Showing posts with label White Cane Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White Cane Day. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10
White Cane Day site update
Greetings. For those interested, you can now view the marching route and park activities/events for the October 13 event. Check the White Cane Day site for more details. Also, a few days ago the site passed the 11,000 total hits mark. Currently, there's over 11,300 hits, and the numbers are growing by around 50 per day. The total hits have followed a pattern of at least doubling in peak (March to November) and off-peak (November to March) times of the year over the last couple of years. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks in the remaining time of the peak season following the day itself. If you know of a White Cane Day event that's happenig in your town/community that receives media coverage next week, email me the link and story and I'll add it on the page in the Media Coverage area. It's always fascinating to me to see all the different places that celebrate this "independence day" for the blind. Enjoy, and see you Tuesday!
Wednesday, August 26
Site trouble update
Greetings. For those interested, I've fixed the issues with the Wayneisms and White Cane Day sites over the weekend by upgrading to a more expensive plan from my web host. This will not only give us the proper allotment of bandwidth, but it will also give the sites, specifically the White Cane Day site, room to grow for the future. Thanks to those that have been visiting lately and will continue to visit. On a personal note, the Wayneism site recent passed the 6800 visitors mark. This is notable since it passed the 5800 point back in March. I'm not sure I've ever gotten around 1,000 visitors in such a short period before! The White Cane Day site has gained around 2,500 hits in the same 6 month period. again, this hasn't happened before. Thanks again to those that are visiting these sites regularly. Remember to get those WCD shirt orders in by the deadline for your 2009 shirts. Enjoy.
Thursday, October 18
Another honor
Greetings. I want to share with you an honor that I received recently. Though I wasn’t able to attend the White Cane Day celebration this past Monday, as it turned out, several plaques were given out to various people. I received one of them. The plaque was in recognition and appreciation of the WCD website that I helped obtain, maintain and build. I was told that there were a number of people at the event that learned of it from the site. And these people would not have come if it were not for the site.
The plaque is yellow and it has the designs from the front of this year’s T-shirt on it, the 9 drawings from the kids at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In print and on a Braille overlay, the plaque read:
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
for: Wayne Merritt
For Your Dedication in the Promotion of Awareness and Independence of Blind Citizens. Your Participation Contributed to the Success of a Memorable Event.
White Cane Day
October 15, 2007
There are cut outs on the back for hanging on a wall or cubicle, which I intend to do. Thanks to those that helped promote the website and to those on the committee. I paid for the domain name out of my own pocket because I wanted to do this for the committee. I wanted to give them a site that they could use this year and hopefully in future years.
Its humbling for me in receiving this honor. I am continuously humbled by being recognized by students and colleagues and a good teacher, and by others for things that I do, such as the White Cane Day involvement. Its this continued humbling that has told me that I’m in the right place right now. I’ve got the “perfect job,” at least for now. As a side note, that makes 2 honors or awards in 5 months, counting the honor back in May of this year at the student graduation. Pretty good for someone who’s a little over a year and a half into a job.
The plaque is yellow and it has the designs from the front of this year’s T-shirt on it, the 9 drawings from the kids at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. In print and on a Braille overlay, the plaque read:
CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION
for: Wayne Merritt
For Your Dedication in the Promotion of Awareness and Independence of Blind Citizens. Your Participation Contributed to the Success of a Memorable Event.
White Cane Day
October 15, 2007
There are cut outs on the back for hanging on a wall or cubicle, which I intend to do. Thanks to those that helped promote the website and to those on the committee. I paid for the domain name out of my own pocket because I wanted to do this for the committee. I wanted to give them a site that they could use this year and hopefully in future years.
Its humbling for me in receiving this honor. I am continuously humbled by being recognized by students and colleagues and a good teacher, and by others for things that I do, such as the White Cane Day involvement. Its this continued humbling that has told me that I’m in the right place right now. I’ve got the “perfect job,” at least for now. As a side note, that makes 2 honors or awards in 5 months, counting the honor back in May of this year at the student graduation. Pretty good for someone who’s a little over a year and a half into a job.
Tuesday, October 16
And it continues
Greetings. Even though White Cane Day is over for this year, I plan on maintaining the site and adding things as I come across them. One of those things, or categories you might say, are news stories about White Cane Day. Though I initially set out to gather stories in my community, after doing a Google search for "white cane day 2007 news," I was presented with many results. I've added some of those, along with others that I've found, to the site. Even if I don't find anything else, check out the list of places that observe this yearly event. And I'm not just talking about cities in the U.S., but worldwide. I never would have thought that this historic day would have reached so far and affect thousands like it has and continues to do.
