History of the Computer Club

This year will mark the 10th anniversary of the Computer Club at the West Vancouver Senior's Centre. As part of the on-going celebrations to mark this momentous occasion I thought it would be of interest to provide, in a series of articles, some background on the founding of the Club in 1997 and to look at some of its early history. I am grateful to Sylvia Lung and Roy Lincoln who provided minutes from the organizational meetings and also some of the early Club meetings. Also, Basil Meddings provided me with a copy of his Presidents Report which he presented to the Club in 1999 and in which he gave a very complete history of the Club up to that time. Much of the material I will be presenting comes from Basil’s report.

The concept of a “Computer Club” under the aegis of the West Vancouver Seniors Activity Centre was first promulgated, vigorously, by Mr. Bruce Scott. In the early Spring of 1997 Bruce was campaigning hard for a Computer/Internet programme for North Shore Seniors using the resources of the Elder College and Continuing Education departments of Capilano College. Bruce was concerned that at the end of such a course any graduates should not find themselves bereft of support services, certainly not at the Seniors Centre. Bruce was strongly supported by Mrs. Sylvia Lung of the Seniors Centre Staff. Sylvia also wanted the establishment of some form of support services for those Seniors passing through the Computer Courses that Sylvia arranged at the WVSC. Bruce therefore consulted with Mr. Gerry Craig of B.C. Tel. Pioneers who had been instrumental in setting up many Computer Clubs at Seniors’ Centres throughout the Greater Vancouver area. Together they decided that the WVSC was ripe for a Computer Club. And so Sylvia and Bruce set about twisting arms.

The inception of our Club took place at a meeting on June 3rd 1997 with 28 people present. This meeting subsequently became known as the First Annual General Meeting of the Club. The people present were;

presented by Cliff Harris

The first meeting of the Computer Club was held in the “Computer Room” at the West Vancouver Seniors’ Centre on June 3, 1997 and the following Officers and Directors were nominated:

The aims of the Club were stated to be “the education and self-help to and by the members of the West Vancouver Seniors Centre in the computer field”. It was generally agreed that such aim would include the provision of an opportunity for graduates from any basic computer course put on by the Senior Centre to expand their knowledge.

Sylvia Lung advised that dues would be required to be paid to the Centre to offset the cost of operations and for the use of the facilities. Dues were subsequently set at $1.00 per member per meeting. Sylvia also advised that any money raised by the Club, other than the dues to be paid to the Centre, would belong to the Club and could be used as the Club sees fit.

During the ensuing months the Club proceeded to develop. In September, 1997, a proposed Constitution was presented to the membership which accepted it after a few minor amendments. It was decided that the Computer Club should have two standing Committees, namely a Program Committee and a Website Committee and that annual dues of $1.00 per person payable to the Computer Club be established. This was subsequently increased to $5.00 per year.

When the Computer Club was first established, members of the Senior Centre were taking advantage of computer courses offered by Capilano College and the Centre arranged bus transportation between the Centre and the College. Some of the courses offered by the College at that time were:

• Internet
• Windows 95 basic course
• Upgrade from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95
• Word for Windows
  

Soon computer and projection equipment were obtained by the Seniors’ Centre which allowed courses to be given at the Centre. Funds and equipment were provided by private donations, the Advisory Board of the Seniors’ Centre, the District of West Vancouver and by members of the Computer Club. A brief outline of the acquisition of computer and projection equipment at the WVSC is shown below.

It is important to make clear the distinction between the operations of our Computer Club and the services provided by the Seniors Centre. The Seniors Centre provides the computer training courses for seniors throughout the North Shore. From an administration point of view the organization of these courses has nothing to do with the Computer Club. However, many of the instructors and teaching assistants for the courses were members of the Computer Club and graduates of the computer courses were encouraged to become members of the Computer Club.

Part of the History of the Acquisition of Computer and Projection Equipment at WVSC*

* Extracted from the report of Basil Meddings