Mary Cavallaro

Hello, I was born on Dec. 7 in Bassett, Arkansas. Moved 'up north' in 1963, first to Chicago then to Council Bluffs. I worked on an electronics assembly line soldering switches for B-2 Bombers. I've held other jobs from being a waitress, working in a meat plant in Oakland, Ia. and was a Final Inspector with Pendleton Mills.

Joe and I were married in 1982. Enjoyed many of the computer activities when I was physically able to take part, including camping and picnics. Although I rarely attend the monthly meetings these days, Joe and I work together on many club related duties at our home.

I whole-heartedly support Joe's interests and activities in this great club. We're Grandparents and Great Grandparents. I love to cook and Joe even helps me occasionally in the kitchen.

Joe Cavallaro

Hi, I was born on Dec. 28, (aftermath of Christmas?). I have lived in Council Bluffs most of my life, having moved here from Omaha when I was very young.

I grew up in my father's grocery store and later, after marrying in 1960, my wife and I ran the store for many years. It was located where the Council Bluffs No Frills store is on 18th & Broadway. I also served a six-year stint in Uncle Sam's Army during this era.

Later I worked at our local newspaper, the 'Daily Nonpareil' as an Engraving and Darkroom Technician and Photographer / Reporter. Interesting work .
I also worked as a meat cutter for a local grocery store, ran my own Portrait Studio, was owner/operator of the Metro Area's "Aunt Mary's Child Photo Club", managed the Brandeis Photo Dept. in the C.B. Mall when it first opened, ran our own business, 'J&M Transfer Service' converting old (film) movies to VHS tape, worked for Midwest Photo in Omaha, and was Manager of Tandy Leather store in Council Bluffs, on West Broadway.

I have been involved with the Metro Area Personal Computer Club since 1984. I'm  husband to a great wife, Mary, a father, Grandfather and even a Great Grandfather several times, so I've been around a year or two. Looking forward to reading your Bio'...

Hi, I was born Sept.9 and have lived in Council Bluffs Iowa all of my life except for a short period of time in Schuyler Nebraska.

One of my main interests as far as hobbies go revolves around photography. I love to take scenic/ landscape photos, portrait and outdoor photos of people and also thrive on close-up shots. The computer is a great tool in conjunction with photography. It is quite exciting to see how the technology of computer and computer-oriented equipment has evolved.

My most recent endeavor has been starting my own business called "Treasures by Tammy LLC", which involves transferring and preserving photographs, slides, negatives, VHS home movies, 8mm video Mini-DVD to CD or DVD. I also create memorable slide shows as a keepsake or a gift for your loved ones. I have been in the process of accumulating the needed equipment for my soon to be photography studio.

Of course, I have other interest as well, enjoying a wonderful life with my husband Dan and all of my family whom I value and love very much. I am the proud mother of my daughter Karen, and 'Nana' to our grandson Gage Joseph! He has learned over the past 9 years how much Nana loves to take pictures... especially of him, just like his mommy has known for over 30 years.
I love Jesus Christ and I am a Born Again Christian, and He is my Personal Savior!

I enjoy the outdoors tremendously in the spring primarily to camp and mushroom hunt with my hubby Dan and sometimes Gage goes along too. I enjoy summer very much. The hotter, the better for me, nothing that a little water fight can't cure! Dan and I love our vegetable gardens and the many beautiful flowers we plant annually and also our perennials. I love canning tomatoes & salsa. It's so rewarding then and throughout the months long after the garden is done for the season. We love to camp, fish, boat and swim. And, sometimes just hanging out back, on our swing by the stream. I tinker around on the electronic musical keyboard and during the colder months make fleece blankets, work with ceramics and pray that we don't have lots of snow and ice!

Fritz Warden

Hi. My name is William E. "Fritz" Warden, and I was born January 13, 1936, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We lived at 27^th and Avenue B, across from the streetcar barn. My father was a motorman on the streetcar and had a short walk to work. We never owned a vehicle. My dad was a radio ham --- W0YYF. In those days the "hams" built their own receivers and transmitters. I asked many questions when these men got together and understood basic electronics by the time I was 5 years old.

This background sure helped me in the future. It was easy going through aviation electronics school in the USMC. In High School I did many electrically-oriented projects, stage lighting, etc.

Joe Cavallaro was a year or so ahead of me in High School and I remember him as a "stand out" (he excelled in everything). I met my wife Jo while I was in the service at El Toro, California. We have been married for 48 years now.

In 1962 I became an electrical contractor in Council Bluffs, owning "Fritz Electric". I learned computer "ladder logic" programming during this career. We started in the computer field using Radio Shack's very first 16K computer. It has been fascinating to watch the growth of this field, and we enjoy the advantages of modern computers in just about everything we do. The club has been a great help through the years. Hang in there, everybody, there's much more to learn!

Jo Warden

Hi, my name is Jo Warden. I was born in California, raised there and in Arkansas, married Fritz in California in 1957. Have been a telephone operator, nurse, and chief bookkeeper for Fritz Electric in Council Bluffs during most of our married life. Hobbies are painting and sewing and reading.

