Hello Everyone,
Welcome to the eighth edition of The Blind Bulletin. In this edition:
- PTCB in the News
- Upcoming Vocal Eye Described Play at the Belfry
- Volunteer opportunities at Camp Bowen Innovations
PTCB in the News
Unfortunately, due to funding shortfall, the PTCB finds itself in urgent need for funding. Veronica Cooper from Check News dropped by the centre last Monday to speak with us and they ran the below story this past Sunday. Please share with your networks.
Upcoming Vocal Eye Described play At the Belfry
The next VocalEye performance is on Sunday February 23 at 2:00 at the Belfry.
Here’s a description of the show:
> It’s 1950 in the deserts of Southern California. Evangelist Brother Cain has a booming trade; his tent revival show moves from town to town, fleecing crowds desperate for something to believe in. When he discovers Mary, a Ntlaka’pamux woman from the Nicola Valley, reading the bible, he puts her onstage, renames her Grace, and displays her as a miracle: an Indian who can read.
“It’s like a sprawling Steinbeck novel – a real saga – of encountering hypocrisy and evil, while clinging to the beliefs that guide you. Produced by the Belfry and created by an all-Indigenous team, including designer Andy Moro and writer/director Tara Beagan, one of our leading playwrights.”
Volunteer Opportunities at Camp Bowen Innovations
Are you looking for a new volunteer opportunity? Do you want to join a fast-growing, energetic, creative, and diverse team dedicated to making the world a better place?
The Camp Bowen Innovations Society is an organization dedicated to creating funding sources for the work of the Camp Bowen Society for the iNdependence of the Blind and Deafblind (often simply called the Camp Bowen Society) while promoting the employment of people with disabilities. The Camp Bowen Society offers summer camp, independent living skills training, and outreach programs. The work of Camp Bowen Innovations supports these endeavours by creating diverse streams of income that involve people with disabilities in their execution.
We are currently seeking individuals to fill the following roles on our Board of Directors:
(a) president
(b) vice-president;
(c) secretary;
(d) treasurer.
Why So Many Positions:
It is unusual that so many positions on a Board of Directors become available all at once. The reason this has happened at Camp Bowen Innovations is that it is the result of requirements of the Canada Revenue Agency. In 2018, the organization formerly known as the Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired was split into the Camp Bowen Society for the Independence of the Blind and Deafblind and the Camp Bowen Innovations Society. This was done as part of the process for the Camp Bowen Society to apply for charitable status. The second faze of this process requires us, to the best of our understanding, to create separate boards for each organization. through 2019 the Camp Bowen Innovations board was comprised of members from the Camp Bowen Society who worked to establish both organizations. With a new board in place for Camp Bowen Innovations, the current board members will go back to focusing on their duties at the Camp Bowen Society.
Shared Responsibilities:
The above roles share the below responsibilities:
(a) to attend four board meetings, one each quarter;
(b) to plan and attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM);
(c) to sign contracts and other documents on behalf of the organization; and
(d) to carry out other duties as required by the BC Societies Act.
Role of president:
The president is the chair of the Board and is responsible for supervising the other directors in the execution of their duties.
Role of vice-president:
The vice-president is the vice-chair of the Board and is responsible for carrying out the duties of the president if the president is unable to act.
Role of secretary:
The secretary is responsible for doing, or making the necessary arrangements for, the following:
(a) issuing notices of general meetings and directors’ meetings;
(b) taking minutes of general meetings and directors’ meetings;
(c) keeping the records of the Society in accordance with the Act (assisted by Executive Director);
(d) conducting the correspondence of the Board;
(e) filing the annual report of the Society and making any other filings with the registrar under the Act (assisted by Executive Director).
Role of treasurer:
The treasurer is responsible for doing, or making the necessary arrangements for, the following:
(a) receiving and banking monies collected from the members or other sources (typically delegated to the Executive Director);
(b) keeping accounting records in respect of the Society’s financial transactions (assisted by Executive Director);
(c) preparing the Society’s financial statements (assisted by the Executive Director);
(d) making the Society’s filings respecting taxes (assisted by Executive Director).
Renumeration:
Our Bylaws do not permit the Society to pay to a director remuneration for being a director, but the Society may, subject to the BC Societies Act, pay remuneration to a director for services provided by the director to the Society in another capacity.
Next Steps:
All Board of Directors positions will be elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Camp Bowen Innovations Society, to be held primarily by teleconference on Sunday, February 23, 2020. Interested candidates or those with questions are asked to contact me, Alex Jurgensen by phone at: +1 (604) 947-0021, extension 102, or by email at: prior to Sunday, February 16, 2020.
Wrapping Up
We’d love to hear what you think of this edition of The Blind Bulletin. If you have any questions, suggestions, or articles you would like to see included, please write to with ‘C/O Alex Jurgensen’ in the subject line.
As always, because we value your time and inbox space, we will not be sending bulletins out more than once a week. If at any time you wish to stop receiving bulletins, simply write to with “Unsubscribe FromThe The Blind Bulletin” in the subject line and we will remove you from the distribution list.
The Blind Bulletin Team
The Pacific Training Centre for the Blind
