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Community Connections |
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May 2012 |
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What’s Going On? May 2nd, 2012: South Portland Disability Peer Support Group 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Alpha One in South Portland, Maine. This group meets the first Wednesday of each month and is open to anyone with a physical disability to attend. Contact Alpha One in South Portland at (207) 767-2189 or TTY at (207) 767-5387. May 3rd, 2012: Wells Support Group 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Meetings held at the Wells Congregational Church, Post Road (US Route 1) 1st Thursday of the month (except July and August), from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. FMI call Brenda Bacon 646-7079. May 3rd, 2012: “Mid-June Celebration” Opening at Eastern Maine Community College! 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. An exhibit of Jim Powers’ oil paintings will be on display in the John Rohman Art Gallery at Eastern Maine Community College from May 3rd through June 27th, 2012! For more information on this exhibit, please contact the library at EMCC at (207) 974-4640. May 5th, 2012: Pine Tree Guide Dog User Open House 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 in Augusta. Cost: $15.00 Includes Coffee/tea and donuts in morning and soup and sandwich buffet for lunch. The schedule of events includes registration, welcome, presentation by Emergency Management Agency of Maine, Augusta Fire Department Ambulance Service, lunch, business meeting, afternoon speaker Becky Barnes and door prizes. Please R.S.V.P. by May 1st to Cheryl Peabody (207) 872-7594 or epeabody@roadrunner.com. May 7th, 2012: The Sunshine Club 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meets the 1st Monday of each month at the Lobster Trap on 25 Bay St. Winslow. Contact Betty Soule at (207) 872-2967 or (207) 557-5181 for more information about the club. May 10th, 2012: RP Support Group 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. Contact Cammy Moraros at (207) 774-6273 for more information. May 10th, 2012: Maine Mall Walking Group 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Let’s meet at the Maine Mall for some walking, a cup of coffee and/or lunch with other local people. Please contact The Iris Network at (207) 774-6273 to express interest in attending or transportation needs. May 10th, 2012: Deaf-Blind, Dual-Sensory Impaired, Support Service Provider Potluck! 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at The Iris Network in Portland. This is a time to celebrate our on-going program, to meet each other, and to get back on track possibly with the program, and refresh your skills a bit. There is a lot going on this summer May 12th, 2012: Alpha One: Ability Expo 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Brewer Auditorium. The day will feature Youth in Motion, Wheelchair Rugby, Wheelchair Basketball, Sip-&-Puff Air Rifle shooting, hand-cycling, adapted vehicle demos, and more! Organized by Alpha One and the Health, Wellness & Recreation Committee, the Ability Expo's mission is to create active recreation opportunities for people with disabilities and reveal to the community the many fun, exciting, accessible sports available to children and adults with disabilities. We’d love for you to join us for the day and try out some of the many recreation opportunities available to you for free! For more information contact Jeremy Libby at jlibby@alphaonenow.org. May 14th, 2012: The Rainbow Club 10 a.m. to noon on the second Monday of each Month. This group meets at the American Legion Post 205, 396 Eastern Ave. in Augusta. Lunch cost is $7.00. Please contact Barbara Potter for more information and to R.S.V.P. at (207) 622-3512 May 15th, 2012: Waterville Disability Peer Support Group 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church. This group meets each month on the third Tuesday of the month. For more information, contact Alpha One in Bangor at (207) 941-6553 or TTY (877) 229-8954. May 16th, 2012: Living with Grace Gardening Session 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. (optional brown bag lunch after) Please join us to learn about adaptive methods for planting and caring for your garden (whether it is indoors or out). Even with limited or no vision, you can learn how to tell the difference between a seedling and a weed, re-pot or plant in a straight line, deal with garden pests, use containers for gardening, organize your tools and much more. Come and share your “green thumb” experiences. We are suggesting a $5.00 donation for this workshop. Please do not let the inability to pay keep you from coming. Please rsvp by May 9 at 774-6273, 1-800-715-0097 or rmlotek@theiris.org. May 17th, 2012: Advocacy Workshop Session 6 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the State Capitol Building in the Welcome Center in Augusta, Maine. This session will be a presentation about town planning and how to be involved. If you are interested in attending this session, be sure to contact Aisha so she has contact information if any changes happen prior to our meeting. In the event that there is a change, we will meet via conference line. Please contact Aisha Hixon at The Iris Network for more information and plans on attending. Contact: (207) 632-4520 or ahixon@theiris.org. May 17th, 2012: Blinded Veterans Association Resource Picnic 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gazebo on the Togus Grounds. This event is for all of the blind and visually impaired veterans and their guests. We would like to celebrate Armed Forces week with you. This event will have a series of national and local organizations