<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Dear Celiac Friends,

Now that my hard cast is off my right hand, I can type much better with a
smaller brace.  The wrist is healing slowly but is still weak.  I almost
have to relearn to type better with that hand again after hunting and
pecking for 6 weeks.

I wanted to share with you our chapter's experience with offering Bob &
Ruth's Eating Out Workshop on April 8.  The feedback has been very, very
gratifying.  We had "newbies", old-timers', parents of celiac children, a
couple of teenagers/young adults, 3 parents of autistic children on a
GF/casein-free diet, seniors, and family members in attendance - about 75
people!

After diagnosis celiacs want and need specific information as to GF
products and how to handle going out to eat.  For this workshop the topics
were very relevant to learning basic techniques for going out to eat in
restaurants, in friends' homes, and at parties.  Suggestions for specific
language were given.  The audience participated with enthusiasm in asking
many questions and giving their own personal hints for dealing with
difficult situations.  I believe the participants gained some new tools or
reinforced skills needed to ask for what they want in order to get safe
gluten-free meals.

I also wanted you to know that Bob does not promote any particular group's
gluten-free diet.  Although he is very familiar with the CSA conservative
diet principals, those of GIG, CDF and the CCA, he believes the
responsibility is on each and every person to learn the basics from a
national and/or local support group, investigate questionable areas and
form your own personal diet and stick to it.  With knowledge comes power!

We started at 10:30 a.m.  and broke for lunch at noon for a little over an
hour.  This break gave us an opportunity to sample great gluten-free
goodies from GLUTINO.COM (who partially sponsored Bob's presentation), to
get acquainted with those at each table.  The event was over about 3:30,
but a number of folks stayed to ask questions and chat.  The people seemed
to enjoy Bob's personality, information, and stories of his experiences.
Lots of sharing!

Bob charged $15 per person (or $10 for members of Bob & Ruth's Gluten- Free
Dining & Travel Club).  No one mentioned having a problem with the fee.  We
are grateful to Glutino.Com for sponsoring Bob's presentation and giving
celiacs the benefit of his knowledge and experience.

I definitely recommend that you consider offering Bob Levy's workshop to
your support group members.  Do call Bob at 410/486-0292 or E-mail
[log in to unmask]  Enjoy!

Janet in Houston
Celiacs Helping Celiacs
[log in to unmask]