« May 2026

We met on May 8, 2026, at Seniors Plus. Please feel free to share this with other interested people or agencies.  The group meets on the second Friday of the month at 11:30am at Seniors Plus in Lewiston.  

B-a-VIP

May 8, 2026

NEXT MEETING - June 12, 2026, Seniors Plus

Introductions -

Roger and Bella live next door, almost ...............

Brian shared his son’s new facility in South Portland for dogs and people… The Barkery

Sylvia - new member from South Paris. She is glad to be here as this is her first time here.

Lee lives in Sumner and has brought Sylvia. She is a retired educator and is a member of the Seniors Plus board.

Pat from Green… 14 years of vision loss… “life changing and not life threatening.”

Julie - Usher’s syndrome. From Winthrop -

Joe - Julie’s husband and chauffeur and remarks that the group is so very helpful.

Nikki from Auburn with vision loss in 2026…''

Nikki is the guest speaker and talked about her experience with Incite

She just returned from Pennsylvania and the conference to which Incite had sent her.

She gave the narrative of her experience - she made the trip all fine, but with some anxiety in the descent. She did have assistance at the airports. This was her first time in a plane and her first conference.  She shared her challenges and her learning. It was a challenge, but it was great.

She told how she was planted in traffic, but had to use the restroom, but she managed to get her ride to the hotel in Harrisburg. The hotel was very dark.

The conference had some blind people, but not all the participants were blind, and the conference was designed for people who work with the blind.

There were lots of sessions and she was very impressed with the keynote speaker. Steve Baskith. And he has a web site and a pod cast.

“Vision loss may not be our biggest challenge.”

Her presentation went well for about 90 minutes and she worked with two others in the presentation. She has learned to put aside her limitations and barriers. She felt the support of the group throughout the trip.

The return trip was an experience in a small plane.

We all congratulated Nikki on her opportunities and her courage in taking part in the program.

The return trip and coming back was a reality check. It's always a challenge to come home.

We discussed other conferences and works.

Julie had a brief presentation on ACBMaine.

Sylvia discussed some of the challenges in being blind and living alone. We spoke about the challenges of shopping with an assistant.

Grocery stores and other stores, some of them, are required to provide a shopping assistant.

We had a general discussion about being blind and coping with the actions of others.

Question - What are the topics we want to hear about in the future?  

Please let Julie know.

NEXT MEETING - June 12, 2026, Seniors Plus

END OF NEWSLETTER