News From Out There December 2005

By Dick Estel

This will be an occasional report on news from current and former Commodore users who make contact with us for whatever reason.

A few months ago we had a shout out from Chris Zimmermann, President of MCS-IIg (Mountain Computer Society - 2nd generation). Here’s a condensed version of our correspondence:

FCUG: Do you still have a Commodore club going? Where? 

Chris: So far, it’s just me. I've been trying to restart one – I've just put it off and put it off. I'm fortunate here. Salt Lake City still has the Computer Bargain Store and Reid (the owner) has been a faithful seller (and re-seller) of Commodore for years.
 
I was able to retrieve some of the Fresno newsletter from your internet site. Is the club there still going? 

FCUG: Our club has a pretty good membership – around 15 to 20, but most are out of this area, mail members only. Since we haven't done a newsletter in two or three years I'm not sure what they feel they are getting by joining. Our meetings are usually 2 or 3 people at most; sometimes just one. I rarely use the Commodore, but it’s set up so I can do test file conversions for people with Big Blue Reader.

Chris: That's a good number for membership. I remember our old club – by the time we disbanded we had probably six or seven members left. How do you maintain membership if you don't publish a newsletter--especially if most is by mail? It’s nice to know you still have Commodore equipment--even though you rarely use it. I've been trying to use mine wherever and whenever I can. The instructors and other students (I'm currently attending a local university) get a kick out of the Executive 64 that I frequently bring to class! I have even done a presentation using a Commodore (I used my 128D for that).