Our first computer was a Tandy computer having 16K memory and tape backup.I lost a lot of data on that machine because I hit the wrong key and p-o-o-o-f- it was gone.

Can't remember the date we joined, but we have been members of the Computer Club for a long time, all the way back to when Godfathers installed a fan to blow out the cigarette smoke. We are retired and living in Shelby, Iowa, where son Sam has his own business, Empire Electric.

Neither Fritz or I like to drive at night, so we don't attend club meetings, but one of these days we will stay all night in a motel and stop by Godfathers and see all of you again. Keep up the Good Work !!!

Joe Cavallaro III

My name is Joe Cavallaro III, and I have been a member of the MAPPC since 2009. I am a father of three, and receive many blessings from my children.

I am a believer in God, and a born again Christian. I was raised in this area and have grown to love it. I am a full time student at IWCC, (Iowa Western Community College), in Council Bluffs, IA, pursuing a degree in Network Administration.

I have plans to continue my education until the BA is in hand. I find the field of Information Technology very challenging, and appreciate the ever changing, fast moving world of technology we live in. The innovation that is taking place these days is difficult to comprehend, especially when reflecting back on the "good old days..."

Amy Bogdanovich

I am a self-employed resident of Omaha, NE, who has owned & operated my own cleaning business for over ten years. I am a mother of three wonderful children who assist in keeping me busy. Having a father in the USAF while growing up, I was allowed the opportunity to live in Japan for three years and many different states locally. I found the foreign cultures in Japan very interesting, and I plan to return there for a vacation in the near future. Being a member of the MAPCC allows me resources for socialization and answers to many of my computer questions.

Taylor Cavallaro

My name is Taylor Cavallaro, and I am happy to be the youngest member of the club at the time of this writing, (2012).

The club offers fun times, and many chances to learn new things about computers. Since computers are so common in school now, they are something we all need to know about.

I like the outdoors, and enjoy camping,  fishing, and of course playing with my friends.

I play volleyball, basketball, and I have karate skills. (But I can't brag about that)
The club is a good time.

Fred Champy

I've been very fortunate. I had been married to the love of my life, and my best friend of fifty-eight years, my late wife Jeanne. It will be five years this (2012) July, having lost her to an embolism, at the prestigious Mass General Hospital in Boston. MA. She had been in atrial fibrillation upon admittance. With cancer of the lungs, having metastasized to her brain. I miss her dearly. My dear wife bestowed five great sons, along with ten grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

I started working while in high school for Mass, Amusement Corp. owned by Warner Brothers Studios. I started as an usher and was promoted to assistant manager while in my senior year of high school.

It was at this time I received my radio ham license, which I soon dropped due to the interference I caused with neighbors TV's. Western Electric employed me in 1952 as a tester analyst. Within two years I was promoted to supervision.

I had been assigned to many state-of-the-art jobs, growing quartz and machining quartz wafers, which finally became crystal filters used in A5 mainstream telephone and television communications.

I was promoted to a department manager in charge of an ultra-clean room in which, with Bell Labs, we developed SAWS for FIOS. SAWS, (surface acoustic wave.) They are retiming devices for fiber optics. We also produced crystal fault detectors for the many submarine cables around the globe.

I built my first computers prior to Bill Gates and Microsoft. DOS was the operating system and "M basic" was the means in which one created algorithms to achieve programs one needed.

Jerry Bell

Hello. My name is Gerald Bell but I go by Jerry. I was born and raised in Kearney, NE. and resided there until1962. I then spread my wings and hopped around to different places such as Seward, York, Cambridge, Cozad, Grand Island and Lexington, until I moved to Hastings in 1969 where I resided until 1995.

I have been a truck driver and an appliance repairman specializing in Microwaves. I have owned a Cultured Marble plant and have spent many years buying, remodeling, and selling houses. I went to work as a service tech in 1979 for a special systems company in Hastings, NE. and worked my way up to become Operations Manager when I was transferred to Omaha in 1995 I am self-taught on the computer and learned everything by trial and error.

I have 2 sons and 2 daughters, 15 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. I have been married to my lovely wife for 35 years.

Kevin Holloway

Hello, I was born December 12 in Harlan, Iowa. I went through school in Irwin, Iowa and after that got an associate degree in electronics at IWCC. I moved to C.B. in 1996 and got married after meeting my wife Cheryl.
I have farmed, driven trucks for a construction company, worked at Radio Engineering Industries and currently work at Elemental Scientific, Inc.
I started out with a VIC-20 and moved on to the Commodore 64. Later I got an Amiga and now I am using a Dell core2 quad computer running Windows 7.

David Ladd

I am from Murray Nebraska. Graduated from Conestoga Jr/Sr High in 1991. After that I went to Gateway Electronics for 2 years and worked for Software City for 11 years after getting out of Gateway Electronics. Currently I freelance as needed.

