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FEBRUARY/MARCH,  2018
FEBRUARY CALENDAR
21-Trip planning committee meeting, 6:00, Buckley's
28 -walking with Delta Gamma; West Town Mall; 6:00-8:00 PM
24-25-AKIMA Cabaret at Bijou Theater; details below

MARCH CALENDAR
3-West Knox Lions Club pancake breakfast; Bravos, 8:00-10:00 am; details below
4-Planning meeting for St. Louis trip; 2:00-4:00 PM; details below
7&21 -Walking with Delta Gamma;  West Town Mall; 6:00-8:00 PM
12-Board meeting; 6:00 PM
18 -Tandem bicycling, Cherokee Blvd; 2:00-4:00 PM; RSVP to Sue
19-Sue and VIBES member, Sophie,  speak at Delta Gamma house
Freedom to Fly Blog
WHAT IS NEW THIS MONTH ON OUR BLOG PAGE?

CARLESS IN A CAR CULTURE
Trying to explain what it is like to live without a car in contemporary American life is like trying to explain what it is like to live without water to a fish. Just as the fish can't imagine life without water, it's virtually impossible for most Americans to imagine life without a car.  Read more

SHARE THE BLOGS
If you know of someone who might benefit from our blogs, please share them.  You can share them from Facebook where the blog is posted each month, and you can also find all of our previous blogs at the Club VIBES website,  club-vibes.org,
from where they can also be shared.

NEWS
DELTA GAMMA, WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!

Congratulations to the UT chapter of Delta  Gamma on recently winning the  Panhellenic  awards for Chapter of the 
Photo: Delta Gamma ladies display trophy and plaques.
Year,  New Program of the Year and Rising
Leader of the Year on the UT campus.  Club VIBES is thankful for all of the  support we receive from DG.











GO PAIGE 
Photo: Paige and Sue at Kids Run Kickoff
 
Paige, a member of Club VIBES who participated in the National Fitness Challenge, is commited to continue walking to maintain the fitness she has gained. She participated in the Covenant Health Kids Run Kickoff on January 27 at the Knoxville Zoo.  She was joined by her mom, Dawn, and Sue Buckley.  Paige will complete 25 one mile walk/runs prior to the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon on March 24 at which time Paige and other kid's marathon participants will run or walk a 1.2 mile course course completing their 26.2 mile total, completing their marathon.
NEW PARTNERS
Club VIBES is welcoming new partners for 2018-2019 who we will be introducing in our March newsletter.  There is still time to become a partner. If you know of a business that might be interested, call Sue so that she can contact them.  Among the benefits for our partners is the placement of their logo at the bottom of each newsletter for two years and on Club VIBES apparel. We also introduce each partner through a short article in our newsletter.

A NIGHT WITH THE LADY VOLS 
Photo of basketball
Thank you Vol Leaders for providing tickets for 24 Club VIBES members, families and friends to attend the Lady Vol vs Georgia basketball game on February 11.  We added a lot of noise to the arena and obviously our presence brought the Lady Vols luck as they easily glided to a victory of 62-46. We look forward to sharing our luck with other VOLS teams by attending  more Vols sporting events.
MEMBERS CORNER
TWO TRIPS THIS YEAR!

PLANNING FOR ST. LOUIS
Plans are underway for Club VIBES upcoming trip to the American Council of the Blind International Conference scheuled for June 29-July 2.  A group of VIBES members plus some volunteer guides will carpool to St Louis on June 29 where they will attend workshops on various aspects of blindness, view the latest in technology related to blindness, and network with other blind and low vision persons from all over the world. In addition, this trip will provide VIBES members with a number of experiences important to an active and independent life such as;
-importance of learning about the hotel in advance of arrival; its layout, where the reception desk is from the front door 
-important to know about their room; where the thermostat is, how to operate it, how to call the front desk, where the emergency exits and stairs are, how to
travel downstairs and locate the restaurant alone.

