Webmaster's Note: In case you were wondering about the effectiveness of the Freberg/Seeing Eye spots, here is a follow-up article from the American Council of the Blind:
During the July 6 opening ceremonies of the 36th annual
national convention in Houston, Texas, the American Council of
the Blind named the recipients of awards.
Carol McCarl, chair of the board of publications, thanked Kim
Charlson, Jay Doudna, Tom Mitchell, and Mitch Pomerantz for their
work this year. She reminded her listeners that the Ned E.
Freeman Excellence in Writing Award "enables you to be a
participant if your article was put in and published between
April [1996] and March [1997]." This year's winner was Deborah
Grubb; Ken Stewart, author of "Runners High," was the runner-up.
"Thank you so much for this honor," Grubb said. "A writer is
rarely at a loss for words, and I am. My little article started
out as an e-mail message on the guide dog users list, and Kim
Charlson, who is one of the kindest and most loving and most
helpful people, called me up and said, 'You have to write this as
an article for the Forum.' And so my little effort has won me
this award. And from the heart, I say thank you."
The winner of the Vernon Henley Memorial Award was The Seeing
Eye, for its public service announcements regarding restaurant
and taxicab access. Accepting on behalf of The Seeing Eye was
David Loux, the school's director of field services. "Thank you
very much on behalf of The Seeing Eye, its board of trustees, its
staff and its graduates, and really on behalf of all dog guide
users, and I believe on behalf of all blind people," Loux said.
"Because some of you are, and because some of you work with those
who suffer creative genius, you can well imagine it was quite
interesting working with someone like Stan Freberg: behind the
scenes you don't see much different than what you see out front,
what many of us have come to know as the Stan Freberg
personality. But really, this award needs to be shared with Stan
Freberg and with Betty White as well. It is indeed a pleasure to
accept this on behalf of The Seeing Eye and really on behalf of
all who take the step to move independently throughout this
entire country."
At the banquet on Friday night, the winners of the McDaniel
and Distinguished Service awards were honored. "It is so much
more fun to give awards than to receive them, because when you
have to receive them you're usually crying and you've got your
mascara running down your face," said Dawn Christensen, chair of
the awards committee. "And when you're giving them, you can just
smile and give the award and know that the person you're giving
it to is so excited that they're not going to be able to talk and
you expect them to talk, and it's just a lot of fun."
The 1997 Distinguished Service Award was presented to Kathy
Megivern of Alexandria, Va. Her nomination read: "For nearly 25
years, Kathy has worked and volunteered tirelessly on behalf of
bettering the lives of blind people. In 1973 she worked for
Durward McDaniel as administrative assistant for ACB. 'Durward
and Aileen were like parents to me,' said Kathy, whose own
parents had died. Because Kathy didn't have enough money for
room and board while attending law school at night, she lived in
the McDaniels' house during that time. This probably gave Kathy
the understanding of what life is like every day for a blind
person.
"Following law school, Kathy remained at ACB and became ACB's
staff attorney. Her job included directing ACB's lobbying
efforts as well as assisting individual members with legal
problems. She wrote on legislative issues for 'The Braille
Forum' and traveled to many state conferences.
"Since 1983, Kathy has been executive director of the
Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and
Visually Impaired, an organization with 5,000 members who are
professionals in the field of blindness education and
rehabilitation. Even though she has all the responsibilities of
managing a staff, developing/managing a budget, supporting
activities of AER's president and board of directors; planning
AER's national conferences; writing for the newsletter; and
keeping up with all blindness-related issues on Capitol Hill, one
always sees Kathy at meetings of and for blind people, and
usually she is working as a volunteer behind a table. We also
read articles she has written for 'The Braille Forum' on issues
of national importance on blindness issues.
"Long before I moved to the Washington area, I knew of Kathy
as a national leader in the field of blindness, and an active
advocate for blind people. After moving to the D.C. area, I also
learned what a real friend she is on a personal basis. During
the year when we were neighbors, Kathy volunteered to drive me to
the grocery store and helped me do my shopping. She also drove
me to meetings of the Alexandria Commission on Persons with
Disabilities where she served as chair for several years. She
has always been willing to pick up anyone in the area needing a
ride to a meeting or local conference. These acts of
thoughtfulness go far beyond her professional life. Despite her
own battle with rheumatoid arthritis, Kathy Megivern has made a
personal and professional career of improving the world for blind
people." (This nomination was submitted by ACB member Billie
Jean Keith.)
"Thank you very much," Megivern said. "Thank you, my former
neighbor Billie Jean [Keith] over there, who I know wrote the
letter. This means a lot to me, obviously. I started out -- I
had no idea when I answered that ad in The Washington Post back
in 1973 how it was going to change my life, but the influence of
a very special gentleman named Durward McDaniel made all the
difference in my life, and I thank you very much."
The winner of the Durward K. McDaniel Ambassador Award was
Scott Marshall. "He is a tireless advocate both personally and
professionally," Christensen said. "He also has been in the
business for around 20 years. ... he has worked in virtually
every aspect of making the lives of blind and visually impaired
people better. He is a rare combination of a creative thinker
and an activist on many issues. He always generates fresh ideas,
and ... works with other organizations of and for the blind to
ensure that whatever the needs of blind and visually impaired
people are, there's someone out there fighting for those needs."
"Thank you very much," Marshall said. "I cannot tell you
what this award means to me -- I guess I just did. Usually I am
not lost for words. I remember coming to Washington in 1981 to
take over what is now Julie Carroll's job ... This is the
greatest organization of blind people in the world, and I better
stop while I'm ahead."
Also at the banquet, the Virginia Association of the Blind
received its official charter.
The deadline for nominations for the Bray, Card, McDaniel and
Distinguished Service awards is April 15, 1998.