I started tinkering with computers when I was in 5th grade with an Apple II the school had. In 6th grade I started my basic programming on the Apple II. When I was 12 I got my first computer for Christmas. The computer was a Tandy Color Computer 2 with 64K of RAM, tape drive, multi-pak interface, RS232 Pack, and DMP printer. For my birthday I got a FD501 floppy drive and controller. I then went to a few swap meets and managed to get my hands on two 5.25" 360K floppy drives to replace the single FD501 single sided 5.25" floppy drive. In 1988 I finally saved up for a Color Computer 3 and then got me a CM-8 monitor. In 1991 managed to get my hands on a Burk & Burk MFM adapter and a XT MFM controller to go in the adapter. Found an ST-225 hard drive and used OS-9 on a 20MB drive for a few years.

After using my color computer and OS-9 for many years I aquired an MM/1 running OS-9/68K and continued my path. Currently I now use a PC and tinker with the Color Computer again using drivewire on the PC to have lots of virtual drive space for OS-9 :D.

Mary Alice Fehr

Hello, my name is Mary Alice Fehr and I am the current Treasurer for MAPCC.  I retired as an RN from Jennie Edmundson Hospital in 2004.  Currently I volunteer as a Parish Nurse for New Horizon Presbyterian Church through the Alegent Health Systems.  Also I'm treasurer for our local Presbyterian Women, and I'm an active member of the Presbyterian Women of the Missouri River Valley Presbytery.  I helped to organize our church's Prayer Shawl Ministry and keep the records of this ministry.  Currently I have an interest in scrapbooking along with compiling current digital photography for New Horizon Presbyterian Church's photo history album. I enjoy working and learning on my computer

Lynn Fehr

Hi my name is Lynn Fehr and I am the current Secretary for MAPCC. Previously I was Vice President for several years.  For 20 years I worked in Photogrammetric Engineering and in the Graphic Arts lab when I was not flying the Aerial Photography Plane.  Then I worked for Bel Air Hobby Crafts in Omaha.  I retired in 2005.  At the moment I'm quite busy designing, drawing, building and flying scale model aircraft. Also, I continue to have an interest in photography and stereo (3D) pictures.  I have a complete photo lab but have not used it since digital photography came on board.  Currently I'm an active member of New Horizon Presbyterian Church, where I teach Sunday School for 3rd through 5th grades.  Also I am the current secretary for the COBRAS (Council Bluffs Radio Airplane Society), and president of the NFF (Nebraska Free Flighters).

Cheryle Pennington

Well Hi there! My name is Cheryle Jeanne (Ayala) Pennington.
My life story:  I am from Pennsylvania and I moved to
Brooklyn, New York,then moved to Omaha, Nebraska when
I was 4. When I was 12 I moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa and I have been here ever since.
In the year of 1989 I met William Levi Pennington, then that same year
we got married and we have been together, (as of 2012), for 22 years, going on 23.
I live at 2929 Avenue A in Council Bluffs, Iowa.  My hobbies are writing letters and mailing out cards.  I love coloring in color books,and doing search words.
I love taking care of my home and my dog Sassy and also my husband. I enjoy doing things with our church. So that is all about me and my life. 
God love you all.

Wm. (Bill) Pennington

My name is William L. Pennington.  I am the son of Richard and Betty Pennington. I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska on July 7, 1959.  I have two younger brothers, Richard Jr. and Charles.  I have lived in the states of Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and now reside in the state of Iowa.

After high school, in 1978 we moved to Red Oak, IA where I got my first job at the Holiday Inn as a Dishwasher.  I worked there for 6 months, then moved on to West Monroe, LA, where I went to the Youth School at WFR School of Biblical Study in 1979. 
Oddly enough, my Dad and I graduated in the same year -1978; me from High School, and my Dad from Preaching School. After Graduating I went back to Red Oak for another 6 months then returned to West Monroe to the School of Preaching at WFR School of Biblical Study in 1982 for advanced learning.

I lived in Red Oak for a couple more years and returned to Holiday Inn. Then our Family moved to Council Bluffs in 1984,where I went to Iowa Western Community College, to the Cooking and Management Program there, and I graduated in 1986.

I joined the MAPCC and  bought my first Computer, the Color Computer 2 from Radio Shack, when I was going to Iowa Western.  I've held several offices in the club, including President, Vice President and Treasurer. Through our club, I've met a lot of people who had the same interest and I'm still fascinated by what the computer can do today.

On February 14, (Valentine's Day), in 1989 I met my wife Cheryle.  We were married on December 30th of that same year. I graduated from Gateway Institute studying the Unix Program.  I tried the electronics part but I am not color coordinated. 

My  other interests are preaching and teaching the Bible to others, song leading and singing songs and praying to the Lord, in addition to cooking and fishing. Cheryle and I love our pets. Garfield is now gone but Sassy remains our loyal dog, but don't tell her she's a dog. She keeps us very happy.

David Lee

I am 73 yrs old and have been retired for 3yrs. I was an electrician for 40 plus years,retiring in 2009. I was born and raised in Council Bluffs. I will be missing the meetings during the cold months and we'll be spending that time in Texas, where we (hopefully) won't experience Iowa's cold winter weather. See you next March.