BOLD VENTURES September 2025
Western Pennsylvania Blind Outdoor Leisure Development
This BOLD Ventures is sponsored by Karen Seligman, BOLD’s hard-working Secretary. Karen, thanks for your good minutes and your sponsorship!
Important Announcement: By year’s end, Elections will be held for BOLD’s President, First Vice-President, and Corresponding Secretary. To nominate yourself or another BOLD member, contact Nancy, the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, by 8 pm Sunday October 5 at 412-561-3972.
A BOLD Ventures Sponsorship Update
As you probably know, BOLD prides itself on the fact that our monthly newsletter, BOLD Ventures, is made available to our members in the format of their choice—email, braille, print, and large print. But doing this involves various costs. You could help defray some of the cost by being a BOLD Ventures sponsor for a month. Your willingness to help is much appreciated. We now have two levels of sponsorship. For $75 you can have your name, and a short greeting and a color picture of your choice in BOLD Ventures. You can either supply the picture or request a picture. If you donate $50, you can have your name and a short greeting of your choice in BOLD Ventures. For more information and to set up your sponsorship, contact Debby at 412-742-4288 or dm-hill@comcast.net.
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
Every Thursday in September, beginning September 4, from noon to 1:30, Ice skating at the Mount Lebanon Ice Center, 900 Cedar Blvd., Pittsburgh, 15228. Cost is $7. You can surely tell that fall is arriving because ice skating is back. If you’re looking for some exercise, consider Thursday ice skating. The ice is great, and accommodations can be made for all experience levels. If you’ve been thinking of trying skating, but you are worried about getting a ride, go ahead and sign up, and we may be able to find you transportation. We need sighted ice skaters to be guides on and off the ice. Sign-up by 8 pm on the Sunday before each date by leaving a voicemail or text for Tammi at 412-951-6528 or email at tswiantek@comcast.net.
Monday, September 8, from 6 to 8 pm, Board Meeting in-person at Western PA School for Blind Children, 250 N. Bellefield Avenue, Oakland. Any non-board Members who want to attend must call Nancy at 412-561-3972 by Saturday, September 6.
Tuesdays, September 9 and 23, from 10 am to 1:30 pm, Mall Walking at the Monroeville Mall. Cost is free. Lunch is on your own at the food court. Sighted guides and visually impaired walkers sign up by 11 am the Tuesday prior to the walk by calling Peggy at 412-683-6070 or text/call her at 412-977-2351. So, to sign up for September 9, contact Peggy by 11 am Tuesday, September 2, and for September 23 contact Peggy by 11 am September 16. Be sure to sign up so that if there is any change or cancellation for mall walking, you will get the information.
Wednesday, September 10, from 1 to 2 pm, BOLD Vision Support Group, on BOLD Conference Line 385-799-9487. Join BOLD member Amelie Colletti—Community Mental Health Professional and Client Intake Specialist at VisAbility Pittsburgh—for a supportive phone-based group for individuals with vision loss. Connect with others who understand your journey, share resources, celebrate successes, and offer mutual encouragement. To RSVP call/text Amelie at 412-266-9960 or email acolletti@visability.org or just call in.
Wednesday, September 10, from 7 to 9:30 pm, SE Wisconsin BOLD virtual bingo, for all the sign-up information leave a voicemail or text Tammi at 412-951-6528 or email at tswiantek@comcast.net. Good luck!
Saturday, September 13, from 11 am to 6 pm, Pittsburgh County Fair, Allegheny Commons Park West, 601 Ridge Avenue, 15212. This is the 3rd annual Pittsburgh fair featuring homegrown delicious food, crafts, and exhibits from around the city. BOLD will have a booth where we will be telling folks about BOLD and recruiting members and volunteers. During the first hours of the fair BOLD members will be judges for the “Best Tomato in Pittsburgh” contest. What fun! We get to pick the criteria for the judging and sample the tomatoes, yum! To sign up call Ryan at 412-592-9487 by noon Friday, September 12.
Sunday, September 14, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, Tandem Biking, Montour Trail, Tandem Connection Bicycle Shop, 5 Georgetown Road, Canonsburg, 15317. No charge for the ride and lunch. (Lunch details to be announced.) We need some sighted bikers to captain the tandem bikes and provide rides to and from the trailhead. Scotto will be there early to give tips and instructions of being a tandem captain and pair up captains and stokers. We will provide tandem bikes. However, if you know of a tandem we can use, please let us know about it. If you are a willing captain with questions, contact Scotto at scottog@yahoo.com. Everyone should make their reservation by 9 pm Sunday, September 7. Sighted captains contact Scotto at scottog@yahoo.com; visually impaired stokers contact Brad by email at bradleetebbs@gmail.com .
