ALDA Peach (Atlanta) News

ALDA-Peach meeting in April:
Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach Members Book Reviews!

We will be having a members’ review of books they’ve read about hearing loss and living with hearing loss they found helpful.

CART (Captioning) will be provided for this meeting.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm
We look forward to seeing you there!

We will be meeting at our usual location...
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church

ALDA-Peach meeting in March:
Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 2:00pm

Georgia Advocacy Office & ADA!

Come to learn more about the ADA and your rights.

Julie Kegley, a staff attorney with GAO who was born with hearing loss, will be presenting.

Find out what the GAO does for Georgia residents and how they can help persons with hearing loss advocate for effective communication with medical providers and employers!

CART (Captioning) will be provided for this meeting.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm
We look forward to seeing you there!

We will be meeting at our usual location...
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church

ALDA-Peach meeting in February:
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 2:00pm

All About ALDA and ALDA-Peach!

Do you want to know:

Why and how ALDA, Inc. was set up?

What are the differences and membership benefits of both ALDA, Inc. and ALDA-Peach?

What’s an ALDAcon and why would anyone want to go?

(ALDAcon?... Ask Robin who has missed only one since 1992!)

Get all those questions answered. . . and more at our upcoming ALDA-Peach meeting!
Our presenter will be our own Robin Titterington, a confirmed ALDA-holic!
Robin has served on the board of ALDA, Inc. (for a three-year term, including president), and as the founding president of ALDA-Peach.

In honor of the event, we will have pizza delivered.
Donations for pizza will be accepted!
Please bring soda and whatever else you'd like to share.

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm
We look forward to seeing you there!

We will be meeting at the Huntington Condominiums Clubhouse

ALDA-Peach meeting in January:
Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach's Unbirthday Party!
and the 2012
Annual Meeting/Agenda Planning Session

The unbirthday party lets us celebrate everyone’s birthdays on the same day.
It takes its name from the Mad Hatter’s party as described in the book “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.

At this meeting, we will also discuss suggestions for our 2012 meetings.

Is there a topic you’d like to discuss with the group?
Is there an assistive device you’re curious to learn more about?
Is there an event or activity you’d like to share with ALDA-Peach?
Is there a service project you’d like to do with us?

Please come prepared to share your suggestions!

ALDA-Peach meetings fall into 4 different categories:
Support		Support meetings are designed to teach coping skills for dealing with hearing loss.
Social		Social meetings are designed to have fun.
Skills		Skills meetings are designed to teach a new skill, such as a craft or sport.
Services		Service meetings are designed to share our talents with others who need our help.

Two or more categories can be combined in a single meeting. For example, we have learned how to make custom greeting cards (skills), then distributed the cards at a hospital (service).

After all the hard work and discussion, we will refresh ourselves with a very merry unbirthday cake and other delicious snacks, celebrating our 12th year as a chapter.

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in December:
Saturday, December 10, 2011 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach's 12th Annual Holiday Party!

Please join the ALDA-Peaches for our annual holiday luncheon. This year we will be having our lunch at Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint (yes, that is their real name!).

Uncle Maddio’s specializes in fresh and flavorful pizza to suit any taste, and the price is right at under $10 per person.

You can read a review of this restaurant on the Urban Spoon website using the following link:
http://www.urbanspoon.com/

Please RSVP to ALDA-Peach to let us know that you are coming.
Send an e-mail to: vicepresident[at]aldapeach.org

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in November:
Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach's
Annual Business Meeting and Elections!

ALDA-Peach will hold our Annual Business Meeting and the ALDA-Peach membership will elect the board members to serve in 2012.

The 2012 board members will meet later in order to elect the 2012 officers from the among the board members.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in October:
October 8, 2011 at 2:00pm

Graphics 101
with PowerPoint Basics

Have you ever wanted to get graphics in your documents?

Would you like to know how to put together a PointPoint presentation?

If so, this will be your opportunity to learn!

At our October meeting, Yael Shaner will show us how to work with graphics and Marge Tamas will explain the basics of PowerPoint.

These enlightening presentations will be conducted in voice and text, using computers, projectors and a really fast typist!

