Record-A-Thon Wrap Release

By Tim Owens  

Headline:  Record-A-Thon Breaks Records

Sub-heading: RFB&D event attracts a record number of guest readers and raises more money than ever before.

Santa Barbara, CA – Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic in Santa Barbara completed its 13^th annual Record-A-Thon on May 3^rd after a marathon week of recording books for students who are print disabled.  Two hundred seventy-seven guest readers – many of them celebrities – joined the Santa Barbara Unit’s corps of regular volunteers to read books ranging from textbooks like Introductory Algebra to biographies like Young Stalin to the best selling fiction of Steven Cannell to books for children like Patricia C. Wrede’s Talking to Dragons.  Twenty-four books were recorded during the week.

Celebrity readers during Record-A-Thon included actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. who read from Julie Andrews’s new autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years; television director and actor Howard Storm, who read from Steve Martin’s highly acclaimed Born Standing Up; writer Barnaby Conrad added his own Matador to the RFB&D audio library; author Fannie Flagg lent her voice to her own A Redbird Christmas; journalist Lou Cannon read his Reagan’s Disciple and veteran NBC correspondent Sander Vanocur read from Tom Brokaw’s Boom!

Community organizations and businesses from around the area joined in at Record-A-Thon.  They included members from the Rotary and Lions Clubs, Newcomers, Daughters of Penelope, Families In Philanthropy.  Businesses included employees from Yardi Systems, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Raytheon and SAGE Publications.  At one point special education instructors participated in reading children’s books.

Record-A-Thon kicked-off with a tribute to John and Mary Romo on Monday, April 28, that was attended by 35 close friends and family.  John, the retiring President of Santa Barbara City College selected two of his favorite books to be included in the RFB&D library: John Irving’s Hotel New Hampshire and Ronald White, Jr.’s Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural.  Mary Romo has been a long time user of the RFB&D audio book service.

Record-A-Thon concluded with its traditional Santa Maria Style barbeque, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of Santa Barbara Suburban with about 80 volunteers attending.  At the barbeque, the names of RFB&D’s ten scholarship winners were announced.  The organization is giving each deserving student an award valued at $1,000 each that includes four years of access to RFB&D books, a special playback device and customer support.  A scholarship awards luncheon is planned for noon on Saturday, May 31, at the Goleta Valley Community Center.

RFB&D in Santa Barbara also raised over $61,000, surpassing its $60,000 goal.  RFB&D’s volunteers were responsible for raising $22,000 of that total.  “The volunteers who are the life-blood of our organization really came through this year,” said Tim Owens, RFB&D in Santa Barbara’s Executive Director.  “This is a huge help to us in these financially troubled times as we continue to serve more and more students with more and more audio textbooks.  I can’t thank our volunteers enough for their devotion to our mission.”

Many sponsors joined the RFB&D volunteers in supporting the organization for the 13^th annual Record-A-Thon.  The events “Studio” sponsors were The Ann Jackson Family Foundation, Towbes Foundation, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Roehrig Family Foundation and Cox Communications.  Recording “Booth” sponsors were Rabobank, Venoco, the Fred Steck Family Foundation and the Students, Family & Friends of Laguna Blanca School.  Those “Adopting” textbooks included the Anderson Financial Solutions, Deckers Outdoor Corporation, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, the International Order of Oddfellows, and Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy, LLP.  “Student” sponsors were Bank of Santa Barbara, Jerry Woolf, DDS, Marborg Industries, and Merrill Lynch of Santa Barbara.  Other sponsors included Peebles-Sheen Foundation, Partners Imaging, Brouillard’s Catering, the Daily Sound, KCLU Radio, Noozhawk, and the Santa Barbara Independent.

RFB&D will hold its 14^th annual Record-A-Thon in April 2008.

Celebrating its 60^th anniversary this year, Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic is the nation’s leading library that records and lends audio textbooks to students who are blind, visually impaired or learning disabled such as dyslexia.  The mission of the organization is to provide opportunities for individual success by giving students equal access to the printed word.  RFB&D is a non-profit, volunteer driven organization.  The Santa Barbara Unit of RFB&D serves the Tri-counties and Kern County and was founded in 1976.  It has 200 weekly volunteers producing audio books.