One afternoon in early in 1990, Leo Hauser awakened Paradise Resort resident Ralph Burba from an afternoon nap. Leo & Ralph talked about forming a discussion group of Paradise Residents who were interested in personal computers. Ralph posted a note on the bulletin board inviting residents interested in computers to come to a Saturday meeting at 9:00 am.

The first meeting was held on February 10, 1990, in the non-smoking card room, with 16 residents attending.

At the beginning, no agenda was established for the meetings and subject matter was centered on nice to know DOS commands, what kind of a computer to buy, how to make a spreadsheet, database, create a poem, or write a letter. Fortunately for us, one of our early attendees included Dr. Bob Knodt, a temporary resident who was a pioneer professor of computer sciences. At early meetings of the Club, Bob led almost every discussion, but he encouraged others to bring computer tasks of interest to Club members. [For his extensive technical help during the Club’s first year, Dr Bob was made the club’s first Honorary Member in 1992 by vote of the membership.]

Club Bylaws were written and Officers were elected.

Leo Hauser and Ralph & Jean Burba laid the groundwork for the Paradise Computer Club. Ralph served as acting president and meeting moderator at the beginning. Club by-laws were written and officers were elected formally. It was established that "the purpose of the club was to help each other in the pursuit of computer knowledge & skills--and have a little fun along the way". Wally Hoffman volunteered to provide the humor. 

Jean Burba the first elected President (‘91/92), followed by Don Anderson (‘92/93), Frank Dale (‘93/94}, John Lloyd (‘94/95), Walt Loeffler (‘95/96), Bill Burke (‘96/97, Roger Thacker (‘97/98), Carol Neidt (‘98/99), Skip Emerson (1999/2000), George Clark for the year 2000/2001, Bob Hanley for the year 2001/2002,  Dick Roth,2002/2003, Bill Shenk, 2003/2004.

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The following Paradise residents were actively involved in the Club at or near its beginning -- Leo Hauser, Ralph & Jean Burba, Ken & Ann Skidmore, Hank Schneider, Don Anderson, John Lloyd, Al Phillips, Walt Loeffler, Elaine Edwards, Nina Schwalbe, Vera Courtney, Jack & Sheila Screen, Jim McCormick, Al Mink, Bill Burke, Fred & Hazel Bartlett, Wally & Perky Hoffman, Carroll Neidt and Don Crowley.

Although Leo Hauser, along with Jean & Ralph Burba are credited for taking the initiative to get the club started, Ken & Ann Skidmore came to the first meeting in the Card room. They owned a computer and had a two-year head start over many of us, so they became the first Club Instructors.

Ken became the first Chairman of the Education Committee, followed by Don Anderson, Don Crowley, Carol Neidt, & Don Vollentine. Ken Skidmore returned to Paradise in the fall of 1997 to take over again as head of Education and Training. Both Ken and Ann knew computer hardware and software and have been very generous with their time in training and helping fellow Club members. Don Crowley returned to head up Training in 1999 through 2003.   Co-Chairs for 2004 are Jack Cleveland and Sally Smith.

Ralph Burba, Al Mink and Fred Bartlett built three computer cabinets in 1991 (still in use in 2001). The club purchased its first computer early March 1991. It had a 286SX chip with a 40 MB hard drive, one 5 ¼ inch floppy drive and 0.6 megabyte of RAM. To purchase this computer, Ralph Burba and Hank Schneider gave the club a loan. The first year dues was later set at $35, (spouse $17.50). Regular dues for second year and on have always been $15.00, ($7.50 for spouse).

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John Lloyd, one of the Club’s first Instructors, taught computer courses at the Glendale Community College. John wore many hats for the good of the club, including President and Chairman of hardware maintenance. The Club is indebted to John for his immeasurable contributions to the success of the Club.

A local computer store donated the Club’s second computer. The Club corrected & upgraded many components, including a new hard drive and monitor. [It was upgraded again in 1998 and was retired in 2000].

Club members can be proud of their Club and its accomplishments, including training many hundreds of new members since March 1991. Basic & Advanced Training, and helping one another over hurdles, continues to be the main purpose of the Club --"Computer Users Helping Users".

Other Club members, other than those already mentioned, have been recognized and honored for their many contributions to the Club, including Al Phillips, Hank Schneider, Frank Dale and Don Crowley.

 Don has been a major contributor to the Club since its inception.  Don created Club training programs and taught many Club members to use DOS, Win 3.x, Win 95/98/XP.  He headed the Training Committee in 1993 to 1995, and again in 1998 through 2003.

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Computer Compufest 1995/1996

Co-chairman Roger Thacker and Jack Brandwein did a fabulous job in creating and administering a most successful Computer Show for the Phoenix ‘Northwest Valley’ seniors, called "COMPUFEST 1995". One could write "volumes" to identify each Club member who made this trade show for seniors and the general public such a huge success. The first show was held in January 1995 and the second on February 20, 1996.

This one-day Compufest attracted 34 vendors including Microsoft. Attendance at the first Compufest was 3500 but jumped to over 5,000 in 1996. Enough money was raised to purchase a state of the art PC, with Win 95 installed, and an Apple computer. Microsoft gave the club most of its popular programs, including Windows 95 and the Office Suite. Other equipment purchased included an overhead projector with an interface pad coupled to the Win 95 Computer.

Club Membership Growth:

In early 1991 Club membership was 24 members. It increased 30-40 new members per year, reaching well over 300 by March 2000.

On February 8, 1998 Don Crowley wrote a three-page memorandum to the Club suggesting what the Club could do to cope with this membership expansion. Don wrote: "Long before we enter the 21^st Century, the Paradise Computer Club must change its modes operandi. We must discover ways to cope with the explosive growth of the use of computers among all segments of the population, particularly seniors".

President Roger Thacker held a meeting on March 14, 1998 to identify our existing problems and to find solutions in anticipation of the growth in membership that we were facing. Following are excerpts from Don’s memo and the changes that came about as a result of Roger’s meeting.

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Special Interests Groups called SIG'S

To supplement the general meetings, and to offer "something for everyone" the Club promoted the development of Special Interests Groups called SIG'S. SIGs fulfill the needs of the wide range of interests of Club members.

In the past the Club had the MAC SIG group and the Genealogy SIG group. The Club had an informal group of members who promoted the use of graphics and met informally to "share, show and tell". This group activity was the beginning of a SIG group.

The SIG concept was expanded in 1998/1999. Past President Roger Thacker served as the SIG Coordinator. One of the new SIGs was called the Hardware SIG and its first coordinator was Hal Shockey. About 30 Club members were interested in the mechanics of computers; what made them tick and how to build one. . Under Hal Shockey’s leadership, this SIG ultimately built a new Club computer from "scratch" in February 1999. Then several more were built in 2000. Some parts were donated from Club members. Hal helped all of us raise our understanding and technical knowledge of the inner parts of a computer, and how to troubleshoot PC problems.

Overall, the following SIGs were formed and operated in 1998/1999, in addition to Genealogy and MAC: Card Making, Digital Cameras, Question & Answers, Internet, Scanners, Hardware, Power Point, MS Word, and MS Works.

Training

The need for formalized Basic and Operating System Training never ends as new adults take up computing. However, the SIG concept has become a major contributor to the Club’s educational/training programs. SIGs are a valuable "peer-to-peer" learning resource for Club members.

Nearly every new member in 1998/1999 had a computer. Although their interests varied, each new member had several computer questions needing answers. To satisfy this need, the "Question and Answer" SIG was born.

Help is becoming easier to get from the HELP menu in Win 98 and programs written for Windows. Furthermore, most programs have built in tutorials or self-instruction "wizards", which are a great training resource, as well.

Club members are constantly increasing their computer skills and informally helping one another. Since our next-door neighbors are becoming computer literate, we can call on them or they can call on us for help.

At public or social events or private parties in late 90’s, we hear discussions about "E-mail", "Internet", "Digital cameras", "Video communication", "Computer Games", "Windows 98" etc. This is another informal, but all-powerful training resource available to computer users.

SIGs, and Basic and System Seminars reduce the need for "hands-on" training as the member "novice" joins the club. The need to "qualify" to use Club computers has also vanished, as Club Members own their own computer.

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For the record, Don Crowley scheduled two two-hour "Basic Computer" and "Windows System" Seminars per week - starting October 1, 1998. A total of 178 Club members attended both of these seminars, and many members came back several times. Nearly all of the 111 new members attended both seminars, and 84 then completed part or the entire Hands-on Tutorial training program. The same program for the Novice was repeated in 1999/2000, and in 2000 and 2001.

Because of limited computer room space, On January 4, 1999 the Club scheduled "Hands-on Computer Training" using three Windows 98 computers - teaching six trainees at a time. Two Club Members work together on one computer in a two-hour training period. One reads each "how-to-do" each step in the tutorial and the second performs that task. At the end of the first hour, trainees swap chairs to allow equal time at the keyboard. Two Instructors monitored the six trainees and stand by to help when a question arises. Twenty-four trainees received training each week. If needed in the future, additional computers may be added to expand Hands-on Training.

Communication and Advertising

Beginning in 1998/1999 the Monthly Hummer Newsletter was used to communicate Club activities and meeting schedules for the month ahead. In the future, the club can communicate via its own Internet Web Site, which was developed and implemented at the end of March 2000, thanks to the efforts of Jim Kniska, assisted by George Clark. E-mail was used in 1999/2000 as well. (A special thanks to Wally Hoffman for sending e-mail messages to Club members)

Jeannine and John Lloyd published a one-page flyer each month called "Bits-N-Bytes", announcing Club activities for the following month. And John created a PowerPoint slide show of upcoming events and schedules and had it running continuously before and after weekly meetings, as well as during the coffee break.

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Solving the Meeting Room Crisis

The use of the Paradise ballroom was the answer. The Club scheduled two large assembly meetings per month, on the first and third Saturday, featuring a prominent speaker from the computer industry, who gave a presentation on a popular topic of interest to most Club members. On the second and fourth Saturday, The Club scheduled seminars in the Card Rooms, commencing at 0900, using closed circuit TV to the second room.

Projection and Computer Equipment Required

In 1998 Digital projectors were available for large meeting rooms in near daylight lighting conditions. The secret was to get a projector fitted to the number of attendees, and the room size. For portability, a state of the art notebook computer would be most desirable, instead of lugging a desktop computer and heavy monitors over to the ballroom.

In April 1998 President Carol Neidt formed a committee, headed by Don Crowley, to find a digital desktop projector capable of projecting readable computer generated images in a partially lighted room serving 300 people in the ballroom as well as the Card rooms. The price range target was set at less than $5,000, not including taxes.

The Committee’s initial study indicated that 700 lumens of brightness was the absolute minimum for ballroom presentations and the "presentation" experts recommended at least 1200 lumens of brightness. But - Brightness over 700 lumen would cost more than the Club could afford. So the Study centered on 700 lumen projectors.

The Proxima DP 5900 met Club needs. Presentations Products demonstrated this digital projector in the Paradise ballroom and in the South Card Room on Oct. 12, 1998. Tests proved that the existing Ballroom screen size was adequate for "stage-to" seating, and the screen in the Card room was adequate as well.

The DP 5900 Digital Projector was used in nearly all presentations, SIG meetings and Training Seminars for the balance of the 1998/1999, as well as the following years.

New Officers were elected for the year 1999/2000 as follows: President, Skip Emerson; Vice President, Jack Cleveland; Treasurer, Shirley Thayer; Co-Secretary: Sue Tryon and Gillian Falck.

1999/2000 was a good year for the Paradise Computer Club as the focus on thorough communication and building teamwork produced 32 hours per week of successful Seminars, SIGs and Hands-on training, This year the Club had membership growth, productive meetings, and better computer equipment for training, including a new laptop computer for Saturday meetings, SIGs and Training Seminars.

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Thanks to Don Crowley, Phil McGee and the Hands-on computer Instructors, the Tutorial for the Novice was overhauled to make it truly a stand-alone training program for home use.

The objectives for creating literature and particularly the Club Tutorial are:

Provide enough detail in tutorial to insure that it will "stand alone" and permit home completion, without the aid of an Instructor.  

Define and add training tasks commonly used in e-mail and Internet as well as those routinely used in computer programs.

Insure continuity from "task to task". (Ask – did we fail to close a dialog box, window or file before proceeding to the next task? AND -- Is the first step of the next task in line with where we left off in preceding task?)  

Continually examine the initial knowledge and skill level of new "novice" member to determine what to include in next year’s Hands-on Tutorial (as well as SIGs and Saturday meetings.).

2000/2001 Club Officers are: George Clark, President; Bob Hanley, Vice President; Vi Allen, Secretary; and John and Louise Mefford as Co Treasurers.

Don Crowley was appointed Chairman of the Training Committee for the year 2000/2001. In April 2000 Don committed to creating a separate Internet basic seminar to follow the existing computer basic seminars and the Hands-on-Computer Tutorial. After attempting to create a separate Internet Seminar,  Don soon realized that separating Computer and Internet basic training is not in keeping with the Microsoft’s goal of making Windows computers look and operate like it does on Internet. Said another way, the Microsoft goal is to make navigating Windows computer and the Internet as seamless as possible. Since Internet is simply an extension of one’s computer, learning computer basics is learning to use the Internet.

Don integrated Computer, Internet, and E-mail basics into the two Basic Seminars and the Hands-on Computer Tutorial. The “new look” integrated training program started on October 26, 2000, which has been well received by new and regular Club Members. Don also wrote a ten-chapter computer book in the year 2000, entitled “Windows Guide For You”.  It follows the same principles of integrating computer basics with Internet basics, throughout the ten chapters of the book. Chapter IV contains the Hands-on-Computer Tutorial in use by our Club during 2000/2001 and 2001/2002.

Because of the continual growth and gaining importance of the  Computer Club, the Paradise Resort management gave the Club  permanent computer room space located across  from the Park Library. A folding partition was installed to open up the use of card room #1 for second and fourth Saturday meetings. Roger Thacker accepted the chore of planning the development and use of the room. Hal Shockey, Jim Thaden, Henry Cook, Jim McCormick and several other Club members participated in the construction of the room.

A Memorial to Lost Comrades

The year 2001 was a sad one for Paradise Club members as well the entire Resort, because of the loss of John Lloyd, Jim Kniska and Bob Bye.

John Lloyd has worn many hats for the good of the club, including Instructor, President for one and a half terms, Chairman of several committees, including “hardware”, which encompassed computer maintenance.

He was still very active in 1999/2000 as he and wife, Jeannine, shared the responsibilities of the Communication Committee, creating the monthly news letter, and the weekly PowerPoint slide presentation of upcoming activities. John also served as a SIG leader that year, covering PowerPoint, Works Suite and Microsoft Word application programs.

Jim Kniska was a powerhouse to the Computer Club over the years as he served as Instructor, member of the Hardware Committee, at home-site trouble shooter fixing sick computers or operator problems. Jim provided the grease that made the Club successful.  Jim wore many hats, including Treasurer and Web Master. He was too busy helping others to accept the nomination for Club President. He was also active in the Residents Association and served as a volunteer at local hospitals in Phoenix and Osage Beach, MO.

Bob Bye served as SIG leader for Greeting Cards. His commanding voice was ever present in club discussions, making contributions in a positive manner.