Jan/Feb 2026| Volume 44, Issue 1 Closed Circuit Volunteer Newsletter |
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As we box the holiday decorations, and the days of January grow longer, take a peek at these smiles and recall the joy of community and connection. Audio-Reader studios filled with warmth in December with the Holiday Party. Several listeners joined volunteers and staff to celebrate with good food, good company, and shared song.
A few of our listeners previously sang with The Intergenerational Choir that is a combination of KU students and senior community members from the Senior Resource Center. The Intergenerational Choir is led by Dr. Melissa Grady, Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at KU’s School of Music. The group sang favorite holiday songs and asked all to sing along. Later in the evening, Tina Jenkins and Lynda Anders both sang songs as well.
Thanks for celebrating the season with us and continuing to serve Audio-Reader listeners in this complicated and hard new year. Your daily actions, reading, showing up, checking in to sub, and sharing your voice to benefit another—good things for a good start to our year.
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Pictured from Left to Right: Kalene West with Janie Jones enjoying the buffet; Steve Jack, Feloniz and Beth smile during conversation; Tina Jinkens and Trish sit on the couch with fun holiday sweaters- Tina's of snowmen with stylized braille and Trish's of turtle doves (actual turtles with feathery wings!).
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Mel and Anne Burgess join Bob Gent in enjoying songs and food in the A-R living room; Pam Blome stands with Bev and Robert Phillips smiling toward the camera.
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- Wed Jan 28, Arts Accessibility Forum Convening, 10am- 12pm, Lied Center Pavilion and via Zoom
- Fri & Sat Feb 13-14, Audio Sale at LPL
- Wed Feb 18, Virtual Coffee Bar, 2pm via Zoom (discussion about books by authors sharing experiences with vision loss)
- Fri & Sat Feb 20-21, New Volunteer Orientation
- Tues April 14, 2026 Annual Volunteer Banquet: 6pm to 8pm
- Mon June 8, A-R Golf Tournament
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Audio-Reader Book Club: Second Monday at 11:30, contact Billie Archer for more information.
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Arts Accessibility Forum- Registration Opens! |
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Registration opens for the Audio Description Training in March. The next Arts Forum is January 28th, 10am to 12 at Lied Center Pavilion and via Zoom. The website links are:
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December was a fantastic month for AD requests. We had 8 requests - 4 at The Coterie for Elf the Musical, 2 at Theatre Lawrence for White Christmas, 1 at Kaufmann for the Nutcracker, and 1 at KC Rep for A Christmas Carol. We served 10 patrons throughout the month and want to keep the momentum going by training more describers.
Pictured below: First Image: Five humans and one guide dog stand together at The Coterie theatre; the humans are Meredith Johanning, Felly Lovato-Winston, Mr. and Mrs. Travis Smith, and Martha Kehr. Second Image: Halley Korff and Martha Kehr tour the set of Elf The Musical; Martha holds up one of the elf puppets and laughs; Halley is holding her white cane.
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Notice of Telephone Reader Number Changes |
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On March 1st, 2026, the Topeka and Springfield phone numbers will be no longer. We are streamlining by using the 800-335-1221 number and the 785-864-7474 number. Over the next two months, we will continue to remind folks and be making changes to website and other materials.
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Outreach with Stone Soup Singers |
It was a hectic day and a half, but by the end, about 15 singers, who are also blind or have low vision, gathered in Overland Park to carol. On Tuesday, December 30, the group sang at Shawnee Post Acute and Rehabilitation Center and at Meadowbrook Senior Living. The final singing event was at the home of hosts Malachy and Kilmeny Connor, who invited friends and neighbors to share food, fun, and the Christmas Spirit!
Accompanying the singers was Judy Rounda, former A-R volunteer and ivory tickler extraordinaire! Judy responded to our call for volunteer keyboardists. While Ashlee Thao impressed the group with her skills on the violin, she also played the piano for a couple of songs. Ashlee is a little famous - Watch Ashlee play in 'Dwight Christmas'.
Martha hopes to continue this connection and has already had several listeners request more information about this chance to sing within the community. Tina Jenkins spoke at the events and encouraged all in attendance to check out A-R services. Tina and Lynda Anders are included in the picture below: 11 singers sit in a group in front of a large decorated Christmas tree; Judy Rounda is at the keyboard, another person holds a guitar, and several singers hold braille books of lyrics.
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Get Involved with Outreach |
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Do you enjoy meeting new people? Talking about the Audio-Reader Mission?
Reach out to Trish or Martha, and we can let you know about upcoming events – several are in the Lawrence and KC area, as well as Wichita, Springfield, and across the state. Help Martha and our mission reach a bit further by letting us know of events in your area too.
