Welcome to the Villages VIP, a support group for the visually impaired in The Villages, Florida. Anyone can attend. Not just Villagers.
The group has 2 meeting locations:
In the northern end of The Villages the group meets at Bridgeport Rec Center on the first Thursday of the month at 1 PM.
Farther south in The Villages, the group meets at Ezell Rec Center on the third Monday at 1 PM.
Our speaker at Bridgeport’s meeting on Thursday, November 5 at 1:00 p.m. will be certified mobile audiologist Dr. Danielle Rosier. Then, learn more about BARD, the Talking Books library. Our second guest speaker will introduce BARD, the free talking-book service from the National Library Service. Want a head start? Watch or listen to this short primer — it covers getting an account, logging in, searching for books, and syncing your wish list to your phone or tablet. Then bring your questions on November 5th.
Link to Page about BARD (video)
Need help setting up BARD?
From the library: Justin Brengel is the new Outreach Coordinator at the Florida Bureau of Braille and Talking Book Library in Daytona Beach. He’ll be in The Villages on Saturday, November 7, 2026, for the 29th Annual Government Day at the Eisenhower Recreation Center, with a colleague on hand to answer questions and help anyone interested in signing up.
Justin also wanted us to know that sometime in December, NLS is releasing a new Web Player option for BARD. If you have a BARD account, you’ll be able to sign in and listen to books in any web browser, with no download needed. He’ll share more details when they’re available.
We will also be selling our Christmas lunch Buffet from Publix tickets for a total cost of $15 per person. You will have the month of October and November to purchase your tickets. I am also looking for a group of volunteers that will help decorate our room for our Christmas lunch, if you are interested in helping set up please let me know, you can either call me at 386-867-0284 or email me.
If you can’t attend the November 5th meeting in person, but still wish to attend, here is the solution.Send a check for $15 per person to:
Frank Traina
1072 Bissell Trail
The Villages FL 32163
Make the check out to VIP
The deadline is November 25th.
Audio below for sending the check.
Game Day at Lake Miona is now permanently canceled.
The Ezell group meets on Monday, November 16 at 1 PM.
In November Bob from the Magnification Company.
Jasmine will discuss audio descriptors.
Listen to the September 21 audio presentation Seniors vs Crime here.
View photos from the White Cane Walk on October 9
Audio Descriptors
Read and listen to a recent Daily Sun article on Audio Descriptors
Starting with the month of September the Villages now offers audio description in both the Sharon and the Sig Pro theaters. You must have your own phone and either earbuds or a headset to take with you, they will connect you to a special app that will serve as your audio description while at the play.
Winter Cruise Details Read about the Villages VIP cruise here
If you prefer, listen here.
We partner with New Vision for Independence and all of the resources that are available to us as visually impaired persons. They offer training in all areas for independent living as well as the opportunity to exercise with them over the phone or play games. Lisa will be coming to our meetings every month and is glad to assist us with any questions we may have. You can also reach her by calling the New Vision office at 352-607-7607.
FYI, New Vision has many used donated pieces of visual equipment that they are looking to re home. If you are looking for a particular item, please reach out to them.