Judy Hom
This is my last edition of the newsletter. It is hard to believe that I’ve been your newsletter editor for three years. It’s even harder to believe that I’ve been the Nisei Ski Club newsletter editor on and off for 11 years. Indulge me as I walk down memory lane.
My first stint started in 1997. Ron Nishimura decided that he needed to recruit a bright-eyed and bushy tailed new member to be the newsletter editor otherwise he would be stuck with a second term. It sounded interesting and not knowing any better, I said yes. Here’s a link to my first column as newsletter editor.
Back in 1997, the newsletter used to be quite a production. Articles were collected and laid out for printing on 11″ x 17″ paper. Four pages fit on 11″ x 17″ paper double-sided. The ideal number of pages for the newsletter was in multiples of 4. The smallest newsletter was 4 pages long and the typical newsletter was 8-12 pages. If push came to shove and there was not enough content, then 8.5″ x 11″ inserts were used.
The newsletter couldn’t be too big otherwise it would be heavier than 1 ounce, which would require additional postage. Once the newsletter was laid out, I took it to the copy shop to get 300 copies made. I organized the collating and stapling of the newsletter instead of paying extra to have that done for me. I used to recruit club members and even family to do that every month. Later, my husband Winston bought a used washing machine sized HP laser jet printer and we did the printing at home. I have fond memories of Winston dropping collated copies of the newsletter on the floor and sometimes on my head for stapling and stamping.
In 2004, the club offered a PDF version of the newsletter as an option to the printed newsletter to lower printing and mailing costs. In 2007, the club made the PDF version standard and the printed and mailed version an option with a small fee to cover costs. Finally in 2013, the club dropped the PDF version and made the newsletter online only.
It’s been interesting to work on the website only version. I’ve gotten a chance to learn new tools like Word Press and brush up on my HTML. In addition, the website version allows me to correct and revise articles any time. I used to feel badly when I found mistakes in the printed version after it went out — no more!
I’ve done this job for so long because Nisei Ski Club is a wonderful group of people. After all, that’s how I met my husband Winston.
In closing, I would like to welcome the brand new newsletter editor Judy Bracken. Some of you may have met her on the weeklong trip to Vail. In fact, Judy B. wrote the article about the club’s 60th anniversary trip to Vail. I find it serendipitous that the incoming editor is also named Judy. Please give this new Judy a warm welcome and your support.
