Greetings to all Alumni members:

As our president I’d like to welcome everyone to the Spring Summer 2010 Bulletin and hope most if not all of you are able to attend this year’s bi-annual Alumni reunion.  The dates for our Alumni convention are August 6, 7, and 8th.  Fortunately, the school has held costs close to what we’ve paid in recent years, so I remind all Alumni members that the price for a complete weekend including dues will only cost $56.00.  The Alumni board believes the price is reasonable for the weekend’s activities.  While plans aren’t finalized several recreational activities are being discussed.  There may be a possible trip to the Rivers casino on Saturday and committee folks are searching for a guest speaker for Saturday evening. 

Outside contractors are busy at the time of this writing doing a makeover of the school’s bowling alley and the lanes will be available for Alumni to enjoy.  Believe it or not an automatic pin setter will be in place. 

Registration for attending this year will be from 3:00 – 6:00 Friday August 6.  Departure time Sunday the 8th shall be no later than 11:00 AM.  Friday evening will be our Social.  Saturday will begin with breakfast at 8:00 and the meeting at 9:00.  Lunch will be around noon with several options open at this time for the afternoon.  Dinner will be held at 6:00.  Please share this information with other Alumni that we don’t currently have on file and encourage them to attend this year’s reunion.  So, please set aside the weekend of August 6, 7, and 8th to reminisce and swap stories both about the good old days at WPSBC along with experiences life has dealt us all. 

Sincerely President Ted Crum

INSIGHTS

Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children

Seeing a Difference

School Further Expands Programs and Services

As difficult as it is to fathom, on January 8th, the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children marked the 123rd anniversary of its founding and ongoing support to children and families impacted by vision loss and other severe disabilities.

But the age of our School belies its legacy. From those first days that the School operated, faculty and staff have been highly motivated to afford each student the opportunity to become as self reliant as possible. Each student has been supported by a staff of qualified men and women who make the needs of every youngster their own priority. Thus, our legacy is captured in the accomplishments of children who pass through our halls each day and our outstanding staff who inspire our students to take that next step towards independence.

Already, the 2009-10 School term has been a milestone year in many ways. Some of our initiatives have been building on prior accomplishments and others have been new approaches to address critical needs. This edition of Insights will offer you a few glimpses of the creative responses we offered this year. From our new, innovative vocational opportunities for our enrolled students to the expanding Outreach Services for students with visual impairment enrolled in public schools throughout Pennsylvania, we are proud to continue our legacy of providing exceptional educational opportunities for students who truly deserve our support.

I hope you read with interest this issue of the Insights, and should you like to join us in making real our vision of a bright future for our students – and make your mark on a remarkable institution — I invite you to contact me at 412-621-0100 or email: reevest@wpsbc.org.

Cordially,

Todd Reeves

Superintendent

Addressing Visual Impairment On and Off Campus

The Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children Outreach Programs have continued to flourish.

During the 2008-09 school term, the Outreach Program’s pilot year, more than thirty-eight school-aged children from throughout western Pennsylvania benefited from the School’s more than 120 years of experience educating students with visual impairments. Boys and girls learned how to better travel in their environment and access information by utilizing adaptive equipment, and parents and educators were given resources to make a lasting difference in the lives of their students.

This year, we’ve dedicated a great deal of time and energy into addressing the School’s Strategic Plan tactics focused on the educational implications of students diagnosed with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), the leading cause of blindness for students at the School. Approximately half of our enrolled students have been diagnosed with CVI which is a defect in the visual pathways or in the visual cortex.

In October, together with renowned CVI expert, Dr. Christine Roman, we launched our first CVI clinic for non-enrolled students. The clinics provide evaluations and recommendations to students throughout our state regarding their abilities and educational progress. Additional clinics are scheduled throughout the remainder of the school term.

Additionally, staff members are partnering with Dr. Roman to implement of several small CVI-related research projects with our enrolled and non-enrolled students. The School is also partnering with UPMC McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine on an exciting venture to help design a brainport that will offer individuals with visual impairment the chance to “see” through a state-of-the-art electronic device used on the tongue.

Modifications to our campus to benefit our students with CVI have been implemented. To designate each floor, trailing rails in the Instructional Building were painted in vibrant colors, to enhance the contrast for all students

who would benefit from this adaptation while learning to orient themselves in travel, either by walking or by wheelchair. For those children who cannot distinguish color, the bottom of two raised rails has been given a textured paint coat to provide tactile cues for trailing.

Another transformation to the School has been the lowering of the sheen on the flooring surfaces throughout campus. Rather than a high gloss application, a low sheen has reduced the glare that was experienced visually by our students.

Open for Business

Print and Copy Shop Offers Vocational Opportunities

It was a concept, a contest and now a copy shop! At the School for Blind Children, the humming and clicking of printing and copying can be heard at “Lavi’s Paw Prints,” a new print and copy shop. Named in honor of the School’s mascot, Lavi the Lion, this new enterprise is an expansion of the school store, The Lion’s Den, where vocational opportunities for students who are blind or visually impaired with multiple disabilities are king!

The concept of a print and copy shop came to life when School personnel recognized the mutual benefit that students in the Intermediate and Transitional Departments might derive from a center for clerical duties. The idea came to fruition when dedicated members of the Kiwanis Conference of Western Pennsylvania donated $10,000 to upstart the endeavor.

Now business is getting off the ground with several students employed. The jobs at the shop include pick up and delivery of materials to be printed or copied to and from classrooms and offices, and stacking and organizing materials in addition to the actual tasks of printing and copying. Paper shredding is also an essential and voluminous task for students, along with cutting and folding of materials. The duties for which the students are trained are in tandem with their Individualized Educational Program goals. Job seekers are offered positions through an application and interview process mirroring that in the real world.

The equipment for the shop includes a state-of-the-art, multifaceted printer/copier that is adapted with a touch pad for the students to easily access the functions. Through the services offered by Lavi’s Paw Prints, an extra task load for staff is alleviated,

while providing another real work experience for the students right on campus. It is intended that in some cases, this specific training may directly link to employment opportunities in the community post-graduation.

For eleven years, Uniontown High School Cross Country Coach Joe Everhart has organized a field trip for his team to visit the School for Blind Children.

This year, twenty Uniontown students traveled to our Oakland campus to interact and bond with their peers at our School.

“It’s the perfect end to our season. No matter what the team accomplishes throughout the year, we enjoy visiting the School. It gives us a good perspective on life,” said Coach Everhart.

The smiles on all of the students’ faces are evidence of the mutually beneficial relationship that has been established. The students and staff of the School for Blind Children are thrilled to continue this annual tradition and were honored to receive a $1,000 donation from the “Omelet Run” race held this past June. Thanks Team!

Green Thumbs Rule!

What began as a volunteer effort 10 years ago has become a part of the everyday educational programming at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. Originally, Horticulture Therapist Liza Thornton taught 6 classes to the oldest age group of enrolled students.But now more are digging into the interactive learning, as the number of horticulture classes has expanded to 22 for the 2009-2010 school year and spans across age groups. Furthermore, the horticulture program has been incorporated into the after-school experience for the School’s residential Transitional Academy students.

Horticulture classes are eagerly anticipated by students and staff alike and are held in the School’s garden or greenhouse as weather permits. Liza relishes certain moments like, “seeing a student smile with the feel of the sunshine on his face and being mesmerized by the sensations of the outdoors; experiencing some of the simple joys of childhood, like watching “helicopter” seed pods spin.” Repotting butterfly bush seedlings and taking cuttings from beautifully scented geraniums, are just a few of the lessons learned.

Outdoors is not the only arena in which to be creative! Inspiring indoor lessons are frequently conducted in the food preparation room or in the classrooms. Tasty butters and oils were prepared from “scratch” with fragrant lemon verbena and other aromatic and delicious herbs that were explored in the process.

A new horticulture venture in the form of community enterprise was embarked upon for the November 2009 Election Day. A student plant sale, featuring plants cultivated by the boys and girls in the School greenhouse, was an impressively successful endeavor. Also, students are now proud members of the “Green Thumb” group. Their responsibilities include delivering plants to classrooms, and learning important maintenance jobs like cutting back plants, weeding, watering, and using the shop vacuum in the greenhouse. With ideas and projects growing like weeds, it looks like horticulture is here to stay at the School!

Transitional Academy

After hours learning and fun

During last school year, the School for Blind Children implemented an exciting new after-school program for boys and girls enrolled in the School’s Residential Program. The program, now referred to as the Transitional Academy, provides a home-away-from-home for nearly one-third of our students. Those children who reside far away from campus or have medically related conditions that make it difficult to commute daily to school qualify to stay from Sunday evenings through Friday afternoons. Fully adaptive living quarters, an individualized nutritional program and around-the-clock, qualified staff provide a safe, fun and nurturing environment for the children.

With the start of the 2009-10 school year, the Transitional Academy was further expanded to include day students select weeks from 3:00 – 5:15 p.m. The after-school program for our day students allows the boys and girls to further develop important educational and social goals outlined in their educational plans while participating in recreational activities.

The magic of the Transitional Academy proceeds with group activities that reinforce functional skills taught throughout the instructional day. Practicing skills like choice making, turn taking, utilizing residual vision and honing motor control are incorporated into many age-appropriate recreation and leisure venues. Student Apartment activities, horticulture therapy, a Girls Club and a Boy Scouting group are among the various opportunities offered to the boys and girls. For the youngest children, a volunteer storyteller combines her verbal tales with sensory demonstrations and activities. The program has been wholly successful and beneficial to approximately 40 residential students and 17 participating day students.

Further, the program has now begun to successfully incorporate therapeutic recreational services. Speech and language pathologists pioneered the effort so students can access selected communicative technology throughout the day and residential programs. Likewise, physical therapists and occupational therapists have been adding their own critical contributions. Paraprofessionals are trained by the therapists during direct hands-on activities with the students. Says Diane Maurey, Intermediate Program and Residential Evening Director, “Feedback from parents has been extremely positive. This program gives our students opportunities to participate in after school activities comparable to their peers without disabilities.”

Celebrating Success

In October, seven year-old Early Childhood Department student, Bennett Huibregtse, was awarded the coveted honor. Prior to starting School last year, Bennett spent much of his time at home with his family struggling with health issues. When he enrolled at School, he quickly began to blossom according to his educational team. They discovered that he was very social and motivated by his peers. Bennett worked tirelessly to learn how to use his vision to participate in activities with his friends. 

But, even with all of his successes, Bennett’s attendance fluctuated as he struggled with poor health while waiting for a kidney transplant. This past summer, Bennett received his transplanted kidney and, to his credit, his recovery has been extraordinary. He overcame the hardships of the surgery while continuing to make tremendous progress toward his educational goals. He now easily explores his environment in his dynamic stander and participates more fully in classroom activities. Bennett worked to accomplish so much this past year, he truly deserved the honor.

In November, Jessica Delao, an eleven year-old pupil in the Intermediate Department, was recognized for her outstanding progress in the area of speech and language. Jessie has been at our School for slightly over one year and came to us with very few functional words in her vocabulary. Since enrolling, her expressive language has exploded now she is able to label most common objects and toys in her environment as well as the people in her life.

Jessie has further impressed staff with her ability to now follow both simple and complex directions in addition to making gains to her auditory memory.  She can now remember the lunch menu for the day throughout the morning and can repeat it back when requested. Jessica loves to work one-on-one with instructors and can stay on task for 45 minutes to an hour. Her educational team is extremely proud of her diligence and determination. Congratulations Jessie!

Twenty-one year-old Chelsey Cyprian, a student in the Transitional Department, was awarded the honor in December. Her Orientation and Mobility Instructor, Norm Yeargers, nominated Chelsey because she has made tremendous strides learning to travel in her wheelchair. Chelsey worked intensely, and now controls her travel when being pushed in a wheelchair by activating a switch to “stop” or “keep moving.” 

Chelsey also directs her assistant when to “stop” or “move on” appropriately and without any prompting. Best of all, Chelsey has generalized this skill to travel at a local mall. She can stop and linger at points of interest and then continue traveling to a new adventure. These important skills will serve her well when she graduates this upcoming June. Good job, Chelsey!

Giving Matters

Providing learning that Lasts a Lifetime

The difference between a minimal education and an extraordinary one for the children at our School is due, in large part, to the support we receive from our valued friends and donors. The School for Blind Children receives appropriation from the state and local school districts, but those funds alone do not come close to meeting all of the needs of our special students.

Each child here has a unique story. Collectively, they have all faced unusual odds. Believing that education excellence will bring about many positive changes, our staff members make each day count. It is difficult for these youngsters to learn new skills; but with perseverance and opportunity, even the students who are the most challenged by physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities make inspiring progress.

Your generosity makes an important difference and assures that the School can truly meet the individual needs, interests and abilities of a group of very deserving girls and boys. For more information on how you can help provide learning that lasts a lifetime, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 412-621-0100, email prittsj@wpsbc.org, or visit our website: www.wpsbc.org.

Blind Students Making Movies

WATERTOWN – Kevin Bright was going around the table telling each of his film students what he thought of their work on the homework assignment, which was to get comfortable using their new video cameras.

“When you woke up at 2:30 in the morning and started shooting, I thought that was really cool,’ Bright told her. But, he added, “What was the one thing you didn’t do?’

“Turn the light on!’

“That’s right, baby!’ The students burst out laughing.

Here’s why they laughed: They’re all blind.

Bright, the Emmy-winning producer of the smash sitcom “Friends,’ is involved in a groundbreaking partnership with the Perkins School for the Blind. An executive artist in residence at Emerson College, Bright has developed a filmmaking course for blind students, teaching them how to shoot, light, direct, and produce. His students just completed their first short film, “Seeing Through the Lens,’ about the friendship between three teenage girls at Perkins.

“Just because they can’t see the final product doesn’t mean they can’t express their feelings or write a script,’ said Bright, 55, who is thinking about producing a reality TV show by and about Perkins students. “It just came to me: Film and television are unique art forms because they require collaboration. A blind person needs a sighted collaborator. But there’s no reason for there to be any limit to their potential.’

It was serendipity that brought Bright not just to Perkins, but to Boston. Three years ago he was living in Los Angeles – weary, discouraged, and looking for a way to recharge himself after more than 30 years of producing and directing comedy shows such as “In Living Color,’ “Dream On,’ and “Friends.’ In 2006, around the time that his “Friends’ spinoff, “Joey,’ bombed, Jacqueline Liebergott, Emerson president, invited him to spend a semester teaching at his alma mater. One semester has stretched into three years.

Bright, who divides his time between LA and Boston, was at a Celtics-Lakers game at TD Garden a year ago when the choir from the Perkins School sang the national anthem. He was so moved he slipped a $1,000 check into a donation envelope, which led to a thank you call from Perkins and an invitation to tour the school.

Bright was instantly captivated by the school and its students, one of whom astonished him by conducting the tour unassisted. He was intrigued by Perkins’s connection to Helen Keller, who’d studied there as a child, and by a framed letter hanging on a wall that she’d written in perfect penmanship.

“It was a miracle,’ said Bright. “Straight as an arrow! Even line! It never drifted!’

He met Jeff Migliozzi, a visually impaired English teacher who developed a media course at Perkins; his students had produced a TV show about the school, “The Perkins Insider,’ for Watertown’s public access station. Bright offered to drop in on his class – “even if it was just to watch Friends’ with them and annotate an episode.’ But Migliozzi had his own agenda: to find some way the students could use a camera.

He asked Bright to teach a filmmaking course.

To Migliozzi’s delight, Bright agreed.

“But I predicted failure . . . ‘ Bright said. “I didn’t think I could get them excited about it, if they couldn’t see.’

He didn’t have to worry. The class, which started in January, has been a hit. The 10 students, aged 17 to 20, are tech-savvy, and they quickly caught on to the high-definition digital flip cameras Bright bought for them. “Their fingers were all over them, like 10 eyes,’ he said. “One student had it going before I taught it to the class.’

“I thought, I can take a camera? I can make a movie with my classmates? Wow!’ ‘ recalled Sam Robson, 17.

Bright explained the cameras could be a kind of diary for them. “I told them, We’re here to tell our story, to leave something, not to just pass through 40, 50, 60 years and leave nothing behind. You’re here to share your experience with the rest of the world, including the sighted world.’ ‘

Still, there were obvious challenges: How would they know where to point the camera? How could they tell if a room had enough light? How could they visualize a scene?

“But the more I got to know them, the more I got inspired by them, and the more they got excited by film and TV the more I want to teach them,’ Bright said. “I’ve rediscovered the love of [this business] by watching them discover the love of doing this.’

He added: “If Helen Keller could write that letter, I knew a blind person could make a movie.’

There is no textbook for teaching filmmaking to blind people, so Bright has improvised. He figured out that the students’ canes are a useful tool for measuring distances between camera and subject: “If I want to have a wide shot, I have to be a full cane-length away. A close-up would be a half-cane.’

He told them to make sure there’s nothing on the floor they don’t want in the shot. He explained editing by playing video for them so they could listen to it before and after it was edited. He tackled lighting by using desk lamps, and having the students feel the difference between a scene that’s well lit and one that’s overexposed.

“You have to take advantage of the senses they do have,’ said Bright. “Light becomes not bright and dark but hot and cold.’

And he doesn’t wear kid gloves when he’s critiquing their work.

“Sam, I appreciate you saying hello to me on the video, but it’s really about filming Laurie,’ he told Robson.

Bright has high energy, an apparent aversion to shaving, an affinity for hats, and a resonant voice that still bears the trace of his childhood in New York, where his father was an actor and vaudeville performer. The students seem to adore him, and he seems to adore them back, bringing them cake one week, Gummi Bears another. The students talk, a lot, about what it means to them to use video cameras.

“If I don’t have a week with my camera, oh dear lord,’ said Cherry-White. “I feel like a queen when I have the video camera in my hand.’

They explain that even if they can’t see what they’ve just recorded, they can hear it, which helps them remember places they’ve been.

“It makes a cool audio experience as well as video,’ said Ashley Bernard, 17. She talked about a recent encounter she had with a stranger when she was out walking during her mobility lesson. “Some lady drove up in her car, and was, like, you’re walking with a video camera and you’re blind! It makes me feel – honestly? – kind of powerful.’

“I like other people to see who I really am,’ said Michelle Smith, 17.

Recently Bright strode into class with some news: He’d just heard that the Braille Institute, a California-based service agency for the blind, had announced its first film festival for the visually impaired, called Cinema Without Sight. The best submission wins $1,000 and a trip to Los Angeles.

“We’re going to do a film for the film festival,’ he told the class. “We win this, then we’ll figure out how to get you all to LA.’

“Really?’ said Dan Guilbeault, 17. “Awesome!’

With only about two weeks until deadline, he outlined his vision of the film to the students. It would incorporate the theme of the festival, which is “I am more than what I see.’ It would be about the friendship among three girls in the class – Cherry-White, Bernard, and Smith. Smith, who has some vision in one eye, would be the director. The boys would do the shooting. They’d start with a “three-shot’ of the girls looking into the camera and introducing themselves.

Bright’s teaching assistant, Eric Fox, edited the video at Bright’s apartment in a 48-hour blitz and made the deadline – barely. A few days ago Bright showed the finished product to the class, describing each scene and each shot – Bernard, 17, playing piano and singing; Smith at her computer; Cherry-White on Facebook when she was supposed to be in English class; the three girls in the snack bar, entertaining each other with jokes about blind dating.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure than winning the competition and taking the entire class to California for the screening,’ Bright said. “I want the film to win for them, but I think it’s just secondary to them: I think they’d just say, We’ll get it next year.’ ‘

The Men Who Keep ‘Talking Books’ Talking

By Diane Mastrull, The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — Christian D. Charron retired from General Electric in 1995 as chief engineer and technical director of a classified program. His work required him to master a variety of intense jobs, including fixing orbiting satellites.

All the more ironic to see him flummoxed one morning last week — by a tape player.

“It works, and then it stops,” said an exasperated Mr. Charron, the machine laid open before him, its amplifier board and other guts exposed.

Why? “I don’t have any idea.”

That he and six other GE retirees were spending a morning laboring with soldering irons and long-nosed pliers was entirely their choice.

Mr. Charron and company spend two mornings a week in a 754-square-foot glorified storage room in an office building, repairing “talking book” tape players.

In all, Mr. Charron leads a legion of 27 fixers — men (though women are welcome) ranging in age from 66 to 92, and with a variety of aches and pains — who are part of a national network of 1,000 volunteers who breathe new life into about 100,000 players a year, said Kevin Watson, equipment-repair officer for the Library of Congress’ National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.

The machines are provided at no cost. On average, a typical malfunctioning tape player requires about $20 worth of parts — a quarter of the cost if the repairs were done by a private contractor, Mr. Watson said.

“That’s huge savings,” he said, adding, “Congress is never all that thrilled about giving us more money.”

The repair volunteers are “the backbone” of the lending program, whose first known volunteer, Mr. Watson said, was James Jones, a telephone-company employee in Arkansas who offered his services in 1950.

Back then, the Library Service was providing record players. Cassette players came in 1971, Mr. Watson said. About a year ago, digital devices entered the mix.

But for now, it’s the tape players that keep Mr. Charron and his compadres busy Tuesday and Thursday mornings in a closet-turned-workshop.

The room, with just two narrow windows, is easily overlooked inside a cavernous building where General Electric still has offices, though it sold the property in May 2007 to a New York-based partnership.

The local “talking book” repair chapter was created in 1989. Many of the workbenches and repair tools have come from shuttered GE facilities throughout the region, said David Blake, 82, of Broomall, Pa., as he glued a part onto a cassette machine.

A 40-year GE employee, Mr. Blake retired in 1991 as manager of an aircraft-engine sales office in Center City.

“Until I had a leg problem, I used to play golf three times a week,” he said of his initial years of retirement.

Now, he puts his analytical and tinkering skills to work. It’s not for a paycheck, but for the satisfaction of helping people whom he likely will never know listen to books.

New book tunes into Pittsburgh’s radio history

By Adrian McCoy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“Pittsburgh’s Golden Age of Radio” (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99) is primarily a pictorial history of local radio in its glory days. But author Ed Salamon’s introduction to the book and anecdote-laden captions paint a vivid picture of the city’s place in radio history.

The book is part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series, which document local history, cities and neighborhoods through archival photos.

Mr. Salamon, a radio industry veteran, grew up in Brookline listening to many of the people he writes about here. During high school and college, he was in a garage band that played at record hops around town, where he met DJs such as Chuck Brinkman and Porky Chedwick.

After graduating from University of Pittsburgh in 1970, he got a job doing publicity for KDKA-AM’s 50th anniversary. That launched a radio career for Mr. Salamon. From 1973-75 he worked as a program director at the former WEEP-AM, which was a country station at the time.

He left Pittsburgh to take over programming at WHN-AM in New York, a country station that went from the bottom to the top of the ratings during his tenure.

Along with Dick Clark, Mr. Salamon formed The United Stations Radio Network, where he created “The Weekly Country Music Countdown” and “Dick Clark’s Rock Roll and Remember.” In 1993, he was named president of programming for The Westwood One Radio Network. He teaches at the School of Mass Communications at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

For this book’s purposes, the golden age of radio spans the beginning of commercial broadcasting in the 1920s to the end of the 1970s, as FM gained dominance over AM.

The book opens with the birth of radio, including the many firsts that happened here: KDKA, the first commercial station to be licensed, its historic broadcast of the Harding-Cox election returns on Nov. 2, 1920, the first regularly scheduled religious broadcast, which came from Calvary Episcopal Church in January 1921, and many more.

National radio networks and live local broadcasts and performances marked radio’s rise to a dominant medium in the 1940s. Photos show KDKA musical director Bernie Armstrong, who worked there in the 1930s and ’40s, and Slim Bryant and his Georgia Wildcats, a country band who performed live during KDKA’s “Farm Report” in the ’40s.

As TVs took over American living rooms in the ’50s, radio had to reinvent itself. The book’s second section deals with the rise of popular music and Top 40 programming, and the creative and colorful personalities who became local radio stars: Mr. Chedwick, Rege Cordic, Ed and Wendy King, Bill Steinbach, Terry Lee, Myron Cope, among others.

“All the people I listened to on the radio in Pittsburgh growing up meant so much to me,” Mr. Salamon says. Compiling the “Golden Age of Radio” gave him “the opportunity to do something to be able to recognize and memorialize them.

“These people are not only important to Pittsburghers, but are important to radio across the nation. They were an inspiration for people across the country. A lot of people in Pittsburgh were influencers of what radio became.”

The final section looks at the rise of FM radio in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Ken Reeth, a WAMO-FM program director, created the persona of Brother Love and introduced Pittsburgh to bands that weren’t getting airplay but would become the staples of rock-radio formats. KQV-FM became WDVE, one of the original album-oriented rock stations. “All of these stations were early in their formats, and their personalities were emulated by stations across the country,” Mr. Salamon says.

Gathering the material for the book was “equally challenging and rewarding,” he says. Radio, with its high turnaround and format changes, doesn’t often preserve its own history, and photos were hard to find.

Still, he managed to gather a rich visual slice of local history — 200-plus portraits, photos from concerts and promotions, including an infamous “cow chip” flinging stunt with then-KDKA personality Jack Bogut and newsman Dave James.

The images came from a variety of sources: photographs from personalities featured in the book, radio station archives and from the collections of Mr. Salamon and others. Singer Bobby Vinton contributed photos of himself with KDKA’s Clark Race, whom he credited with breaking “Roses Are Red” as a hit, and with Bill Powell of WAMO.

The memories and Mr. Salamon’s connections in the business also provided the book with some great inside stories about local radio.

The author will do three book signings this weekend: at 7 tonight at Borders, the Shoppes at Northway, Ross; 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, South Hills Village; and 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Borders, Eastside. Mr. Salamon has invited some of the personalities featured in the book, including Mr. Bogut, to join him at the signings.

Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award: Sammartino ‘wanted to give the fans their money’s worth’

By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“People used to ask why I never moved somewhere else. But believe me, I would never consider living anywhere else in the United States. Pittsburgh is my home.”Like anyone who has lived in the same house for nearly 48 years, Bruno Sammartino has accumulated his share of memorabilia.

For example, there’s a key to the Italian city of Pizzaferrato, which erected a statue to her native son. There’s a picture with Pope Paul VI, who granted him a Vatican audience in 1966, just 16 years after an 80-pound weakling left for America and returned as a world champion. And there’s an Everlast boxing glove autographed by Jake “Raging Bull” LaMotta.

One cherished photo shows him with Joe DiMaggio. Not only do he and the Yankee Clipper share Italian heritage, they had similar approaches to their professions. DiMaggio said he played all out all the time because there might be a guy in the stands who had never seen him play before, and that strikes a chord with Sammartino.

“If people took the time to leave their homes and bought a ticket with their hard-earned cash to see me perform, the least I could do was give it everything I had every time out,” Sammartino said. “I didn’t care if I was aching or hurting. I wanted to give the fans their money’s worth.”

A two-time heavyweight champion of the world, Sammartino returns to the spotlight one more time Thursday to give his fans their money’s worth. He will receive the Dapper Dan Lifetime Achievement Award, and the only thing he will be wrestling with is his celebrity.

Broadcasting legend Bill Cardille, who witnessed Sammartino’s ascent from construction worker to star of “Studio Wrestling” to the headliner who sold out Madison Square Garden 187 times, said no one is more deserving.

“In his day, he was the hottest ticket in the world,” said Cardille, who has been on Pittsburgh airwaves for more than half a century and who still has a radio show on WJAS-AM (1320).

“Every time he wrestled, whether it was in Japan or Australia or South America or around the corner, he was an ambassador for Pittsburgh,” Cardille added. “He is a man of humility, accomplishment, compassion, strength and, above all, integrity. He is the consummate Pittsburgh guy.”

A grandfather whose blue eyes have softened over the years, Sammartino lives a quiet suburban life in Ross with his wife of 50 years. He and Carol have a standing dinner date Saturdays, and they enjoy listening to Italian operas sung by Franco Corelli.

As a youngster who was new to America, Sammartino built himself up by lifting weights at a Jewish community center in Oakland because other kids picked on him for not being able to speak English.

He still works out six days a week, rising at 5:30 a.m. to begin his days in his basement gym. In his street clothes, he weighs 227 pounds, about 50 pounds below his wrestling weight.

Sammartino can bench press 225 pounds. That’s down from the certified press of 565 pounds in his prime, but he will be 75 in October. He listens to KDKA’s Rob Pratte on his AM radio as he pumps iron three days a week, and he runs three times a week, six miles at a time, up and down the terrain of the North Hills.

If you called him a homebody, he would accept it as a compliment.

“People have no clue how demanding my schedule was back in the day. There were times when I might be home for just one or two days a month,” he said. “So now, I like to spend as much time at home as possible. People used to ask why I never moved somewhere else. But believe me, I would never consider living anywhere else in the United States. Pittsburgh is my home.”

Sammartino has had a well-publicized divorce from professional wrestling over the direction it has taken. He admits that pro wrestling wasn’t all pure in his day because promoters pre-determined some outcomes, and those who didn’t play by the rules were blackballed. But he also said that many matches were real competitions.

“People can say it’s fake and everything’s fixed. Fine, whatever. But lots of guys protected their reputations,” Sammartino said.

To that end, he talked about two matches that stand out from a career that spanned four decades. One made him a champion, and one highlights all the bouts he has had over the years at the Civic Arena before then-Mellon Bank bought the naming rights.

In 1963, after he was shut out of U.S. wrestling shows because he refused to take dives, Sammartino was wrestling out of Toronto as a Canadian champion.

“I was blackballed in the United States,” he said. “I wasn’t going to leave my wife and my job and not be given a chance at winning the championship, and they told me, ‘Who do you think you are?’”

Then promoter Vince McMahon Sr. needed someone to go up against World Wide Wrestling Federation champion Buddy Rogers. It would be in Madison Square Garden, the epicenter of the wrestling universe, on May 17, 1963.

“When we were introduced in the center of the ring, I told Buddy to forget whatever they told him was going to happen. I told him to do his best because I was going to do my best,” Sammartino said.

Seconds after the opening bell, Sammartino scooped up the champion and body-slammed him to the canvas.

Then he hoisted Rogers onto his shoulder and applied a closing hold known as the pendulum backbreaker.

“I told him to give up or I was really going to break his back,” Sammartino said.

Every wrestling fan knows the championship belt can only be won with a pin fall or submission. Just 47 seconds into this match, Rogers submitted, and wrestling had a new king. Sammartino held the title for seven years, eight months and one day — still the longest continuous reign in history. He would later become the first wrestler to win the championship two times.

