About MAGIC

CONTENTS
Introduction
Charity Status
Officers / Contact
Bylaws and Officer Duties

Introduction

MAGIC, The Macintosh Appreciation Group of Island County, is a charitable organization that serves people who use Macintosh computers, software, peripherals, and the Internet. The majority of participants are located on Whidbey Island. Our goal is to educate Mac users and potential users in the community, share information and help users to become more productive. There are no membership requirements or fees, and the general public is invited to attend all functions and access all of the group's products.

Participants cover the entire spectrum of expertise: they use their computers at home, at work, and at play. Everyone has a different focus and, therefore, different needs and problems. More experienced users offer advice, and newer users receive an education on the efficient use of Mac computers and the Internet. Monthly meetings give participants a chance to discuss computer problems and share ideas with other Mac users, and to attend presentations by featured speakers on specific topics. The group also offers a monthly newsletter and a public website both of which are primarily used to provide news and education about Macs and the Internet. Hands-on classes offered in the community provide education and training to all Mac users.

The group is an authorized Apple Macintosh User Group (MUG). This gives the group access to additional resources and regular contacts from Apple, access to the online Apple Computer Store, and the opportunity to preview new Apple software. We also hold a federal 501(c)3 tax status which means that donations of cash or merchandise to the group are deductible from the donor's federal income taxes.

Membership is currently free. Benefits include monthly notice of the monthly newsletter in addition to those described above. An electronic application for membership can be sent in by clicking below.

Charity Status

MAGIC has been established as a charitable organization and enjoys 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. This means that all donations to MAGIC are tax deductible and a tax receipt for such donations can be obtained from the treasurer.

Officers

Office	Holder (Click for Bio)	Exp. date
President	Robert Y Elphick	January 2012
Vice President	Penny Holland	January 2012
Secretary	Susan Prescott	January 2012
Treasurer	Sue Keblusek	January 2012
VP Education	vacant	January 2012
VP Programs	Ronald Norman	January 2012
VP Membership	Ed Severinghaus	January 2012
Newsletter Editor	Ron Sharp	indefinite
Webmaster	Robert Elphick	indefinite
Director-at-large	Nancy Ruff	January 2012
Director-at-large	Daryl Thomas	January 2013
Director-at-large	Vi Frederick	January 2014

Robert Yule Elphick

Robert was raised and educated in the UK earning degrees in Applied Physics and Geophysics & Planetary Physics. He moved to North America in 1974 where he worked in the energy and space industries. He moved to Whidbey Island in 2002 after becoming partially disabled. He has used Macs since 1986.

He spends most of his time doing volunteer work on the Island - including teaching for MAGIC as well as 4-H, designing and building websites, and providing help solving computer problems at homes and small businesses. He lives in Coupeville with his wife Margaret.

Penny Holland

A Seattle native, I graduated from the UW with a degree in mathematics. Taught junior high math in 4 states and then museum education at the Pacific Science Center, Los Angeles Museum of Science and Industry, and volunteered at Cabrillo Marine Museum. My first computer in 1979 was an Apple II Plus with 48K. In those days I reviewed over 50 educational software programs intended for school children. The Mac512 (called the “Fat Mac” for its HUGE memory) was my first Mac, and since then they’ve only gotten bigger. I wrote my first 8 published books mostly on the old Apple. They were a series of easy-to-read LOOKING AT COMPUTERS books for kids published by Franklin Watts. Since 2005 I’ve lived full time on Whidbey and have been involved in MAGIC for the past seven years. Besides loving Macs, my other loves are my family and friends, my dogs, and my writing and art. I continue to write for children and paint with watercolors, and sometimes combine both on my Mac.

Susan Prescott

Susan Prescott is a semi-retired freelance graphic designer and illustrator. She has worked in production and advertising for all the Whidbey newspapers. She helped found the sustainable agriculture organization, South Whidbey Tilth, a chapter of Washington Tilth.

She is a 30-year resident of Greenbank, where she and her husband, Michael Seraphinoff, live 'lightly' off the grid growing vegetables.

Sue Keblusek

Sue found her way home to Whidbey Island in 2002 after 25 years as a speech-language pathologist in military and VA medical centers in Germany and the San Francisco Bay area. She grew up in Northern Virginia, the daughter of an FBI counterintelligence agent. Recently, she created Saratoga Speech Therapy, a private practice, on South Whidbey. Sue came very late to the Mac, having defended PCs in a prior life and feeling Mac users were entirely too smug. She has since found that feeling smug suits her.

