WINTER NEWSLETTER '06

Dear Fellow Members, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for an exciting New Year. At our December Board meeting, I was re-elected to the Board for another three year term. At our March meeting, new Board Officers will be elected. Until then I remain your President. I look forward to serving the Deaf and Deaf-Blind Communities these next three years. It is my hope that you will become involved in KCD activities if you have not been involved. Some of you have worked hard to make KCD an active and valuable Center. Thank you for that. At the December members meeting we recognized four men who have worked hard to renovate the downstairs area, led by their “Captain” David Booker. David received several gifts from KCD for his outstanding work, his long hours and his dedication to perfection. His team members Smythe Gambrell, Jim Gregory and Lester Arnold were also applauded and received thank you gifts. Hours and hours of sweat and some tears went into fixing up the Community Room and the rest of the downstairs. YOU can help by showing respect for the work and cleaning up after you have used the area. Do your best to leave the Community Room better than you found it. Our KCD has become a community leader and is now regarded state-wide as a top Center of Service. We can be proud of where we now stand. But we can not “let any grass grow under our feet”. We must continue to work hard to do our part to help our fellow man. You are part of that effort. Help whenever and wherever you can.

Happy New Year, Barry Swafford President of the Board of Directors

Hello and Happy New Year KCD Members and Friends, Where did 2005 go! It was a busy, productive and fun year here at KCD. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your Executive Director. I’m having a great time. Probably the biggest event of 2005 was the renovation of the downstairs, particularly the Community Room. David Booker led the effort and was very ably assisted by Lester, Smythe and Jim Gregory. David’s beautiful desk clock said:

“Presented to David Booker An All American Volunteer and Dedicated Servant to his Fellow Deaf Friends” KCD 2005

“Funds for the materials came from the Patsy Smith Trust. KCD purchased the big screen TV in recognition of Wanda Booker and Katherine Bishop. ENJOY the area and be good to it. It’s yours; let’s keep it nice. Thanks too to Barbara Broadway for the great work she has done in re-painting the interior of KCD. To our very good fortune, Barry Swafford agreed to run for the Board again and of course he was re-elected. Barry has done an outstanding job as Board President. He puts in many volunteer hours as your President and I value his leadership and his counsel. We are improving the work that we do and much credit must go to Barry and the other Board Directors. The 2006 Board meetings are noted in this NewsLetter. Please feel free to attend one or more Board meeting. If you wish to make a presentation to the Board, time is reserved at the meeting for you to participate.

All the best, Bob Rittenhouse Executive Director of KCD

New Directors: your five newly-elected Board members are: Barry Swafford, Doug Woods, David Vogel, Teressa Gregory and Dan Brewer. A list of the full Board appears in this NewsLetter. Congratulations to them and to all the candidates who ran for the Board. OTHER BOARD DIRECTORS:

KCD Calendar: 2006 Board meetings: March 16, June 8, September 21 and December 21. 2006 Members Meeting: May (exact date tba) and December 16. All Board and Members meetings are held at KCD. Board meetings start at 7P; Members meetings start at 6P. Merlin the Deaf Magician: March 17 at 6P at FBC in Trentham Hall. Senior Citizen Banquet at KCD, February 10 at noon

Golf Tourney: We WANT you. We NEED you. Our annual golf tourney will be Friday, September 8th at a golf course in the Knoxville area. Money will be used to support services for Deaf-Blind persons and for the new TDGA Deaf Youth Golf Program. How can YOU HELP?: by playing, by being a sponsor OR by giving me the names of persons I can contact about support…family members, friends, etc. Support your fellow man. If your Deaf organization would like to raise money, contact Bob at KCD.

Jeff and Lisa: Congratulations to Jeff Palmer and Lisa Rimmell of our staff. Jeff passed the RID written interpreting exam and is one step away from his interpreting certificate. Lisa was promoted to Director. Her new title is Director of Community Service and Outreach

Morgan the Deaf Magician will be making another visit to Knoxville compliments of Mike Lozynsky and Tennessee Relay/VerizonBusiness (formerly MCI). He is very talented and entertaining. Please plan to attend the KCD-FBC sponsored program at Trentham Hall on the FBC Campus on Friday night, March 17th at 6P.

Gallaudet has developed a wonderful exhibit “The History of the Deaf in America”. The exhibit will be at the Library for the Deaf in Nashville for six weeks beginning March 3rd. As details become available they will be published on our website. Sandy Cohen is the Director of the Library. KCD will be sponsoring a trip to view the exhibit for our Senior Citizens. Please see either Betty Battle OR me (Bob) if you would like to go. The date for the trip has not been determined yet.

KCD sponsored an NTID night for students and parents. Amy Sorello of NTID in Rochester, NY made an outstanding presentation and made NTID look like a place of inclusion for the Deaf. Fifteen people were in attendance.

YOUR COMMUNITY ROOM: Please be EXTRA respectful. Clean up the new countertops, mop the floor if you spill anything AND supervise your children. Lester and David are fixing up an office right across from the Community Room that will be the Children’s Room. There will be a TV, books, games and bean bag chairs in the room. Bill Winzurk’s former office (the first office on the right as you enter the downstairs area) will become the Board President Office. The large office in the hall will become the Leadership Office and will be used for meetings by the Deaf Organization Officers. Each Organization President or designee will have a key for that office. There will be internet access in the Leadership Office and a new laptop computer. Thanks to Lester and David for their time, energy and leadership to make all of this possible.

