December 2016 newsletter

BOLD VENTURES
December 2016

Blind Outdoor Leisure Development
BOLD welcomes persons 18 and older with all degrees of vision: blind, low vision, partially sighted and fully sighted.
PO Box 8114
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Terri Winaught, Editor
Email: boldwpa@gmail.com
website: www.wpabold.blogspot.com
Update Line: 1-773-597-4222 (updates recorded each Friday.)

DECIDEDLY DELIGHTFUL DECEMBER
The BOLD Board welcomes you at and encourages you to enjoy the following events:
Tuesday the 6th: BOLD'S Board will meet at One Smithfield Street from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
Thursdays the 1st and 15th: Mall Walking at the Ross Park Mall from 9:30 to 11:30 AM on the 1st, and 10 AM to noon on the 15th. To sign up with Pat DePasquale for the 1st, call 412-492-1692 by 9 PM on Sunday, November 27th. To sign up with Toni Kelly for Thursday the 15th, call 412-965-4443 by 9 PM on Sunday, December 11th.

Thursdays the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th: Yoga at Squirrel Hill's Schoolhouse Yoga Studio: 2215 Murray Ave. from 2:30 to 4 PM. The cost per person per class is $10 payable on the day of instruction. The reservation deadline with Veronique Schreurs, 412-225-4038, is always the Tuesday before by 9 PM. Note: To see if any of the above dates change due to the Holiday Season, phone the Update Line: 1-773-597-4222.

Sunday the 11th: Holiday Party from 2 to 6 PM in the Homestead Grays Room at One Smithfield Street, Downtown Pittsburgh.
The menu will be: chicken parmesan, glazed ham with pineapple slices, stuffed shells, scalloped potatoes, a vegetable medley; rolls and butter; tea and coffee; cold beverages; snacks, and desserts.

The reservation deadline with Cindy Perseo, 412-421-3992, is Sunday, November 27th by 9 PM. That deadline is also when Veronique Schreurs needs to receive $15 (fifteen) dollars per person in the form of a check or money order. Make your check or money order payable to Western PA BOLD, and indicate in the memo that it is for the Holiday Party. If you are including 2017 dues, then please indicate that in the memo.

Veronique's address is: 2269 Tilbury Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217.

Wednesdays the 14th and 28th: Mall Walking at the Monroeville Mall from 9 to 11.

Sign up with Joyce Driben, 412-521-4385, the Thursday before.

Sunday the 18th: Dom Ceresa and Pat McCloskey will hold a Downhill Ski Guide Clinic from 9 AM to 3 PM at Seven Springs.
To sign up the Tuesday before, phone Dom Ceresa by 9 PM at 724-527-1857. If you need to cancel, phone Dom by 8 PM, Saturday the 17th.

PAST EVENTS

Tandem Biking scheduled for October 22nd was canceled due to weather, and the shopping trip to Grove City scheduled for November 12th was canceled because too few people signed up. Tons of thanks to Penny Fleckenstein who took reservations for both events.

LOOKING AHEAD

Downhill Skiing will be held in January, 2017 on Sundays the 8th and 22nd.

The reservation deadline with Dom Ceresa, 724-527-1857, will always be the Tuesday before by 9 PM, and the cancellation deadline with Dom will always be the day before by 8 PM. Since Dom also conducts Cross-Country Clinics and outings, let him know if you are a Cross-Country skier. Regarding clinics and outings, remember that Cross-Country is very weather dependent.

ADMINISTRATIVE ADD-ONS

Dues for 2017 are to be paid by December 31st, 2016.

Make your $12 (twelve) dollar check or money order payable to Western PA BOLD; indicate in the memo that it is for 2017 dues, and send it to Treasurer Veronique Schreurs at 2269 Tilbury Ave., Pittsburgh, 15217. We value each BOLD member, and thank you in advance for renewing.

On another administrative note, the offices up for re-election are 2nd Vice-President, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer (see November's newsletter for duties).

At the Holiday Party, First Vice-President Nancy Leverett will announce that Penny Fleckenstein, Karen Seligman, and Veronique Schreurs are willing to retain the offices of 2nd Vice-President, Recording Secretary, and Treasurer respectively. Nancy will then ask for any nominations from the floor. If there are none, then the Board members just mentioned will continue holding their offices.