Monday, September 15, 11 am to 2 pm, Volunteer Fair, University of Pittsburgh, William Pitt Union Plaza, 3990 Fifth Ave. This is a good opportunity to get the word out about BOLD and recruit volunteers for BOLD events. If you have questions or would like to help out at the Fair, contact Terri at terriwinaught2@gmail.com or call her at 412-441-0925.
Wednesday, September 24, from 7:15 to 9:30 pm, SE Wisconsin BOLD virtual Family Feud, for all the sign-up information leave a voicemail or text Tammi at 412-951-6528 or email at tswiantek@comcast.net. Have fun!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sunday, October 5, from 1 to 5 pm, picnic at Ray Jablonowski’s home, 4551 Parade St. Pittsburgh, Pa, 15207. Cost is free. Enjoy an afternoon of playing Ray’s favorite card game Screw Your Neighbor! There will be pizza and hoagies. Also, sighted volunteers are needed to help out at the event, so if you can help be sure to make a reservation. Everyone should make your reservation by calling Linda at 412-681-9686 by 8 pm Thursday October 2.
Save this date for Tandem Biking: Saturday, October 11
Saturday, October 11 2 to 5 pm, BOLD Tupperware fundraiser, 5841 Forward Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217. More details to come in October’s BOLD Ventures.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Note from Diana and Tony: Hello BOLD Pittsburgh Symphony ticket seekers. This update is coming to you from Tony and Diana Rock regarding BOLD tickets for the upcoming PSO season. We want to be transparent with you regarding the availability of tickets. We have been diligently working to procure tickets but there will most likely be a delay in getting them this year because the person from the PSO who has been working with us is no longer with the symphony. Once a new person is selected to work with us, we will have more information to share with you. Please keep in mind that we are not sure of the availability of these tickets. We will continue to be in contact with the symphony and will notify you of our progress as things develop. We are sincerely sorry for this inconvenience and hope for a resolution shortly after you read this note. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding.
BOLD BITS
Sad news: We have learned that Louise Chuha, a former BOLD member, passed away in May. Our condolences to her family and friends.
My BOLD Take by Debby Hill
Nancy Leverett sure knows how to plan a picnic. The weather was beautiful, her backyard was efficiently decked out with tents and tables, and the food and company was great. My visit to her native plant garden was very interesting, but I can’t remember or pronounce many of the plants. However, I do remember the cone flowers. They are shaped like strawberries, but don’t really feel flower-like with their prickly blooms. Thank you Nancy and crew for a great BOLD Day. And Nancy would like to thank everyone who gave a helping hand to make the picnic a successful event!
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What an interesting way to spend a day! On August 20, BOLD member Maggi Ostrowski and blind tennis instructor and guru Dr. Jen Roth made a round trip visit to New York and the U.S. Tennis Open tournament. There they participated in a demonstration of blind tennis with other members of the U.S. Blind Tennis Association and several blind tennis players from the greater New York City area. This was a networking event to promote blind tennis and increase the blind tennis player community in preparation for the U.S.’s inaugural blind tennis tournament being held in Vancouver, WA, this October! Thanks Maggi and Jen for showing the world that eyesight is not absolutely necessary to enjoy playing tennis.
Lots of good luck to the BOLD rowers and volunteers from Three Rivers Rowing Association who are participating in the Bayada Regatta Rowing Race on September 13 in New Jersey.
Cindy Perseo had a recent battle with bronchitis. Cindy, we hope you are all better now.
Congratulations to Terri Winaught who recently passed the exam to renew her Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) certification.
Also, congratulations goes out to Penny Fleckenstein’s son, Zachary, who placed third in the North Borough 5-K held in August. Since his success, he has joined a nationwide running team.
Happy September Birthday to: Justin Hasson, Ceinwen King-Smith, Susan Oberlander, Stu Weissman and anyone else celebrating a September birthday!
NEWSLETTER RECORDING: Thanks to the fine work of Marty Mathews, anyone can hear a recording of this newsletter by calling 401-252-0029 Access Code: 265365#.
Contact Us
WPA BOLD
PO Box 9101
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Donate: Donate
Email: boldwpa@gmail.com
Website: www.wpabold.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wpabold
Editors: Debby Hill & friends