Monday, September 2, 2019

DSA Northwest Daily News

Monday, September 2, 2019 -- Issue #1

Welcome to DSA 2019 Seattle!

Interpreters Provided 12:00 Noon - 8:00 PM in Sheraton Lobby & at Starbucks Coffee

 

Announcements & Housekeeping

• VERY IMPORTANT!  Please read the separate blog post titled "Hotel: Emergency Preparedness" and follow the directions for registering. It is critical for our safety that every DSA participant is contacted in case of an emergency!
• Conference Registration is in the Spruce Room on the 2nd floor. Ride up the escalator  one flight from the lobby and turn around the corner on the left.
• Remember almost all DSA Conference events take place in the Pike Street Tower.
• Coming soon: a separate blog post about the DSA Board's accomplishments and activities from 2017-2019. Be sure to attend the Board Meeting on Tuesday morning!
• All HOT Tours meet 15 minutes before departure time by the Starbucks in the Sheraton Lobby.
• If you are looking for an ASL interpreted AA meeting while you are in Seattle, look below for the schedule.
• HELP! Disaster survivors needed this Thursday, September 5th to serve on panel! Please look below under Emergency Preparedness. 

Monday's Highlights - September 2

• Conference Registration Open 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• HOT Tours: 1:00 PM -- Pike Place Market, 1:00 PM - Boeing Factory Tour. (Must buy your tickets online at www.handson.travel)
• Alumni Group Dinner 4:00 - 10:00 PM
• Chat - Willow Room, 2nd floor 8:00 - 11:00 PM (Conference registrants only)

Monday's Weather Forecast 

Partly cloudy, around 75' F.

Welcome Aboard!

By Nancy Rarus, DSA President

     How many of us were taught this song: Make New Friends? Here are the first few lines:

"Make new friends

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold.

A circle is round, 

it has no end…"

     Here’s where you will meet some of your friends from a long ago

and where you will make new friends. Here’s where you will be given new 

ideas on how to be a happy Senior! Here is where you can learn what to do

as a Deaf Senior to have more access to needed services.

Be safe. Stay well.

Nancy B. Rarus

DSA President

Greetings from Your DSA Conference Chair Ellen Scheppach

     Welcome to Seattle! Our conference is finally happening this week in the beautiful, hospitable Sheraton Grand Seattle. Our team stands ready to assist you in any way you need help with. You’ll see them on duty wearing their DSA blue caps and t-shirts – whether behind their desks, out front, in the conference rooms, or elsewhere around the hotel.  

     Please be sure to read the “Welcome Letter” from the Sheraton staff as it has general hotel information and explains how you can place orders or ask for various services. Your DSA Program Book includes a general lay-out of the conference floors in the Pike Street Tower, and provides a day-by-day schedule of all DSA Conference events. Exhibitors and workshop presenters will be eager to show you their new products and offer you valuable information to improve our lives as we age.

     Do plan to attend two important afternoon Open Forums: one on Tuesday, September 3^rd, and the other on Wednesday, September 4^th. Please let our state agencies and the national the DSA-NAD Task Force hear from you. What senior resources to you need? Where do improvements still need to be made? This is our chance to give them important feedback.  

     Have a great time, make new friends, and take back with you many happy memories from DSA 2019 Seattle! 

Warm Regards,

Ellen Scheppach, DSA 2019 Seattle Chair

We Want Your Conference Photos!
     Since arriving at the DSA Conference, have you taken some fun photos you would like to share with the rest of us? Please email your best photos with captions to DSA NW Daily News at sarageballe@gmail.com. We will do our best to include as many as we can.

How DSA 2019 Came to Seattle?

By Ellen Scheppach, Conference Chair

     When I attended the DSA 2013 Baltimore Conference, a friend suggested that I try to bring a future DSA Conference to Seattle. I liked the idea, so that year and the next Connie Gough, Mike Gough, and I scrambled trying to find an organization to host us, but we had no luck. Rather than give up, my husband Van and I, along with Connie and Mike, decided to establish Washington State Deaf Senior Citizens, Inc. (WSDSC) as a nonprofit organization for Deaf seniors in Washington State as the possible host organization for DSA Seattle 2019.

     Connie and I then attended the DSA 2015 Conference in Asheville, NC in August where we bid on Seattle as the host city for DSA 2019 Conference. Fortunately, our bid won out over Pittsburgh!

     Beginning in March 2016, Connie and I set up a DSA Seattle 2019 Conference Management Team (CMT) to start planning in earnest. We also worked on the DSA logo design.

     In March 2017, the CMT and Committee Chairs attended a weekend retreat in Ocean Park, WA. And in April several of us attended the DSA 2017 Houston Conference to spread the word. We garnered almost 500 pre-registrations for the 2019 Conference!

     In September 2018 the CMT and Committee Chairs took a tour of the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Seattle so we could see for ourselves the size of various workshop rooms, the ballroom, and to get a good sense of the hotel’s overall layout.

     Since then we have had three more major meetings for the CMT and all Committee Chairs – in May, June, and July. We’ve all been working very hard to make sure everything is ready to go TODAY Monday, September 2 when DSA 2019 Seattle opens its doors! 

