RFB&D-NJ Unit Volunteer Newsletter 7-07 (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

Reader’s Note

July/August, 2007

Tony Gruenewald, Editor

Save the date to celebrate the Big five-oh!

SAVE THE DATE! On Thursday, April 17 the unit will hold a 50th Anniversary gala at the Hyatt Regency Princeton(OK...we all know it’s really in West Windsor, like the New York Giants play in East Rutherford, NJ.) honoring individuals and organizations that have played crucial roles in the growth of the New Jersey Unit.

Anne Young, Cathy Brown and Jim and Peg Hastings will be honored. Several organizations that have played major roles in the birth and growth of the unit will soon be announced as honorees.

This event will also include inspiring success stories from RFB&D members and spread word of the unit’s success in making the printed word accessible.

For more information, be sure to speak with Executive Director Stephanie Campbell.

Save another date to celebrate yourself!

This year’s Volunteer Recognition Luncheon will be held on Thursday, September 27 from noon to 2:30 p.m. at Queenship of Mary Church in Plainsboro. There will be the usual smorgasbord followed by special presentations to the most extraordinary of the extraordinary people who volunteer at RFB&D.

So spend an afternoon celebrating your fellow volunteers...and yourself! We’ll be taking RSVPs at the studio soon.

Why is there a piano in booth seven?

No, we are not renting the studio to a piano bar on the weekends. We are starting to record music theory books at the studio. With several music teachers and Frances White, a Guggenheim Fellowship winning composer with a number of compositions featured in award winning films in our volunteer ranks, we have the folks to get the job done.

And we’re sending a special thanks to the anonymous volunteer angel who donated the piano!

YOU DID IT!!!!

You pushed the hour-o-meter over the top! Our goal for the fiscal year which ended in June was to record 9,500 hours. It came down to the bottom of the ninth inning. You tapped your spikes with your bat, took a deep breath, got into the batter’s box and hit a shot heard ’round the world, just like Bobby Thomson at the Polo Grounds in 1951. After Leo Durocher got done jumping up and down, you shook hands with Willie Mays and watched Ralph Branca leave the field, head hung in defeat, we realized you marked, read, directed, checked and corrected 9,735 hours. Since you’ve cracked the hour-o-meter we’ll have to get another graphic to follow 2008’s goal of 9,800 hours. I’m thinkin’ pie...without any calories, of
course...great taste...less filling.

Dear Aunt Bea...

Aunt Bea is a strong proponent of the “rule of three” when it comes to vegetation. You know, “rule of three, leave it be” or else you’ll end up like my editor...squinting at me through his poison ivy swollen eye.

Dear Aunt Bea,
May I update the orange tip sheet/navigation guide?
Tippi Headren

Dear Tippi,
When the book is being prepared, the volunteers and staff who analyze and mark the book don’t find every weird notation or conceit that the author or publisher has decided to put in their tome. And some of them are on subjects that, well, only a few of you understand. (In the words of Charles Brunswick, “I can read the words, but I can’t tell you the subject.”) This is proper tip sheet updating etiquitte: When you come across something new or unusual or that has been described too many times, you are welcome to add how you handled the situation...as long as you consult with a staff member before doing so. Then pleaseadd it to BOTH orange sheet. Then please initial and date the entry. Oh, and Tippi, is it true you’re starring
in a sequel to “The Birds”, set in Princeton, called “ The Geese”?

Volunteer happenings

Felice Weinstein spent time in Italy. Dot Messineo was cruising the coast of New England. Harry Zepolsky toured the Galopogos Islands. Alison Hankinson emails “hi!” from Corsica. John Schivell was hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Carol Ann Aspray was hiking in Vermont. Rick Sindingis spending time in New England and eastern Canada and will then go off to Egypt, South Africa and Namibia. Claudia Homoki and Xenia Cirulis were in Russia (separately) where Norm Avrutin is now traveling.. Ruth Smet was in Colorado. Manishika Agaskar is spending July studying engineering at the New Jersey Governor’s School. Charles Austin is off to Buenos Aires and Sao Paolo. Janet and Stuart Nagourney were in Seattle and British Columbia. Marty Sacksis cruising the Baltic. Roger Brinkis off to New Mexico.

Nathan Dutzmannis taking his Math and Economics expertise to study at the Harvard Business School. We hope he has time to share his immense talents with the Boston Unit. (He can swap New Jersey Unit stories with our other favorite six-foot-six mega-genius–Greg Paris.)

Speaking of former Chemistry readers, Martin and Fiona Case report in from Vermont that they are expecting their first child–a boy–in November.

Our resident cartoonist Richard Telofski was interviewed on WDVR-FM. His comic strip, Conehenge: The Story of a Jersey Schlubcan be seen at www.conehenge.com.

Your faithful editor was in North Carolina for his girlfriend’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration. He will soon be off to San Diego for Legoland and Petco Field. His poem about his experience with a past employer was published in the U.S. 1 Summer Fiction issue.

And Mindy Langer’sdaughter Adina(a former volunteer and staff member) and husband Corey will be reading their terrific poetry at the Princeton MarketFair Barnes & Noble on Monday, August 13 at 8 p.m.

If there’s any news you’d like to share with your fellow volunteers, please tell Tony Gruenewald or send him an email at tgruenewald@rfbd.org.

There’s still time for your mug shot!

Thanks to volunteers Karen Frezzaand Lisa Luke, the first edition of our Volunteer Face Book is ready for your perusal by the sign out book. There are a fair number of you who have contributed, but we’d still like to see as many faces as possible in the book. The biography forms are still available and can be slipped into the box with a photo you’d like to share at any time. They will be added to the book on a regular basis. With the stories of volunteers at this unit, the facebook is already a better
page turner than the Harry Potter books and can only get better with more of your contributions!

Fond farewell

Vince Meseroll, who volunteered at the Princeton and West Windsor studios for ten years until 2000 passed away in late June at 90. Anyone who knew Vince surely remembers his Cronkitesque tones.

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

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