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in September:
September 10, 2011 at 2:00pm

What's New!
in Assistive Listening Devices
for Severe and Profound Hearing Loss

Hearing aid and assistive listening technology has advanced tremendously
in just the last 5 years.

Directional microphones have made difficult listening situations such as restaurant dinners far easier for individual with moderate hearing loss; directional technology is now available in high-powered hearing aids for individuals with more severe hearing losses. Additionally, wireless technologies have transformed hearing aids from mere amplifiers into customized earphones for audio signals coming from a variety of sources. These technical advances may permit greater access to environmental sounds as well as improve the quality of the sound heard.

This informative presentation will be conducted in voice and text, courtesy of ALDA-Peach’s “magic machine”: a really fast typist, a laptop computer, and a computer projector for not-quite-real-time captioning.

We are pleased to announce that John Turner, Hearing Instrument Specialist for AccuQuest Hearing Center of Douglasville, on the west side of the greater metropolitan area, will be our speaker. He will describe and demonstrate a variety of high-power hearing aids and assistive devices.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in August:
August 13, 2011 at 2:00pm

GaCHI Update!
Presented by Roger Robb,
Advocate Specialist – Decatur Office

GaCHI, the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired, provides support services, advocacy, and education to individuals throughout the state of Georgia who are have a hearing loss of any kind, including the culturally deaf, hard-of-hearing, late-deafened, and deaf-blind.

GaCHI is well known for providing specialized telecommunications equipment and training for the Georgia Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program (GATEDP) to qualified applicants who have difficulty using a standard phone. However, GaCHI provides many other services that are less well known, but might provide just the help you need to live more confidently and independently, whatever your degree of hearing loss or how long you have had it.

This informative presentation will be provided in sign language with sign-to-voice interpreting and ALDA-Peach’s “magic machine”: a really fast typist, a laptop computer, and a computer projector for not-quite-real-time captioning.

We are pleased to announce that Roger Robb will be the presenter for the August 13 meeting. Roger Robb is the Advocate Specialist at GACHI – Decatur Office. He has worked at GACHI for 3 years. He hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico where he graduated from New Mexico School for the Deaf. He received his BA in Sociology at Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego, California. He has been working in the advocacy field for more than 12 years, working in San Diego, Greeley, Denver, Chicago, Albuquerque, and now Atlanta. He enjoys empowering clients to be more self-reliant and independent. In his spare time, he enjoys disc golfing, watching old movies from the 1930s – 1950s, reading books, and bowling.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm at GaCHI's Decatur, GA office.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in July:
July 9, 2011 at 2:00pm

Swim Party!

For our July meeting the agenda item is: HAVE FUN!
We are planning to have a fun social time together with a Pool Party
at the Lascek's house.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm at the Lascek's house.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in June:
June 11, 2011 at 2:00pm

It's Too Hot To Cook!
Let's Eat Out!

Please join us this Saturday at Kacey’s Home Cooking in Tucker!

Let’s let someone ELSE do the cooking in this hot, hot weather.

Kacey’s features an all-you-can-eat buffet of Southern diner favorites.
Kacey’s is easy on the budget too, at just $7.00 per person.

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in May:
May 14, 2011 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach Annual Service Project
Spring Cleaning at our host meeting facility:
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church

Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church has been gracious enough to allow us to meet at their facility each month for free. Each year we perform a service project designed to help them out in some way.

This year, cleaning is at the top of their "to-do" list,
with the nursery specifically mentioned.

Wiping down the toys with disinfectant wipes was suggested.
There are LOTS of toys in the nursery, but the work is not hard, and should be just enough for one afternoon. If anyone prefers to wash windows, that would also be most welcome.

Plan to bring some snacks so we can refresh ourselves with food AND company!

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm at our usual meeting location:
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in April:
April 9, 2011 at 2:00pm

Tour of the Atlanta Botanical Garden!

Enjoy the beauty of spring in Atlanta with a refreshing tour of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with the Peaches!

