2010 Alumni Day

Dear Orientation Alumnus,

The 2010 Annual Orientation Center Alumni Day and Banquet will be held on Oct. 2. The theme this year is "Bring a Guest." Invite a friend, family member, employer, or another person of your choice to join you for this important occasion. It will be a good opportunity for you to share with them how attending the Center has changed your life.
 
The day will begin at 10 a.m. with the opening of the Aids and Devices Store and the Library. Stock up on cane tips and Braille paper, and find out what's new in the store. Stop in the Library to talk with staff, get some refresher training on the new digital player, and learn how to download NLS audio books from the Internet. 2010 also marks the 50th anniversary of our wonderful Library. More information will be available soon on the Oct. 1 celebration of this milestone. 
 
Lunch, featuring a variety of tasty appetizers, will be served in the Rec. Room from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. At 1:30, Director Karen Keninger will be in the Rec. Room to give her annual update on the Department. 
 
After Director Keninger's report, you will learn about an exciting new Department project. We have received a grant to develop an oral history of blindness in Iowa. We are looking for a broad range of personal experiences that will reflect that history. If you think you may have a story to tell, you will have an opportunity to share it with one of the project volunteers after the presentation. If you are selected, you will meet with an interviewer at a later date to answer questions that have been tailored just for you. 
 
Tours of the Department will also be available from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. These tours will give your guest a chance to become better acquainted with the Department and our services. And if you haven't had an opportunity to visit our newly remodeled third and fourth floors, take the tour yourself!
 
The banquet will begin in the Assembly Room at 6:00 p.m. The 2010 menu will feature chicken pontalba, a delicious New Orleans entrée consisting of a chicken breast smothered with bernaise sauce on a bed of potatoes, onions, shallots and mushrooms. Orientation alumnus and writer Linda Slayton will deliver the banquet address. 
 
As always, hospitality and the dance will start immediately following the banquet. This year, it will be held in the
Des Moines Ballroom on the skywalk level of the Savery Hotel.
 
Ticket prices for this year will be $15. Please remember to make your check out to “Orientation Alumni Banquet” and mail it to the attention of Rebecca Swainey at the Iowa Department for the Blind, 524 4th Street, Des Moines, IA 50309. Contact Rebecca at 515-281-1302 as soon as possible to make your reservations.
 
We're looking forward to seeing you there!
 
 
Sandy Tigges
Orientation Program Administrator