Need Help? Look For Someone Wearing This Hat!

     Volunteer DSA staff will be wearing hats like this one when they are ON DUTY. Throughout the week feel free to ask for help from anyone wearing this hat.

News Flash:  CANCELLATION!

     Donna DiMarco, DSA Conference's keynote speaker, has regretfully informed us that she is unable to be with us. Her father is currently in the hospital in intensive care, and as his caregiver, she feels she needs to be with him. She apologizes for not keeping her speaking engagements. We wish them both well.

We Need Your Help! Are You a Disaster Survivor?

  Have you survived a wildfires, hurricane, earthquake, tornado, or other natural disaster? If you experienced any of these events within the last five years, you are invited to be on our panel Lessons Learned thru Fire & Storms – Survivor Stories to be held at 1:30 pm on Thursday, September 5^th. Or, if you were a volunteer, or friend, helping clean up or providing services in a disaster zone, we really want to hear from you! Please text Donna Platt (206-372-9866) or Jim House (425-891-1380). Or see them presenting at the workshop titled Are You Disaster Ready? at 9:00 AM Wednesday. 

What Are HOT Tours?

     Hands On Travel (HOT) is offering a wide variety of half-day and full-day tours throughout the week. They range from a food tour of Seattle's Pike Place Market, to a private tour of Starbucks world headquarters, to a walking tour of Boeing's airplane assembly line, to whale watching, winery tours, a dinner cruise, a visit to Mt. Rainier National Park, and much more. The good news is all HOT tours are led by guides who sign. The bad news is many HOT tours are already sold out. Tickets will not be sold at the DSA registration desk. 
     All remaining tickets must be purchased online at: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/handsontravel/183158. There is also a waiting list for each tour, in case of cancellations. For more information about Hands On Travel, visit their website at: https://handson.travel/ or call 520-720-0886.

     Hands On Travel was founded in 2002 by Terry Giansanti, a Deaf American who now lives in Rome. Today Hands On Travel, based in Oro Valley, Arizona offers small group tours led by signing guides in more than 60 countries around the world. Be sure to visit the Hands On Travel booth in the DSA Exhibit Hall this week.
     Here is a complete list of the HOT Tours being offered this week. Remember to meet your tour 15 minutes before the departure time by the Starbucks in the Sheraton Hotel Lobby.

Monday, September 2

1:00 PM Pike Place Market Food Tour - with VALDIES 

1:00 PM Boeing Factory Tour - with DARREN

Tuesday, September 3

8:00 AM Seattle City Highlights Tour (includes admission to Seattle Space Needle and Chihuly Glass Garden) - with DAN 
1:00 PM Seattle City Highlights Tour - with DAN 

1:30 PM Starbucks Headquarters Tour - with PATTY

Wednesday, September 4

8:00 AM Whale Watching - with PATTY
9:00 AM Pike Place Market Food Tour - with VALDIES 

12:00 Noon Boeing Factory Tour - with DARREN
5:30 PM Argosy Dinner Cruise - with DAN & RACHEL

Thursday, September 5

8:00 AM Boeing Factory Tour - with DAN
9:00 AM Snoqualmie Falls & Winery Tour - with DARREN, LARRY & RUSTY

9:00 AM Starbucks Headquarters Tour - with PATTY 

Friday, September 6

8:00 AM Mt. Rainier National Park Tour - with RONISE

1:30 PM Starbucks Headquarters Tour - with PATTY

Saturday, September 7

11:30 AM Tillicum Village & Cruise Tour - with RONISE

1:00 PM Pike Place Market Food Tour - with VALDIES 

1:00 PM Seattle City Highlights Tour - with DAN

Your HOT Tour Guides

Valdies

Darren

Patty

Dan

Ronise

Don't Forget:  We Want Your Conference Photos!
     Since arriving at the DSA Conference, have you taken some fun photos you would like to share with the rest of us? Please email your best photos with captions to DSA NW Daily News at sarageballe@gmail.com. We will do our best to include as many as we can.

Interpreted AA Meetings During DSA

     ASL Interpreted AA meeting will be available this Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the DSA Conference. The meetings will be held from 7:00 – 8:00 AM at the Denny Park Lutheran Church, which is about a 15 minute walk from the Sheraton Hotel. The address is:  766 John Street, Seattle, WA 98109. Please enter the church on 8^th Avenue N. Questions: Please contact Laurel at  VP 206-452-0186.

Who Is Here?
     At total of 910 people have registered for this year's DSA Conference in Seattle. They come from a total of 47 different US states and 7 different Canadian provinces. Have fun seeing old friends and making new ones!

A Huge Thank You to All Our Wonderful DSA 2019 Seattle Sponsors!

Your DSA Northwest Daily News Staff
We are located in the Ballard Room on the 3rd floor of the Sheraton. Drop by and see us!
Editor: Sara Geballe, sarageballe@gmail.com 

Contributors:  Mirna Casterjon, Rosemary DiSiervi, RaeVern DuMond, Nikki Ekle, Cindy McNeely, Linda Reaves-Randall, Ellen Scheppach, Van Scheppach, John Taft, and Sally Taylor.