Official Chat Room Up and Running
BVA members now have an official chat room through which they
can conduct formal meetings, hold informal conversations, and
provide mutual support.
Junior Farley, Secretary-Treasurer of the Tennessee Regional
Group, initiated his own chat room for blinded veterans last fall.
The idea proved successful enough that he and a few other chat
room pioneers requested that BVA National Headquarters sanction
an official room for Association members only. Permission for
the arrangement was granted in May.
BVA members interested in joining the chat room can do so by
registering at www.for-the-people.com
They may then obtain the chat room password from Junior Farley
(rickyf@hotmail.com) or
from Stuart Nelson at BVA National Headquarters (800-669-7079).
Present users are strongly encouraging participation by additional
blinded veterans.
The BVA chat room is a verbal chat room. No text messaging is
involved. Participants need computer speakers, a microphone, and
an Internet provider e-mail address.
A few blinded veterans have raised concern about the cost and
availability of a microphone since it is an item less frequently
needed by computer users. According to Rick Calissi, a member
of the Florida Regional Group and a mainstay in the chat room,
the prospect of securing and installing a microphone should not
be at all intimidating.
"You can go into a place like Radio Shack and get one for
less than $10," he said. "Any microphone will do, and
it fits right into an outlet at the back of the computer."
Blinded veterans who are not current BVA members may still participate
in the original blinded veterans chat room started in 2002. It
will remain operative indefinitely and is open to everyone. Like
the BVA chat room, the blinded veterans chat room can also be
accessed by registering at www.for-the-people.com
No password is required to enter the general blinded veterans
chat room.
SMART Offers BVA Generous Donation
Kenneth J. Murray, a life member of BVA’s OKI Regional Group
and a member of the Special Military Retired Travel Club (SMART),
recently helped BVA secure a $1,000 donation from the group.
SMART is an organization of retired and active duty personnel
from the five uniformed services (including the Ready Reserve
and National Guard) who also have an avid interest in recreational
vehicles.
The group sponsors annual musters (rallies) on a national level,
provides comradeship for those interested in the RV lifestyle
through a network of 54 chapters, presents seminars and workshops
of interest to the RV family, and assists military installations
with the improvement and expansion of their campgrounds.
SMART’s most recent national muster was held in Wichita
Falls, Texas, May 19-25. Some 500 RVs gathered for a week of entertainment,
seminars, fellowship, and charity fund raising. The fund raising
consisted of the "arrest" of individuals who had to
go to "jail". Before the accused could be put in jail,
the individual pressing the charges was required to pay $1.00
for the printing and signing of the arrest warrant.
To be released from custody, the accused had to post bail, which
cost $2.00. Ken designed the arrest warrant document for the weeklong
activity and served as the judge. One of his major responsibilities
as judge was to sign the arrest warrants.
"Everyone had a good time arresting friends for such things
as having a birthday or doing something stupid," he said.
"It was a lot of fun and, since I was the judge and also
the one who composed the arrest warrant, we collected more than
$200 for BVA. The rally committee then generously decided to increase
the amount for BVA from $200 to $1,000, which consisted of all
the proceeds from the event."
SMART began in 1982 with slightly more than 200 charter members.
Since that time it has grown to more than 3,000 members. Membership
is available to active and retired members from the Public Health
Service and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association. Associate
membership is open to Medal of Honor awardees, former POWs, 100
percent service connected veterans, and surviving spouses of persons
eligible for membership.
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