The Gardens’ featured exhibit will be “Orchid Daze: Liquid Landscapes”,

Adult admission is $18.95
Children's admission (3-12) is $12.95
(if you have a AAA membership, you can get a $2.00 discount)

There is an extra fee for parking.
Harriet Frankel lives nearby and Peaches are welcome to park in her driveway, then rendezvous at the Botantical Garden at 2:00 pm. Space in Harriet’s driveway is limited.

Please RSVP to president@aldapeach.org so we know how many are planning to come.
Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm at the Atlanta Botantical Garden

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in March:
March 12, 2011 at 3:00pm

Captioned Movie: Black Sand!

Please join us for a screening of the film “Black Sand” at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf (AASD), just a short drive from our usual meeting location. “Black Sand” is a suspense movie about some teenagers who visit a jungle paradise…or is it?

Doors open at 3:00pm at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf Auditorium

The admission is $11.00 per person (cash only) at the door.
Refreshments will be available.
ASL Films DVDs and T-Shirts will be sold at the AASD booth.

For more information or questions, please email to Kevin Steffy, ATLdeaffilm@aol.com.

You can see preview trailer of "Black Sand," which is rated PG-13, at www.ASLFilms.com. The movie is performed in American Sign Language and will be captioned in English.

We will meet at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf Auditorium.
Please note that this event we will be one hour later than our usual meeting time.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in February:
February 12, 2011 at 2:00pm

Book Club!
Everyone gets to be a book reviewer!

Please join us at the Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church for an open discussion forum where everyone gets to be a book reviewer.

We will be discussing the most helpful, informative, or encouraging book our members have ever read about hearing loss.

You don’t have to bring the book, but please bring the exact, correct title and the author’s name so we can make a list to give to everyone after the meeting.

Delicious refreshments will be available after the meeting, as always.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in January:
January 8, 2011 at 2:00pm

Open Planning Session and Unbirthday Party!

Please join us at the Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church for our
Open Planning Session and for our Unbirthday Party!

At this meeting, we will discuss suggestions for our 2011 meetings.

Is there a topic you’d like to discuss with the group?
Is there an assistive device you’re curious to learn more about?
Is there an event or activity you’d like to share with ALDA-Peach?
Is there a service project you’d like to do with us?

Please come prepared to share your suggestions!

ALDA-Peach meetings fall into 4 different categories:
Support		Support meetings are designed to teach coping skills for dealing with hearing loss.
Social		Social meetings are designed to have fun.
Skills		Skills meetings are designed to teach a new skill, such as a craft or sport.
Services		Service meetings are designed to share our talents with others who need our help.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in December:
December 11, 2010 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach's 11th Annual Holiday Luncheon!

Please join us at 2:00 pm on Saturday, December 11 for our Annual Holiday Luncheon.
ALDA-Peach will hold our 11th Annual Holiday Luncheon at
the Longhorn Steakhouse in Tucker, GA.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in November:
November 13, 2010 at 2:00pm

ALDA-Peach's Annual Business Meeting
and Elections!

Please join us at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 13 in the classroom annex of Lawrenceville United Methodist Church for our annual business meeting.

ALDA-Peach will hold our Annual Business Meeting and the ALDA-Peach membership will elect the board members to serve in 2011.

The 2011 board members will meet later in order to elect the 2011 officers from the among the board members.

Door Prizes will be given!

As always, this fun meeting will also have some delicious light refreshments and provide an excellent time to socialize.

We look forward to seeing you there!

This meeting will be held at our usual location at the
Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church

ALDA-Peach meeting in October:
October 9, 2010 at 2:00pm

Sage or Silly!

Please join us at 2:00 pm on Saturday, October 9 in the classroom annex of Lawrenceville United Methodist Church for a fun party game, ALDA-style!

Teams will compete to complete a proverb. The idea of the game is to convince the members of the other teams that your team’s entry is the correct ending.

There are 3 ways to win:

•	by guessing the correct ending
•	by getting the most votes
•	by getting the biggest laughs

Pen, paper, computer, and projector will be used to ensure that everyone can participate in all of the fun.

As always, this fun meeting will also have some delicious light refreshments and provide an excellent time to socialize.