AND THEN SAVANNAH
Plans are also underway for a trip to Savannah, Georgia in October during the Knox County Schools fall break.  Those participating in this trip will be the Club VIBES members who were on the National Fitness Challenge team and the volunteers who helped.  In contrast to the Washington DC tandem bicycling trip, this time we will focus on walking tours with visits to historical sites in and around Savannah. So remember that YOUR fitness challenge is not over.  It is important to keep fit so that you can do the walking tours we are planning.  

MANDATORY MEETING
All VIBES members and volunteers who are interested in going on either, or both, trips must attend a mandatory meeting on Sunday, March 4 at 2:00 at the Buckley's.  If you cannot attend, (please don't come if you have signs of the flu) call Sue BEFORE March 4.

PAIN WITH KANE
Missy has a message for all of the NFC team members. Keep in shape so that you can do the Savannah trip. Take advantage of the Delta Gamma walks.  "Pain with Kane"

VOLS LEADERS ADAPTIVE SPORTS EVENT
UT VOLS Leaders is a class for scholarship athletes who are leaders in their sport. They wish to promote Global Sports and participation for all and as a result need to know how to adapt various sports so that persons with all kinds of disabilities can participate. To gain experience, they plan and hold an adaptive sports event which will be on Saturday, April 29.  Mark your calendar and watch for details in the March newsletter.

FUNDRAISING
LET'S HELP THOSE WHO HELP US

DELTA GAMMA
Delta Gamma does so much to support Club VIBES and now we have an opportunity to support Delta Gamma. Through OTBT shoes (Off the Beaten Trail). When we purchase a pair of shoes, (boots, sneakers, sandals), we receive a 15% discount on a great pair of footwear and Delta Gamma receives 10% of the purchase price. The selection can be viewed at   https://www.otbtshoes.com . Type TENNDELTAGAMMA as the coupon code for the discount and for Delta Gamma to receive the donation.  
Let's help Delta Gamma help Club VIBES!









                 Photo of sneaker                                  Photo of boot

WEST KNOX LIONS CLUB PANCAKE BREAKFAST
Another organization who supports Club VIBES is the Lions Club. They make financial contributions to Club VIBES and also provide important contributions to the Knoxville low vision and blind communities through vision screenings, providing the vision vans for Knox County Schools, assisting in eye exams and purchase of eye glasses to those who need these services. Let's take this opportunity to show our appreciation by supporting their pancake breakfast on Saturday, March 3, from 8:00-10:00 am at Bravos, 106 Major Reynolds Pl, just off of Kingston Pike, on Bearden Hill. Tickets are $6.00 at the door and include sausage, scrambled eggs, and of course, delicious light, fluffy pancakes plus juice and coffee.  

AKIMA CABARET
Club VIBES has received  several grants  from AKIMA, a Knoxville club devoted to     
          Photo of Cabaret flyer
the betterment of the community  through providing grants to  organizations  that help the local area.  

Club VIBES has used the grants to 
obtain equipment for the tandem 
bicycling program.  Now we have an 
opportunity to help AKIMA with their 
major fundraiser, an evening 
(or afternoon) of entertainment 
provided by some of their very talented members.  The show is at  the Bijou Theater and tickets range  from $40.00-$150.00.  See the flyer for details.






                                                                                                                                  

SPRING IS ALMOST HERE; SO IS THE VIBES FLOWER SALE
Photo of impatiens

We will soon be taking orders for hanging baskets of flowers and ferns. We will offer several varieties and colors.  With delivery in time for Mother's Day, these will make wonderful gifts. Look for more details in our next newsletter.
 
TECH NEWS
As strange as it seems, Microsoft has recently released an app for IOS devices, Seeing AI, that turns the visual world into an audible experience.  With this intelligent camera app, just hold up your phone and hear information about the world around you. It is similar to the KNFB app but has some major differences such as it is FREE, and performs more functions such as it reads handwriting, barcodes, can ID (or describe) people and photos, reads short text such as signs and labels as well as longer text such as menus and documents. It provides instant feedback and is easy to learn to use. An android version will be available in the future. It is available in the IOS Apple Store.  Click here for more details about the Seeing AI App.