BayLines Express
September 25, 2026
From the Editor
Fall is here, and while I’m not super big on pumpkin spice lattes, I am a pumpkin pie girly. I did spend a whirlwind 36 hours in New York City earlier this month for work, though, overseeing some filming at NBC Studios at Rockefeller Center for the Audio Description Awards Gala. While in Times Square, I did make a pilgrimage to Nintendo, who has a flagship store next to NBC. Of course there are things to buy there, but there are also photo ops with popular game characters, displays of all their consoles (and playing cards from when they were a card company), and the ability to play a round in a running game of Mario Kart. I also had a lovely conversation with a deaf employee about content accessibility.
The filming at 30 Rock went smoothly, and those of us on the Audio Description Project team are so excited for you all to watch this year’s AD Awards Gala in November.
Don’t forget about White Cane Safety Day! This year, MCB is having its annual event on Friday, October 23 at the State House. You can learn more and register by going to the Events Calendar section in this issue.
Don’t forget about our blog! You can read member spotlight articles and all past member-submitted articles to BayLines Express by going to https://acbofma.org/blog. Blog posts are ordered newest to oldest, and there are several of them per page. Each individual post’s title is a link that will take you to the full body of text.
If you would like to contribute information or comment on ways to improve BayLines Express, please contact Dianna Leonard at newsletter@acbofma.org. And if you have an idea for a monthly article and would like to contribute your writing, please contact Myra Ross at newsletter@acbofma.org. The newsletter mailbox is shared between Myra and Dianna.
News from the Board
The Bay State Council of the Blind board last met on Sunday, September 13. All board members except Nora Nagle were present, and there were additional non-board members who came to present.
There was a very constructive discussion about funding for youth initiatives that we may be receiving from the defunct Our Space Our Place. We are investigating possible partnerships with organizations who are already serving young people. Many thanks for the work of Nancy Trzcinski, Keri Svendsen, and Myra Ross, as well as for comments from Bill Henderson.
The Board discussed the possibility of including Square as a payment option in addition to PayPal. Thanks to Shirley Dorris for her observations as a Square user. Treasurer David Kingsbury will experiment with this payment system and bring his conclusions to the board.
Announcements about our future board meetings, including the Zoom links, will go out to our membership list, so that people will not need to request the link on an individual basis.
The website revamp is well underway, thanks to Simon Miner and Kayla Bentas.
Brian Charlson and Jerry Berrier will collaborate in reviving Council Connection, most likely on a quarterly basis.
The Board will be eliminating the menu options on our Philmore line, as they are not being used and keeping them updated is sometimes difficult. We will continue, however, to use this as our phone number. Thanks to Cindy Wentz for her continued monitoring of this service.
Nona Haroyan and Shirley Dorris, co-chairs of the convention planning committee, let us know that Cindy Hollis, American Council of the Blind Manager of Membership Engagement, will be a speaker at the November 21 Fall Conference. The board approved money to cover her expenses.
The next board meeting will be on Monday, October 12, at 7:30 PM ET.
Events Calendar
Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) is having their annual White Cane Celebration on Friday, October 23, from 11am to 1pm in the Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House at 24 Beacon St. in Boston. Learn more and register here:
https://forms.mass.gov/eohhs-mcb/form/28/
The next meeting of Blind and Visually Impaired User Group (VIBUG) will take place on Saturday, October 10, 2026 at 1:00pm via Zoom. Further information and how to join is listed at https://vibug.org/.
The next Perkins Library Without Walls will meet in October of 2026. To RSVP or listen to the upcoming LWW schedule, call the voice mailbox system at (617) 972-7852.
The next Third Thursday with the BSCB will take place on October 15 at 8:00 PM via Zoom. Join us as we hear about AIVI, a new app that is similar to Be My Eyes’ AI assistant. Please be sure to subscribe to our Announce List at bscb-announce+subscribe@acblists.org to stay up to date.
Below are landing page links for the MCB Rehabilitation Council (RC), and the MCB Statutory Advisory Board (SAB). You may want to bookmark them and check them often for time-sensitive entries. They contain details of upcoming events and meetings, recordings of recent meetings, and other relevant information.
RC landing page: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/mcb-rehabilitation-council
SAB landing page: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/mcb-statutory-advisory-board
News from the Web
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) now has tactile maps available for public restrooms! The maps are placed outside restroom areas and show layouts of the spaces with information such as where stalls and sinks are, for example. You can read more on their website.
https://www.mspairport.com/airport/accessibility/tactile-maps
A blind man swam the 8.2-mile perimeter of Michigan’s Mackinac Island. Scott Lacy, a 43-year-old athlete, is quoted sharing his experience in the following article.
‘Impossible Doesn’t Exist’: Man Becomes First Blind Swimmer To Lap Michigan’s Mackinac Island
Pine Tree Guide Dog Users, Maine’s affiliate of GDUI (Guide Dog Users, Inc.) has put together a resource page on their website for October’s Blindness Awareness Month. October 15 is also White Cane Safety Day.
Get Ready for Blindness Awareness Month with Every Crossing Counts Resources!
Advocacy in Action: Our Voices Are Being Heard!
By Nona Haroyan on behalf of the BSCB Advocacy Committee
The BSCB Advocacy Committee has been busy this spring and summer, and we’re excited to share some great news!
So far, four advocacy teams have met with members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation to discuss ACB’s three federal legislative imperatives. These meetings have been productive, encouraging, and, perhaps most importantly, have helped strengthen relationships with both members of Congress and their staff.
Two of our advocacy teams even had the opportunity to meet personally with their representatives, proving that a good conversation can go a long way.
- Representative Ayanna Pressley: DeAnn Elliott, Carl Richardson, and ElizabethAnn Johnson
- Representative Katherine Clark: Jerry Berrier, Shirley Dorris, and Cindy Wentz
- Representative Jim McGovern: Mary Haroyan, Sharon Strzalkowski, and Jim Murphy, who met with Congressman McGovern in person
- Representative Jake Auchincloss: Jini Fairley, Paul Saner, and Brian Switzer, who also met with Congressman Auchincloss in person
We’re especially pleased to report that Congressman McGovern has already signed on to two of ACB’s three legislative imperatives, and we’re optimistic he’ll support the third as well.
Congressman Auchincloss was very receptive to all three imperatives, and we’re hopeful he’ll lend his support after our follow-up conversations. He also shared his strong interest in autonomous vehicle legislation, an issue that holds tremendous promise for people who are blind or have low vision. It’s always encouraging to know we have another ally in Congress!
These meetings remind us that advocacy really does make a difference. Legislators appreciate hearing directly from constituents whose lives are affected by the policies they consider. And don’t worry, no one is expected to memorize every bill number or become a policy expert overnight. If you can tell your story, you can be an advocate.
The Advocacy Committee is always looking for additional members who would like to join our advocacy teams for future congressional visits. Whether you’ve advocated for years or have never attended a legislative meeting, we’d love to have you join us. We promise, the only thing more rewarding than meeting with your representative is discovering afterward that they actually listened!
Together, we’re making sure the voices of blind and low vision Massachusetts residents are being heard, one conversation at a time.
Submitted by the BSCB Advocacy Committee
Members of the BSCB Advocacy Committee meet with Congressman Jake Auchincloss to discuss ACB’s federal legislative imperatives.
BSCB Contact Information
Phone: (773) 572-6312
BSCB website: https://acbofma.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACBOfMA/