Message from the President

August Newsletter

Hello Chapter:

There are three important issues to know about coming in the next month.

First, our fundraiser at BJ’s in Tustin on September 19th. Second, our general meeting on Saturday, September 28th. And finally, the GDB Top Dog Competition.

The BJ’s fundraiser is for our chapter. 20% of the receipts from bills paid for meals at BJ’s will be donated to our chapter. The flyer is on our website or you can call Mindy or I for more details. This will be a wonderful chance to socialize with fellow handlers and puppy raisers as well as inform the general public about our chapter and GDB.

Our general meeting on September 28 will be focused on technology. Combine a cell phone with a camera with a remote set of eyes, and GPS location with a guide dog and you have a very powerful mobility arsenal. The goal of the September meeting is to give handlers an opportunity to learn about and discuss all of these remote tools. Hugo Gallegos from Braille Institute will be on hand to answer questions as well.

Finally, GDB is running a cyber fundraising event. It is on their new peer to peer fundraising platform. Alumni are encouraged to post their photo and a story about themselves on the GDB website. Mindy and I can provide more information if you are interested in participating. We will also discuss this at our September meeting.

Hello Chapter:

Whether it’s our OCGDB chapter or the glorious nation we live in, Democracy is noisy and messy. Your current leadership team has served for one year. Our chapter doesn’t belong to any one of us though, it belongs to all of us and my goal is to facilitate the efforts of anyone who wants to participate and/or make a contribution to the effort. We don’t have a speaker in May so this is a good time to think about who we are and who we want to be as an alumni chapter. This month’s message and meeting will be mainly dedicated to that issue.

The Labs Live GDB fundraiser is this Saturday, May 18th. Our chapter is sponsoring a table and many of us will be attending. Special shout out to Mindy for her top dog challenge. This is the first year that our chapter has sponsored a table; we aren’t an especially wealthy group so this may be a one-time event. If things go well though and funds permitting, we may do it again.

And while we are on that topic, I’m hoping to have a fulsome discussion at our May meeting about exactly what we want to do collectively. Your prior leadership teams did a terrific job of raising money, and that is why we are able to support the larger organization at Labs Live. On the other hand, our stated objective as an organization is to support, inform, and promote the use of guide dogs. In a more specific sense, we are primarily a group of GDB graduates who include guide dog teams from other schools who reside in Orange County.

Many functions can fall under our mission—serving and supporting fellow handlers, sharing social events and outings, advocacy with groups like Uber and Lyft, informing our immediate community about guide dogs, supporting the puppy raising community in Southern California, and of course raising money for Guide Dogs for the Blind. Any and all of these things can fall under our mission, but we have limited time and resources. I’m not so interested in doing things right as I am in doing the right things. And the right things for us as a community are the things where we as an organization can have the most synergy.

I should have held elections at our March meeting. I was so focused on our speaker though that I failed to do that, So the first order of business for us in May will be to elect our board for the coming year. Paul, Cindy, Carla and I are ready to serve another year but we need to vote on that. If anyone else wants to be nominated for any of the officer positions let me know. Our members at large can choose to serve for another year if they’d like to.

The national GDB alumni organization suggested that board members serve for a year at a time, but in practice it’s been two years for most, if not all, OCGDB presidents and boards. I’d like to suggest that we change our bylaws to state that officers will be elected for a two year term. We aren’t a large group and we don’t have scads of people wanting to step forward and do the jobs so I don’t think anyone is being deprived of opportunity. Further, having done this for a year, I can say it takes almost a full year to learn the job so a one year term seems counter productive. On the other hand, members at large may serve for just one year or be re-elected if they so choose. If you think you might like to serve on the board, being a member at large is a great place to start; you can see how things run and figure out where your unique gifts best fit.

Your board will be meeting virtually on Sunday the 19th; if you’d like to observe that meeting just let me know.

Carla will send out the meeting details a few days before so people can order their para transit, but the general meeting will be Saturday, May 25th at the Dale McIntosh Center.

Looking forward to seeing you at Labs Live and/or our general meeting a week from Saturday.

The most critical thing for today’s newsletter is Labs Live. Our chapter is sponsoring a table so if you want to invite a friend or someone who you know has an interest in the mission of GDB, this might be a terrific opportunity to put them in touch with the organization. Our chapter has three slots available for handlers who bring a paid for friend. The tickets are $150 a piece. So invite a friend and our chapter will pay for your ticket. I will share the mechanics of how to do that below.