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The Sale is just around the corner! Our volunteers have been working hard to get all the equipment and records ready. Our thanks to Ed Hawkins, Douglas May, Gordon Fitch and Dave Dunford for the efforts that make this possible. Thanks also to Wake Mitchell for his extra efforts with our collection of donated records. Doug Keslar helps us every Tuesday with sale projects and with tasks of all kinds. It takes the dedication of many to allow for such a successful fundraising event.
Many help the day before and the day of the event. Would you like to join this grand group? If so, please send an email to Meredith, mjohanning@ku.edu, to sign up for a shift.
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Sale Volunteers - We can use volunteer help with:
--set up on Friday, February 13 from 9:30am-11:30am;
--during the sale Friday night 6-8:30pm (sale begins at 6:30); and
--Saturday from 10am-4pm (two-hour shifts).
Want to help? Contact Meredith.
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Virtual Coffee Bar - Topics 2026 |
Our November Virtual Coffee Bar included a discussion of the topics for 2026. Virtual Coffee Bar offers a chance to connect with our many volunteers. The standing date is the Third Wednesday of the month, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. In general, the session begins with brief introductions, a discussion on the month’s topic, and we conclude with the sharing of insights from the group. It is not always a full 60 minutes, and folks are welcome to drop in and stay for as long as they can.
In January, we shared the topics for 2026 (below) and also book recommendations for the year. In February, we look forward to conversation on two books about the experiences of those with vision loss. March is an encore with Steve Grimm on the Basics of Audacity, and in April we are inviting Dr. Heather Nelson, Volcologist and A-R volunteer, to share some tips for caring for our voices—it is volunteer appreciation month too! We hope you will join us for one or more of these this year.
Read more including all 2026 Topics...
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February VCB: Books Authored by Persons Sharing Their Experience with Vision Loss |
Looking for your next read?
Check out these two and join us for discussion:
Feb 18 at 2pm during Virtual Coffee Bar.
Read more ...
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Lori Lange reads Christian Science Monitor (CSM) with co-reader Clair Keizer. The last CSM of 2025 included an article titled, “Our Year in Photos” and Lori put her creativity and experience as an Audio Describer to work to bring these to life for our listeners.
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Audio-Reader prioritizes the text and also encourages readers to provide picture description as time allows during their assignments. The caption is a must, and additional detail is welcome when time allows.
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| Guess who was selected for FeedSpot’s TOP 50 Black Podcasts?
The African American Hour, and its volunteer broadcasters, Rosemarie Onwukwe of Washington DC and Byron Buckner of Kansas City. Congratulations!
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Long time volunteer and historian, Dr. Carl Graves developed a special program highlighting the 50’s.
THE FABULOUS FIFTIES airs starting January 2026, a new series about our nation’s most colorful, prosperous and fun-filled decade. From television to popular music, culture and new technologies, Carl brings us the events, sights and sounds that shape this decade. Fostering the skills and the opportunity to gain experience, this program has been produced with the assistance of our Programming Intern, Kacie Fuller with guidance from Nick Carswell.
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Susan S. called to share that she just started listening to Audio-Reader and it has completely changed her life! She went from a state of too much boredom to listening to hours of newspapers each day. She is already getting very familiar with the volunteers and becoming a regular listener to all of the newspaper programs, especially the Sunflower Dailies, and Wichita Eagle. In her professional life she was a journalist and wrote for the El Dorado paper as well as the Wichita Eagle. She mentioned how much she appreciates the volunteers’ dedication to making the news available to those that can’t get it otherwise.
Cheri K. sent in her complements to our readers of the Holton Paper via Telephone Reader and the Atchison Globe via the KC News; she is especially grateful for the friendly voices.
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A New Member of the Audio-Reader Family! |
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Danny Mantyla, A-R and KPR Web Developer (and friend of the Garden!) welcomed Rosie to their family in January! Mom, Dad, big brother and Rosie are all doing well. Danny will be away on paternity leave until April and so we are asking for garden volunteers to sign up to lead a garden work day once a month. More details soon and please reach out to Trish to sign up.
What a beautiful name for this sweet little one! Congrats Danny and family!
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On December 14, 2025, the City of Lawrence recognized one of our own. Nick Carswell, Director of Programming was honored with The Phoenix Award for Musical Arts and Advocacy. The Phoenix Awards honor remarkable artistic contributions within our community. Every two years, the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission invites the public to nominate individuals whose creativity, service, and dedication have made a meaningful impact on the arts in Lawrence. Nick was recognized along with five other community advocates. Each awardee received a handcrafted Phoenix Award sculpture created by local artist C. Bryan Young; Nick is pictured below receiving his from Lawrence Mayor Finkeldei.
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When asked about the award, Nick said, “Thanks to everyone who reached out with congratulations and well-wishes. I’m very honored!”
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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.
Thank you for all your efforts and care in bringing the news, arts, connection and independence to our listeners!
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