(EYE) TALK

Spring 2010

Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired of

Jefferson Co.

321 Prospect Street Watertown, NY 13601

Phone: 782-2451 e-mail: asnblind@imcnet.net

Upcoming Events Planned

An evening with Wilson Stevenson, psychic medium, to benefit the Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired of Jefferson Co. will be held at the Community Room, WPBS-TV, 1056 Arsenal St., Watertown. The group reading will be held on Friday, March 12th at 7:00 pm. There will be a donation of $10 at the door with the proceeds going to the Association. Coffee will be available. Seating is limited so please pre-register by calling 782-2451.

Black River Fiddlers Fling will be held on Sunday, April 25th at the Eagles Club, outer Washington St. from noon – 5 p.m. $3 donation at door benefits Association f/t Blind & Visually Impaired of Jeff. Co.

The 15th Annual Lawrence Kissel Memorial golf tournament has been scheduled for July 16th, it will be held at Highland Meadows Golf Club, Rte 342, Watertown. There will be a 12:30 shotgun start, men’s and women’s teams captain and crew format. For more details, call 782-2451.

Digital Books versus Cassette. Despite the arrival of the new digital books and players available from NYS Talking Books, books on cassette will continue to be available for many years. New cassette books will be produced until the end of 2010. You may also have both a cassette machine and the new digital player. The new “digital” books are on a flash memory cartridge about the size of a cassette tape that slots into the front of the player. It’s much easier to use than cassette tapes. One end has a round finger hole so that you will be able to tell which end is which and also to be able to easily extract the cartridge from the machine. The other end is beveled for easy insertion. Unlike the tapes there’s only one way to insert the book. Moreover, there’ll be no need, as with the current cassette tapes, to turn it over or change “sides”. To further simplify things, almost every digital book will be on one cartridge only. There is a completely redesigned machine to accommodate the new technology. The digital talking book machine is smaller than the current player and lighter too, weighing only around two pounds. The new machine is powered by a rechargeable battery, just like the cassette machine, but the will play for 35 hours on one charge, and can tell you how much playing time remains. The digital technology offers better sound reproduction than the older players. If you are interested in receiving a new digital machine, call the Talking Book & Braille Library at (800)342-3688.

If you have a magnifier you are no longer using, the Association is in need of donations of used magnifiers in good working condition. Please call the Association at 782-2451 to donate an unused item to be "recycled" that will benefit someone else.

March is Membership Month. You can help support the Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired of Jefferson County by joining or renewing your membership today. See membership link below. Recieve $5 off a Dining Out card with your membership donation (see Dining Out link below).

J Send in your favorite recipe; it may be included in an upcoming newsletter and/or in a collection of recipes reproduced in large print.