Computer Club

March 2006 Citizen by Mike Sorem

 

     The February General Meeting of the Computer Club was held February 1, 2006. For those of you who are new to Dreamland Villa or the Computer Club, the club holds a general meeting the First Wednesday of the month at 9am. During the winter months, the meetings are held at Farnsworth Hall and during the “hot times” of the year when many folks leave the valley for cooler weather, we meet in Read Hall. A short business meeting is usually conducted followed by a guest speaker. Our speakers are usually professional people from the computing or software industry that provide us with information about new things in the world of computers. The meeting is open to all club members and guests are always welcome.

     Secretary Kay Hawbaker called the February meeting to order at about 9am. Since the President and Vice President were unavailable for the meeting, the duties of chairing the meeting fell upon Kay. She welcomed all the members and guests present and went on to announce that the packets of materials from Smart Computing had arrived and that everyone should take one. If you didn’t receive yours, extras are available in room 9. Winners of the door prizes from Smart Computing were Gail Henderson, Judy Kelley, and George Shoemaker. The minutes and treasurers reports were presented and then the audit committee reported on their audit of the Club’s books for the past year. The club would like to thank Annie Province , Felix De La Rosa, and Gaela Roberts for their work of auditing the books.

     Next, Kay reported on the 10 Year Anniversary Open House the club had on January 21st. The club specifically wanted to thank all those who helped to make the event a success and in particular, Irene Hezelton, who chaired the event and to Ann Kressalt, who coordinated all the refreshments. Door prize winners were announced with Donna Hanson, Pat Ruley, Curtis Parker, and Annie Province all winning gift certificates for computer repair or computer training from Serving Online Seniors. The club would like to thank them for their generous gifts and continued support of our club and other computer users in the area.

     During the new business portion of the meeting, Secretary Hawbaker reported that the club would like to hold a “potluck” some time in March. In years past, this was always an important part of helping members get to know each other, but unfortunately has not been done in the last few years. So, we would like to get it started again but we need your help------  We need someone to chair a committee and members to help organize the event. If you are interested in getting this off the ground again, please let a board member know. Watch for further details……

     Our speaker for the month was Gene Barlow from User Group Relations. Gene spoke to the group on Internet Security and Hard Drive Protection. These are two areas that all computer users should be familiar with in order to protect their computers from damage and failure.

     Our next general meeting will be held on March 1, 2006, 9am, in Farnsworth Hall. Our speaker for the month will be Lee Otsubo, The Digital Photo Guy. Lee will take us through Digital Photography from start to finish, giving the information with intelligence and humor. This presentation is well worth your time. Why not come and join us? Guests are always welcome---no need for another invitation---just come and join your Dreamland neighbors.

     NEW WEBSITE ADDRESS     The new Dreamland Computer Club website address is    http:/members.cox.net/dcccomputerclub/    Take a look at the new site. It contains the monthly class calendar along with lots of good information. Maybe you will see a class you would be interested in. We hope to see you at a meeting or class soon.