From: Karen.Keil@p0.f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Karen Keil)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: SHHH report 11 of 13
Date: 12 Aug 92 21:33:52 GMT
Reply-To: Karen.Keil@p0.f809.n104.z1.fidonet.org
Organization: FidoNet node 1:104/809.0 - Fantasy Mountain, Golden CO
X-Fidonet: Silent Talk Conference

Index Number: 23917

[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]

Part 11 of the SHHH convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

June 29, 1992 cont.

Heartland Farewell Banquet:

This event marked the official end of the Convention.

A funny incident happened on the way to the banquet.  An older
lady and I walked out of the hotel entrance to pass by a group of
people all dressed up (as we were, too).  One of the young men
saw our name badges with the logo SHHH on them and then put his
finger to his lips and said 'Shhhhh!' The lady turned to me and
asked, "What was that all about?"

When the doors opened, many of the tables near the front had
reserved markers on them, which Jack O'Keeffe felt was too many.
Since this was the first SHHH banquet I've attended I had nothing
to compare it with, not even the Denver banquet. I sat with Ret
and Jack O'Keeffe at a table farther to one side.

Most of the people at our table came from South Dakota, some from
Sioux Falls.  I told some of them I had been there.  The lady
next to me was hearing-impaired and also had a hearing-impaired
son.  She said that she thought the hearing impairment made her
son achieve better academically than he would have otherwise, to
which I agreed, saying it was true in my case, too.

The chairman, George Khal, said that approximately 830 people
attended the Iowa convention with about 72 exhibits total in the
exhibit hall. He said that he saw many sights in Iowa that he
didn't know much about--the Amana colonies, etc. even though he's
lived here for years.  (That seems to be true of everyone--I've
not been to places here in Colorado yet even though I've lived
here 20 years.)

Slides of the next convention in San Diego were shown--they
expect around 2,000 people to attend the 1993 SHHH convention
there.  Very interesting--it looks like it has a lot to
offer--but what's so special about San Diego that they're
projecting 2,000 people?

The banquet fare was Heartland food--a big slab of roast beef,
baked potato, vegetables--simple, hearty country food.

The surprise was the personal appearance of I. King Jordan, the
president of Gallaudet University, to accept the Walter Ridder
award.  We were told that he was scheduled to appear at the NAD
convention at 9:00 a.m. to give a speech the next morning in
Denver and he stopped in Cedar Rapids for the night to pick up
the award on his way there.  He gave his acceptance speech in
both voice and sign at the same time, saying that he wanted to
correct one thing---it wasn't him alone, the individual, who is
helping the cause of deaf people everywhere---he has the support
of his wife and numerous people behind him, without which he
wouldn't be able to do all that he wanted to do.

I saw I. King Jordan and his wife after the banquet up close when
they posed for the SHHH photographer.   His manner and quiet yet
forceful personality was impressive.

David Danner was the main speaker.  A retired senior vice
president of Griffith Laboratories in Illinois, he related his
experiences with hearing loss.  He got his hearing aids in the
early 1980s and told the story of one board meeting in Europe
where things were getting tense between individuals.  He stood up
and said that they had to stop; his battery was going dead.
There was absolute silence while the whole board room watched him
change his battery in his hearing aid.  By the time he was
finished, the tension was defused enough that discussion could
continue normally.

After the banquet, I walked by the the door where the Ozzy
Osbourne concert was being held.  A guard opened the door to show
some SHHH people and the music (noise?) was deafening!  One could
feel it pounding his/her body. A huge screen of the rocker was
visible with the rocker dancing to the beat. What irony....those
young people might be future SHHH members years down the road!

(The Ozzy Osbourne tour arrived Sunday with 4 tour buses parked
in front of the Five Seasons Hotel.  The buses had air-brushed
designs on the sides, with one of them saying, 'Ghost Rider in
the Sky.'  The entrance to one of the buses had a curtain with
skull and crossbones against a black background.)

Thus ended the convention.

To be continued.....

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