It was during the first championship run that Sammartino was scheduled to appear in a 1968 bout at the Civic Arena against Hans Mortier, who was billed as Bridget Bardot’s bodyguard. The two wrestlers had already engaged in a series of earlier bouts, and Sammartino was the only man who had ever broken out of Mortier’s signature hold, the full nelson.

The show had been sold out for months. But then, Martin Luther King was assassinated, and an anonymous caller threatened to detonate a bomb inside the arena if the show wasn’t cancelled in deference to the slain civil rights leader.

“In those days, promoters had the arena for a certain date, and if the show didn’t go on, they lost the gate. They’re the ones who made the business decision to go on with it,” Sammartino said.

“They kept the bomb threat quiet, but I found out about it. Let me tell you, I wasn’t too comfortable going out there. But I was in the main event, and I wasn’t going to be the one to back out,” he added. “Nothing happened, obviously, but I can’t say I wasn’t nervous.”

Mortier, a native of Holland, found himself in a backbreaker and submitted.

Sammartino wrestled at the arena for more than 20 years, starting with a match against Moose Cholak of Moose Bay, Wis., shortly after the arena opened in 1961.

“I’ve wrestled in places that were bigger, and I wrestled all over the world,” Sammartino said. “But in all honesty, I loved wrestling at the arena. The shape of it was so magnificent. From the air, it looked like a flying saucer or a space ship.

“But most of all, it meant coming back home,” he added. “There’s nothing like wrestling in front of people you know. It was like coming back home to be with family.”

Spoken like a true Pittsburgh guy.

Tommy James’ Music Success Linked to Pittsburgh and Gangsters

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

People sometimes mistake Tommy James for a Pittsburgh artist, and it’s not an unreasonable assumption.

“Everything good that ever happened to me happened in Pittsburgh,” the 63-year-old pop legend said in a phone interview last week.

That line also comes right out of his new provocatively titled autobiography “Me, the Mob, and the Music,” a riveting portrayal of how his hit-filled career on Roulette Records became linked with one of New York City’s most notorious organized crime families.

The autobiography, just out on Simon & Schuster, is a more blood-and-guts version of a book that Mr. James began writing a decade ago, originally intended to focus on how he recorded such hits as “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Crimson and Clover.”

“It was going to be about the hits and the studio experiences,” he said. “We got about halfway done and realized so much of this is incomplete because we gotta tell the whole Roulette story. We put the book on a shelf for a few years, and then when Vinnie ‘The Chin’ Gigante passed way in December of ’05 in prison, I thought we could probably go ahead and name names and talk about what happened. I had been carrying this around with me for a long time. I was really nervous about talking about it.”

Mr. James’ story begins in Dayton, Ohio, where he was born Thomas Gregory in 1947. Inspired by Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and the gang, he was playing rock ‘n’ roll in clubs by age 13. At 16, though, life was pressing down on him, as his girlfriend was pregnant, marriage was looming and he needed to make a living.

In 1964, he and his band the Shondells used a Niles, Ohio, radio station studio to cut a cover of a song he’d heard in a club. All they knew was the chorus, “My baby does the hanky-panky,” so he made up the rest of the words. It was a smash hit in the South Bend, Ind., area. But nowhere else. Within months, the dejected singer had no Shondells, a job in the Spin-It Record Shop and a colicky baby. For extra money, he picked up gigs with a local band called the Spinners (not to be confused with the Detroit hitmakers).

Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, the local dance and radio jocks were in constant competition to dust off older, obscure records and spin them into hits. They would even travel out of town to find them. In late 1965, dance promoter and DJ Bob Mack discovered a copy of “Hanky Panky” and gave it a whirl. The kids went wild for “Hanky Panky.” With the likes of Bob Livorio, Clark Race and Chuck Brinkman spinning it on radio, it went to No. 1 in Pittsburgh in early ’66, back when the industry scouted regional markets. The local label Red Fox/Fenway quickly went to the presses with bootleg copies and sold 80,000 in 10 days.

Although he didn’t get a dime of that, “I got a career out of it,” Mr. James said, laughing. “Pittsburgh had this thriving underground oldies market in the middle ’60s. Nowhere else had that. I suppose maybe Philadelphia had it, but Pittsburgh was such a unique place. Pittsburgh was a great place to have a record take off, because it had a little miniature record business right in the city. Pittsburgh was a talent factory back then.”

One Saturday afternoon, just before heading to a gig in a local dive,” Mr. James said, “I got the call from Pittsburgh that changed my life.”

They had tracked him down at the record store and wanted him to drive to Pittsburgh pronto. By then the Shondells were scattered and disinterested, so the singer came by himself to appear at the dances and radio stations.

“Outside the city limits,” he said, “I’m nobody. As soon as I go through the Liberty Tunnels, I come out the other side, I’m a rock star. I got the No. 1 record. It was like Cinderella going to the ball. Then I leave and go back to playing for 12 drunks again. Nobody knows who I am.”

Mr. James needed a new band to play the White Elephant, Bethel Rolling Rink and other dance spots and found a great one in a Greensburg lounge called The Raconteurs — Joe Kessler, Ron Rosman, George Magura, Mike Vale and Vinnie Pietropaoli — who were doing their own version of “Hanky Panky” but also had their own songs. “It felt so natural to play with these guys, it was amazing,” he said. The Raconteurs would become the Shondells.

The next move would seal his fate in the music business, for better and worse. The singer and Mr. Mack headed for New York City to sell the master to a major label, and, Mr. James said, “We got a ‘yes’ from virtually everybody,” including Columbia, Epic and Atlantic, and “we were feeling so good because we were going to have the pick of the litter.”

The wild card was the last label they visited, Roulette — run by the notorious “Godfather of Rock” Morris Levy (the inspiration for “Hesh” on “The Sopranos”).

The day after those label meetings, Mr. James said, “one by one we got calls from the other labels saying, ‘Listen, we gotta pass.’ Finally, Jerry Wexler at Atlantic leveled with us and said, ‘Morris Levy called all the record companies and said [in a "Godfather" voice], “This is my [expletive] record.” ‘ Everybody was scared of him. Everybody knew he was connected. Morris was an imposing figure, right out of central casting. What we didn’t know was that Roulette Records was a front for the Genovese crime family in New York in addition to being a record company — and pretty good one. Morris and his friends used it as everything from a social club to illegal bank accounts where they could launder money.”

Unbeknownst to Mr. James at the time, he was about to become their top “earner” in the pop music market. With the strong arm of Roulette behind them, in July of 1966 “Hanky Panky” leapfrogged “Strangers in the Night” and “Paperback Writer” to the top of the singles charts. What followed was a four-year string of success that included such beloved hits as “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Mony Mony,” evolving into psych-pop classics such as “Crimson and Clover” and “Crystal Blue Persuasion.”

The Shondells had a fairly simple arrangement with Roulette: They made the records. Roulette kept the money. When the singer would beg for a payout, he was bullied and threatened. He tells of Roulette’s offices being a mobster hangout and, at one point, during a war between the crime families, Mr. James was whisked away to Nashville in fear that he was a target of assassination.

“Truthfully, we would meet someone up in Morris’ office, and two weeks later, we’d see them on television being taken out of a warehouse in Jersey in handcuffs — doing the perp walk. This happened time after time.”

The record mogul would throw him a small check here or there or help him buy a house, but he and the band had to rely on money from gigs, commercials and other sources to survive. The book dramatically depicts the final blowout that took place when the singer approached Mr. Levy for the $30 million he believed he was owed in royalties.

The fascinating conflict is the shadowy symbiotic relationship between the artist and Mr. Levy, whom he considered a friend.

“We were treated incredibly well at Roulette at a creative level,” Mr. James said. “If we had signed with one of the major corporate labels like Columbia or RCA, there’s no doubt we would have been handed to a producer and lost in the numbers. Because Roulette was an independent label and because they really needed us, we got the run of the place.

“Every time I go to say something negative about Morris, my conscience bothers me because without Morris Levy there wouldn’t have been a Tommy James. That’s the truth. I think it’s quite possible ‘Hanky Panky’ would have come and gone, and that would have been it.”

Mr. James’ anger and frustration toward Roulette further fueled drug problems that were already rampant among pop stars of that era. The Shondells were finished in early 1970 (after stupidly turning down an invitation to Woodstock a few months earlier). The singer had a brief run as a solo artist with Roulette in 1971, and his performing career was revived, for keeps, in the ’80s when the likes of Billy Idol, Joan Jett and Tiffany scored hits with his songs. Around that same time, he also married his second wife, Lynda, a Mars, Butler County, native, in her hometown in 1981.

The eye-opening book and cinematic storyline has sparked new interest in the Tommy James saga. A Hollywood biopic is in the works for late 2011 with two actors, one possibly Val Kilmer, to play the singer, and a Broadway production is also in development.

Meanwhile, the singer recently reunited with a few of his former Shondells (Mr. Vale, Mr. Rosman and later member Eddie Grey) in the studio for a Christmas record and also to record a new, more dreamy version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” that will accompany the movie scene of Mr. Levy dying of cancer in 1990.

Mr. James admits that among his regrets is that he never got to reconnect with the convicted record mogul before he died.

“With everything that happened, the guy still was a mentor and a bit of an abusive father figure, I guess you could say. I had this whole thing I was going to say to him and I never got the chance because he died 12 hours before I could get back. Morris and I stayed friends. We respected each other in the end. It’s amazing that it ended that way because it got very scary at Roulette. We were very lucky to get out of there in one piece.”

BVRS to Participate in UPMC Artificial Vision Study

BrainPort deliver images to the tongue and brain

Can a series of mild electronic signals that tickle the tongue like soda bubbles actually help a blind person see?

It sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers at the Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are hoping one day to do just that with the BrainPort – an experimental device that sends images to the brain.  BVRS has been chosen as a study site.

“This study could eventually lead to medical and scientific breakthroughs that may someday allow mankind to conquer the challenges presented by blindness,” said Stephen Barrett, BVRS President and CEO.  “I’m very proud that our agency has been selected to participate in this study.”

Researchers will collect data about what happens in the brain when BrainPort is used, including how the brain interprets the images and if there are any discernable changes in the brain after use, said lead researcher Dr. Amy Nau director of optometry and low vision services at the Eye Center of UPMC.

Ken Wojtczak, staff director of BVRS’ Low Vision Clinic, and Amy Rebovich, NVRS occupational therapist who will work with Dr. Nau, will recruit participants among BVRS’ clients.  An obstacle course will be built at BVRS that study participants will walk through while using the BrainPort.  The Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind will also be a study site.

The ultimate goal is to replace lost sight with a functional alternative, but the BrainPort isn’t there yet.  Researchers hope this study will provide a foundation for a series of advancing investigations.

The BrainPort, manufactured by Wicab Technologies of Wisconsin, delivers messages in the form of shapes on the tongue.  So far participants have been able to identify shapes, discern whether objects are in front of them, and navigate around obstacles, said Dr. Nau.  Participants have also been able to perceive that a face is in front of them, but cannot process facial details, she said.

The BrainPort consists of a tiny camera that is mounted to a pair of glasses.  It has a handheld control system about the size of a cell phone that is used for zoom and contrast.  An electrode array that consists of 625 sensors, delivers fine-grained spatial information to the tongue and through the tongue to the brain.

The tongue is used because it is sensitive and covered in nerves.

Summer 2010

Necrology August 2008 through April 2010

The following members and immediate relatives of Alumni, who have passed away since our reunion in 2008.

If I have missed anyone it is only because I was not notified.  Often I am not made aware of a death until time has passed, please let me know immediately if you hear of a passing as we would like to do the memorial then.

Neil Schulman, a former student, died October 3, 2008.

James Nornhold, class of 1958, lost a sister October 3, 2008.

Earl Beddell, a former student, died November 23, 2008.

Alden Fingerhoot, class of 1957, lost his wife December 20, 2008.

Robert Callahan, class of 1948, died December 29, 2008.

Terry Stang, class of 1974, lost his father January 3, 2009.

Richard Stevenson, class 1951, lost a brother January 15, 2009.

Carmen Matesic Deems class of 1966, lost her mother February, 2009.

Evelyn Kaufman, class of 1937, died February 19, 2009.

Margaret Shaul Zaleewski, class of 1969, died April 15, 2009.

William Troyer, a former student, died April 15, 2009

Virginia Wolozyn DePerio Linhart, class of 1946, died in April 2009.

Jeanne Kaufman, class of 1970, died May 19, 2009.

Marjory Vuksanovich Wagner, class of 1975, died August 29, 2009.

Robert Bennett, class of 1959, died August 31, 2009.

Richard Meckler, class of 1975, died November 12, 2009.

Etta Lockhart Burge, class of 1951, died in November 2009.

Louis Zasadni, class of 1948, died April 12, 2010.

Tom Sweeney, class of 1965, died May 2010.

Please call me if you hear of any Alumni members or family members passing at: (724) 282-2263

Louise Flanigan

2010 Alumni Convention Registration Form

 

Name: 

Address: 

Phone: 

Email: 

Graduated/Left school in 19

Preferred format of bulletin:

CD

LP

Email

I plan to stay at the school during the reunion

I am bringing a guest

I will be accompanied by a guide dog

I would like to room with

Fees per person (guests do not have to pay dues):

Membership dues only $6.00

Entire Weekend room, meals and activities $50.00

Friday night only $10.00

Breakfast/Lunch Saturday per meal $5.00

Saturday Night Banquet $20.00

Total Check or money order enclosed

(please add $6.00 to whatever events you are attending for dues.) 

Please make checks or money orders payable to WPSBC Alumni and send back in the enclosed self addressed envelope by July 15th to Joanna Berkovich.  Any questions call Joanna at (412) 683-1798. Those responding by email can send their check or money order to Joanna at 375 North Craig Street, Apt. 210,  Pittsburgh, PA  15213.

Welcome everyone to the Summer 2009 WPSBC Alumni Bulletin

I would like to make an apology for not getting the Alumni bulletin out sooner; however we have several reasons for that. This year we are trying to do the bulletin in several formats. In the past it was cassette and large type print only, But people have requested it on CD and via e-mail. Although the amount of news to put in this bulletin was rather sparse until this spring, now we have some material that we hope you will find interesting.

I want to remind members of our Fun Day Social to be held Saturday, September 12 from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM at the School. The cost will be $5.00 per person and checks are to be sent to Joanna Berkovic, 375 North Craig Street, Apt. 210, Pittsburgh, PA 15213. We hope that as many as possible can attend.

SCHOOL BUILDING RE-NAMED In Honor of Dr. Janet Simon

On Tuesday, May 26, the Board of Trustees of the School for Blind Children formally dedicated the building previously known as the Early Childhood Center as the Janet Simon Building. Along with the dedication, a formal portrait of Dr. Simon was unveiled and will be featured in the lobby of the building.

Friends, colleagues and supporters gathered to celebrate Simon, who served as Executive Director and Superintendent of the School from 1985 to 2007. During her tenure, the School underwent several major changes, including expanding the School’s capacity to provide unique programming for significantly disabled visually impaired children and young adults and being named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence.

In her remarks Janet Simon said: “In the School’s nearly 125 year history, it has altered its course a number of times. Despite program changes, the unparalleled commitment to children with disabilities has been a constant force. Today, I applaud the future with a deep hope that the best days are still ahead and the doors to this building will always swing wide open with welcoming arms and will always embrace those boys and girls who need us most.”

ADDING TO OUR PRIDE – School Enrollment Continues to Rise

Jana Bames is thrilled that her daughter Serena a new student at our School, starts smiling and laughing as they pull in the campus’ parking lot each Sunday evening. “That never happened before,” said Jana, “this is her third school and we’re just so thankful that we love it here.” Serena is just one of many new faces on campus.

