Volunteers, guests, and staff smile and wave from below the balcony!

The evening guest speaker, Kathy Dawson, (pictured at podium), has been listening to Audio-Reader since 1975. As a long-time listener, she spoke about the impact Audio-Reader volunteers have had on her throughout the decades.

Her primary interest is in the daily news, keeping up with newspapers from across the region each day. Kathy also mentioned that she is a KU sports fan and shared her appreciation for Audio-Reader and KPR’s connection to KU Athletics and the excellent game coverage available over the radio.

Gratitude poured from her as she thanked the volunteers for their time and commitment to helping listeners like her live a thriving and independent life.  

Gratitude, Community and Dedication were emphasized throughout the night.

Staff celebrated the many contributions of our volunteer community including the 18,000 hours of dedicated service, as well as all the many ways that volunteers go above and beyond: learning new software, keeping commentary out of difficult to read news, fixing donations for sale, sorting donations, making special treats for sharing, taking extra time to bring creative perspectives to curated shows, finding a way when publications change platforms, summarizing a complex plot in a book read, creating short pod-casts to fill programming gaps, tending the garden in the heat, lugging audio-description equipment into theaters to make art accessible, sharing time and effort to connect as a community and to allow our mission to succeed.  

After a delicious dinner made and served by Maceli’s staff, the following volunteers were recognized for milestone years of service with Audio-Reader: 

Celebrating 35 years  – Randy Austin, Carol Jones, Kimberly Morrow, and Kris Shields.  

Celebrating 30 years - Pat Ashley-Hiscock.  

Celebrating 25 years  – Cindy Koester, Cindy Penzler, Kathy Sanders, and Jane Tedder.  

Celebrating 20 years - Merilee Dymacek, David Dunford, Marilyn Epp, Thomas Howe, Cal Karlin, Mike Lewis, and Ron Scoles.  

Celebrating 15 years – Pamela Baughman, Anne Burgess, Karen DeVictor, Mark Hutchins, and James Powers.  

Celebrating 10 years  - Christy Allie, Lisa Beck, Charles Higginson, Jim Huber, Karen Puckett, Roberta Renz, Kay Rute, Linda Thompson, Jeff Vincent, and Julie Whistman.  

Celebrating 5 years  – Martha Breckenridge, Byron Buckner, Linda Cleveland, Jan Dean, Marcella Huggard, Rosemarie Onwukwe, David Schauner, Michael Schopper, Paul Sullivan, Nancy Scott, Kelly Sundbye, Robin Ward, and Stacie Wells.  

The finale of the evening was hearing comments from Audio-Reader listeners which can be read on the website https://reader.ku.edu/listener-comments. 

Special Guest-

J. Schafer, News Director of KPR

May Topic: Staying Neutral, Navigating Bias

We are the Eyes and Not the Brain - and that can be harder these days.  

We have asked J. Shafer to stop by and share his tips and tricks.  

Join us: Wednesday, May 20 at 2pm

Thank you as always for sharing your voice with our listeners! 

Virtual Coffee Bar is a monthly zoom conversation for volunteers and guests; it is scheduled for the 3rd Wednesday of the month* at 2:00pm (generally 45 to 60 min).  *Except for during summer/winter breaks- no VCB June, July, Dec 

Virtual Coffee Bar ZOOM LINK 
https://kansas.zoom.us/j/91499262397

Meeting ID: 914 9926 2397
Passcode: 4600

Steve Grimm, A-R Volunteer Broadcaster and Technology Friend, will be holding "office hours" for volunteers to zoom with him and ask questions one on one! 

What a gift to our volunteer community! 

Make a list of your questions and zoom with Steve on the first or third Monday of the month from 8:00 am to 9:30 am.  We will use the VCB Zoom link as many of you have that on hand too. 

Thank you Steve!

Audacity Office Hours: 1st and 3rd Mondays: 8:00 am to 9:30 am

ZOOM LINK 
https://kansas.zoom.us/j/91499262397

Meeting ID: 914 9926 2397
Passcode: 4600

In February, we welcomed a new cohort of volunteer broadcasters and also a few gardeners and audio describers.  Please welcome the new members of the Audio-Reader community!  

If you have been a volunteer for years, you may forget all the many things you know – from how to access instructions to what to do with that long article or how to describe a picture.  The services we provide are only possible with the willingness of volunteers to learn new skills and share their expertise, creativity and gift of voice.  Plus we need those green thumbs and theater buffs!

Please welcome these wonderful folks!

Gardeners:  Dylan Akpan, Joan Baird, Evelyn Burgess, Reine Chandler, Jana Jorn

Volunteer Broadcasters:  Samir Arif, Vie Ayeraye, Stan Davis, Jim Gilkeson,  Craig Hanna, Chris Long, Ronald Pittman, Wallace Renfro, Kanaka Shetty, Pam Slawson, Angela Spurgin, Karen Wittman

Audio Describers: Pam Slawson, Shala Stevenson

It takes lots of volunteers to make our annual golf tournament a great success and we need your help! Volunteers are needed for the following shifts:

Sunday, June 7: 4-7pm (set up)

Monday, June 8:

6:30-8:30am (set up)

8am-2pm (during the event)

1:30-3:30pm (tear down)

Please email Beth McKenzie to sign up for a shift. 

The Audio-Reader Book Club meets every second Monday of the month at 11:30, at Audio-Reader in Lawrence but also have a zoom option. 

Interested? 

Reach out to Billie Archer bdaaks@gmail.com or ask Trish for more details.  

Audio Description volunteers gathered in late April to plan ahead for an exciting summer of theater and cultural events where Audio-Reader will be providing the service. At the meeting, they talked about signing up for open assignments, went over the AD Handbook, and demonstrated equipment setup. The amazing team has grown with the newly trained describers and includes volunteers who have been part of the program since it began. Their expertise allows us to help local theaters make their performances accessible to the blind/low vision community, and we hope to offer additional shows as the program continues to grow.

In the Audio-Reader conference room, five volunteer audio describers and two Audio-Reader staff flank the conference table and turn smiling faces toward the camera.  At the far end. a large TV Monitor hangs and illuminates the faces of two more volunteers, joining the meeting via zoom.  From left to right, Shala Stevenson, Pam Slawson, Martha Kehr, Bird Marathe, Lori Lange, Nick Carswell, Patricia Hamarstrom Williams, Byron Buckner, and Christy Allie. 

Final Arts Accessibility Forum

The final convening of the Arts Accessibility Forum is fast approaching!

Join us Tuesday, June 3, from 10 a.m.–12 p.m. at the Midwest Trust Center on the JCCC campus in Overland Park for an engaging discussion on accessibility in the arts, a debrief of the series and discussion on where we go from here. 

Featured speaker Magan Harms, Director of Audio Description and ADA Coordinator at MindsEye Radio will share insights and expertise. 

Subs are a big support all year round; if you can help by being a sub, use the link below to sign up via TeamUp.   Questions or just to sign-up via a human - give Trish a call or email her. 

Questions about TeamUp?  Here is an informal video on the specifics of TeamUp.  

Summer trips make the summer fun- reach out to Trish to share your anticipated absences.  A couple weeks notice truly helps to keep the news flowing to our listeners.  

Thank you for all your efforts and care in bringing the news, arts, connection and independence to our listeners!