 So the main association of the deaf is a non-profit organization that gets together and it's deaf and hard of hearing people from all over the state and hearing people are able to join as well. Every year we host the Deaf Culture Festival in the last week of September. And it's people from different agencies and throughout the community in Maine. And it's people who run non-profit organizations and people who are artists, craftsmen, food vendors within the community are all invited to participate. So this festival was set up several years ago and we have Deaf Culture Week here in Maine. It tends to be the last full week of September. Every year the governor signs a proclamation to announce that the last week of September will be Deaf Culture Week. And just before the week or the week before the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing hosts a deaf tee to recognize people within the community who have made large contributions to the community. And that's hosted in Augusta at the state house. That tends to be the start of the Deaf Culture Week and that ends with Deaf Culture Festival on the last Saturday of that week. My job here is the coordinator of the Deaf Culture Festival and I work within the community to invite organizations, artists and craftsmen to all come and set up a table at our festival. There are different organizations and event services that are here. We have support groups. We have agencies that also donate to the festival to keep it running. We have a video phone company that is here. We have different vendors with food and drinks that are here. And we also sell food to raise money for the Maine Association of the Deaf and also for the athletic teams for Baxter School for the Deaf. It's a really wonderful event to get the entire community involved, old faces and new alike. And it's a great way to be able to enjoy our community. Also we do different activities for the children. And every year we try to include services for deafblind community as well. And Josh is saying the deafblind community is wonderful because we have special support persons for people who are deaf and blind. And people who are deaf and blind tend to be isolated within their community. And the Deaf Culture Festival is a time where they can enjoy the culture as well. We have children who are children of deaf adults. They are considered codas. We have a jumping bouncy house and we have different signed movies and stories and face painting. So the Deaf Culture Festival is really a time for the entire community, old and young alike, to come out and celebrate. And if you feel like you've missed it this year and you want it to be involved, please, we are always looking for people to be involved in the future years. So get in touch with us and come out and be part of the Deaf Culture Festival. The mission of the Maine Association of the Deaf is to support the community through political, educational and social events. And Josh is saying we also try to have outreach with the schools and with the community. We try to assist people with civil rights issues and with disability rights issues. We work with the disabilities of rights Maine together by, if there are needs for deaf and hard of hearing people within the state of Maine, the DMR can contact us and we will work closely with them to work on outreach, to get the community involved in rights issues, to get a group together, to go to the legislature to discuss needs and to work on a social and political level. And also, if the government or the legislature has something that is related to deafness and they are not educated in that, we will provide education and exposure within the deaf community and then with that we will bring it to the legislative level. The significance of the culture within the Deaf Culture Festival is very important. We have our own culture as a linguistic minority in the United States. The way that we address life is different than how a hearing person would address life. Growing up deaf in a hearing family communication is a lot different and a lot more challenging. So when we are with other deaf people we have our own culture where we are able to use our language, American Sign Language, fluently and with ease as opposed to when we are in the hearing mainstream and struggling to have clear communication. So over the generations the culture of deafness has become very important and because it is equal access. And with the language comes its own culture. And for hearing students, some hearing people in the deaf community become interpreters and they become advocates and they are able to see the difference very clearly of the hearing culture and the deaf culture and they are very separate. When it comes to hearing people in deaf culture, within deaf culture we are not exclusive. The whole point of the festival is to educate and encourage openness between the two cultures. There is a gap between them but we always encourage a bridge to be built and we want to make sure that everybody feels welcome within our world. So when we talk about deafness we include people who are deaf, late life deaf in, hard of hearing. Everybody is included in this culture and it is really important to remember that we are very inclusive. The Maine Association for the Deaf also works very closely to other non-profit organizations who provide services to the community in Maine. For vocational rehabilitation in the past they did not have services for the deaf. So we had a conference every two years and I just became president this past June so I am in a new position as president. And so we have many events planned for the future. We also have an equipment program and that was started because of the work of the Maine Association of the Deaf. So we do have many resources for the community. We have done a lot of work up until this point but there is always more work to be done. Technology is always increasing and we are always working to catch up with technology. Also we are trying to catch up with the legislature about deaf awareness and about the need for deaf education and the deaf school here on Macworth Island. We work with different employers. If equality is not happening then deaf people are able to get in touch with Deaf rights Maine or also Maine Association of the Deaf. And we work to provide equality and access for deaf people and hard of hearing people of Maine. If you would like more information you can get in touch with disability rights of Maine and they are able to refer you to the Maine Association of the Deaf. We are in the process of setting up a website but we do have a Facebook page that is up and running at this point. And we are doing our best to catch up with technology. Our website was a little bit old and now we are working closely with the community to get a brand new website up and running. So Terry is saying this is a great way to show old and young working together as we move forward in the world. If you are interested in volunteering or adding support for the Deaf Culture Festival next year please get in touch. We would love to have you.