Walnut Creek, California
COMPUTER CLUB of ROSSMOOR
2004
Current membership is 1360 manors which equates to over 2,000 members at this time, and still growing!
Thanks to the new classes available at the Acalanes Adult Education Center, we can learn new things, improve ourselves, and keep up with the changing world. Acalanes Adult Education Center does even more, with classes on art, languages, personal finances, history, health and many other subjects. Bus service from Rossmoor is now available.
The Spring schedule of classes offers 17 classes and 13 Seminars. Registrations are heavy and all classes will be full. The Free mouse class and workshops will continue.
Interesting things are happening all around us. There are elections in November, many changes in national, state and local government services and finances; the war in Iraq continues, there are concerns about security, traffic, health care, school funding and so on.
The Computer Center in the Gateway complex has become a very active room. Each day many people avail themselves of the services the Computer Club offers. We receive many compliments about how attractive the room is with its nice furniture and creative art.
FEBRUARY
Since the first of the year, Jim Bradley and Marie Klos took over the interviewing and scheduling of the volunteers for the Computer Center. There are 20 slots to be scheduled every week and we have many wonderful volunteers to fill the schedule.
To add to our services in the Computer Center, Jerry Carleton one of our certified instructors, will be at the Computer Center every Friday morning from 10 a.am. to noon. This is a unique opportunity to sit down with one of the premier instructors of seniors in the Bay area and ask him any computer questions you many have.
MARCH
The March issue of the Kilobytes was prepared by Marie Klos and mailed out with 2004 membership cards attached to the paid up memberships. Marie Klos has produced the Kilobytes more than eight years. As of June 2004, Julie Macksey has volunteered to take over the Kilobytes . Flo Myer is now helping Muriel Wyro with the membership and database records. Jo Jones is now handling the class registrations before each class.
NEW YORK TIMES
Rossmoor makes the big time! The Rossmoor Computer Club and several Rossmoor residents were featured in the March 23 issue of the New York Times. The article titled "For Some Internet Users, It's Better Late Than Never" by Katie Hafner, was featured in the "Circuits" section of the newspaper. The article was about how older Americans are embracing the Web and computers. The article highlighted the work of the Rossmoor Computer Club in helping residents get started with computers, told about the Computer Club classroom and featured residents such as Helen Karjala and Louis Daum who use the Internet. Computer Club President Leonard Krauss was also quoted. The article was posted in the classrooms, in the Computer Center and in many Rossmoor clubhouses.
APRIL
The quarterly meeting of the Computer Club was held Thursday, April 8 in the Sierra Room at Del Valle Clubhouse. Jennifer Mullins of Wells Fargo Bank demonstrated the convenience of banking by computer. She explained how to pay bills, how to check the balance in an account and to reconcile your accounts. Jerry Carleton gave a presentation on how to use a computer to manage various household tasks. It was an excellent turnout for this event and everyone stayed for the raffle.
On April 2, 2004 the Board approved a contract with an new ISP provider. The contract was made with Internet Frontier, replacing Majornet. A tape recorder was purchased to be used to record the minutes of the Club's Board meetings.
MAY
In May, Chuck Howard gave a very interesting presentation about viruses and how to resolve some of their many problems.
Dan Sorkin, Ralph Stone and Art Coombes each contributed to this presentation which was well attended. Member and volunteer, Jo Jones, was added to the Board.
JUNE
On June 19th, Len Krauss conducted a demonstration of software programs which are available and help the visually impaired. Roller Mouse and Zoom Text were the programs demonstrated at the Computer Center at Gateway. The June Kilobytes was mailed to all current members.
JULY
Our guest at the July quarterly meeting was Art Coombes who is the owner of theClub's new Internet provider , Internet Frontier. Teacher's salaries have been increased. Jerry Carelton installed additional RAM in the computers in Room B at Acalanes. The school will do the installation in Room A.
AUGUST
There were no classes or workshops in August. Jerry Carleton was on vacation through September 11, 2004. The annual picnic was held on August 12. Donna Juergens chaired the committee. Food was catered by Fritz and a 17" flat panel monitor was raffled off along with 2 tickets to the Holiday dinner show and also some wine. 235 people attended this event.
The fall and winter class and seminar schedules are available. Schedules are: 6 Beginner classless; 3 Internet and E-mail classes; 1 Word Processing and 1 Digital Photo class.and 12 Seminars.
Ralph Stone and Jack Lagarias resigned from the board.
September
The current membership is 1430.which equates to over 2,000 members. The Club continues to grow and increase its services to the residents of Rossmoor. More classes are added to accommodate the increase in enrollments. Club teachers have returned from their summer break and are ready to resume classes.
Something new and exciting is being added. The Computer Club is cooperating with Neuroscience Solutions to develop and test ways to "exercise the brain" to enable it to work better and longer. Neuroscience Solutions is a San Francisco company composed of prominent neuroscientists who are working to minimize the gradual decline of memory and other brain functions that often comes with aging. Just as physical exercise can help the body work better. Just as physical exercise can help the body work better, special brain exercises are expected to help the brain work better.
Volunteers in Rossmoor and nearby have signed up with Neuroscience Solutions to test these concepts. We expect the tests to be successful for the participant and the research program..
This is the time of the year to plan our annual volunteer luncheon. The first committee meeting was held on September 15th. Len Krauss and Marie Klos chaired the meeting. The attendees were Gloria Crabbe, Flo Myer, Muriel Wyro, Jo Jones, Julie Macksey, Chuck Howard and Marge Lang. The menu, centerpieces, decorations, and entertainment were selected. Spouses are invited also, so we expect to have approximately 100 people there.
OCTOBER
The annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon was held on Friday, October 8th in the Sierra Room at Del Valle. A wonderful buffet was served by Sunrise Catering to 98 volunteers and guests. Volunteers were given an appreciation certificate and everyone received a mini flashlight as a gift from the computer club. The Club's honored guest was Gertrude Halpern who gave a very complimentary speech regarding the Club's progress since the former president, Al Halpern, passed on.
November and December
Membership total 1480. Charlie Berger was busy contacting board members to confirm their acceptance of nomination for the election to the
board which took place on November 18th at the General Meeting. The officers and board members remain the same.
A bulletin board has been added to the Computer Center at Gateway. This is to be used by residents who wish to sell electronic equipment.
Membership in December was 1501. The Holiday dinner and show was held on December 8 and 9th. Leonard reported that he received some complaints about the dinner and some about the show. 1) Everyone did not receive the entree ordered;2) the language in the show was offensive. The board will review this matter and brainstorm ideas for next year.
Special guest Lois Courchaine, a waste management specialist with the Contra Costa Solid Waste Authority, spoke at the December board meeting. The Computer Club is interested in issues facing the environment regarding the disposal of electronic devices and possible
solutions such as more drop-off sites and collection points.
The January, February and March clas schedules have been posted and are available on the web site, at the classrooms and at the Computer Center. There are 6 classes and 21 Seminars scheduled.
Supervisor Gayle Ulkima will be our guest speaker at the February 10, 2005 general meeting. The topic will be electronic recycling.