Following the graduation of ten students at the end of the 2007-08 term, one of the largest departing senior classes in recent history, the School began this year with 170 students. Since September, there has been a 9% increase in enrollment and as of June 1, 2009 the total number of enrolled students is 185.

The Early Childhood Department, which oversees the education of children up to age eight, has had the greatest influx of students with nine new youngsters added to the roster. Brenda Egan, Supervisor of the Early Childhood Department, says there is no one reason why the School’s numbers continue to rise. She attributes the growth to increased referrals from ophthalmologists, intermediate units, primary care physicians, and possibly most influential, our parents,

To accommodate the addition of so many new boys and girls, the Early Childhood Department’s classroom placements had to be re-organized and a new classroom was opened in February. With the Janet Simon Building, which houses most of the Early Childhood Department at capacity, the new classroom was opened across the street in the main campus’ building.

MESSAGE FROM TODD S. REEVES – Executive Director and Superintendent

Greetings.

It is with great pleasure that we bring you the Summer 2009 edition of our Insights publication, which hopefully does just that — giving you more than a mere glimpse at the talents and achievements of our students, staff and entire school community. We’re hard-pressed to capture all the wonderful accomplishments of our learning community in just a few pages, but we’ll give you good reasons share in our pride as a School, because no doubt if you’re receiving this Insights, you too have contributed to our success, of which we are grateful. First and foremost, our success can only be measured by the success of our students.

We hope you also enjoy learning more about how our residential program provides not only recreational activities and broader adaptive living opportunities for our students from outside the greater Pittsburgh area, but how the good work of new and veteran staff focus on maintaining the health and safety of our students.

Along with our graduates, we’ll be saying goodbye to several staff who have decided to retire after committing years of service to our School for the benefit of students. Curt Ellenberg will be retiring as the Treasurer of the School, having served in the role for 32 years. His contributions can’t truly be quantified. Nor can the contributions of our other retirees, who include teacher Rebecca McGrew and para-educators Joanne Dragan, Sahr Kamanda, Barbara Peterson, Ernestine Thompson and Barbara Wenger. Your efforts will always be remembered.

And what gladdens our heart as we say goodbye to cherished employees is our proof that our celebrations of their gifts endure, and such is the case with the formal dedication of the Janet Simon Building, including the unveiling of her portrait on May 26, Dr. Simon’s inspired service to the School as Superintendent and Executive Director is in large measure the reason the School has achieved a national reputation.

The above in the collective, drives the subject matter of the remaining articles highlighted in today’s Insights, one addressing the growing student population which necessitated the opening of a classroom in mid-year. More and more parents are investigating our School as a place where their child can grow, learn and reach his or her potential. And that growing awareness is attributable to the success of our students, the service of our staff, and to the good things you say about the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.

DR. CURT ELLENBERG – Longtime School Administrator and Treasurer Retiring

Our graduates will not be the only ones missed at the conclusion of this School year. After 32 years of distinguished service to the School, Dr. Ellenberg will retire in July. The school congratulates Curt on his outstanding accomplishments realized throughout his career as he helped put in place many of the very foundations that have made our special School such a success. Insights sat down with Curt to talk about some highlights of his time at the School for Blind Children.

1. What is the most influential change in the School you have witnessed over the past 30 years?
In the late 1980′s and early 9D’s, we changed the Mission of the School to focus on educating severely multi-handicapped blind students. This was a key to the School’s survival and success- It was necessary to lobby for a new state funding formula, build an investment cushion, restructure the campus, have the faculty retooled and mold a complementary educational and business model. Executive Director Janet Simon, the Board, management, faculty, staff, parents and the philanthropic community were committed to making it a success. Being named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence was icing on the cake and a confirmation that the right actions were accomplished.

2. What was most fun?
Planning is the most fun. It can involve an annual budget or renovating a campus structure or establishing a new five-year strategic plan. You try to think through every process, analyze all the possible scenarios and create the best plan. It is challenging and exciting.

3. Why has the School been successful?
Two reasons. First; the staff is dedicated to the students and parents they serve. It is a seasoned staff who are certified or licensed and have vast experience in their specific areas. Many of the staff spend their entire career at the school caring for these students. Secondly; on an annual basis, individuals, foundations, corporations, clubs and civic groups generously contribute for programs, projects or operations. One of my favorite stories involves a bakery truck driver who passed the students and their orientation and mobility instructor on a daily basis on his route in Oakland. He was so touched by the students’ efforts, that he left his entire savings to the School. There are a hundred other stories just like this one that exemplify a very giving Pittsburgh community.

SPOTLIGHT ON VOLUNTEER

Patrick Mittereder has the world at his fingertips, literally. He makes his livelihood by means of a computer and a keyboard. A 2007 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a Masters in Entertainment Technology, Patrick works as Chief Creative Officer of Electric Owl Studios, a local company that designs computer applications for kids.

Serendipitously, his interest in sharing his knowledge and talents with students at the School has culminated in an intriguing learning partnership that could make a Difference in the lives of students with visual impairments everywhere. Patrick became interested in volunteering following a chance conversation with Bob Doughtery, a School Orientation and Mobility Specialist, at their church. Since then, every Monday this semester, Patrick has come to campus to work with Cavelle, a twelve year old student, on the touch screen computer. The relationship has proved to be mutually beneficial, as Cavelle’s computer skills have improved significantly while Patrick has been inspired to develop new software for visually impaired children. “The current programs are dated and I would like to build ones that have customized features that better teach and motivate students like Cavelle.” Patrick said. According to Debbee Coletta, Cavelle’s speech language pathologist, the available games have too many visual components, don’t have enough auditory cues or are just too advanced.

Prior to his introduction to computerized exercises, Cavelle’s educational team had been struggling with teaching him to use his voice output device. He had difficulty seeing the equipment’s symbols and applying the correct amount of pressure. Coletta then discovered that educational video games on a touch screen computer were highly motivational for him. Thanks to Cavelle’s diligence, his team’s creative thinking and Patrick’s help, Cavelle has made incredible progress. His pointing accuracy has improved; he has learned to identify higher level concepts regarding his environment and has made great strides in making personal choices. Patrick has also learned much from his experience. He hopes to raise funds to patent superior software for special students like those who attend the School for Blind Children. “I really enjoy coming here and hope to someday develop software that will make a difference in the lives of a lot more kids with visual impairments.”

GARDEN AT SCHOOL FOR BLIND VANDALIZED

By Matthew Santoni TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, November 7, 2008

Vandals broke a sculpted clay arch, knocked a statue from its base and stole the bronze “butterfly girl” from the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in Oakland early Thursday. Whoever is responsible for the destruction apparently climbed an iron fence at the school’s Children’s Garden in the 200 block of Bellefield Avenue, sad Superintendent Todd Reeves. “When I look at children playing in the garden, I see a barrier-free play area for children who aren’t used to that,” Reeves said. “To see it vandalized in this manner, it has a significant emotional impact.” Police planned to begin an investigation by this morning.

The garden was designed for students to touch and feel its various natural elements, sculptures and play features, said Jillian Pritts, institutional advancement manager. The 7-foot-tall arch — made to look like it was covered in grapes, ears of corn, spaghetti and french fries — was broken in the middle, with pieces of one half scattered along the ground. A bronze statue of a boy chasing butterflies had its net pried from its hand, and the statue was left face-down on the ground. A companion piece, a little girl gazing upward at a cloud of butterflies, was gone. Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard said motion detectors set off alarms at the school about 2 a.m.

Employees did not notice anything amiss until someone entering the parking lot later in the morning saw the broken arch, Reeves said. School officials had not yet estimated the property damage, but Reeves said it cost about $37,000 to commission local artists to make the three pieces. “I don’t think we could ever figure out why someone would do this,” Pritts said. Children normally would have been out playing in the garden on such a warm, clear day, but they were kept out because of the vandalism. Police at the Zone 4 station in Squirrel Hill said an investigation might not begin until today because patrol officers were busy when the call came in and civilian staff took the report. Reeves said he hoped neighbors or passers-by might have seen something that could help the investigation. The only surveillance camera facing the garden was pointed at the gate, which was unopened, he said.

Now let’s fast forward to some positive news concerning the vandalism.

TWO STATUES WELCOMED BACK TO GARDEN AT SCHOOL FOR BLIND CHILDREN

By Jessica Turnbull TRIBUNE-REVIEW Saturday, May 30, 2009

Two statues at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children were reunited Friday, after vandals stole one and damaged another last year. The school’s garden in Oakland again features two bronze statues depicting a boy and a girl playing with butterflies. Vandals stole the girl in November, presumably for its metal. The thieves were never caught. They knocked over the boy and damaged a 7-foot-tall arch from artist Robert Qualters that is covered in crafted food such as spaghetti and meatballs for a hands-on experience, said Jillian Pritts, the school’s institutional advancement manager. “We were basically just surprised and saddened when it happened,” she said. Shadyside resident Peter Calaboyias, who designed the statues, said his first question when he heard the girl was taken was how someone could do that to a school for blind children. He said he spent six months remaking and recasting the girl. She is designed to be the same size and height as the students, and is meant to be touched. Calaboyias said he made it nearly impossible for vandals to strike again, by cementing the statue in three places deeply into the ground. The 8,000-square-foot garden is designed to be a space for students to play and explore, with a playground, fountain and bench equipped with audio components.

It was officially reopened at a ceremony yesterday that also named the school’s Early Childhood Center after former executive director Janet Simon, who retired in 2007 after 40 years. The board of the school, which has 180 students, credits Simon with guiding it to a federal Blue Ribbon School of Excellence award in 2001, the only school for the blind in the country so honored. Simon said her tangible contribution to the garden was the idea to make the yard a hill after she saw children in Amsterdam rolling down a hill in a park. She wanted the students to have a safe place to enjoy being children. The center, which opened in 2002, serves 45 children up to age 5, said Director Brenda Egan, who called the theft “devastating.” Pritts said an overwhelming amount of support from the community, including gardeners and artists who donated services, helped lessen the shock after the vandalism. After the ceremony, school staff re-examined the statues, which were installed last week. A portrait of Simon, which will hang in the visitor’s lobby of the center, was unveiled. Simon said the garden is a place that should be appreciated and protected. “The artists’ pieces add a perfect element of magic,” she said.

SPEEDING KNOWLEDGE FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

By Daveen Rae Kurutz TRIBUNE-REVIEW Monday, March 16, 2009

Brenda Loughrey understands the frustration of wanting to read a book but not being able to. Blind since age 6, Loughrey helps visually impaired students overcome the obstacles of learning in a world designed for those with sight. “I love books, so if it’s out there in print and I can’t get it, it’s frustrating,” said Loughrey, 48, of Upper St. Clair. “I’ve been in their shoes and had to take classes without the textbooks I needed. We need something better, and we’re finding it.” Loughrey’s advocacy and hard work pushed publisher Glencoe/McGraw-Hill to make its textbooks available more quickly to visually impaired students.
Textbooks that used to take six months to translate into Braille can now be ready within a week in a digital format that allows them to be read from a monitor via a Braille keyboard. “I couldn’t participate as much as my classmates, and it made it a lot easier once I got the book,” said Leanne DeIuliis, an eighth-grader at John H. Linton Middle School in Penn Hills (just a side note Leann was enrolled at WPSBC in the elementary grade) who received the first textbook in the new format. “I thought it was very convenient, and there’s a lot of little things that it makes a lot faster.”

Loughrey, a technology specialist with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, and Mike Horvat, a teacher of the visually impaired in the Penn Hills School District, approached Glencoe/McGraw-Hill this winter about obtaining PDF – or digital – files of a new language arts textbook the district was using they could convert into a format that could be read by the visually impaired. Such files are rarely released because of copyright issues, but Glencoe/McGraw-Hill has agreed to make them available to districts for free as long as they have bought the textbook. “This is all about kids being able to participate and achieve in the regular classroom,” said Vicky McDonough, a sales representative with Glencoe/McGraw-Hill who worked with Loughrey and Horvat. “The idea is that they have their materials in a timely manner, not months later.”

McDonough and Loughrey are both members of the Pennsylvania Assessable Instructional Materials Workgroup, part of a 15-state consortium that works to improve academic outcomes for students with disabilities. Those with sight can’t comprehend the difficulty for a visually impaired person to read a popular book, Loughrey said. For Leanne to read a Harry Potter book, she has to navigate through Braille editions as thick as three phone books, her father said. “The work is time-consuming and it isn’t always accurate,” said Frank DeIuliis, 45, of Penn Hills. “Half of the material she needs or wants, it’s impossible to Braille. But she is a regular kid and just wants a chance.” While Loughrey’s and Horvat’s agreement with Glencoe/McGraw-Hill is a big step, it’s only the first one. Loughrey said a distribution model that can be applied across the textbook publishing industry is necessary. “Ultimately, we need all the publishers on board,” Loughrey said. “Look at what happened when they had somebody real right in front of them. We’re not in this to steal books – we just want to help these kids.”

Next is the Necrology report and thanks so much to Louise Flanigan for her time and effort that she always puts into this for each and every bulletin. Your work is deeply appreciated Louise, Thank you.

SUMMER 2009 NECROLOGY

I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the families of our Alumni member and relatives of our members, who have passed away since our last issue:
Bernice Riley, class of 1937, died April 15, 2008.

• Judith Fish Malinowsky, class of 1970 who lost her mother in May 2008.
• Catherine Susany, class of 1969 died on June 3, 2008.
• Rebecca Thompson Perseo, class of 1969 lost her twin brother in June 2008.
• Bruno Wolozyn, class of 1937 died in July 2008.
• Norma Mustake Charlie’s wife class of 1956 lost her father in July 2008.
• Neil Schulman, a former student died October 3, 2008.
• James Nornhold, class of 1958 lost a sister October 3, 2008.
• Earl Beddell, a former student died November 23, 2008.
• Alden Fingerhoot, class of 1957 lost his wife December 20, 2008.
• Robert Callahan, class of 1948 died December 29, 2008.
• Terry Stang class of 1974 lost his father January 3, 2009.
• Richard Stevenson, class of 1951 lost his brother January 15, 2009.
• Carmen Matesic Deems, class of 1966 lost her mother February 2, 2009.
• Evelyn Kaufinan, class of 1937 died February 19, 2009.
• Margaret Shaul Zalewsky, class of 1969 died April 15, 2009.
• William Troyer, a former student died April 15, 2009.
• Virginia Wolozyn DePiero Linhart, class of 1946 died in April 2009.
• Jeanne Kaufman, class of 1970 died May 27, 2009.

If anyone learns of the passing of a member or a close relative of a member, please contact me as I would like to remember them with our memorial.
I sincerely hope I have not missed the passing of anyone as I can only report the names that I receive.

Louise Flanigan
240 W. Brady Street 2
Butler, Pa. 16001
Phone: (724) 282-2263

EMPLOYMENT

Gilbert Busch, class of 1972 is now employed at National Library Services, Music Department, Washington, D.C. We hope you and Elisa will enjoy your new residence in the Washington area.

RETIREMENT

Michael Zaken, class of 1967 retired from U.S. Steel after 22 years and 10 years at Gulf in March 2009. Mike is kept busy with his volunteer work with several organizations of and for the blind. Also, he is active with his church singing in the choir and recently become a member of his local Lions Club. Good luck, Mike in all your endeavors.