The site continues to get hits and visitors, which at last count was over 1100! I don't know how long this constant level of hits will continue, but it sure is fun to watch. I'll write later about another interesting thing that has happened to me. Until then.
The site continues to get hits and visitors, which at last count was over 1100! I don't know how long this constant level of hits will continue, but it sure is fun to watch. I'll write later about another interesting thing that has happened to me. Until then.
Monday, October 15
How I spent White Cane Day
Greetings. Well, its finally here: White Cane Day. I don’t have a recap this time like I did last year. I’m sure that the marchers gathered at the Capitol this morning shortly before 9 and marched down Congress and over to City Hall; I’m confident that everyone gathered at City Hall to listen to some short speeches and the proclamation by the Mayor; and I’m sure that after this, everyone walked over to Republic Square Park for plenty of food, fun, and celebration with the different activities, music, and great food providers. However, I don’t have any information because I wasn’t there. I unfortunately obtained some of the allergies/cold sympthems that have been going around. The first signs were when I got congested and my ears started stopping up last Thursday. Its only gotten progressively worse since then, with stuffiness, sneezing, and at times not feeling all that great. I decided to skip the event last night and have been taking it easy today. If anything, I’ve gained another day of rest without the worry of missing classes since the events were today. I’ll hopefully make it tomorrow. Though it will be hard to listen to the stories of what went on today, knowing that I was home sick, I’m sure that the students' stories will be great.
However, here’s a story that I found through the Blind News archives on White Cane Day in Sri Lanka called
White Cane: Identification for the Blind
Which gives a worldly perspective on White Cane Day.
Incidentally, I've been keeping track of the numbers on the White Cane Day site, and earlier today, we passed the 1,000 mark! Who would have thought that the site would get that many hits. On Tuesday of last week, we had 230 hits in one day, which was quite remarkable. I put several expectations on the numbers, telling people that we might hit 400, then 500, then 600. However, when we hit 700, I stopped trying to put a limit on things. We might get more hits tomorrow and for a few days this week, but this is probably the mountain top for this year. Still, 1,000 hits in a little over 2 months; wow. It probably took my personal site about 8 or 9 months before it hit 1,000 and White Cane Day did it in two!
Toward the end of last week, I was asked to put information about the Houston, Texas, celebration of White Cane Day on the site, which I did. I added to that over the weekend so that now there’s a good amount on there regarding the Houston events. The thought crossed my mind earlier today that this WCD site could turn into a gathering place for WCD celebrations and observances around the state or country. That would be cool and something I would not have expected. Then again, I also didn’t expect the numbers to top 1,000. I’m willing to post information about events in other cities, if people only send it to me and I can add the HTML tags to make it “web worthy.”
Someone brought up the idea to me to add an option next year for people to buy the
T-shirts online, like through Paypal or something. That sounds interesting and cool, if I can set it up. Since I basically know HTML, I’d welcome any ideas from folks on how to do this, or what might be involved. I’ve looked at code on other pages that have Paypal buttons, and it doesn’t look that hard, but there’s probably more to it than just putting up the code and making the form. Anyway, that’s for down the road.
Happy White Cane Day to all!
However, here’s a story that I found through the Blind News archives on White Cane Day in Sri Lanka called
White Cane: Identification for the Blind
Which gives a worldly perspective on White Cane Day.
Incidentally, I've been keeping track of the numbers on the White Cane Day site, and earlier today, we passed the 1,000 mark! Who would have thought that the site would get that many hits. On Tuesday of last week, we had 230 hits in one day, which was quite remarkable. I put several expectations on the numbers, telling people that we might hit 400, then 500, then 600. However, when we hit 700, I stopped trying to put a limit on things. We might get more hits tomorrow and for a few days this week, but this is probably the mountain top for this year. Still, 1,000 hits in a little over 2 months; wow. It probably took my personal site about 8 or 9 months before it hit 1,000 and White Cane Day did it in two!
Toward the end of last week, I was asked to put information about the Houston, Texas, celebration of White Cane Day on the site, which I did. I added to that over the weekend so that now there’s a good amount on there regarding the Houston events. The thought crossed my mind earlier today that this WCD site could turn into a gathering place for WCD celebrations and observances around the state or country. That would be cool and something I would not have expected. Then again, I also didn’t expect the numbers to top 1,000. I’m willing to post information about events in other cities, if people only send it to me and I can add the HTML tags to make it “web worthy.”