that provide direct or indirect services to blind and visually impaired persons throughout the state of Maine. They will discuss what they do, what they can do for you and possibly what you can do for them. There will be organizations like: Pine tree Guide Dog Users, Togus Recreation Department, Division for the Blind, Iris Network, New England Blind Athletes Association, Catholic Charities of Maine, Commissioner of Labor, and many more. Transportation assistance is available. RSVP: Michelle Mason 402-0179; Please spell you last name, your last 4, the town you live in, if you are willing to help with transportation or need help, and the number of people attending. May 19th, 2012: Let’s Go Bowling!! Beginning at 12 noon. This event is for adults over the age of 18 who is interested in bowling! Teams from Portland, Augusta and Bangor will be meeting for competition. This is sponsored by the District 41 Lions Club. Lunch is on your own, an awards banquet will be taking place at 6 p.m. for all participants. A bus will be leaving Bangor at 10:30 to Newport. The group will be staying at Lovely’s Motel Saturday night and returning Sunday. Contact Mark Sinclair if you are interested at (207) 831-5229. May 20th, 2012: Behind Our Eyes 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. This group meets through phone calls to discuss writings, listen to speakers and network with fellow writers. Meetings are held the first and third Sunday of each month. Contact Bobbie LaChance at 795-8999 for more information. Each month the Cancer Community Center located in South Portland, Maine holds a variety of events for people who have been directly or indirectly effected by cancer. Educational seminars about health and life, recreation and leisure programs and discussions with authors are a few events offered. Please contact the Cancer Community Center for information about current and upcoming programs at (207) 774-2200 or info@CancerCommunityCenter.org. Do you know of an event that will be happening in Maine? Do you want to spread the word about that event? Let us know! Submit information about upcoming events by May 23rd, 2012 for the next newsletter. Past Happenings In April, discussions and planning for camps continued! Look forward to a summer of events and happenings! The Advocacy Workshop for the month focused on Guide Dogs and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lynn Duplessis of Pine Tree Guide Dog Users attended this meeting to share a great deal of information and ways to ensure coverage in communities with guide dogs. A big thank you for all who participated and to Lynn for her phenomenal presentation to the audience! The American Council of the Blind hosted a Comedy Show at Peaks Auditorium in the Bangor High School. This was greatly attended and the American Council of the Blind of Maine received donations at this event! Also in April, the second of two Accessibility Matters Workshops hosted by the Maine Arts Commission happened at the Bangor Public Library. This gave professionals an opportunity to present information on how arts and theater organizations can assist visitors who have a disability with access to programs and the arts. The first of these sessions was held in Portland in March. Future Plans The New England Blind Athletic Association is gearing up for Summer Sports Education Camp at the University of Maine in Orono. Save the dates: June 20th -23rd, 2012. Visit www.nebaamaine.org for more information and application for your student age 10 to 18. Also on the agenda for June! The first day of the New England Blind Athletic Association Sports Education Camp will be a Recreation Day open to people of all ages! June 20th, 2012 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. will include adapted cycling, golf, fencing, goalball and more! Please In June, we will be holding the last of the Advocacy Workshop Series. This session will take place in the Welcome Center on June 21st from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. If you have attended any of the sessions, please try to attend the final session to debrief with us on how this workshop has worked and where it can be changed in the future. Save the date!! Camp Jack & Linda Beveridge will be happening at Camp CaPella the third weekend in July, 2012. Save July 20th-22nd, 2012! The American Council of the Blind is working to find some volunteer help for this camp. Contact Mary Ellen Frost for more information (207) 426-2651. October is White Cane Awareness month! Stay tuned for dates and locations of White Cane Walks and events throughout the month of October!! Information of Interest Call The Iris Network Activity Line to R.S.V.P. and learn more about upcoming events!! The phone is 518-5060 or if Portland is long distance, you can call 1-800-715-0097 and ask the receptionist for extension 3360. Please call often. *Please Note: If you are calling about a service or need to have a question answered, please do not use this extension. The National Federation of the Blind of Maine is expanding! Visit this advocacy group at www.nfb-me.org. The monthly open calls have been discontinued but now the Lighthouse At Large meetings are taking place by conference call. Contact Patricia Estes for more information on NFB of Maine and how to be involved at (207) 344- 8292. The Adaptive Technology Help Desk is available to assist with any glitches or difficulties people are experiencing with technology They are open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. central time by calling 888-825-0080 or emailing ray.campbell@chicagolighthouse.org Contact Us Aisha Hixon, Community Connections Project Coordinator at ahixon@theiris.org or by phone at (207) 632-4520. |
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