CONLUSION FROM THE PRESIDENT

To Alumni

Summer of 2009 Letter From President Ted Crum

I hope all of you are having a wonderful summer and before you know it the seasons will be changing which will mean planning ahead for the next Alumni convention in 2010. Before that, however, please don’t forget the Alumni fourth Fun Day to be held at the school Saturday, September, 12 at 1:00 and lasting until 5:00. As of now plans are to be similar to the previous Fun Days held in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

The raffle held this spring was successful and thanks to all of those who bought and sold tickets. A special thanks to Chuck Schaefer for going beyond the call of duty spending many hours outside pushing our raffle.

If you follow the news and especially current events related to the nation’s economy needless to say we have gone down somewhat like the rest. We had a substantial loss in investments during the fall and early winter months. We have recovered somewhat but as you know the climb up hill takes longer than the slide down. The Board in an earlier meeting discussed the situation with Donna Wren who, has advised Alumni for quite sometime. She recommends we stay the course and see how the economy recovers before making any significant changes with the current investments. I thought it would be better to share this information now so that people aren’t so surprised next year when updated reports are given at the convention.

While I’m looking forward to my term serving as President, our success in accomplishing a positive experience requires the participation of the full Alumni body. I would like to recognize the wonderful board members I enjoy working with and their help keeping me in line. They are: Ed Facemyer Vice-president,  Tom Hesley  Treasurer, Bonnie Newland recording secretary, Ellen Goldfon corresponding secretary, Albert Petrolungo Parliamentarian, board members Bill Newland, Chuck Schaefer, Janice Miller, and my trusted adviser who, has no voting power Joanna Berkovic. I hope to see many of you at our Fun Day Saturday September 12 but if not certainly next summer for our 2010 convention. In the meantime, the best of luck to all and a clean bill of health too.

Sincerely,
President Ted Crum, WPSBC Alumni Association

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• Other Alumni Bulletins

Dear Alumni Members,

As I gather my thoughts to write my annual letter to you, the smell of freshly cut grass and the soft rustling of new leaves gently touched by the warm breeze tell me that the summer season is surely here again. I hope you have all enjoyed lots of good health and happiness during the past year.

My first piece of news, for those of you who may not yet know, is that Dr. Janet Simon will be retiring at the end of this school year. As teacher, principal and executive director she has served the School well for nearly forty years. I have worked with her for many years on behalf of the Alumni Association. She has always been helpful, cooperative and generous to our organization. She has allowed us to use the School’s facilities for our reunions and Fun Days at very reasonable costs. In recent years she has given attractive and useful gifts, decorated with the School’s logo, to those of us who have attended our biennial reunions. We shall truly miss Dr. Simon. We wish her a happy, healthy retirement and we hope she will continue to attend our reunions.

You may also be interested to know that Joyce Teese and Bill Kegg, both of whom have worked at our School for more than 30 years, will be retiring at the end of this school year. We wish them well.

Our next Alumni Fun Day will take place on Saturday, September 15, from noon until 6 pm. in the School’s Early Childhood Center. The address is:

250 N. Bellefield Avenue

 

There will be lunch, door prizes and bingo. You may also bring board games or play cards if you wish, or just come and visit with friends. The cost for the day is five dollars for each person who attends. Please make your check or money order payable to:

WPSBC Alumni Association

 

and send it to me by September 10. My address is:

Joanna Berkovic

375 N. Craig St.

Apt. 210

Pittsburgh, PA 15213

 

Questions? Call me at (412) 683-1798. I always enjoy hearing from you.

I am delighted to announce that all 500 tickets for our June raffle have been sold. For those who helped to sell tickets, thank you; for those who bought them, good luck!

Joanna Berkovic,

President

Dr. Janet Simon Retires

(The next article appears in the Winter, 2007 issue of Insights, a publication Of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children and is included herein with permission. A tribute to Dr. Janet Simon for the years she has served the School with distinction, it is well worth reading.)

Simon’s retirement: A look back at an era of change

Janet Simon, Ph.D., has announced her retirement at the end of the 2006-2007 school term, after 22 years as executive director. Those who worked most closely with her note the sweeping changes she brought to the School for Blind Children, affecting everything from the nature of the student body to the structure of the educational program, the physical environment of the school itself, the curriculum, the staff–and just about everything else connected with the institution.

Simon has spent most of her professional career here, beginning with a stint as a student teacher. A 1967 graduate of Carlow College, she went on to earn an M.Ed. degree in the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation. In the course of her graduate work, she was a student teacher at the School for Blind Children. When she earned her degree, in 1968, she accepted a job here as a teacher and continued in the classroom for seven years.

While on a leave of absence in 1973, accompanying her husband Matt, who was working in Switzerland, Simon spent time thinking about her future. She says, “I made a lifelong career decision then to prepare myself to work in school administration. I felt that my contributions could be helpful.” When she returned to Pittsburgh, she entered a doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh, earning her degree in under five years.

Simon’s first administrative post at the School for Blind Children was as Curriculum and Development Director. “I was fortunate to secure a grant from The Buhl Foundation to create a written curriculum for the School,” notes Simon. This work early in her career was perhaps a harbinger of her ongoing success in securing foundation support to further the educational aims of the School for Blind Children.

Simon moved through the administrative ranks doing work that prepared her for almost every aspect of School management, from supervision of students at all ages to overseeing vocational and academic curricula and residential and recreational programs.

When she applied to become executive director in 1984, Simon was the unanimous choice of the board of directors. Board member Ellen Walton said of her appointment: “It was clear that Janet was a star. She could do anything. She was a fundraiser without equal, a terrific administrator, a tireless worker and extremely sensitive to all aspects of blindness.”

When Simon became executive director, the board president was Marcus Aaron II. Aaron recalls announcing to the faculty and staff in late 1984 that Simon would be the new head of the School: “That was met with such spontaneous enthusiasm. It was exciting and gave me a feeling that we had made the right choice.”

Aaron remarks on Simon’s ability to give the board a sense of direction, saying, “She enabled us to do what a board should do—to set the policy and oversee the financial well-being of the School and leave the day-to-day work to the professional staff. She had a sense of direction right from the start.”

Simon has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Treasurer Curt Ellenberg, who shepherds the financial side of the organization. Ellenberg points to several highlights in Simon’s career, especially noting Simon’s skill at fundraising and strengthening the endowment. Ellenberg also praised Simon’s commitment to young children with visual disabilities and their families, as shown through The TODDLER Program and similar outreach efforts over the years.

The current board president, L. Van V. Dahler, Jr., looks at Simon’s accomplishments with a view to the future. Dauler says, “She is an amazing leader. As an educator, she has trained everyone at the School, and the staff is quite capable of moving forward. Our financial situation before Janet’s tenure was rather shaky. It is not now, and that is largely due to her efforts. The Early Childhood Center is part of her vision of opportunities for younger children. It was a gap that needed to be filled. All of that will survive Janet’s retirement. She has made the School self-sustaining.”

Although Simon is looking forward to retirement as a time to do volunteer work and to follow her passion for political action, her husband J. Matthew Simon says, “Janet thoroughly enjoyed her years at the School.” Matt Simon, a former president of Point Park University and currently Distinguished Service Professor there, added, “Her success was not by chance. Janet has the ability to communicate ideas in a straightforward and understandable manner. This, combined with a strong background in special education, and, I might add, a strategic awareness of the way in which that field was changing, allowed her to successfully redirect the institution’s mission at a critical time. In part, this was because she came from the faculty, and she knew what the School faced at the most fundamental level. It was a rare conjunction of ability and opportunity that provided professional fulfillment to Janet and success for the School.”

As Janet Simon looks back, her own perspective is more personal:

“Twenty-two years have gone by in a heartbeat,” she says. “There are a number of things I am proud of. I take great pride in the fact that we were able to refocus the School on students with serious multiple disabilities in addition to blindness.”

“Of course, I was really drawn to the School because of the students,” she adds. “I can remember well every girl or boy who was in my classroom when I was a teacher. Those are great memories. I’ve been fortunate to maintain relationships with many of my former students, and I’m very proud of them as adults. In later years as I moved into administration, I was less directly involved with the students. However, I am always happy when a staff member brings a group of students into my office. A smile and a handshake or a hug can brighten my day. I realize that these youngsters face almost insurmountable odds. Despite everything, they are happy and enjoy the company of the staff who care about them so deeply.

“I also am really proud of the faculty and the staff. They are top-notch. I am gratified that our staff members are capable of developing and implementing sound curricula. Being named a Blue Ribbon school was a triumph. Also I’m delighted that the community still supports this school and its mission. Frankly, it’s hard to leave. I am retiring with the same sense of enthusiasm I had when I first started. It’s a logical time for the School to bring in new leadership and a logical time for me personally to leave.”

Simon’s tenure at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children has also given her a deep feeling for its history and its philosophical underpinnings. She says, “This is a very old school; it goes back to the nineteenth century. Despite all the change, I believe we are still following the original values of the founders.”

Blind Masseur Touched by Greensburg YMCA

(Ever more rare are the people who remain in the same job for more than 10 or 15 years during their working lives. Philip Horrell, class of 1950, is one of these rare individuals, as you will learn from this next article.)

By Patti Dobranski

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Saturday, May 12, 2007

During the past 50 years, Phil Horrell has touched the lives of 100,000 people he’s never seen. Blind since birth, Horrell became a masseur at the Greensburg YMCA on May 13, 1957.

YMCA CEO Rick Nedley was born on the same day. “I like to say that when Phil gave his client a slap after his first massage, I was getting my first slap just down the road at Westmoreland Hospital,” Nedley joked.

The YMCA staff marked Horrell’s milestone Friday with a surprise pizza party. The city of Greensburg even declared May 13 “Phil Horrell Day.”

“We made a proclamation in conjunction with his 50th anniversary with the YMCA. He is a first-class guy … a great guy,” said Mayor Karl Eisaman, who’s known Horrell for 25 years.

Small in stature, Horrell’s sturdy, muscular body belies his years: He turns 76 on June 25. “All those years of providing massages have made his body firm. Giving a massage is a workout. He doesn’t even have any wrinkles,” Nedley said.

Horrell keeps his full head of silver hair cropped short in a crew-cut style, which has made for some good-natured ribbing with clients. “They say, ‘You must have gone to the school for the blind to get that haircut.’ I tell them, ‘No, this time I went to the school for the deaf and when I said stop, stop, stop, he didn’t hear me,’” he said.

Born in Cokeville, a coal town just south of Blairsville, Indiana County, Horrell was one of eight children. After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers took over the hamlet for a flood plain project, the family moved to nearby Bradenville in Derry Township. As a young man, there were limited vocations for the blind. Horrell became adept at creating cane chairs, but when the director of the Association for the Blind in Pittsburgh said “working as a masseur” is a career option, he knew it was his calling.

“I just enjoy being around people. That’s why I enjoy my work,” he said. “There’s a lot of security here, too. Today, you see so many spas come and go.”

He is the father of four sons and happily married to his second wife, Sharyn, a former YMCA employee. They reside in Greensburg.

“Phil is one of those rare, nice people,” said Joe Hartman, 70, of Bear Rocks, Fayette County, who’s been making the trek to Greensburg for Horrell’s massages for 30 years. “We’ve had a lot of conversation over the years. I listened when he talked about the death of his brothers and he listened when I talked about my divorce,” Hartman said.

Horrell’s even had a touch of fame in his life. He’s given massages to golf legend Arnold Palmer and the late comedian Bob Hope.

William Mise, of Greensburg, a YMCA volunteer, has been receiving massages from Horrell for 25 years. “He is the most talented man. He gives the best massages. He can make a cane chair that looks like it came out of a factory. He can sing, play the guitar, tune a piano and make musical arrangements,” Mise said.

Horrell said his only regret is not pursuing music more intently. “I don’t have the agility in my fingers. I took piano lessons, I have a clarinet I haven’t touched in a while, and I play some guitar. I love to sing,” he said. Horrell has been a member of the McKeesport Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society for 47 years.

He’s fond of old-time country music legends such as Jim Reeves, Ray Price and Hank Williams. Clients are usually treated to a massage and song during a session. Nedley said Horrell is the reason a lot of people come to the YMCA. “Phil’s been wonderful for the YMCA,” he said.

Alumni News

Recent Deaths

Since the last issue of the Alumni Bulletin a rather large number of our members have passed away. Moreover many of our members have themselves suffered the loss of loved ones, relatives or members of their immediate families. We wish to express our deepest sympathy to all who have suffered this loss. If the list which follows is incomplete, it is due only to the fact that we have not been notified.

Frank Nemeth, class of 1944, died May 14, 2006.

Richard Stevenson, class of 1951, lost his wife on June 21, 2006.

Charles Vidunas, class of 1968, died on July 7, 2006.

John Perseo, class of 1970, and his brother Joseph, class of 1971, lost their mother on July 12, 2006.

Richard Parker, class of 1977, died on July 21, 2006.

Jayne Leone, class of 1964, lost her mother on July 21, 2006.

Raymond St. Claire, class of 1963, lost his wife in August, 2006.

Sam DePiero, a former student and long-time librarian at our School, lost a brother in September, 2006.

Sharon Hollenbeck, class of 1969, lost her mother in September, 2006.

Rose Iocca, a former student, died on November 3, 2006.

Lois Sivits, class of 1948, lost her only sister in November, 2006.

Edwin Kramer, class of 1951 died on December 12, 2006.

Floyd Hostetler, class of 1952, and Eugene Hostetler, class of 1956, lost their half brother, Richard Snyder, on December 14, 2006.

Catherine Soulcheck, class of 1968, lost her father on January 16, 2007.

Ray Lantz, class of 1967, lost a grandson on January 20, 2007.

Martha Osborne, class of 1937, lost a sister in February, 2007.

Kathryn Jones Jeffers, class of 1952 and wife of Robert Jeffers, class of 1956, died on February 15, 2007. Kathryn was a switchboard operator for 32 years at WPSBC.

Sue Ziegler, a former student, died on April 3, 2007.

George Risko, class of 1937, died on April 19, 2007.

Harry Long, class of 1967, died on April 21, 2007.

Mary Winiarczyk, class of 1975, died on April 24, 2007.

Retirement

We recently received word that Richard Stevenson, class of 1951, has retired after many years of employment at Mid-Town Camera Co.

Illnesses

We are very sorry that some of our members are suffering from long- term illnesses and hope they will return to good health soon.

Jeanne Kaufman, class of 1970, has been battling bad health for some time.

Russell Folckemer, class of 1968, has had one health difficulty after another for the past year.

Maurice Johnston, a former student, sustained a fractured hip as a result of an accident while attending a dinner at a local hotel. We understand that he is mending nicely.

Please contact us if you have news of interest about Alumni members or former students: marriages, births, employment, illness, death, etc. It is very difficult to write this column without input from our readers. Our Bulletin can only be as interesting as you make it.

Louise Flanigan

240 W. Brady Street

Butler, Pa. 16001

 

Phone (724) 282 2263

 

Music Teacher Robert Koshen Dies

(Many Alumni members and former students will remember Robert Koshan who taught music at our School in the 1960s. He passed away shortly before our reunion in 2006. Following is his obituary which appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)

Robert Koshan, a music teacher and jazz pianist who in the 1960s and ’70s played Pittsburgh clubs, concert venues and on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” died Monday [June 26, 2006] near his home in Winter Park, Fla. He was 76.

The native of Sharon, Mercer County, attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1952 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. There, he met the woman he would marry three years later, Elizabeth “Ethel” Krehely.

