
build the further he got. This program is still in its infancy but we are
hopeful of getting it fleshed out to become a viable opportunity for young
people in our community. When we receive permission from the family, we
will name the program for Captain Andrew Houghton, a former Taping
volunteer (and we later found out an underage volunteer) who died as a
result of combat injuries received in Iraq just over a year ago. For more
information on Captain Houghton, you can go to the website established by
his family at www.andyhoughton.org.

LABOR DAY HOURS--We will observe our shortened schedule for the Labor Day
weekend. The building will be open from 7 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. on
Saturday, September 3, through Monday, September 5. We hope you all have a
wonderful holiday!

SATURDAY HOURS TO BE REVISED--And speaking of operating hours, the
Executive Committee approved a proposal to start shutting at noon on
Saturdays. This policy will be in effect beginning on September 3,
2005. We hope this is not a major inconvenience for anybody.

LISTENERS CAMPAIGN COMING--We will have our regular September Listeners
Campaign again, so mail stuffers, be prepared. We have two campaigns each
year to ask our listeners to contribute to Taping, and we usually have good
success. We will send a request letter, a gift envelope, and a revised
broadcast schedule to each client as we ask for their help.

LISTENERS COMMITTEE WORKING--Client Services Vice President Nadine Saffell
has her Listeners Committee working hard. They (together with Radio
Manager Jim Martinez) have developed an updated schedule for our HTBR
broadcasts. They have added "Cooking in the Dark," a 1-hour cooking show
produced by chef Dale Campbell (a local blind guy that loves to cook). We
will also add "More" to our schedule which we feel will be quite popular
with our audience. We'll tell you more about the changes to come in our
next newsletter. Thanks to the Listeners Committee for their good work!

AIR-HOUSTON--The Accessibility Internet Rally Houston will occur again this
fall, and Taping will be part of it again. Our Technology team will once
again use this opportunity to learn more about accessibility in website
construction, as well as to focus on updating our website. If you have
suggestions about something you would like to see on the website, put it in
writing and give it to any staff member and they will get it to our
Technology Committee.

CREDIT UNION--If you are not a credit union member, you should be. Credit
unions are organized for service, not for profit. As a volunteer at
Taping, you are eligible for membership in the Greater Houston Federal
Credit Union, a small but full-service credit union with competitive
rates. You can get a MasterCard (either classic, gold, or platinum
depending on your credit qualification). They have Visa Debit Cards, as
well as online statements if that is what you desire. One of their
checking accounts is interest bearing, and as long as you meet the minimum
balance, there is no service charge. They have another checking account
that has no service charge and has no minimum balance requirement. They
are also about to become members of the shared-branching system, which
means you can go to a wide variety of locations for your banking needs.
Learn more about Greater Houston Federal at their website:

www.ghfcu.org

Let Greater Houston Federal be your financial service source!

INTERESTING--Every now and then we run across interesting tidbits about our
volunteers that we like to share. If you have offerings in this regard,
please e-mail it to rlb19@... and we will get it in our
newsletter. Here are a few that we have gathered:

Connie Wright, reader for "Senior News with AARP Magazine" works
at the University of Houston (go Coogs). They deliver mail wrapped in a
piece of string. Connie decided to save this string and see what sort of
accumulation she could come up with. At last count, her ball of string
weighed 25.5 pounds and it continues to grow regularly.

K. C. Jobe, reader of "Texas Monthly," received his Eagle Scout
award at the age of 14. Now this may not be a record, but it is certainly
earlier than average.

Dan Parsons, first hour Chronicle reader, works with a dance band
(this is in addition to his Chronicle column and his work at the Better
Business Bureau).

As they used to say on the old TV show "Naked City," there are 8 million
stories in the naked city, and we expect there are a bunch more stories
among our volunteer corps. This has been just a few of them.

LIGHT THE CANDLES--Happy Birthday to each of the Taping volunteers
celebrating this month. They are: 08/01 Clem Blum, Pat Hefner; 08/03
Connie Wright; 08/04 Marc Sherman; 08/05 Bette Douglas; 08/12 Charlsie
Childs; 08/13 Henry Bragg; 08/14 Norris Jackson; 08/15 Brent Burks; 08/17
Betty Williams; 08/18 Gwen Hieger, Dick Olliver; 08/19 Beverly Ellerbee;
08/20 Hanna Lewis; 08/23 David Cindric; 08/24 Diane Patrick; 08/26 Marsha
Ulaby; 08/29 Chris Kiersted; 08/30 Anna McLean; and 08/31 Jean Frey. We'll
add our usual reminder that if you celebrate your birthday in August and do
not see your name in this list, please let Ginger know so we can update our
records.

SUBSCRIBE--You can subscribe to the TAPING RECORDER simply by sending a
blank e-mail note to:

Tbi-houston-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

There is also a link on our website that will accomplish the same
thing. Sign up today if you're not already on the list!

RLB