JUNE/JULY/AUGUST 2025 NEWSY NOTES
TSB meets every Tuesday – 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Christ Presbyterian Church, 6565 E. Broadway
For more information call Barbara, 520-298-2427, Annie 520-275-1675
Come when you can and leave when you must. Bring a sack lunch.
It is the Mission of the Tucson Society of the Blind to enhance the quality of lives of the visually impaired through social, educational, and recreational programs
www.tucsonsocietyoftheblind.org
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Calendar
JUNE
3rd: Dr. Byrd will dress up as a Spanish soldier and doctor. He will bring many items for show and tell and will bring the history of the Old Pueblo alive.
10th: Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott will talk about the Regional Transportation Plan and paratransit transportation
13th: Board Meeting 10:15 AM Biscuit Country Café, 7026 E Broadway Blvd
17th: Christine will perform on the glorious harp a selection of tunes
19th: Jeff Bishop class on the iPhone on Zoom 6:30-8:30 PM
24th: Lunch will be served at 10:45 AM. Get a 12:00 – 12:30 PM out on Sun Van.
JULY
8th: Timette and Shirley will discuss inspiring stories of individuals overcoming obstacles.
15th: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Speakers from Commission of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will discuss free equipment you can apply for and what services they provide.
22nd: Elizabeth Evans of independent Low Vision from Phoenix, will present the latest technology in talking CCTV and electronic video magnifiers. She will also bring $200 video magnifiers from China. 10:30 AM -12:00 PM
29th: Pizza Party and socializing time
AUGUST
5th: Summer Vacation, No meeting at the church
8th: Board Meeting 10:15 AM Biscuit Country Café, 7026 E Broadway Blvd
12th: Summer Vacation No meeting at church
19th: Lunch out TBA
21st: Jeff Bishop class on the iPhone on Zoom 6:30-8:30 PM
26th: Back at church, TBA
Message by Barbara Macpherson
Happy Summer! We will be meeting at the church in June and July. We will take a summer vacation for most of August. On August 19th we will having lunch out and return to the church on August 26th.
TSB members have a choice of five plays to attend. You do not need any money yet, but please let Barbara know if you are interested. Please get the updated Arizona and Additional Resources List in print, talk to Timette, or send an email to Barbara at bjmacpherso@aol.com. On May 22nd, Patty Greene gave a $500 gift in Manny Celis’ name to Caitlynn who is a graduating senior and Valedictorian of the Arizona School of the Deaf and blind. TSB Board members Melissa, Timette and Shirley also attended.
TSB Members are going to the Theater!
Phantom of the Opera
Sunday, October 19th at the Gaslight Theater 7010 E. Broadway.
We’ll meet at 4:00 PM for dinner at Little Anthony’s Diner. (If not attending dinner you need to be at the theater by 5:30 PM). Tickets are $35 each and we only have 12 seats.
The Phantom of the Opera is a story of a disfigured composer who lives in the basement of the opera house. He falls in love with Maria who was the greatest opera singer ever. Unfortunately, Maria has a boyfriend. The music is awesome and the chandelier hitting people is funny. At the Gaslight we root for the hero and boo the villain. The play lasts for two hours including an Oleo, which are short musical acts and comedy segments.
My Fair Lady
Saturday, October 25th at the Berger Performing Arts Theater, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd.
At 1:00 PM we will experience the awesome music of My Fair Lady by the Saguaro Musical Theater. Audio description will be provided. We have the first three rows with 20 seats. Tickets are $33 each.
This play is about Eliza Dolittle and a professor Henry Higgins who claims he can change Eliza’s cockney speech and turn her into a real lady. This play is a musical based in London, England.
Miracle on 34th Street
Sunday, December 14th, at 1:15 PM at Arts Express, Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd.
This play is about Kris Kringle, a last-minute Santa who is hired at Macy’s department store. When challenged, he has to prove that he is actually the real Santa Claus.
We have 20 seats in the third row. Tickets are $35 each.
Annie
Saturday, January 3, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Berger Performing Arts Theater, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd.
