Although not affected as strongly or severely as other cabinet-level departments, VA is nowhere close to business as usual due to the current government shutdown. The impasse is now in the middle of its 17th day of a lapse in federal funding appropriations for health care and other benefits for veterans. Lawmakers remain in a stalemate over spending proposals. Many VA services, including compensation and pension benefits, are not affected as VA operates off an […]

Former guide dog trainer Tony True of Dogs Inc. will join dog handlers nationwide this Tuesday, October 21, at 4:00pm Eastern Time via Zoom to address dog training, both refresher as well as reinforced training. Tony trained guide dogs for more than ten years at Southeastern Guide Dog School in Palmetto, Florida, but now works with the alumni of Dogs Inc, traveling and conducting site visits to graduates of the school. Since Dogs Inc. trains […]

Who says that a blind or low vision veteran cannot go out deer hunting this Fall? Please join VetTech’s weekly webinar this Wednesday, October 22, at 3:00pm Eastern Time as session attendees welcome Henry Johns, chief innovator of Digital FOV, LLC, an entrepreneurial venture centered on digital night vision and digital visual equipment for hunters, outdoor activities, the auto industry, boating, protective services personnel, and adaptive equipment for the disabled. Many disabled veterans are left […]

The third of five sessions of the Fall Gardening series, organized and led by BVA National Treasurer Monique Statham, will occur this Monday, October 20, via Zoom. Guest speaker Neva Fairchild of WayAround will discuss how to use WayAround clips to label gardening items. A related chat session will address “What’s Trending in Gardening.” Contrary to a headline in BVA Happenings last Friday that referred to a “last call” for registration, Monique has clarified that […]

Last year, a BVA member noticed a lady with a white cane in a restaurant while both were out for a meal. An ensuing conversation helped connect Valerie Jordan, an Army veteran and high school teacher who had recently lost her sight in both eyes, with VA Augusta Blind Rehabilitation Specialist Lisa Hardy. The connection helped Valerie arrange a stint at the Augusta Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC), an experience that has helped her rediscover her […]

Last week’s BVA Happenings provided a comprehensive, exhaustive list of White Cane Awareness activities planned throughout the month of October. BVA members have been participating in many of the events, among them a display table at the VA Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Wilmington, North Carolina, on White Cane Day itself earlier this week. Erika Mitchell, an at-large BVA member from North Carolina, took the time to offer a few impressions of the day. This past […]

The second Monday in October, falling in 2025 on October 13, has been one of the most inconsistently celebrated U.S. holidays. Originally commemorated as Columbus Day and now as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in many jurisdictions, it can be a paid day off, an unpaid commemorative day, another holiday entirely, or simply a regular Monday, depending on where a person works or attends school.  The day continues to be an official federal holiday, which means federal […]

The October 1 episode of Visions of BVA is now live and accessible on all major platforms, most notably Spotify, and YouTube. Featured this month is the audio version of the Summer 2025 BVA Bulletin, the most recent issue of the publication. Host and producer Steve Baskis has converted a written script of the Bulletin content, complete with descriptions of photos and graphics, into a high-quality, professional audio program that can be heard all at […]

A new Braille U.S. flag now hangs permanently at the East Regional Library in Destrehan, Louisiana (St. Charles Parish), at a height at which children and the wheelchair-bound can reach and touch it, thanks to the latest presentation of a flag by the Louisiana/Mississippi Regional Group earlier this week. The donated display features a Braille version of the Pledge of Allegiance as well as the flag. The stars and stripes on the flag are raised, […]

The U.S. Navy turns 250 years old this Monday! Looking back to the birth of this branch of the Armed Forces, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy which later, on October 13, 1775, became the United States Navy. Its principal purpose with just two armed vessels was to disrupt munition ships supplying the British Army in America. From there, and during two and one-half centuries, the Navy has grown to become the largest, most […]