Mired in the past..

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

So, I'm on another kick.  Maybe it was after the realization that the
bylaws and other president stuff may be "gone" (actually, I need to call
Heather back; I keep forgetting.  She thinks she may know where the
notebook(s) is).  Maybe it was thinking about Wayne's upcoming "history"
talk.  But whatever it was, I started asking some folks about old GSAS
material and publications.  The first was Steve (Steev) Ward, who dug up a
box of _Northwest Aquaria_ from 1971 through 1979, plus the complete (I
think) set of all five excellent "revival" issues that the Elliotts did
between 1987 and 1991.  I've got all of Steve's collection scanned in now,
and have moved on to my other sources. Wayne Longacre, one of the founding
members now living in Alaska, has confirmed five more issues from the
first year which he's sending me.  I also e-mailed the guy Scott forwarded
mail from (he's the real deal, Scott.  His name is all over the early
issues of NW Aquaria!); he says he has some too.  I'm going to also try
the Elliotts, and maybe Warren Holmen.  Steve said that Avis Mitchell used
to have an extensive history of the club, but gave it to someone many
years ago.

So aside from turning me into even more of a basket case scanning all
these papers, what's the point of it all?  Contextual continuity! History!
Fun! Paper reduction!

Reading this stuff, I learn that some things have changed greatly in the
last 30 years: In the 70's, everything was typed and mimeographed, but yet
had color ad inserts manually stapled into the magazine.  The club existed
7 years before the aquarium was built... Steve Ward did a pretty scathing
review of the place after it had been running a year.  Old ads from The
Fish Store herald the first Plexiglas aquaria.  The club's tropical fish
shows drew thousands.  Articles were quite varied (as opposed to our
current cichlid & plant content), including quite a bit of marine slant.

Some things, though, are very much the same.  Fish Gallery & Pets, The
Fish Store, Massi's Aquarium are all still fixtures.  Articles on the
Olympic Mudminnow, Hererandria formosa, and Killies such as Cyanolabeius
nigripinnis all exist in these early club magazines.

I've learned that the club has had a lot more editors than I thought.  
During the 70's it seems like they had a different editor every year
(including Steve Ward!), and the Elliott's were the art department. In
fact, Diane and Rich didn't edit Northwest Aquaria at all until they
revived it as an annual magazine between 1987 and 1991.

Anyway, I'm planning on stuffing the whole thing onto a CD-ROM where we
can sell or give to members, along with the 1996-present "revival" of NWA
of which I have the source code, and maybe a "best of" the Maxine
newsletter period (at least the original articles -- Steve A or Dave, do
you have any newsletters pre-1993?). I sort of like the idea having an
archive corresponding to the 30th birthday of GSAS.

  - Erik

PS: In terms of the present, we will have a newsletter this month. :)

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com