Georgia Relay picnic in September:
September 18, 2010 from 11:00am - 2:30pm

Enjoy the Georgia Relay's 3rd Annual Picnic
at Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake

All ALDA-Peach members are invited to participate in the third annual Georgia Relay picnic being held Saturday, September 18 from 11am-2:30pm at J. Strom Thurmond Dam & Lake in Clarks Hill, South Carolina.

The picnic is an opportunity for people who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families to come together for a fun-filled afternoon of games and free food and drink.

Bring your chairs and your picnic blankets and enjoy time with family, friends and new acquaintances!

J. Strom Thurmond Dam & Lake is located at
510 Clarks Hill Highway, Clarks Hill, S.C. 29821.

ALDA-Peach meeting in September:
September 11, 2010 at 2:00pm

All About ALDAcon, 2010
and
What I Did On My Summer Vacation

The ALDA-Peaches love to travel, love to tell stories, and love to take pictures!

Please join us for a special DOUBLE presentation in September, where we’ll feature our members’ stories and lessons learned from ALDAcon 2010, and as a special bonus, stories and photos from summer vacation.

These memorable presentations will be followed, as always, by some delicious light refreshments and time to socialize.

ALDA-Peach meeting in August:
Sunday, August 15, 2010 at 2:00pm

Tour the Breman Museum
Special Exhibit:
Dr. Seuss Goes To War

The board has voted to move the August meeting to ***SUNDAY***, August 15, 2010 so that we can tour the Breman Museum special exhibit, “Dr Seuss Goes to War.”

This is the first time we’ve EVER met on a Sunday. I am hopeful that this meeting date will not only enable us to tour the Breman Museum, but permit some of our Peaches who are unable to attend our Saturday meetings to come to this meeting.

More details will be coming shortly, but meanwhile, here is a link to the museum’s website: http://www.thebreman.org

Admission fees:

Adults	$12
Seniors (62 and over)	$8
Students	$6
Children ages 3-6	$4
Children under 3	free

ALDA-Peach meeting in July:
July 10, 2010 at 2:00pm

Whatever Works at Work:
Coping with Hearing Loss on the Job

Individuals with hearing loss work in a variety of professions, and
ALDA-Peach members are no exception!

This informative meeting will share the challenges as well as the successes of dealing with hearing loss in a variety of employment settings.

Learn how others handle:
interviews
large-group meetings
teleconference calls
customer interaction
other aspects of working life

A question and answer session with Ananda Brantley-Melson, an investigator with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, will follow the presentations.

We invite ALDA-Peach members who would like to present their experiences at this meeting to please contact Marge, president@aldapeach.org, for more information.

ALDA-Peach meeting in June, 2010:
June 12, 2010 at 2:00pm

All About CIs and BAHAs

Please join us Saturday, June 12 for a presentation on surgical options for some types of hearing loss.

Scott Rinehart, Cochlear Awareness Network Manager, Southeast Territory, will discuss cochlear implants (CIs) and bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs), including their advantages, disadvantages, and how they compare to competing products. Ample time will be set aside for questions and answers

Professional CART will be provided at this meeting courtesy of Cochlear Americas.

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in May, 2010:
May 8, 2010 at 2:00pm

Down-Home Southern Picnic!

Please join us for an old-fashioned, Georgia style picnic!

Please bring a favorite picnic side item or beverage: ALDA-Peach will provide beef burgers, veggie burgers, kosher hot dogs, buns, lettuce, and tomato slices.

Steve Tamas, our webmaster, will preside as Grill Sergeant.
We need to make sure that we have enough entrees and

we need to know what side dishes everyone is planning to bring!

Please let our secretary, Ann Smith, know by e-mailing secretary@aldapeach.org

We look forward to seeing you there!

ALDA-Peach meeting in April:
April 10, 2010 at 2:00pm

Tour of the Atlanta Botanical Garden!

Enjoy the beauty of spring in Atlanta with a refreshing tour of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens with the Peaches!

The Gardens’ featured exhibit will be “Towers of Flowers: Orchid Daze”,
a mosaic designed from orchids.

Adult admission is $15
Senior Adult admission (65+) is $12
Children's admission (3-17) is also $12

There is an extra fee for parking.
Harriet Frankel lives nearby and Peaches are welcome to park in her driveway, then rendezvous at the Botantical Garden at 2:00 pm. Space in Harriet’s driveway is limited.

