RFB&D-NJ Unit Volunteer Newsletter 4-05 (text)

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Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Phone 609-750-1830
Fax 609-750-9653

NJ Unit News
April 2005

Special Record-A-Thon Issue

Mike Casserly, Editor

Record-A-Thon is coming! Here at the Studio we're bookmarking and TOC tooling as fast as our little fingers will allow us. The week begins (Monday, April 25) with several celebrity readers, including honorary chairperson Christine Todd Whitman, who will read from her critically acclaimed new book, "It's My Party Too." (Back when she was " the Guv'nor" Ms. Whitman read at the Princeton studio when her schedule permitted.)

Representative (and former honorary chairperson) Rush Holt, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes and Institute of Advanced Study physicist/author Freeman Dyson will also be reading Monday. Other celebrity readers joining us later in the week include Pulitzer Prize winning poet CK Williams and WNJN's Morning Host Robin Shannon.
On Tuesday morning you might want to get up a little early, 'cause for the second year in a row Steve Montefusco is serving up his 7 a.m. Breakfast Special: omelets of all kinds, sausages, muffins, toast and coffee. If the brew doesn't wake you up Jen Weber's perky spirit will!

New to Record-A-Thon week this year is a Singles Networking Night. The event will be held on Thursday, April 28th from 5-7 p.m.. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. There is no admission charge. We hope to gain some new volunteers from the event as well as increase awareness of the RFB&D NJ Unit. Several area singles groups have been contacted regarding the event. If you know someone who may be interested in attending, please spread the word. RSVP to Sandi Wilson, 609-750-1830.

Also new this year is a Volunteer Wine and Cheese (Friday, 5-7 p.m.) Here's your chance to meet the faces behind the names you see on the worksheets or in our newsletters!

And check out the items in our silent auction! Among the great prizes you'll find is a Cape May weekend at the vacation home of volunteer Nancy Gardner, a mirror hand painted by Fran Jones, Angela Holman's hand knitted Christmas stocking, coffee table books, a 1940's "jukebox" radio/CD player, spa treatments, museum tickets, fine dining, wines and much, much more! Plus we're offering Sandy Shapiro's cookbook, filled with fabulous family recipes for only $15!

- More Record-A-Thon News! -

Another new feature this year is a Chinese Auction. For every session volunteers spend here that week they will receive a ticket which they can use to put in the drawings for the prizes (about 10 in all) of their choice. Among the prizes are gift certificates at Micawber Books. Princeton University Book Store, massages, and several items from Ten Thousand Villages.

The Record-A-Thon sign-up sheets are up, folks! This year we moved them from the hallway to opposite Mike's desk. (Just to the left of the reference books, just to the right of the doorway leading out to Nancy Amick's area - roughly 40 degrees north latitude, for you GPSers.) There's also a Sign Up sheet for bringing in food.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who've given us extra effort to help get us ready for this event!

For a full schedule of Record-A-Thon week please click here!

Farewell, TOC Tool Queen!

Due to family commitments, Helen Fortunato left her position as Production Assistant as of April 13th. Helen has been on the staff for three years and was previously a volunteer. We thank Helen for everything she has contributed to the studio. She has spent countless hours training volunteers to TOC Tool and to complete other pre-production tasks. Helen can also be credited with creating the monthly recorded hours graph that is displayed in the Main Concourse area of the studio. Volunteers are now able to track our progress towards meeting our production goal. We will greatly miss Helen's wonderful sense of humor and her warm demeanor. Luckily, we won't be without her completely as she plans on returning to the studio as a volunteer. – Jessie Falcone

Production Notes

Directors – please watch the Reader's volume! Recently we had to re-read 6 files (an entire book!) because of excessive volume. At the beginning of each page take a second to make sure the red (circular) clip light is not bright red. If you do see clip light lit then stop and come get staff. (A blinking clip light, strangely enough, can be ignored, except during a voice level.)

Readers –please always finish the last paragraph you start (a change of reader mid-thought is jarring to the listener). Stopping at the page mark (mid-paragraph) is a no-no. If the previous Reader failed to finish a paragraph please back up to the start of the paragraph and record from there. Our students will appreciate it.

Readers/Directors/Checkers - Please don't lurk or hover near the booth you're waiting to use. This makes the people working there nervous and more likely to rush through their paperwork (which may cost other people more time later.) Also, please try to
finish reading 10 minutes before the end of the session. This prevents lurking, last second, frantic searches for books, and finishing a little early will give you the time you need to fill out your paperwork accurately, as well as time to clean up any food/drinks you brought with you. Miss Manners says, "There's no virtue in finishing a file (a paragraph, yes; a file, no!").

Volunteer News

We've got a lot of talented volunteers here. This month we mention just three of them.

When people tell Elaine Wilson she puts them to sleep they're not (usually) talking about her personality. Recently Elaine was U.S. 1's cover girl and lead story. Ms. Wilson is a psychologist and behavioral sleep specialist. Among her recommendations to the sleep deprived: try to listen to 20 minutes of "Federal Estate & Gift Taxes: Code & Regulations" (which we're still reading.) Zzzz..

Another volunteer recently in the news is Carol Critchlow. Carol won several 1st prizes at the Philadelphia Flower Show (the world's largest indoor flower exhibit.) A muralist and faux finisher by trade, Ms. Critchlow is a past president of the Trenton Flower Club.

Jeanne Calo's paintings will be on display at the University Medical Center's Dining Room at 253 Witherspoon St., Princeton, from April 22 to May 18. The opening reception is from 4-6 p.m., Friday, April 22. Sales will benefit the Medical Center and the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

If it's spring break it must be Mike Tchorni. And indeed, we did enjoy Mike's help recently, during his week off from George Washington University Law School. Adina Langer also did some Correcting/SMILing during her break from Oberlin College, where she is a junior.

Welcome Back!

We were heartened this week by the return of law reader Gordon Griffin (in whose name the Volunteer Lounge is named), after a long year recovering from cataract surgeries. Another person we're happy to see again is Liz Zadnick, whose health and schedule kept her from the studio for several months. Karen Checchio also returned this week, after seven months off due to relocation. Finally, Charlie Brunswick's back, after playing hookey in Arizona for the past few months.

Bob Herman recently spent a month on Jekyl Island. Susan Schwirck was also on Jekyl Island, as well as St. Simon's Island, biking in an elder hostel program. Frances Ertel spent a week skiing in Steamboat Springs, then was off again for Maui, where she took a surfing lesson. Bob Ferlauto just got back from 10 days in Florida, where bird watcher Keith Reid-Green is now spending a month observing the spring warbler migration. John Schivell was also away for two weeks - out in Seattle and environs, visiting his daughter and sightseeing.

Do you have a used car you're thinking of selling? May Okhotnikoff is looking to buy one. Her phone number is (609) 409-5446.

Word keeps spreading that RFB&D is a great place to volunteer. New to the fold this month are: Diane Bucher, Eric Brown, Luke Dentino, Anne and James DiDomenico, Emily Eischen, Michael Gray, Jill Herring, Winston Kirton, Mike Knoth, Myra Kornbluth, Karen Labenz, Susan Machler, Chris McMillin, Donna Munde, Abhishek Saksena, Mark Schenkman, Shalini Sharma, Alex Shindnes, Susan Tapper, Janice Vinella, Cathy Wheeler, Porter White, Joanne and Molly Williamson, Sue Yackel and Norman Zboray. Welcome!

New Readers this month include: Heather Aspras and Cindy Takacs, General; Bob Ferlauto and Fred Horowitz, General Science; Winston Kirton and Mike Logalbo, Law; Irene Hashfield, Math. Congrats to all!

– HAVE A GREAT MONTH! –

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic
New Jersey Unit
69 Mapleton Road
Princeton, NJ 08540
609-750-1830

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