They lived in Florida for several years before moving back here, settling in Penn Hills. In the late 1950s and early ’60s Mr. Koshan — who also earned his master’s degree in music at Duquesne University — taught piano at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children.

Later he taught music in the Quaker Valley School District.

At night, he played area clubs with local bands like Bennie Benack and the Riverboat Six and Roy Liberto and the Bourbon Street Six.

He played solo at various night spots, too, including the Omni William Penn Hotel. He did commercial work and was backup pianist for John Costa on Fred Rogers’ show. He also played for big touring acts, including Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

His daughter, Kathy Koshan of Winter Park, who still has some of the autographed records he’d bring home for her, said, “He hustled. He really worked a lot.”

She pointed out that some of his prize students, including Keith Stebler and Lou Schreiber, still perform around Pittsburgh.

Mr. Schreiber was in seventh grade at the [Western Pennsylvania] School for Blind Children when Mr. Koshan started teaching him in 1961. He stayed in touch with his beloved mentor, even though Mr. Koshan gave him B’s for not learning classical [music]. Mr. Schreiber, who wanted to learn stuff he could perform, said, “He gave me the nuts and bolts and I started playing jobs in eighth grade.”

Even after Mr. Koshan retired from teaching and he and his wife moved back to Florida, he continued to play around Orlando, both solo and with his trio, the Rhythm Masters.

He and his wife, who died in 2002, also were members of Orlando’s St. James Cathedral choir and traveled with the group several times to perform in Europe, once singing for the pope. It was on a choir trip in Austria in 1995 that Mr. Koshan suffered a brain aneurysm. But his daughter, with whom he lived, said he bounced back, using music as part of his therapy, and was playing piano at home again until recently, classics like Mozart. “He said, ‘I was out playing for money for all these years. Now I’m going to learn the good stuff.’”

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• Other Alumni Bulletins

Dear Alumni,

Since I became president, I receive the list of members who pay dues. Some of these people come to almost every Alumni Reunion; others come just now and then. But there are others who are either uninterested in attending or are unable to do so because of a variety of physical or health conditions. One of our members who falls in this last category is Kenneth Partridge, class of 1962. Ken has cerebral palsy and cannot travel easily. He has been paying his Alumni dues year after year, and he enjoys hearing about what is happening to his school friends and other Alumni members. Perhaps some of you who remember Ken would like to tape or write to him—but not in Braille… His address is 1008 Thompson St., Jersey Shore, PA 17740.

And, speaking of Alumni members whom we haven’t heard from or about for a long time, wasn’t it good to have Ann Kirk, class of 1966, with us at the banquet during the last Alumni Reunion? I hope those of you who know Ann had the opportunity to welcome her.

Do you notice that the older we get, the faster time seems to go by? It is already time to think about coming to the 2006 Alumni Reunion. I am hoping for a large number of Alumni members to attend this year. In fact, we are sending a copy of this bulletin to all the members for whom we have addresses—a total of 170. Although I am aware that quite a number of you have been ill at some time during the past two years, think about taking a little time to get away from home and relax with your friends in August. It will do you a lot of good.

The Alumni Reunion this year will be held from August 11 to August 13 at the School. The cost for the entire weekend will be fifty (50) dollars, including dues. If you attend only Friday evening, the cost will be ten (10) dollars plus dues, which is six (6) dollars. If you plan to attend Saturday breakfast or lunch only, the cost will be five (5) dollars per meal plus dues. If you wish to attend only the banquet, the cost will be twenty (20) dollars plus dues.

The schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Friday, Aug. 11

• Registration will take place from 3:00 to 6:00 pm…
• At 6:00 there will be a brief orientation meeting in the multipurpose room.
• Following this meeting, a picnic supper will be served.
• The organized entertainment for the evening will consist of darts, bowling and bingo.

 

Saturday, Aug. 12

• Breakfast will be served at 8:00 am.
• The business meeting will be held from 9:00 until noon At this meeting we will take action on the amendment to permit spouses of Alumni members to become members of the Alumni Association (See the article immediately following for more information on this issue.).
• Lunch will be served at noon.
• During the afternoon we are planning to offer a tour (Read on for more details.)
• The banquet will be held in the main dining room at 6:00 pm.
• No formal activities have been scheduled for the remainder of the evening.

 

Sunday, Aug. 13

• Breakfast will be served at 8:00 am.
• We must vacate the building by 11:00 am.

 

The tour which has been proposed is the Just Ducky Tour. This is a unique tour of the area within and adjoining downtown Pittsburgh. It is conducted on a vehicle capable of traveling both on land and on water—just like a duck The tour will take about an hour and will cost eighteen (18) dollars for those over 60 years of age and nineteen (19) dollars for younger members. A bus, provided by the Alumni Association will transport you to Station Square, where the tour begins, and will return you to the School as well. If you are interested in taking this tour, you must send in your money no later than July 7 (no cash, please.) If there is not sufficient interest shown for this tour, it will be cancelled and your money returned.

I would like to extend special thanks to Keith Dovenspike for the time and money he donated to establish our website, http://www.wpsbc-alumni.org. During the past year Tom Hesley, our treasurer, took over as webmaster. He has provided access to a lot of information on the site. If you have a computer, visit the site. If you have suggestions or comments about the content, appearance or ease of accessibility of the site, contact Tom by email at this address: webmaster@wpsbc-alumni.org.

Enclosed with this Alumni Bulletin you will find a registration form. Please complete it and return it, along with your check or money order made payable to WPSBC Alumni Assn., in the enclosed self-addressed envelope by August 1, 2006. If you would like to participate in the Just Ducky tour, we must receive your check or money order for the tour by July 7, 2006. We need the lead time to charter the bus.

Finally, if you need to arrive at the School a few hours before the time for registration, or if you have any questions, you can reach me at (412) 683-1798.

Joanna Berkovic,
President

Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws

By Kathryn Susany

At the business meeting of the 2004 Alumni Reunion there was discussion which culminated in a vote of consensus to draft an amendment to the Bylaws permitting spouses of Alumni members to become members of the Alumni Association.

Proposed amendment : If spouses of Alumni members wish to become members of the

Alumni Association, they must communicate their request, orally or in writing, to the Membership Committee. Acceptance into the Association will entitle them to the right to debate and vote at all meetings, but they may not hold any elective office.

Action on this proposed amendment will be taken at the upcoming Reunion. If approved, the amendment will become section 4 of Article III.

Alumni News

I would like to open this column on a very happy note. Probably a few of our senior members will remember Pearl McMichael (formerly Pearl Young) who taught at our school in the 1930s. Certainly a number of you who belong to the Beaver County and Golden Triangle chapters of the PA Council of the Blind are acquainted with her. Since the death of her husband John McMichael, class of 1937, Pearl has continued to live in Beaver Falls. Though she has lost much of her sight, Pearl continues to manage her own home and travel alone in her neighborhood. She recently became a computer user, and her mind is as alert as ever. The remarkable fact about this spunky lady is that she has just celebrated her ninety-fifth birthday!

New Employment

• Ellen Goldfon, class of 1974, informed us that she is now employed as a part-time receptionist in the Early Education Centerof the School, located in its recently completed addition on Bellefield Avenue.

 

Retirement

• Arnie Bowser, class of 1957, reported that he retired after working for 41 years as a teacher. He began his work at the Maryland School for the Blind; but he also taught in New Mexico. Arnie and his wife are now residing in rural eastern Pennsylvania.

 

Marriage

• On March 30, 2006, Lexie Raducz, class of 1974, was married to Duane Long. They are making their home in Akron, Ohio. Best wishes, Lexie.

 

Engagement

• Mary Vuksanovich, class of 1975, has announced her engagement to Sam Wagner, class of 1981.

 

Accident

• Greg Scott, class of 1981, was hit by a car and suffered a broken foot in early January, 2006. Fortunately, after two and a half months he was able to return to his job as delivery man for the Melwood Drugstore. Good luck, and watch that traffic,, Greg.

 

Illnesses

• Friends of Lorraine Brooks, class of 1950, will be sad to hear that she is suffering from health problems which have virtually incapacitated her. As a result, she can no longer play the organ at her church. She has given up her guide dog and her apartment, and is now residing at the Comfy Cozy Nursing Home in Connellsville, PA. You are in our thoughts, Lorraine.
• Bruno Wolozyn, class of 1937, is now residing in an assistive living facility near Oil City.
• After surgery for a medical problem associated with diabetes, Joe Sofranko, class of 1950, had to spend some time in a convalescent center to receive therapy. We are happy to report that he is again living in his own apartment. Good luck, Joe. We hope you can get back to your music. is apartment.
• Jeanne Kaufman, class of 1970, has been wrestling with serious medical problems throughout the past winter and spring. In fact, her condition required that she spend some time in a nursing home. She is at home now and feeling a bit more comfortable. Keep fighting, Jeannie.
• Charles Vidunus, class of 1968, has been at Shadyside Hospital for several weeks now due to cardiac problems. We understand that he is currently scheduled for heart surgery. We wish you a speedy recovery, Chuck, and we know your customers do too.
• Lou Schreiber, class of 1967, has just returned home after being hospitalized for eight days due to a severe case of epiglottitis. This throat condition has made it extremely difficult for Lou to speak. But it has not affected his drive and desire to make music. In the week that he has been home, he has played one evening engagement and a job at a local church. You have given many people a lot of pleasure through your music, Lou, and if our prayers and good wishes can help to restore your health and your voice, you can count on them.
• Ed Kramer, class of 1951, and Harry Long, class of 1967, continue to grapple with health issues, but they’re not down yet. Your friends are pulling for both of you.

 

Deaths

• Joanna Berkovic, class of 1960, lost her mother on July 2, 2005.
• Michael Risko, a former student and brother of George Risko, a graduate of WPSBC, died July 7, 2005.
• Elsie Sharp Feltenberger, class of 1947, wife of Jack Feltenberger, died October 14, 2005.
• Louis Zasadni, class of 1948, lost a sister in December, 2005.
• Ellen Goldfon, class of 1974, lost her mother on March 20, 2006.
• Robert Mates, class of 1968, lost his wife on April 7, 2006.
• A few months after his passing we received word of the death of Eugene Draghi, class of 1960.

 

We would like to express our sympathy to those who have lost loved ones since our last issue of The Bulletin. We are sorry if we have missed listing any graduate or former students or their immediate family members. Sometimes we do not receive information of deaths, or if we do, it may come from an indirect source which may be questionable. So please, if you hear of the passing of anyone who attended WPSBC, let us know.

Louise Flanigan

240 W. Brady Street

Butler, PA 16001

Phone (724) 282 2263.

A Tribute to Mike Risko

By Russ Dougherty

Mike Risko worked at the Washington-Greene County Blind Association for nearly 40 years before his death on July 7, 2005, from pneumonia. He also tuned pianos and caned chairs to supplement his income. Except for the last two years during which much repair work was being done on the streets and sidewalks of his neighborhood in Washington, PA, Mike traveled everywhere independently. It seemed like everyone knew him. Mike liked to walk to the Union Grill for his evening meals and socialize with his friends. He enjoyed talking with people and making new friends. . Mike was a wonderful person and would help anybody that he could. Mike is the younger brother of George Risko who is also blind since birth and lives in Pittsburgh.

Mike had a beautiful singing voice which he shared with the barbershop quartet in Washington for 28 years. He also sang at Saint Basil the Great Russian Orthodox church in Belle Vernon and at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville New York where he is buried next to his father.

Mike was a long-time member of the Washington County Council of the Blind–close to forty years. He was a good friend and will be truly missed by our chapter. He died at the young age of 81.

Grandma’s Cures

Submitted by Philagonas Evancic

Did You Know …?

1. 1. Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately–without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional “pain relievers.”
2. 2. Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of Altoids peppermints. They’ll clear up your stuffed nose.
3. 3. Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 Tablespoon of horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.
4. 4. Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.
5. 5. Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly–even though the product has never been advertised for this use.
6. 6. Honey remedy for skin blemishes… Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.
7. 7. Listerine therapy for toenail fungus… Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.
8. 8. Easy eyeglass protection… To prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
9. 9. Coca-Cola cure for rust… Forget those expensive rust removers. Just saturate an abrasive sponge with Coca-Cola and scrub the rust stain. The phosphoric acid in the coke is what gets the job done.
10. 10. Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer… If menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get into your home and you can’t find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.
11. 11. Smart splinter remover… just pour a drop of Elmer’s Glue all over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.
12. 12. Hunt’s Tomato Paste boil cure… cover the boil with Hunt’s Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.
13. 13. Balm for broken blisters… To disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine… a powerful antiseptic.
14. 14. Heinz vinegar to heal bruises… Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
15. 15. Kill fleas instantly. Dawn dish washing liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog’s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Good-bye fleas.
16. 16. Rainy day cure for dog odor… Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.
17. 17. Eliminate ear mites… All it takes is a few drops of Wesson corn oil in your pet’s ear. Massage it in; then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the pet’s skin, smothers the mites and accelerates healing.
18. 18. Quaker Oats for fast pain relief… It’s not for breakfast anymore! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave For 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

 

Jane Holmes

(The Following piece, excerpted from an article which appears in the Winter, 2006, edition of Insights, a publication of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, is reprinted with permission.)

Jane Holmes

When Jane Holmes came to Pittsburgh in 1807, it was

a small, unincorporated village. Jane, a child of Irish immigrants, was just two years old. But as she grew to maturity, Pittsburgh had become the “Iron City,” its economy driven by coal, iron and manufacturing. Pollution blackened the air and recurring bouts of typhoid, smallpox and cholera plagued its residents. Tuberculosis was rampant. Social services for those in need were almost non-existent.

Into this maelstrom, Jane Holmes introduced her own brand of philanthropy, with monies accumulated from her family’s successful banking ventures. Holmes was a benefactor to people who fell between the cracks of 19th century society—the homeless, the aged, the blind, the deaf, the “friendless,” working boys, orphans (both Negro and white) and animals and others who suffered abuse.

Jane Holmes was known for her compassion and generosity towards people in despair. Every day people came to her downtown home on Penn Avenue telling their tales of woe and asking for help. Those who touched Jane’s heart could be sure of leaving with the promise of aid.

In 1880, Holmes was visited by a young girl in the final throes of tuberculosis. The girl had no family and nowhere to go. Holmes was touched by her and arranged for her care until she died. But Holmes saw a need for a place where people with incurable diseases could get care and nursing. She converted her family’s summer home on Butler Street, in Lawrenceville, into the Protestant Home for Incurables, later known as Holmes House.

That same year, Reverend Fulton of the Allegheny Fourth United Presbyterian Church saw a 4-year old African- American child wandering the streets of the North Side.

After finding a home for this orphan, Rev. Fulton called a group together to plan for a permanent structure for such children. Holmes was among the organizers. Holmes

bequeathed $10,000 for The Home for Colored Children. That facility sowed the seeds of what has become Three Rivers Youth, a leading agency for at-risk youngsters in Allegheny and Washington counties.

Another bequest helped fund the Protestant Home for Boys on the North Side, a boarding home for working boys and boys new to the city between the ages of 14 and 21. This later became the Protestant Home for Children. In 1969, three facilities for youngsters merged into Pressley Ridge which now serves more than 1,500 children and their families in six states.

A facility known today as the Jane Holmes Residence and Gardens came into being in 1881, after Holmes learned of an infirm, elderly couple who were forced to live apart because no place would take the both of them. Holmes called a meeting of like-minded benefactors and quickly secured a charter for the Home for Aged Protestants, a couples residence. In 1953, the home opened to single and widowed women and today it is an assisted living facility.

