Remember last week when I hounded you to write your stories for historical preservation? Well, I wanted to revisit that discussion, so I scrolled back in my article montage to find it. And I scrolled. And scrolled. Huh? You must be kidding. Last week was… last YEAR? Can you believe that? Exactly one year ago today, I wrote the Computer Corner article asking you to write or dictate your stories. And here I am, one year later, asking the same thing. But I’ve made some progress since then.
Some people gave me pictures. Thank you! Some people told me stories, as if my memory could be trusted. Thank you anyway! Bill Long captivated a few of us with many stories over dinner. He graciously allowed me to record it. Thank you SO much.
BEEEEEEP. We interrupt this broadcast for an urgent message. I am writing this article on my phone while sitting in my car watching the fishermen at Guana Dam. The guys caught a footlong and brought it to their truck for the ruler test. Yep. In the cooler it goes.
Ahh. The excitement of digital life.
Now back to history. If you went to the 50th Anniversary Celebration, you know I’ve been excavating old files. Oh my goodness, did I find some treasure! President Chris wanted a “helicopter view” for the anniversary. How do you get a reliable overview unless you know all the facts? I needed facts.
I took every single file and binder in the clubhouse office. I fed every single page to Epstein, my high-speed scanner. Epstein took a picture of every page AND recorded the words. Now, I can ask my laptop to show me every piece of SPVCA paper that includes the word “Octoberfest”. Or “Oktoberfest”. Or “fire”. Or “Herklotz”. Isn’t that handy? Thank you, Epstein.
And I’m not the only benefactor. All those paperless papers are in a cloud, with security promised by Microsoft. That way, the other board members can whisper the secret code and browse old business without having to wrestle the file cabinets. Ivan, Ed, and Michelle agreed to give the clouded documents sensible file names, which they can also do in the comfort of their own home.
But back to history. I adopted the South Ponte Vedra history into my Florida history project. It disappeared like a needle in my haystack of 20,000 colonial documents. So I made a separate website for wittle South Ponte Vedra’s history. On the web, you can watch and pitch in as I build the whole story.
Phfsh! Who am I kidding? There’s no such thing as the whole story, unless you’re omniscient. But hey, the more the merrier. And collaboration is so much easier on the web than on notebook paper. So once again, I implore you. Share your story. You can add details to the existing pieces, or contribute your own. Follow the history link on SPVCA.net. Now it’s time for Ladies Who Lunch at the clubhouse. Gotta go.