Ronald Norman

Ron has been an Island property owner since 1985 and a full time resident since 1998. He retired from Regence Blue Shield in Seattle, where he was V.P of the Boeing Division. His division managed the self-insured world wide medical plan for the Boeing employees. Ron is an avid fisherman and photographer. . He bought his first Apple product (iMac 24) for managing his photos and developing his own website (ronnormanphotography.com). He is also having fun with his new iPad and its various applications . Ron and his wife Jeanie live on Mutiny Bay.

Ed Severinghaus

I am currently 84, living in Langley with my wife Barbara Graham, who is an outstanding cook, and into a lot of other stuff. I practiced psychiatry until about 2000, in Edmonds.

Born in Madison WI; Cornell Med School, Yale in psychiatry, moved to Seattle from Conn. 1967, mostly because of the mountains and ocean, both of which I love.

Favorite hobby: Photography. Also violin, playing with Saratoga Chamber Orchestra. Also in past 2 yr: woodturning. 3 daughters widespread: in Everett, N. Wisconsin; and Florida. Have been a Mac man since the beginning -- mid 1980's, on a Mac Plus.

Ron Sharp

I was born late in the evening and the constellation Apple was bright in the sky! In the early 90's an Apple computer found me. It was a 16 MHz with 80 MB drive. I was already into technology, diagnosing automobile driveability problems, when I completed an Apple Technical Training course on DVD. Things have changed a lot since then but my interest remains and I enjoy the diagnostic challenges. I'm currently studying Objective C in hopes of writing software eventually, but time will tell how far I get with that hobby.

I'm a Northwest native, lived in California a few years, and moved to Whidbey in 2000. I have some interest in writing and took on the MAGIC newsletter project. Although my computer skills are much better than my writing skills, I continue to do the newsletter. (Newsletter tips or comments are welcome)

Nancy Ruff

Nancy Ruff is a retired Texas public school administrator who wrote her doctoral dissertation on an Apple IIE and a daisy wheel printer in the early 80s. When the Mac came out, her school district became all-Mac and proud of it and she's been a Mac addict from the beginning.

Nancy is a founding member of MAGIC and has played an active role in the club sisnce its inception. She lives in Clinton with her Husband Bill.

Daryl Thomas

Born and raised in a small town in central Illinois, graduated from the Univ of Illinois with a MSME. First contact with a computer (an analog computer) was in 1961 at Caterpillar Tractor Co. on which I solved a complicated set of differential equations. Went on to work at JPL in Pasadena, Ca as a guidance & control engineer and had my first introduction to digital computers and Fortran II (ugh, today's HTML language reminds me too much of that early language). My major task there was as the G&C flight ops rep on the successful 1964 Mariner Mars flyby. Then joined TRW and worked mostly on signal processing software design and development for classified military projects. Later promoted to a subproject manager with a staff of two dozen professional software developers. My first Mac, a Mac IICi, was at TRW and I used it mainly for memo writing, requirements tracing, specification writing and the like.

I retired in 1995 and moved with my wife, Janet, to Whidbey where we live just outside of Langley. My first personal Mac was a used IICi and have gradually upgraded over the years. My current Mac is a 20" Intel iMac which I use mainly for communication, news (general and financial), web surfing and occasional slide scanning and picture editing. I enjoy surfing the Mac sites to keep up with the technology, although I'm not an early adopter. I've been a member of MAGIC for about 10 years holding the offices of Secretary, President and Director-at-large.

Viola Frederick

Raised in Ballard community of Seattle, Seattle Pacific University graduate, been coming to Whidbey Island for over 48 yrs and have lived here for 13 yrs. Taught 3-4th grades & adults, realtor, retired from 15 yrs. at Seattle Housing Authority. For fun: currently walking the 157 miles of Island beaches with the 'Ladies of the Beach' (my blog http://oceangram7.wordpress.com/), voracious reader, interested in seeking & finding truth principles in the important areas of life, gardening, alternative medicine & healthy lifestyle, my grandgirls, my MAC. In 1984 we bought a Mac 128K and life changed forever. Unfortunately had to spend 20 yrs. on a PC for work, but received a MacBook two years ago from my husband. I enjoy helping others learn how to get the most out of this great tool.

Bylaws

Click here to get a pdf format file of the Officer Duties of MAGIC. Last updated September 2011.

Click here to get a pdf format file of the Bylaws of MAGIC. Last updated January 2010.

Click here to get a pdf format file of the Articles of Incorporation of MAGIC.