During her lifetime, Holmes contributed more than $1-million to causes that interested her. When she died, May 3, 1885, she left $300,000 in bequests to a breadth and variety of Pittsburgh organizations including:

• The Western Pennsylvania Hospital for Medical and Surgical Purposes
• The Homeopathic Medicine and Surgical Hospital and Dispensary (now Shadyside Hospital)
• The Pittsburgh Free Dispensary
• The Western Pennsylvania Institute for Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb
• The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society.

 

Holmes also set aside funds for two efforts still in the planning stages. One of them was a proposed facility for the blind. Her will stipulates that “If within two years after my decease an Institution for the Education and Maintenance of the Blind. . . . shall be organized,” the group would receive $20,000 plus a part of her residual estate. At the time, just such a group was meeting, determined to educate and train blind children in Pittsburgh. With Holmes’s early support, the school, then known as The Western Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind opened in October 1890 in a house at 333 42nd Street. That institution is known today as the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, and it counts Holmes as one of its early benefactors.

The other organization with a similar bequest has since become Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Why Men Have Two Dogs And Not Two Wives

Submitted by Louise Flanigan

The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.

Dogs will forgive you for playing around with other dogs.

If a dog is gorgeous, other dogs don’t hate it.

Dogs don’t notice if you call them by another dog’s name.

Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.

A dog’s parents never visit.

Dogs do not hate their bodies.

Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

Dogs like to do their snooping outside rather than in your wallet or desk.

Dogs can’t talk.

You never have to wait for a dog. They are ready to go 24 hours a day.

Dogs find you amusing when you are drunk.

Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.

Another man will seldom steal your dog.

A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, “If I died would you get another dog”?

If a dog has babies you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

A dog will let you put on a studded collar without calling you a pervert.

A dog will not hold out on you to get a new car.

If a dog smells another dog on you itdoesn’t get mad. The dog just finds it interesting.

Dogs don’t Let magazine articles guide their lives.

When your dog gets old you can have it put to sleep.

Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.

Dogs are not allowed in Bloomingdale’s or Macy’s

If a dog leaves, it will only take half of your stuff.

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Letter From The President

Dear Alumni Members,

I hope you are enjoying a happy and healthy early summer.

Again last year we had a very good turnout for our Alumni Reunion, but we still need to find more members. There are a number of graduates and former students who haven’t been active in the Alumni Association for many years and some who have never been involved since they left our school. If anyone knows where these people are, why not give them a call or let me know. Perhaps between us we can interest them in attending an Alumni event and reconnecting with old friends.

At our last convention we amended our Bylaws to read that Officers shall hold office for a term of four years instead of two. The following officers were elected for their first four-year terms: president, Joanna Berkovic; vice-president, Ted Crum; recording secretary, Georganna Caddy; corresponding secretary, Anna Rose Smith; treasurer, Tom Hesley; and parliamentarian, Kathy Susany. Bill Newland was elected our newest Board member. You can learn what two of our officers have been doing since graduation by reading their submissions which follow this letter.

For many years the Alumni Association has been using the School’s logo on it stationery. Last year, , however, both the School and the Alumni decided that we should have our own logo Following some discussion, the Board decided to use a picture of the School as it looked thirty years ago. The picture shows the former entrance to the School facing Bayard Street, including the circular driveway. It is basically the same picture that appears on the back of the playing cards that were sold by the Alumni, but better centered.

Our Fun Day this year will be held on Saturday, September 10, from 1 PM until 6 PM in the School’s new Early Childhood Center, located directly across Bellefield Avenue from the main entrance to the School. The address is 250 North Bellefield. We will have a catered lunch, door prizes, a 50-50 raffle, games and lots of time for just visiting. If you have a favorite game, why not bring it along? The cost for this event person is five dollars. Since the caterer needs to know beforehand how many to prepare for, you will not be able to pay at the door. So please send your check or money order made payable to WPSBCC Alumni to me no later than August 26. My address is:

Joanna Berkovic
375 N. Craig St.
Apt. #210
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

If you have any questions and wish to reach me by phone, my number is (412) 683-1798.

Hope to see you in September.

Joanna Berkovic
President

New Board Member Information

From Georganna Caddy

My name is Georganna Caddy. I graduated from the School in 1970. Many of you know me as Georgie or George. I was Corresponding Secretary for four years; and am now the Recording Secretary.

I have resided in Harrisburg since graduating. I worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for 25 years. I am now retired and enjoying every minute of it. I recommend it to one and all if you can afford it. If you have the opportunity to do it, go for it!

I have been keeping busy serving as the President of the Blind Bowlers’ League known as the Harrisburg Capitals. I am also involved with the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind and am the current President of the Capital City chapter.

I hope to see all of you at our Fun Day on September 10 or at our next Alumni Reunion in 2006!

From Tom Hesley

I graduated from high school in 1979, at which time I began attending the Connelley Skill Learning Center to become an electronics technician. I graduated from Connelley in 1981 and immediately began working at the University of Pittsburgh, repairing their varied collection of audio visual equipment. Then, in 1984, I enrolled at Pitt to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, which I completed in 1988.
In the summer of 1988, I left Pittsburgh for Dayton, Ohio, to work for LexisNexis, an electronic publishing company as a software engineer. My career there spanned about fifteen years, during which I developed several software systems that to this day, are still running and making lots of money for LexisNexis. I led a software maintenance team in my final years there and at the very end, helped develop a Java-based document retrieval system. In 2003, having attained the status of senior software engineer, I resigned in order to pursue disc jockey work as well as to hone my writing skills. My hope is one day to publish a book which will help shy people to gain the confidence to express themselves openly to those whom they care for deeply. At present, I do one to three DJ gigs per month, and the writing is coming along. I’m still searching for the “exact handle” on how best to present the information I wish to disseminate. But sooner or later, I’ll have it, and I’ll write it then.

Did You Know

As of June 1 Pittsburgh Vision Services began operating at its new location at 1800 West Street, Homestead, PA both the building on South Craig Street and the rehabilitation facility in Bridgeville have been sold. Although the workshop is currently located on the North Side, ultimately all of PVS’s programs and services will be housed in the Homestead site after renovations have been completed. PVS’S new phone number is (412) 368-4400.

Alumni News

By Louise Flanigan

Employment And Retirement

We are happy to report that Ellen Goldfon, class of 1974, has found employment as early morning receptionist at the School’s Early Education Center. According to Ellen she is enjoying her work there.

Steve Berzinsky, class of 1952, has retired from The Business Enterprise Program of Blindness and Visual Services and is residing in Johnstown, Pa. Enjoy your retirement, Steve.

William Newland, class of 1964, has retired after working 31 years for the Social Security Administration at its downtown Pittsburgh office. . Bill is quite busy being President of Golden Triangle Council of the Blind as well as serving on the Board of the Pennsylvania Council of the Blind, of our local radio reading service, and of our Alumni Association.

Marriage

Gilbert Busch, class of1972, and Elisa Walls Birr, class of 1973, were married on November 20, 2004. Best wishes to you both.

Deaths

We are always sad to report the deaths of our members and their close relatives. We hope we haven’t missed anyone. If we have, it is only because we were not notified of their passing. We are grateful when you let us know of the death of a member or a near relative of a member or of staff member of WPSBC.

• Ruth Jones, class of 1936, died in October, 2004.
• Linda Augustin, class of 1970, lost her mother November 28, 2004.
• James Daley, class of 1966 lost his wife January 3, 2005.
• Paul Hamilton, class of 1949, died on February 6, 2005.
• John (Chuck) Schaefer, class of 1966 lost a sister in February, 2005.
• John Britzski, class of 1976, died March 13, 2005.
• James Leri, class of 1945 lost a sister in March, 2005.
• Linda Bagnato Davis, class of 1973, lost her mother on May 7, 2005.
• Rev. Paul Lackner, who supervised the religious education program for Catholic students at our School for over forty years, passed away last winter. Father Lackner was the director of the Catholic Guild for the Blind, the small social service organization which was the forerunner of the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind, now part of Pittsburgh Vision Services.

 

Illnesses and Accidents

• Last February while correctly crossing a busy street in downtown Pittsburgh at an intersection with an audible pedestrian phase signal on her way to work, Christine Stavros Hunsinger, class of 1966, was struck by a city bus. Chris sustained fractures of an elbow, a toe, and a hip. In April she was able to return to work part time, and we understand that she is recovering steadily.
• During the month of April Edwin Kramer, class of 1951, spent 10 days in the hospital in order to stabilize his diabetes and prevent impending kidney failure. After spending six weeks at a convalescent and rehabilitation facility, Ed finally came home. We are delighted to report that he is doing very well and almost sounds like his old self.
• Harry Long, class of 1967, has been plagued with ill health for some time. On May 5he was hospitalized for hip surgery and for treatment for a gallbladder infection which developed subsequently. Finally, on May 27 Harry was able to return home, very weak but in good spirits. We wish you well, Harry…

 

Stroke!

[We encourage everyone to read the following article carefully. The information ontained in it may help you to save a life.]

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a Stroke by asking three simple questions:

• Ask the individual to SMILE.
• Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
• Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.

 

If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 Immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

From Phil’s Files

By Philagonas Evancic

A friend recently emailed me a collection of “Home Tips”. I’d like to share a few of them with you, some perhaps more interesting than useful.

1. If you want to make your hair bright and shiny, rinse it with brewed Lipton Tea.
2. If you are suffering from sun burn, empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water and just relax.
3. Burned your tongue? A bit of sugar applied to the affected area may help.
4. We all know how painful bee stings can be! Rub meat tenderizer over the sting.
5. For paper cuts, try crazy glue or Chap Stick.
6. To soothe athlete’s foott, try dusting with cornstarch.
7. Did you know that Kool Aid will clean dishwasher pipes? Just pour the Kool Aid into the detergent dispenser and run a cycle.
8. Peanut butter will remove scratches from CD’s. Wipe the peanut butter away with a paper coffee filter.
9. If you are troubled with dandruff, Try rinsing your hair with vinegar
10.  To remove wine stains, cover the stained area with table salt, and watch the salt absorb the stain.
11.  To remove labels from glassware- or plasticware, rub the label with peanut butter.
12.  I found this one rather interesting: When you go to buy bread, have you ever wondered how fresh it is? Bread is delivered fresh to stores five days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Each day the bread wrapper is secured with a twist tie or plastic fastener of a different color: Monday blue, Tuesday green, Thursday red, Friday white, and Saturday yellow. So, if you are shopping for bread on Saturday, be sure not to choose a loaf with a blue fastener unless you really like stale bread!

 

WAL-MART Tests Robots For Blind Shoppers

By Evan Schuman

[We thought that the following article, which we found on the Internet, was quite interesting. We hope you think so too.]

Wal-Mart on Thursday started quietly testing a university-created robot designed to help visually impaired consumers navigate store aisles and find their desired products.

The robot–named RG, for Robotic Guide–is the creation of Vladimir Kulyukin, an assistant professor of computer science at Utah State University and the director of the university’s Computer Science Assistive Technology Laboratory.

The initial version of RG–which weighs about 22 pounds and is roughly the height of an upright vacuum cleaner–is limited to three basic functions.

First, it guides the consumer through the aisles and around people, displays and merchandise using RFID readers and 16 ultrasonic sonars. The navigation system is sophisticated enough to handle environments–including elevators and limited open spaces–that usually literally trip up robots, Kulyukin said. The university has posted quite a few videos of RG in various stages of Testing.

Its second function is to communicate with the consumer. It takes instructions via a small Braille directory of products that are attached to the robot’s handle, and it replies to the shopper’s questions with spoken answers.

The third function is to use its RFID reader to locate the desired products. The store’s RFID tags help the robot navigate the lanes as well as locate products.

“There are RFID sensors placed on the shelves in the store. The robot has the RFID antennae and detects the presence of those tags,” Kulyukin said. “That’s how it knows it’s reached the Colgate section of the toothpaste shelf and it then announces, “you have reached the Colgate toothpaste section, on your right.’”

The robot has its limitations, though. Until item-level tagging becomes the norm, the system can indicate only the part of the shelf where the product is supposed to be. If it’s been moved–either by an employee moving stock who forgot to move or update the RFID tag or by another consumer who put a tube of Aim toothpaste amidst the Colgate–the visually impaired consumer might grab the wrong product.

“It certainly can be jumbled, and there is the potential to pick up the wrong product,” Kulyukin said, adding that his team is trying to add a robotic bar code into the system so that the robot would announce the product being placed in the cart. That functionality would likely address most of the mistaken product purchases, he said.

The robot’s development is still at a very early stage and has thus far mostly been paid for with a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Kulyukin said. He is negotiating with a large national retail chain to buy the units and invest in its further development. Kulyukin refused to identify the chain, but an employee in the university’s public relations department, Whitney Wilkinson, said the chain was indeed Wal-Mart. Kulyukin also said Wal-Mart was testing it locally. The store manager of the Wal-Mart store in North Logan, Utah, right near the university’s labs, confirmed that RG had arrived on Thursday.

“It’s a great thing for the customers who don’t have their eyesight,” said Wal-Mart store manager Ron Tuttle. “We have a lot of customers who come in and ask for someone to help them. I talked with one lady and she was very excited about it because it makes her feel more independent.”

Weekly Workout

The Doctor told me, I should start an exercise program. Not wanting to harm this old body, I’ve devised the following:

Monday

• Beat around the bush
• Jump to conclusions
• Climb the walls
• Wade through the morning paper

 

Tuesday

• Drag my heels
• Push my luck
• Make mountains out of mole hills
• Hit the nail on the head

 

Wednesday

• Bend over backwards
• Jump on the Band Wagon
• Run around in circles

 

Thursday

• Advise the President/Prime Minister on how to run the country
• Toot my own horn
• Pull out all the stops
• Add fuel to the fire

 

Friday

• Open a can of worms
• Put my foot in my mouth
• Start the ball rolling
• Go over the edge

 

Saturday

• Pick up the pieces!!

 

Sunday

§ Kneel in prayer

Related Posts

• Other Alumni Bulletins

Dear Alumni Members,

My main purpose in writing this letter is to invite you to attend the Alumni reunion scheduled to take place from August 6 to August 8, 2004 at the School. Two years ago 86 of our members registered for the reunion. Everyone seemed to have had a good time. I’d like to see an even larger number of attendees at our upcoming reunion, and I hope it will be as successful as the last one. But I need you to participate. So please consider coming, and if you know an inactive Alumni member, why not convince him or her to come along too?

Although the program for the weekend has not been finalized as yet, I can tell you that registration will begin at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, August 6. (If for any reason you need to arrive at the School before 3:00 p.m., please let me know so that I can be there to assist you.) At 6:00 p.m. we will hold our usual brief orientation meeting followed by a picnic supper—outdoors, weather permitting. Evening activities will include bingo, cards, darts, group singing, etc.

Saturday morning breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. The registration table will be staffed from 8:30 to 9:00 to accommodate those who may be unable to arrive for registration on Friday. The business meeting will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m., lunch will be served at noon, and election of officers and Board members will be held at 1:00 p.m. The banquet will begin at 6:00 p.m. Besides darts and cards, no other activity has yet been scheduled for the evening. Would anyone be interested in taking part in a talent show?

Sunday morning breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. The School must be vacated by 11:00 a.m., please.