Annie is the story of a little orphan named Annie who is looking for a real family. The music is fantastic and upbeat. We have reserved the first three rows for 20 guests. This play by Saguaro Musical Theater will tickets cost $33 each and audio description is available. You don’t want to miss this upbeat performance.
Funny Girl
Saturday, February 7, 2026 at the Arts Express, 5870 E. Broadway, in Park Place Mall
We will meet at 1:15 PM to see a musical about comedian Fanny Price.
We have 12 seats available and tickets are $35 each.
New author Laurie Cass for Cozy Mysteries
In a new series, meet Mimi the bookmobile librarian and her fearless cat Eddie. The first book in the series is Lending a Paw. This series is a lot of fun with good character development. Mimi and Eddie are always finding dead bodies and then solving the case and figuring out the murder.
Barbara Hinske’s Series Coming to Rosemont
The latest, 8th book in the series is Waves of Grace, which is filled with many happy moments. The latest book in her series the Guiding Emily, is Growing the Circle which comes out on June 12th and will show up later in BARD to download.
The Abstract Vision of the Blind
by Jennifer Tellez
Hi, this is Jennifer Tellez. I am a member of both the American Gourd Society and the Tucson Society of the Blind. The one thing the two societies have in common is in their mission statements stating that education is such a strong ideal. The Gourd society teaches art techniques, the Tucson Society of the Blind teaches independence.
In the TSB society I’m labeled as low vision and in the gourd society my artwork is good. My love for both has inspired me to bring the joy of art to my vision-impaired friends. Recently we had our own play date at TSB imagine gourd painting for the blind truly was abstract.
It was very rewarding to bring these two societies together through education and love of art.
In Honor of Helen Keller’s Birthday on June 27th
by Barbara Macpherson
Helen Keller (1880-1968) died at age 87. She was an activist, lecturer, world traveler, author (she wrote 12 books and many newspaper and magazine articles), advocate for the blind (she worked and raised funds for the American Foundation of the Blind for 40 years), and is one of the most famous individuals of her time. Helen worked for women’s suffrage, labor rights, birth control for women, was a pacifist during WWI, and a member of the Socialist Party. Helen visited many blind veterans in Hospitals during WWII providing encouraging and inspiring words.
She made her famous speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1924 at Lion’s Convention, convincing the Lions to focus on providing community service to blind and deaf individuals. Helen helped establish many blind commissions, low vision clinics, and adult rehabilitation centers in the U. S. Helen and her companions visited over 40 countries where many programs for the blind were set up after her motivating words during her visits.
Helen became deaf and blind at age 11/2 years. Her parents hired Anne Sullivan 21, who was also visually impaired to be her teacher. Helen ‘s breakthrough came with Anne when she put her hand under the water pump and spelled the word “water” in her hand. A statue of this event of seven-year-old Helen is in the Capital Visitor Center. Anne’s accomplishments were told in the award-winning play and movie called “The Miracle Worker.” Anne and Helen would work and travel together for 49 years.
Helen was the first deaf-blind woman to graduate from Radcliffe College in 1904 with a Bachelor of Science degree with honors. In order to graduate she had to pass proficiency exams in Latin, German, and French History. Helen communicated with the world with her first book “The Story of My Life” at age 21 through her Braille typewriter.
In 1895, at age 15, Helen met Mark Twain age 50, (the famous writer) and they developed a lifelong friendship. Helen remarked, “That Mr. Twain did not treat me as a freak, rather as a person dealing with great difficulties.” Mark Twain was so impressed by Helen’s quickness and intelligence, that he wrote to his rich friends to finance her education – which they did to order for her to develop her potential for greatness. Mark Twain marveled at Helen’s ability to pick him out correctly in a crowd. It turned out that he smoked tobacco and she could smell that unique odor.
Helen Keller demonstrated that there are no barriers that cannot be overcome by courage and faith. Here are some of Helen Keller’s quotes:
1. You can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.
2. People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.
3. Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.
4. Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.
5. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart.
6. We could never learn to be brave and patient, if there were only joy in the world.
7. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.
8. Be best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.
9. Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
10. Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.