December 2021 newsletter

BOLD VENTURES                                                                         

December 2021

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

Editorial team: Veronique Schreurs, Nancy Leverett, Terri Winaught, Peggy Walsh

Email: boldwpa@gmail.com

Website: www.wpabold.blogspot.com

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

Admin note: we are keeping the dues for 2022 to $12. Please send your check made out to W PA BOLD to Veronique Schreurs, 2269 Tilbury Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15217. Call Veronique 412-225-4038 if that is a hardship, and you would like to remain in Bold.

The following WPA BOLD Board positions are up for reelection: President, Vice President, and Corresponding Secretary. Please call Tammi Swiantek 412-488-6298 if you are interested in serving Bold in one of those positions.

WE ARE CONTINUING OUR NEW CONFERENCE CALL SYSTEM!   Please read! The number to call is (385)799-9487. There is no passcode for participants. To mute yourself, press *6, same to unmute. This info will apply every time “conference call” is mentioned in the newsletter.

NOTE Comcast users there is a problem connecting to the conference line.  The work around or back door is first to dial 206-451-6045. Then you will be asked to enter the conference line number for BOLD followed by the pound sign. This is a Comcast problem. 

Anyone can hear a recording of the newsletter. Instead of mailing out cassette recordings, people can call (401) 252-0029 Access Code: 265365#. 

Please note: Regarding covid-19, For in-person events, we will follow CDC recommendations as they stand at the time of each event, which may include wearing masks, especially for those who are not vaccinated.

CALENDAR

Every Thursday from 2:45pm, until 3:45pm, on the conference line YOGA KEEPS GOING free of charge to participate! Thank you to those who sent a contribution.  Call Veronique 412-225-4038 if you want to be added to the email list for yoga. If you are enjoying yoga, please consider sending a donation to BOLD. 

Change to our popular weekly chat session! beginning in December we will be skipping the chat session the first Tuesday of the month until further notice. The rest of the month starting at 7 pm we will have a one-hour chat session where our Bold members can connect with each other or ask for help.

Call the conference line to join and if you don’t have free long distance on your phone, call Joyce 412-521-4385 at least one hour ahead, to be tapped in. The conversation doesn’t have to be BOLD related. We are trying to have only one person talk at a time after the initial 5 minutes. The moderators are: Penny November 23, Veronique November 30, Karen Dec. 14, Terri Dec. 21, Joyce Dec. 28.  

DECEMBER 

Tuesday, December 7, from 6:30 to 8:00 BOLD Board Meeting at 1 Smithfield St.  This is the first in person Board Meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. Any non-Board Members who want to attend must call Tammi at 412-488-6298 by December 6 and all who attend must be fully vaccinated.

Wisconsin BOLD has invited the members of WPA BOLD to join their virtual events. All the times given for their events are the local Pittsburgh Eastern Standard times. If you have questions about the virtual Wisconsin BOLD events call Nancy Leverett at 412-561-3972.  

Wednesday, December 8, Wisconsin virtual bingo, from 7:00 pm. - 9:30 pm via Zoom.

BOLD virtual event sign in information

Join Zoom Meeting with the ZOOM APP on your computer or smart device.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81466070331

Or use your landline or smartphone without the Zoom APP to join by your phone's long-Distance plan: 929 205 6099, put a comma and

Enter the Meeting ID: 814 6607 0331, 

Then press the pound key (#) and wait to be let in.

To join, contact Lion Ray Tweedale at (262) 224-5517 and provide the numbers of your own card.  You can also request a PDF card to be emailed to you that can be printed.  Only one card played per person, and your card must be registered with Ray.  We also enforce the last number called rule. There are cash prizes that if WPA BOLD members win will go to WPA BOLD as a donation.

No need to sign up. Just show up using the sign in listed at the beginning.

Ray will be on early at 6:30 pm Eastern for anyone that wants to be sure they can get in or would like to provide the numbers for their card. 

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!

Wednesday, December 15, 2021 WISCONSIN BOLD Virtual Family Feud 

from 6:30 PM Sign in and starting 7:00 PM SHARP!

Create your own team or call Tammi at 412-488-6298 to be a member of the Big BOLD Team. Then each person will join using the sign in information for Wisconsin BOLD.

We will be using actual Family Feud survey questions and will follow the format used by the actual game show. Make up your own team of 4-6 players and prepare to match wits with another team or you can sign up as an individual. Please register your team by calling Lion Ray @ 262-224-5517. If there are more than two teams, we will set up a structure so all can play. There of course will be prizes, but the real win will be in all the fun we will have.

Sunday December 19, 9am, Ski Guide Training, at Seven Springs, no cost, contact Scotto Gray by Thursday 12-16 to sign up at scottog@yahoo.com

FUTURE EVENTS

Ski dates for Sundays in 2022, no cost, start time 9am at Seven Springs: 1/23/22, 2/6/22, 2/27/22, 3/6/22, and 3/20/22 

PAST EVENTS

We had a joint call with Wisconsin BOLD where we watched a video about Aspen BOLD. Here is a link to the video https://archiveaspen.org/vimeo-embed/?vimeography_gallery=17&vimeography_video=572279323  in case you weren't on the call.

Grove City Shopping Trip: The 10 BOLD members spent a beautiful sunny fall day with their Slippery Rock University student guides shopping, eating and exploring the many stores. Many thanks to Peggy Walsh for her wonderful job of organizing the students and every aspect of the trip. Then after all her work she was unable to go shopping for her favorite chocolates and scented candles because she was in the hospital. Also, thanks to Dr. Bright and the Slippery Rock Students for making this event so successful.

CULTURAL activities Anyone interested in finding out what tickets, if any are available, please call Joyce Driben at 412-521-4385. The next opera will be in January.

Library events:

Book Club by Library for the Blind, on zoom or phone. Reserve by calling 800-242-0586 or email them at: LAMP@carnegielibrary.org. Upcoming books are:

Thursday, December 16th: Infinite Country by Patricia Engel DB 102478

January 20th: A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende DB 98363

BOLD BITS

From Erika Petach: BVRS has received funding to reopen the yoga studio and we are looking to train and hire individuals who are blind or visually impaired to be certified yoga instructors.  We will pay for their certification and training and will hire them upon successful completion of the training for our Blue Awning Yoga studio. Anyone who is interested should contact  

epetach@pghvis.org or call 412-368-4400.

Please send kind thoughts and prayers to Peggy Walsh who is having serious health problems.

Condolences to the family of our member Janet Jain who passed away in October after a brave fight with metastasized cancer. She will be sorely missed. No details of a memorial service yet, except that it may be next Spring.

Happy December Birthday to Ernie College, Celeste Compomizzi, Karen Seligman and anyone else with a December birthday.

THE END