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

To see if there are any free Pittsburgh Symphony tickets left for the Sunday, December 4th concert, call Joyce Driben at 412-521-4385. If tickets are available and you ask for one or two, thank you for using them or telling Joyce ASAP if you can't so that she can quickly pass them on to someone on her waiting list.

The Pittsburgh Opera will present their free Brown Bag Lunch concert from noon to 1 on Saturday, December 10th. This will be a very full program with lots of Holiday songs, activities for children, and other festivities.

Although reservations are unnecessary, signing up is helpful if you are blind and will need sighted assistance. To do that by 5 PM Wednesday, December 7th, call Marilyn Egan: 412-281-0912, x242.

No additional operas will be held until Sunday, January 8th, when Opera Up Close will be held from 2 to 4 PM, and a Sensory Workshop for Richard the Lionheart will be held from 4 to 6 PM. (Sensory workshops familiarize individuals who are blind or have low vision with an opera's costumes, props and set.)

Both offerings will be held at Pittsburgh Opera's Strip District headquarters: 2425 Liberty Ave.

On Tuesday, January 24th, the Pittsburgh Opera will present Richard the Lionheart at CAPA (more in January's BOLD Ventures).

There will be no audio-described City Theatre plays until February.

A final Cultural Connection is that BOLD received an E-mail from Pittsburgh Public Theater that was too late for November's newsletter. What this Editor still can note, though, is that the Public will offer another free play in the spring of 2017 with new equipment that simultaneously provides audio description and closed captioning.

FUNDRAISING FACTS

BOLD recently received a check in the amount of $146.83 from the Pittsburgh Foundation for the September 21st Day of Giving. Combined with the $404.26 we received from the May 3rd Day of Giving, the total for this two-part fundraiser is $551.09.

During BOLD'S Holiday Party, the Fundraising Chair will conduct several raffles, the first of which will be a 50-50, with the winner receiving half of the money raised. There will also be prize raffles, so remember: "You can't win if you don't buy a ticket," so here's hoping someone will win some cold, hard holiday cash!

BOLD BITS

Compassion, condolences and prayers to MaryEllen Mulvehill whose cousin, Eilene, died suddenly. (This Editor doesn't know, however, when MaryEllen's cousin passed.)

Get Well wishes to Cindy Perseo who has been struggling with and striving to recover from bronchitis.

Ongoing wishes to Maurice Johnston as he continues to recover at the Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center from a broken hip. Although Maurice had a setback that had him in Mercy Hospital, he has bounced back beautifully from that infection.

Congratulations to Ashley Winaught who was recently hired by CVS to work at their 6th and Liberty store Downtown in a variety of capacities.

Congrats also to Joyce Driben who recently returned from Seeing Eye(R) with a new dog. Since it is never easy to lose one guide and acquire another almost immediately, this Editor wishes Joyce nothing but the best, and is sure that everyone else feels the same.

The Pittsburgh Lutheran Center for the Blind is hosting their annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 10th.

To reserve with Sherri Crum by 6 PM on Saturday, December 3rd: 412-682-1800. Persons wanting to attend can begin signing up on Saturday, November 26th.
Pat McCloskey continues to blog about outdoor recreation with an emphasis on skiing. To read his posts and learn about discounts on skiing equipment, visit: chroniclesofmccloskey.com.

As of December 2nd, Jim and Terri Winaught's new address will be: 915 Penn Ave., Apt. 307, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. The phone numbers will remain the same as follows: 412-263-2022, Jim and Terri's home; 412-712-2436, Jim's cell, and 412-506-2004, Terri's cell. Also regarding information changes, Natasha Brown and Josh Kinder have gotten the following new numbers respectively: 412-535-1708 for Natasha and 412-583-3851 for Josh.

Happy Birthday to Don Ciccone, Ernie College, Celeste Compomizzi, Ethel Deiuliis, Diane Kirk, Lisa McManus, Terry McManus, John Perseo, Karen Seligman, Tina Wassermann, Kielan Williams, and anyone else with a December birthday. Belated Wishes with this Editor's apology to L.J. Zigerell, whose birthday was in November.

Thank you so much to Marty Mathews, Veronique Schreurs, and the Braille Outreach Team which Tina Wassermann so excellently leads for making this newsletter available and accessible each month.

THE END