Greetings Members of the D/HH Community

I hope you found the previous newsletter enjoyable! Again, we welcome any feedback and suggestions for future newsletters.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of exciting things happening here…check out in the spotlight article where we are focusing on Leslie Riggs, who's done what some people only can imagine...starting her own business. If Leslie can do it, so can you!

We also have made lots of progress with the literacy program thanks to Melanie Blechl. Check out the article enclosed and find out how you can become involved!

Meanwhile mark your calendars for October 11, 2003, from 4 pm to 9 pm, which will be Deaf Empowerment's first event called "Pah!" Now, what an interesting name for a fundraising event…well, there's a reason behind it, let me explain…Pah! is a word in ASL (American Sign Language) that doesn’t have an exact English match. It means something like “Finally!” or “We’ve made it!” or maybe “Victory!” This is an appropriate title because after years of hard work behind the scenes, Deaf Empowerment is finally ready to come out and have a very visible presence within our community.

What is planned for this exciting event?!? We're proud to welcome Ruthie Jordan from National Theatre of the Deaf, who will entertain us that evening. You may recognize the last name Jordan, her sister is our very own Deaf Empowerment Board member, Faye! We're excited that Ruthie is coming to perform. I promise you will not be disappointed! Get ready to be in awe!

In addition to Ruthie’s performance, we will be having lots of other fun. We will start the evening out with some social time, have a spaghetti dinner, learn more about Deaf Empowerment, and much more. We will also have a silent auction! We have quite a few items that will be up on the silent auction thanks to Curt Fuller and the Board’s hard work! We will be having a palm pilot, sign language videos, bowling tickets, and much, much more! Check out our website to see exactly what will be “for sale” at the auction by going to www.deafe.org/pah.htm.

Tickets are on sale now! Best buy them now as once you get to the door you'll have to pay more! If you have any questions or would like to purchase tickets please contact Lori, Melanie, Curt, or any of the board members (Scott Seefeld, Faye Jordan, Jean Laux, Theresa Mokler, Lori Prahl, Gisele Berninghaus, or Lorinda Heft).

We look forward to seeing you on October 11th! Come and celebrate with us as we finally can say "Pah!”