Someone brought up the idea to me to add an option next year for people to buy the
T-shirts online, like through Paypal or something. That sounds interesting and cool, if I can set it up. Since I basically know HTML, I’d welcome any ideas from folks on how to do this, or what might be involved. I’ve looked at code on other pages that have Paypal buttons, and it doesn’t look that hard, but there’s probably more to it than just putting up the code and making the form. Anyway, that’s for down the road.
Happy White Cane Day to all!
Monday, October 8
White Cane Day Activities
Greetings. For those in the Austin, Texas area, here's information on the activities, marching route, and park celebration that will be taking place next Monday for White Cane Day. Refer to the site for more details. Hope to see some of you there. Enjoy.
2007 White Cane Day Marching Routes and Activities
Everyone will gather in front of the State Capitol at 8:30AM. The Capitol is located at 11th Street and Congress Avenue. Marchers should gather behind the
gate of the Capitol on the Capitol grounds. It is very important that people do not stand in the street. Do not wait on any stairs of the actual Capitol
building as a permit is needed for that.
The march begins promptly at 9:00AM.
MARCHING ROUTE
Start on the North side of 11th Street at Congress Avenue. March South on either side of Congress. Cross 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd,
2nd and continue to Caesar Chavez (1st Street). Do not cross Caesar Chavez. Turn West (right) and cross Congress (if needed), Colorado, and Lavaca. After
crossing Lavaca, City Hall will be to the North (right). Find a seat if possible. Please reserve seating for children, elderly, and others with physical
disabilities.
WHITE CANE DAY PROCLAMATION & SPEECHES
The Austin Mayor will read the White Cane Day Proclamation at 10:15 AM. Following the reading of the proclamation, recognition awards will be given to all
major sponsors and organizations. While receiving awards, each sponsor organization will have 1-2 minutes to give a speech. Please keep speeches short.
We expect to finish everything at City Hall before 11:00 AM.
REPUBLIC SQUARE PARK
After finishing at City Hall, everyone should walk West (right of stage) to Guadalupe Avenue. Once on Guadalupe, marchers should walk north crossing 2nd
and 3rd Streets. After crossing 3rd Street, marchers need to cross Guadalupe. After crossing Guadalupe, march North (turn right) and cross 4th Street and
you will be at the Southeast corner of Republic Square Park.
The event is scheduled to conclude at approximately 4:00 PM. This event is kid-friendly.
Activities at Park
list of 11 items
• Lots of Music
• Free Food
• 2 Rock Walls
• Moonwalk
• Industrial Art Projects
• Face Paintings
• Clowns
• Small Job Fair
• Cane Exchange
• Fire Truck
• Games
list end
2007 White Cane Day Marching Routes and Activities
Everyone will gather in front of the State Capitol at 8:30AM. The Capitol is located at 11th Street and Congress Avenue. Marchers should gather behind the
gate of the Capitol on the Capitol grounds. It is very important that people do not stand in the street. Do not wait on any stairs of the actual Capitol
building as a permit is needed for that.
The march begins promptly at 9:00AM.
MARCHING ROUTE
Start on the North side of 11th Street at Congress Avenue. March South on either side of Congress. Cross 11th, 10th, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd,
2nd and continue to Caesar Chavez (1st Street). Do not cross Caesar Chavez. Turn West (right) and cross Congress (if needed), Colorado, and Lavaca. After
crossing Lavaca, City Hall will be to the North (right). Find a seat if possible. Please reserve seating for children, elderly, and others with physical
disabilities.
WHITE CANE DAY PROCLAMATION & SPEECHES
The Austin Mayor will read the White Cane Day Proclamation at 10:15 AM. Following the reading of the proclamation, recognition awards will be given to all
major sponsors and organizations. While receiving awards, each sponsor organization will have 1-2 minutes to give a speech. Please keep speeches short.
We expect to finish everything at City Hall before 11:00 AM.
REPUBLIC SQUARE PARK
After finishing at City Hall, everyone should walk West (right of stage) to Guadalupe Avenue. Once on Guadalupe, marchers should walk north crossing 2nd
and 3rd Streets. After crossing 3rd Street, marchers need to cross Guadalupe. After crossing Guadalupe, march North (turn right) and cross 4th Street and
you will be at the Southeast corner of Republic Square Park.
The event is scheduled to conclude at approximately 4:00 PM. This event is kid-friendly.
Activities at Park
list of 11 items
• Lots of Music
• Free Food
• 2 Rock Walls
• Moonwalk
• Industrial Art Projects
• Face Paintings
• Clowns
• Small Job Fair
• Cane Exchange
• Fire Truck
• Games
list end
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