On Friday the 15th (thats a week from this Friday) we will have a GDB TGIF party at BJs in the Tustin Marketplace. We will start at 1pm and go until whenever. The address is: 13130 Jamboree Rd., Irvine, CA 92602

We will have our bi-monthly general meeting on March 23. Our speaker will be Dr. Leah Feldman. She is a local veterinarian who provides home hospice care for dogs when necessary. She, of course, also works with aging dogs. There is a marvelous book on Bard which you may want to read in preparation for this meeting. It is called Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy, and Comfortable ( https://nlsbard.loc.gov/nlsbardprod/download/detail/srch/DB110240). I am currently reading this book and finding it quite informative.

We will also provide an opportunity to have a picture taken of you and your dog at the March meeting. This is specifically being done for people who would like a good picture for Lyft or Uber. The Lyft and Uber drivers get a picture of their client when they accept a ride. Having a clear picture of a guide dog provides that driver with an opportunity to bail out if they so choose. The benefit however is that if they come they know the rider has a guide dog. I’m hoping to have a discussion about Lyft and Uber next year. The idea of self disclosure is controversial, I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. From a legal standpoint, it may not be the best idea, but from a social or human standpoint it sets expectations and avoids unpleasant surprises.

We have more good news: the board approved Dr. Cindy Barekman as our new treasurer at our last board meeting. Dr. Barekman was a practicing veterinarian for 30 years until vision challenges caused her early retirement. You will recall she spoke to our chapter last fall. We will have an opportunity to thank Cynthia Thacker for her 10 years of service at the March meeting.

And speaking of Cynthia, she has generously provided an opportunity for any members who want to attend the Walk Your Way with SLDC on April 7, 2024. Spots are limited. Some details: 1 mile walk through Knotts Berry Farm, all are welcome to begin the day at the Walk Your Way Resource Fair located in the Lagoon Picnic Area, as part of the course. Enjoy crafts, face painting, balloon animals, and snacks while learning about the variety of resources and services that your community has to offer. After the walk ends, at 9am, don’t forget to return to the fair for performances, the announcement of the Family Fun Raffle, and a free slice of Knott’s Famous Boysenberry pie!

Now here are all the details for Labs Live. Of course, you can give me a call at 714-330-7539 if you have any questions or concerns. If you want to pay for a guest, the tickets are $150. The check should be made out to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Naturally, the tax deductibility is not affected if we send the check in or if you send it in yourself, but our table might be so please send it to us rather than the mothership.

The address for sending in checks is:
DMC c/o Paul Brennan
501 N. Brookhurst St.
Suite. 102
Anaheim, CA 92801

You can also bring a check to the March meeting. If you wish to pay with a credit card, call me and I’ll explain the details of that procedure. When you send in your payment please let us know whether you and your guest would like the vegetarian or the chicken meal. We promise, the vegetarian wont even have animal crackers.

Hi Chapter:

Just a few ideas as we head in to the holidays.

I have two book recommendations, an idea for a monthly walk, a look at some of the events coming up, and a request.

At our meeting at the end of January, Lucy will visit us and discuss who is (and who may not be) a good candidate for a dog guide. How much vision is too much to need a dog; or when is the vision loss sufficient to justify a dog guide?

As a warm up act, we will discuss the book Hello Darkness My Old Friend (https://nlsbard.loc.gov/nlsbardprod/download/detail/srch/DB100264).

If anyone is interested in learning more about using Bard I’d be happy to help. There is no more valuable service that the government provides to us than Bard and I’m eager to share it with anyone who’s life will be significantly improved by becoming a fellow book addict.

Second, I strongly recommend the book Forward Together (https://nlsbard.loc.gov/nlsbardprod/download/detail/srch/DB100008). In fact, we are thinking about purchasing several print copies of this book for puppy clubs and guests to our chapters. If anyone would like to report on this book in our March meeting please let me know.

And along those lines, we are trying to support new handlers by sharing information about products that support best or most successful practice with our dogs. Too many products isn’t the answer, but the right product for a specific team really is. The only way I know to find the products that will best fit into my life is to get my hands on them and imagine whether they will work for my dog and I. Just because I like a specific piece of equipment doesn’t mean you will, it just means that unique teams need different solutions. Recommendations from GDB are terrific but so are recommendations from fellow teams. In that regard, if anyone has a particular product that they would like to recommend for new members please send me a link. If you do, we will assume that you are willing to discuss this product with other handlers.

One of the outings we are planning for late winter/early spring is a visit to a portion of the river trail that has been made accessible. Here is the link https://www.google.com/maps/place/Santa+Fe+Middle+School/@34.131321,-118.002852,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2d976b844c4b9:0xfec6e1fc8c546cde!8m2!3d34.131321!4d-118.002852!16s%2Fm%2F07644pw?hl=en-US&entry=ttu.

Finally, Paulette and I occasionally take the OC bus 70 or 72 to Bolsa Chica Beach/Sunset Beach for a walk. Would anyone be interested in establishing a monthly walk?