by Paul Edwards
I joined the Florida Council of the Blind in 1977 and was pretty content with what I was doing. I was one of a few new kids on the block at the time and gradually became more active. I had a wife, three lovely children, and had just started a job as a rehab teacher, as it was called back then, with the Division of Blind Services in Daytona Beach, Fla. Within a couple of years, I found myself chair of Florida's resolutions committee. Like many state affiliates, we didn't have a lot of resolutions each year, and I kind of enjoyed trying to meld ideas into requests for action.
That is how things stood until 1983, when Grant Mack came to Florida. He observed our resolutions process and, soon after the convention, invited me to join the national resolutions committee. He even indicated that, were I to come to Philadelphia in 1984, I would earn $100 for my service. I had been considering coming to Philadelphia anyway, and that was the last inducement I needed!
So me, my wife and all three children boarded a train and headed for the City of Brotherly Love. I was somewhat mystified looking at the program to find that I was not just on the resolutions committee, I was chair! By then it was far too late to run, and I was lucky to have Scott Marshall, who was head of our legislative effort in Washington, to protect me from the worst of my mistakes. Nevertheless, I was suddenly on stage and expected to shepherd people's notions of what ACB ought to be doing through the firing line of the membership. I felt a little bit like I did when I was in a play at age 15 and couldn't speak a line, I was so nervous!
I did lots of things wrong, according to many there. I decided that resolutions could be made a little more fun so when I was taking votes I would say: "All those in favor, say aye!" "Those opposed, say ear!" I did my best to recognize those who wanted to speak on resolutions but, according to many, didn't choose the "right" people!
I truly enjoyed resolutions that year. I learned a lot from Scott and other members of my committee. I had always regarded resolutions as the most appropriate way for ACB and other organizations to make policy. I enjoyed the long night sessions we had to go through to get the resolutions ready for prime time. I enjoyed the debate on the floor, too!
Only one more event deserves to be reported about that year. After the debate on a resolution I don't remember, my wife began to speak to that resolution. I tried to be understanding, but eventually had no other choice but to declare her out of order and go on. The train ride back to Daytona Beach was very long!
I spent a good many years working on resolutions for ACB and still chair the Florida resolutions committee after almost half a century. I continue to value resolutions now as much as I did when I started writing them in Florida. Long may they survive and prosper!