Subject: NFB of California Convention 
 
     Come Join Us and Learn What's New About Blindness!     
 
 
NFB OF CALIFORNIA TO HOLD CONVENTION
 
THREE WEEKS TO GO!
 
It's been a busy year for the NFB of California, and
you're invited to share
in it by coming to our Convention.  It begins Thursday, October
31st and
ends on Sunday, November 3rd, 1996.
  
Highlights include an address by Marc Maurer, NFB National
President, as
well as talks by top California agency heads, such as Brenda Premo,
Director
of the state's Department of Rehabilitation, and Doneen Hedrick,
head of
California's Braille and Talking Book Library.  They will be
available for
questions, too.
 
Over the convention, there will be meetings for computer users, job
seekers,
dog guide users,  blind parents, parents of blind children, Braille
users, blind
students, deaf-blind concerns, and many others. We should also
learn late-breaking details about bringing Newsline to California.
 
The exhibit area, open only Friday Nov. 1st from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
will feature
technological solutions for problems faced by blind people. Look
for it on the
second floor atrium.
 
Also on Friday we're proud to host a special morning-long Job
Opportunities
for the Blind seminar.  Its topics will be diverse and powerful --
job hunting
using computers, exploring your career interests, marketing
yourself, and
inside tips for researching jobs.
 
Blind employers and employees will share the key to their success
at work. 
Come and join us for fun and information whether you are already
employed
or looking for employment.  This is a great opportunity to network. 
Seminar
starts at 9:00 a.m. Friday, November 1st.  For more information, or
if you
have an interesting job you'd like to tell us about, please call
Diane at (916)
443-2330.
 
General registrations starts October 31st at 5:30 p.m. and
continues on
Friday and Saturday nearly continuously.
 
We'll have Friday evening open for informal get-acquainted
hospitality, a no-host bar, and conversation.  We encourage people
to bring costumes for the
reception, which begins at 8:30 
 
LOGISTICS
 
Center for the Convention is the Jack London Inn, 444 Embarcadero
West,
just at Jack London Square.  The location is perfect for many forms
of
transportation.  The Jack London Square Amtrak stop is just two
blocks
away, providing service from southern California, the San Joaquin
Valley, the
Bay Area, and even far northern California.
 
Additionally, the Oakland Greyhound bus station is just 2 miles
away, and
the nearest BART stop, 12th Street, is even closer.  Persons
arriving from the
nearby Oakland International Airport can also get to the Inn with
a short
cab ride or longer AC transit.  For the adventurous, a commuter
ferry links
Jack London Square with San Francisco, a romantic and practical way
to
cross the bay.  And nearby Oakland chinatown is renowned for its
diversity
of affordable ethnic restaurants.
 
As usual, our room rates are enviable: $50.00 plus tax for single,
double,
triple and  quad rooms. But room reservations are filling up, so
call the hotel
early at (510) 444-2032.
 
We're also please to offer child care again at our convention.  The
hours will
be Saturday, November 2nd from  8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and from
7:15 p.m.
to 10:30 p.m.  On Sunday the hours will be from 8:30 a.m. until
12:00 p.m.
 
Also for children, we suggest bringing a little candy for Halloween
evening,
as a few of our youngest members will be roaming the hotel's
corridors.  
 
Blind hams will be active at the convention, too.  To share in the
fun, bring
your radios and tune in our designated simplex frequency, 147.480 
 
 
For further information, call Jim Willows, NFB of California
President at
(510) 846-6086.  Or the technically-minded can e-mail him at
jwillows@netcom.com.
 
                           NFB of California.
                                    
     Come see what we're doing to change what it means to be blind!
                           Engagement
 
Two long time Federationists and leaders in the state of California
wish to let the entire NFB family know of their engagement. 
 
On Friday September 27, 1996 Ellen Paxson, of Stockkton, Secretary
and Eric Clegg, of Sacramento,  President of Sacramento's River
City chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of California
became engaged.
 
These two Federationists have been members of the organized blind
movement since 1970. It is also interesting to note that they were
both present and attended their first national NFB convention in
Los Angeles in 1976 although they did not meet until April of 1989
in Chicago during the Social Security Administration's Star Project
where Ellen was one of the students and Eric was one of the access
technology instructors.
 
Eric has made his home in Sacramento since moving to California in
1990. Ellen has lived in Stockton for over twenty years.
 
As yet, the   couple have not set a wedding date.
--- Maximus/2 2.02
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