Dear GDUI Members and Friends, We have just a few items to add to the announcement we shared with you late on Saturday, after our very productive board meeting earlier that day and the town hall meeting which allowed our members to hear from many of us who serve on the board and as committee chairs, and let us hear from members from every region of the country. Honestly, we are still smiling as we reflect on how much enjoyment we all derived from being able to speak personally with so many of you, and we hope that even more of you will be able to join us for our next town hall meeting which will occur later on during the fall. If you would like to listen to the August 16 special board meeting and/or to the town hall meeting which began approximately an hour after the board meeting began, just call 712.432.1085, and enter the access code 919.245-pound. GDUI Secretary, Sarah Calhoun also created an MP3 file for these meetings. You can access the file here: https://sendspace/file/vyfdur. One of the most exciting things we accomplished at Saturdays board meeting was to confirm the appointment of Ginger Kutsch as chairperson of our GDUI Legislative Committee. Ginger has already been hard at work developing preliminary broad goals for what she hopes her committee will accomplish on behalf of GDUI, and I want to share her thoughts about what she expects the GDUI Legislative Committee to be doing, with all of you: · Update the electronic version of The Team – The Attack, A State Legislator’s Handbook on Guide Dog protection (The first edition was published in 2001 in booklet form); · Revise and update the legislative page for the GDUI web site; · New initiative: Create organizational position statements for legislative issues that relate to guide dog teams; ·New initiative: Promote the passage of state laws that make it a criminal offense to misrepresent a pet as a service animal. There have been reports of businesses successfully reducing the instances of fraud by posting signs warning patrons that “fraudulently misrepresenting service animals is a misdemeanor. (California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Utah, and Washington currently have either civil or criminal laws against misrepresenting pets as guide dogs and or service animals); ·New initiative: Submit a brief educational article related to state and federal laws in each issue of PawTracks. Each article will focus on a specific topic designed to help handlers gain a better understanding of the laws that protect their rights. Becky Barnes-Davidson, Chairperson for the GDUI Advocacy Committee tells us that she expects her committee to be working closely with the GDUI Legislative Committee, as, of course, all of our board members and committee chairs and liaisons will be doing as well. The future is looking much brighter for guide dog users in every region of the country in terms of addressing the issues all of us are most concerned about, advocating for the civil rights we are entitled to, and solving the problems that can keep us awake with worry in the middle of too many nights. Word is getting out about the positive directions toward which GDUI is moving, and we all hope that, once guide dog users learn about who we are, what we do, and how hard we are working or membership will grow again. On Monday, Carla Rushieval, who produces an excellent program on ACB Radio called Sound Prints, interviewed Penny for the show that is expected to air on Sunday, August 24, beginning at 10:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time and repeating every two hours thereafter for the next 24 hours. We hope that many of you will have an opportunity to hear our conversation. And, now, for one of the best pieces of news that we have been able to share with you: Our GDUI Toll-Free Phone Number is back! We were able to port our number over to Verizon, and it is now ringing on GDUI Office Manager, Jane Sheehans telephones. Reach any of us in GDUI by calling, toll free, 866.799.8436. If shes not immediately available, Jane will return your call within 24 hours. Unfortunately, the toll free aspect of our number applies only in the United States, so if you live outside the country, call Jane on her home number: 301.598.2131. Remember, you may access these periodic announcements by subscribing to the one-way GDUI-Announce List. Just send a message to this address: mailto:[email protected]. Or, if you prefer, you can use your telephone to listen to GDUIs announcements, which Bob Acosta updates every Tuesday, by calling this number: 646-653-1900. Our chat list is welcoming an ever-growing number of members and friends. To chat about any and everything guide dog related, join the list by sending e-mail to mailto:[email protected]. Remember, all of us who serve on GDUIs board, or as committee chairpersons, or as liaisons, or as empathizers are just a phone call away, and were eager to get to know all of you better. Sincerely, Penny and Will Penny Reeder, President Guide Dog Users, Inc. Will Burley, First Vice President Guide Dog Users, Inc.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 04:41:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015