Please RSVP to president@aldapeach.org so we know how many are planning to come.
Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm at the Atlanta Botantical Garden

ALDA-Peach meeting in March:
March 13, 2010 at 2:00pm

White Elephant Bingo!

Have you ever bought something you later realized you’d never use? Have you ever received a gift that caused you to tell the giver, “Thanks, you really shouldn’t have,” except that you really meant they *should not* have?

Here is your chance to unload useless, tacky, or downright weird items that may be taking up perfectly good space at the back of a closet:

Donate them as door prizes for the ALDA-Peach White Elephant Bingo game!

The White Elephant Bingo Game is scheduled for 2:00 pm, Saturday March 13, at Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church. We have enough boards and other game equipment to accommodate a big crowd, plus the usual spread of delicious treats to snack on after the meeting, so this would be a great time to invite a friend to come with you!

We hope to see you then!

Weather Delay!! ALDA-Peach meeting in February:
was scheduled for February 13, 2010...
now February 20, 2010 2:00pm

A Very Merry Unbirthday!

The ALDA-Peach annual unbirthday party, originally scheduled for January has been rescheduled to coincide with our February meeting.

The unbirthday party lets us celebrate everyone’s birthdays on the same day. It takes its name from the Mad Hatter’s party as described in the book “Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.

Due to the weather delay, we are not entirely sure that we will be able to present...
All About CIs and BAHAs
latest news will be announced here!

Please join us Saturday, February 20 for a presentation on surgical options for some types of hearing loss.

Scott Rinehart, Cochlear Awareness Network Manager, Southeast Territory, will discuss cochlear implants (CIs) and bone-anchored hearing aids (BAHAs), including their advantages, disadvantages, and how they compare to competing products. Ample time will be set aside for questions and answers

Professional CART will be provided at this meeting courtesy of Cochlear Americas.

Please plan to join us at 2:00 pm on February 13 at Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church for a special program presented by Scott Rinehart on the latest in cochlear and bone conduction implant technology, followed by our very merry unbirthday party social.

ALDA-Peach at the GaCHI Health Fair
By Marge Tamas and Yael Shaner

August 23, 2008 – Clarkston, Georgia – Marge and Yael are pleased to report that our ALDA-Peach exhibit went very well at the 2^nd Annual GaCHI Health Fair today!

Despite the gloomy, iffy weather, there must have been at least 100 people who attended this event at the Clarkston campus of Georgia Perimeter College.

To encourage attendees to visit all the booths and learn about the different organizations represented there, the organizer, Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired (GaCHI) gave each attendee a sort of “bingo card” that had to be initialed by a booth staffer. Attendees who filled their cards were eligible for the door prize drawing of a large plasma TV! And everyone was eligible for free food, courtesy of Kroger and a few other vendors, with the free registration. Marge thought GaCHI did an outstanding job of organizing lunch. It’s the first time Marge has ever worked an exhibit event where there was a formal lunch break coordinated by the organizing staff! Very civilized! Not to mention that every table had been assigned their very own interpreter, courtesy of the Georgia Perimeter College Interpreter Training Program.

Most of the attendees were culturally Deaf, but they listened politely to Yael and Marge explain what our group is about. We met 2 women who were hard of hearing who might consider attending one of our future meetings.We met 2 women who were hard of hearing who might consider attending one of our future meetings.

Both Yael & Marge were VERY busy with our other obligations prior to the event, and it had slipped our minds that we’d need brochures to hand out! But Ann came to our rescue, printing some brochures for us, and we had *just* enough material to last us until it was time to take down the exhibit. The last copy of Fuzz was distributed at 1:55 pm!!

We saw several old friends there, including Bob Green, Jeanette Lorch, Mark Gasaway, and Leigh & Phillip from the deaf-blind association, who we met at the ALDA-Peach picnic last year. Bob was busy representing no fewer than 4 different organizations at the event. Marge asked him where all his hats were! He just laughed!

All in all, it was a very nice event, well-managed, and Marge and Yael would recommend it to any of our members who would like to volunteer next year. As Yael said, “it was just plain FUN!!”