The cost per person for the entire weekend is $44.00 plus membership dues, currently $6.00. If you plan to attend Friday evening activities only, the cost per person is $10.00 plus dues. The cost for the banquet per person is $20.00 plus dues. If you wish to come for the business meeting only and have lunch at the School, the cost per person is $5.00 plus dues. Along with this copy of The Alumni Bulletin you should find a registration form and a preaddressed envelope. Please complete the form and return it with your check or money order made payable to WPSBC Alumni Association no later than July 20. Those who return forms after this date will be assessed a late fee of $5.00.

I would encourage all those who register to attend the business meeting. Among other things we will talk about a new fund-raising venture, discuss how we can best use our website and we will take action on a proposed amendment to the Bylaws, which you will read later in this Bulletin. Also we need your participation in the election process.

I am happy to tell you that all 500 tickets for our August raffle last year were sold. We did almost as well in selling the 250 tickets which we had printed for the Steeler Tickets raffle based on the PA lottery number drawn in the evening of last Thanksgiving. The two tickets to the Steelers game on December 21 were donated by a lady who had provided free football game tickets at our jamborees. The two raffles netted the organization more than $2,300

Last September we held our second Fun Day in the new Early Childhood Center building across Bellefield Avenue from the School. Even though it rained, sixty Alumni attended. We all had the chance to walk around the building, see the garden, visit with friends and enjoy a nice lunch.

I am looking forward to greeting all of you members at our reunion in August. If you have any questions, please call me at (412) 683-1798.

Joanna Berkovic

President

Notice of Proposed Amendment

An amendment was submitted which affects Article IV of our Bylaws, Officers and Their Election. Action will be taken on this proposed amendment at our upcoming convention.

Section 2. “Election of officers shall be held at each biennial convention of the Association, … “ would be amended to read

Election of officers shall be held every four (4) years, …

Section 3. “The elected officers shall hold office for a period of two (2) years, until their successors are elected and duly sworn in, …” would be amended to read

The elected officers shall hold office for a period of four (4) years, until their successors are elected and duly sworn in, …

 

Alumni News

By Louise Flanigan

Births

A little too late to make the last edition of The Alumni Bulletin, Marlene (Daugherty) Cain, class of 1958, was pleased to inform us of the birth of her first grandson, Clayton James, in the spring of 2003. Since then, she has been blessed with yet another grandson, Lucas Alexander.

Charles Vidunas, class of 1968, and his wife Kathy welcomed their first grandchild in April, 2003.

Edwin Kramer, class of 1951, and his wife Ida welcomed their third grandchild, a girl, on August 3, 2003.

We are sure there are many more births that we should be including in this column, but we have been made aware of only those we report here. If you know of any proud parents or grandparents, please make us aware of their blessed event, so that we may share it with all of our readers.

Engagements and Marriages

Gilbert Busch, class of 1972, and Elisa Walls, class of 1973, have announced their engagement.

Rose Miscio Mathews, class of 1944, is planning an autumn wedding.

Louis Schreiber, class of 1967, was married on August 3, 2003.

We need news of engagements and marriages for this column also. We can only report what news we are made aware of, and we do like to hear about the happy events of our members. So please keep us informed.

Necrology

We are sad to report that since our last issue we have had several members and relatives of our members pass away. Again, please keep us informed if you learn of the passing of any member or relative of a member so that appropriate memorials may be made. In case of the passing of an Alumni member a sixty-dollar check is given to the charity of the family’s request or it is given to The Robert Flanigan Special Needs Fund at WPSBC when no family member can be contacted.

Harold Bleakley, class of 1938, died April 3, 2003.

Jody Majesky Mollus, class of 1982, lost her husband in April, 2003.

Greg Scott, class of 1981, lost his mother in May, 2003.

Mary Giordano McWilliams, class of 1943, died May 20, 2003.

Mary Yasem Baron, class of 1936, died May 21, 2003.

Robert Mester, class of 1965, died November 29, 2003.

Richard Miller, a former student, and his wife suffered the death of their oldest son last summer. For parents the loss of a child is perhaps the single worst tragedy of their lives.

Tony Draghi, a former student and the brother of Eugene Draghi, class of 1960, died early last summer.

Terri (Claar) Flowers, class of 1975, lost her brother December 16, 2003.

Ellen Murray Hostetler, class of 1954, died February 3, 2004.

Dina Tominello, class of 1983, died April 4, 2004.

Anthony Manna, class of 1947, died April 22, 2004.

Ilene Sirocca, class of 1966, lost her father in April 2004.

Ed Schreiber, class of 1967, died on May 9.

Illnesses and Accidents

Early last fall John Louis, class of 1981, and his son were struck by an automobile. Shortly after Thanksgiving when both had just about recovered from their injuries, Donna Rice Lewis, class of 1986, sustained a fractured leg while roller-skating with their daughter. Enough of that kind of luck, you guys.

On December 27, 2003 Martha Osborne, class of 1937, fractured her femur as a result of a fall. Following a slow convalescence exacerbated by health problems which surfaced after her accident, Martha is about ready to return to her own home. She expects to live independently, as she has done all her adult life. Right now she is eagerly awaiting the opportunity to walk around her neighborhood with her faithful guide dog. Lots of luck, Martha!

While walking to work this past February. Albert Pietrolungo, class of 1966, suffered a severe leg fracture after being struck by a motorist whose view of traffic seems to have been impaired by the glare from the morning sun. A staph infection which Al contracted while in the hospital, along with other medical issues, have hampered a quick recovery. However, we understand that he is now “up and about”. Easy does it, Al. We’re all rooting for you.

Plagued with poor health for a long while now, Elsie (Sharp) Feltenberger, class of 1947, has been residing for more than a year in a nursing home where she can best receive the care she needs to address her deteriorating physical condition. Anyone who wishes to communicate with her should address correspondence to: Elsie Feltenberger, Room 216 South, 1205 S 28th Street, Harrisburg, PA 17111. Her husband Jack’s phone number is (717) 545 9131. We’re thinking of you, Elsie, and we’ll keep you in our prayers.

To those of you who have experienced illnesses or other misfortunes we have not been made aware of, we extend our sympathy and best wishes.

Congratulations

Janice Miller, class of 1976, is a recipient of PNC Bank’s Performance Award for 2003. This award recognizes “consistently extraordinary performance in providing unparalleled customer service and satisfaction, maintaining a high-energy work ethic, demonstrating leadership and teamwork, contributing to improvements in the company’s operations, and making a personal commitment to community involvement.” An employee of PNC Bank for more than 25 years, Janice currently works as a program analyst and systems consultant.

With a workforce of 24,000 employees nationwide PNC Bank confers its performance award on only 10 persons annually. To be a candidate for this award requires nomination by one’s coworkers and superiors with documentation referencing the criteria quoted above. This year’s list of candidates totaled 340, from which the 10 finalists were selected. In addition to a monetary gift, the award winners are offered an all-expense-paid trip to the Kayman Islands over the Memorial Day weekend. They also have the responsibility of participating in the process of determining the 10 PNC Bank Performance Award winners for 2004.

Janice, we are all very proud of you!

I have enjoyed writing this column in the past and would like to continue. However I do need to hear from all you members concerning news. Please contact me by mail at 240 W. Brady Street, Butler, PA 16001. My e-mail address is lflan@myfreedombox.com.

Darts Anyone?

Joe Wassermann

You may have been shoveling snow on the 24th of January because there was quite a bit of it this past winter, but we weren’t. We, being those nutty darters at Pittsburgh Vision Services, were warm and dry, throwing darts and eating pizza at our mini dart tournament.

The Alumni members who took part, as usual, did very well. Here are the results of the two events we had that Saturday. Altogether, fifteen players participated. In our count-up event, Jim Musto was 4th, Larry Wiseman 2nd, and Joe Wassermann came in first. In the afternoon, we played 301 doubles. Regis Sullivan and his partner came in 4th, Cindy Perseo and Bonnie Newland took 3rd, and Joe and his partner slid into first.

Once again, we all enjoyed the competition and socialization. Think about joining us; it is fun and more than just totaling points can be learned from playing.

Dr. Simon Honored as Woman of Spiritt”

(From the Winter, 2004, edition of Insights, the School’s newsletter)

Dr. Janet Simon, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children,

was one of 10 awardees Designated as a Woman of Spirit in 2003. The award was given to Dr. Simon by Carlow College, in recognition of her work at the School for Blind Children.

The Carlow honor is bestowed annually on women “who are leaders in their professions, voices of the unheard and visionaries in their communities.” The awards were presented on Oct. 4, at the Westin Convention Center Hotel.

For Simon, the honor didn’t end there. The board of trustees at the School for Blind Children made a contribution in her honor. Simon is using the money to create a music collection in the School’s library. A small committee is selecting the music CDs, with an

emphasis on classical, popular and ethnic music.

The selections will be well balanced, representing a wide range of styles, and should appeal to people of all ages. The collection will be available on loan to all of the programs at the School. This marks the first time the School has had a music collection as part of its library materials.

The selection committee consists of Dr. Simon, Staff Development Associate Lynda Hedfors and music teacher Roger Thomas.

School Honored

The Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children was one of three finalists designated to receive the prestigious Alfred W. Wishart, Jr. Award of Excellence in Nonprofit Management. Awards were given at a ceremony on Oct. 28, 2003, at Carnegie Mellon University. The Wishart Award, now in its third year recognizes nonprofits that demonstrate good management and leadership skills.

Organizations must show a commitment to outstanding management in eight specific areas, such as demonstrating leadership among staff and the board of directors, effective use of information, objective analysis in planning and programming, continuous improvement of service delivery, and an emphasis on measuring and monitoring outcomes. This year three organizations, selected from among the 2,700 nonprofits in Allegheny County, were honored. The top award went to Action Housing. The other two finalists were the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children and Family Resources.

The School was nominated for the award and submitted a packet of information in response. Executive Director Janet Simon, Ph.D., as well as other administrators and members of the Board of Trustees, were asked to attend the award ceremony without knowing the outcome. The School for Blind Children received a crystal plaque, which bore the name of the School and the date and name of the award. It is on display at the School for Blind Children.

The award was given by the William J. Copeland Fund in honor of Alfred W. Wishart, president of The Pittsburgh Foundation for 31 years and chairman of the Fund since its inception.

Making The School’s Website Visible and/or Audible to All

The School’s website, www.wpsbc.org, first appeared on the internet in 1998. This year it was rewritten and updated to reflect recent changes at the School. More significantly, the website was reconfigured to make it more accessible to web surfers who are blind or visually impaired. The website is now less cluttered and easier to navigate. In addition to menus on each page, users can click onto a site map, listing the entire contents. Access to the site map is available through a footer at the bottom of each page.

The web design takes special notice of people with vision impairment who use special software to surf the net. Their web readers actually read the screen text aloud to them. They use the keyboard controls of their internet browser to navigate. Of course, if a website has non-text elements, such as photographs, charts or designs, the blind surfer has no idea of what is on the screen.

On an accessible site, a text description, known as an alt-tag, is inserted. At w.wpsbc.org, for example, each photograph in the Tour of the School, is identified by alt-tag text. (Sighted web surfers can view the alt-tags by moving their mouse slowly over the photograph.) All buttons are labeled with alt-tags, which might say, “Click here for Contact Information” or “Click here to go to Events Calendar” rather than simply “click” or “enter.”

The School’s website has now been tested in several ways, including a software package called Connect Out Loud. In this test, the information was conveyed to the user “quickly, every time,” said Mike Carberry, who worked on the project at Scott Pipitone Design. Carberry also printed out the web pages in black and white to make sure the contrast was adequate for color blind users.

The best test of the site came from a blind user, Ted Crum, an employee at the School for Blind Children. Crum noted that the School’s website now is “much easier to read and use.”

Preparing websites that are accessible to the blind and visually impaired is increasingly important as the average age of computer users continues to climb. Aging results in various accessibility issues, such as vision and hearing changes and declines in dexterity. For some websites, such as government sites, accessibility is a legal requirement. For others, like the School for Blind Children, an accessible website is part of a commitment to serving people with disabilities.

Tips from Phil’s Files

By Philagonas Evancic

Here are some tips which I have found useful during my years of keeping house. Hope they will be of some help to you as well.

1. While eating, if you accidentally drop or spill something on your clothing, such as salad dressing, gravy, etc., mark the spot with a safety pin as soon as possible or before you remove the garment. In this way you will be able to locate it when you remove the garment. This lets you know exactly where to apply a prewash treatment or where you may need to add a little extra laundry detergent before putting the article in the washer.

2. To rid your home of unpleasant odors such as lingering cooking odors, put half a cup or so of white vinegar in a little dish and place it in your kitchen where it won’t be bumped or spilled. Allow the vinegar to sit for several hours or overnight. No, your house won’t smell like vinegar, but the unpleasant odor will be gone.

3. Instead of using fabric softener when you do your laundry, add 1 cup of white vinegar to the final rinse water. It will make your clothes soft, eliminate static cling, and retard the build-up of soap scum in the washer. This tip is especially useful if you are allergic to fabric softeners.

4. To remove burned or cooked-on food from Corning ware, add a mixture of 4 parts water to 1 part white vinegar to the dish. Bring to a gentle boil. When the water cools down, you should be able to gently scrub off the burned or cooked-on food.

5. To clean your garbage disposal and keep it smelling fresh, make a tray of vinegar ice cubes. Mix 1 cup of white vinegar with enough water to fill the tray. Grind the cubes through the disposal, then rinse with cold water.

Why all this “plugging” of white vinegar? Because it works—and it’s inexpensive.

An Attorney’s Advice

(The following information is excerpted from an article which has been widely circulated over the Internet.)

A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company. Maybe we should all take his advice-and pass it on..

1. The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your checkbook, they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name, but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

2. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it.

3. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license (or equivalent), credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. (Alternatively, you could write down or otherwise record significant numbers on the cards you generally carry with you.)

We have all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards, etc. Here’s some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

1. Cancel all credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them.

2. File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your purse, wallet or credit card(s) were stolen. This proves to credit providers that you were diligent and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

3. Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number.

The numbers are:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742

Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289

Social Security Administration (fraud line) 1-800-269-0271

Tid Bits

(Louise Flanigan submitted the following tidbits. We hope they brighten your day).

Observed on Bumper Stickers or Signs:

At a tire shop: “Invite us to your next blow out.”

In a non-smoking area: “If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and will take appropriate action.”

On a maternity room door: “Push! Push! Push!”

On an optometrist’s office door: “if you don’t see what you are looking for, you have come to the right place.”

On a taxidermist’s window: “We really know our stuff.”

In an orthopedist’s office: “Time wounds all heels.”

On a fence: “Salesmen welcome. Dog food is expensive.”

At a car dealership: “The best way to get back on your feet: Miss a car payment.”

Outside a muffler shop: “No appointment necessary; we hear you coming.”

In a restaurant window: “Don’t stand there and be hungry. Come on in and get fed up”.

In front of a funeral home: “Drive carefully; we’ll wait.”

In a veterinarian’s waiting room: “Be back in five minutes. Sit; stay.”

Dumb Blonde jokes (which have been changed to Gracie Burns jokes):

Gracie thought a quarterback was a refund.

Gracie thought General Motors was in the army.

Gracie thought meow mix was a CD for cats.

She thought Eartha Kit was a set of garden tools.

She spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice can because it said Concentrate.

She studied for a blood test.

When she missed the 44 bus she took the 22 bus twice.

When she went to the airport and saw a sign that read “Airport left,” she went home.

When she read that 90 percent of all crimes occur around the home, she moved.

She thinks taco bell is the Mexican telephone company.

She thought she couldn’t use her AM radio in the evening.

When she got a shirt that read “TGIF” she thought it meant this goes in front.

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