KCD’s NEW STAFF INTERPRETER: Hello, my name is Brenda Sellers, and I am the newest staff interpreter at KCD. I am moving to Knoxville from Williamsburg, KY. My husband, Nelson Sellers, and I have been married for 4˝ years. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) on May 8, 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in sign language interpreting. I passed the RID written exam in June 2003.

I became interested in sign language while working at an outpatient mental health facility. It took me too long to communicate by writing, so I asked the interpreter where I could learn the language and was directed to EKU. After starting to learn the language, I didn’t want to stop with just knowing how to communicate. I saw the need for interpreters and decided to enter the interpreting program. Everyday is new and I don’t want to stop learning.

I completed my internship with KCD last April and also worked part time during the summer. I am excited about this new opportunity to work with KCD as a staff member and with the Deaf Community and look forward to seeing many of you again.

Wayne Kline, long time member of the KCD Board and present Board Secretary was honored at the December meeting for his generous service to the Deaf Community. Wayne was presented with a beautiful wooden box for his desk with a special inscription which read:

“Presented To WAYNE KLINE A True Friend To The Deaf Of Knoxville And A Dedicated Servant” KCD 2005

UTMC Program Update: Although it’s hard to believe, the first year of the UTHospital/KCD Partnership has come to an end. We begin the second phase of the project February 1, 2006. KCD will continue to provide quality services to deaf patients, visitors and family members through January 31st, 2008. However, the new office hours are Monday and Wednesday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Friday, 8:00 am – 12:00 pm.

KCD has recently purchased two small devices to assist hospital patients who are deaf. A flashing door-knocker and a flashing baby monitor can be checked out by patients for use during the hospital stay. We have also purchased a new technology called the Interpretype which looks like two laptop computers linked together with a small cable. A deaf person and a nurse could communicate back and forth for example with this new technology. Contact Lisa Rimmell (lrimmell@yahoo.com) at KCD for more information.

WEBSITE: The new and greatly improved KCD WebSite is: www.kcdtn.org. Thanks to Andy Veith for his good work. Check us out! Also, 17 deaf Juniors and Seniors are in the KCD Youth Classes that Andy coordinates. The class meets every other Tuesday evening from 7-9P.

HONORS for TENNESSEE: Dick Henley, Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at TSD, was named the National Football Coach of the Year and Marcus McKinney was named the National Deaf Player of the Year. These two are the very top honors awarded each year. Thank you Dick for the dedication you have to helping young, deaf boys become young deaf men through your athletic program at TSD. The award is well-deserved. Marcus became TSD’s all-time leading rusher this year. KCD also salutes Alan Mealka, the TSD Superintendent, and his staff for the support given to the athletic program.

MISS DEAF AMERICA: Heidi Henley is Miss Deaf Tennessee. Heidi will travel to Palm Springs, June 29-July 3rd for the Miss Deaf America Pageant. The Pageant was moved from New Orleans to California because of Katrina. You can support Heidi! HOW?: By making a donation. Her expenses are huge so let’s give Heidi a BIG DEAF HELPING HAND. Your donations can be mailed to KCD. Please put Heidi on the subject line. Your contribution is tax deductible and KCD will let Heidi know that you made a contribution.

PAT’S HONDURAN MINISTRY: Pat Rittenhouse is helping “The Helping Hands Christian School for the Deaf”, a new Elementary School in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Pat serves on the school’s Board of Directors. You can HELP! HOW?: pleases leave your old paperback books at KCD and tell Mary that they are for “Pat’s Mission”. She will trade them in for Spanish books at McKays and send them to Honduras.

ARTHUR: Arthur Clayton (CODA) of our Board has a new address: Capital Financial Group, LLC 8320 E. Walker Springs Ln, Suite 100, Knoxville, TN 37923. Voice/Video Phone/Fax: 865-246-171, Cell: 865-680-6058 (24/7); e-mail: aclayton@finsvcs.com

BROADWAY in KNOXVILLE: Wonderful News! The Knoxville Civic Center and KCD have entered into a partnership. The KCC will make sure that all Saturday night performances are interpreted and KCD will provide the interpreters. The shows are professional stage shows from Broadway in New York. The first show is Peter Pan on Saturday night, February 25th from 8-10:30P. The interpreters are three of Tennessee’s finest: Carol LaCava, Teressa Gregory and Kim Hinchey, all of Interact fame. For future shows please go to broadwayinknoxville.org. The KCC will provide the Deaf with 10% discounted tickets. Either contact KCD or call KCC at 524-5311 and identify yourself as “KCD”.

THE DEAF CALENDAR: You had the Deaf CookBook in 2005. Now here comes “The Deaf Calendar”. The Calendar will depict KCD highlights, January –December 2007. The calendar will be ready for purchase October 15, 2006 just in time for your Christmas List. If your organization wants to be highlighted see either Christine Arnold or Bob at KCD. The cost of the Calendar will be approximately $20.

KCD NEEDS: Six (6) dressers for a large needy family, children’s books AND a few games.

THANKS MCI: Tennessee Relay provides Relay Service through MCI (now VerizonBusiness). Many of you know Mike Lozynsky who has been a great supporter of KCD. Please send a brief letter to Bob at KCD saying how much you appreciate VerizonBusiness and Mike Lozynsky. Mike and MCI are GREAT KCD supporters.

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Community Partners:

United Way Member

Partially Funded:
Tennessee Department of Human Services