Since the advent of the Internet, I’ve always been fascinated by WebPages. The creativity that businesses and organizations use to convey their messages sometimes leaves me awestruck. I would look sometimes with envy at Websites and say to myself "I wish that I could do that".
I’m the type of learner who learns best by doing. I pick up a program and just play with it until I figure it out. Rarely do I have to use "Help" or consult a manual. But with Web design I was stumped. I figured that I would have to take nine semester hours of computer classes to just begin to understand it.
That was before Eddy Chance and Larry Dowden introduced me to a little program called Microsoft FrontPage 2000. The program incorporates features of Microsoft Word and best of all you don’t have to know HTML!
As you can probably tell from the Website, I have had great fun in putting it together and enhancing it. But it wasn’t until I was about halfway through that it dawned on me that the Website could become a "Living Newsletter". After all, it already had many of the features that members have grown to expect in issues of "Hunting His Way". It was a simple matter to include the rest of the newsletter features. The only difficulty will be maintenance.
Despite having all the features of the newsletter, the Website will not replace it entirely. There are still about 20 present and former members who do have not Internet access. Quarterly newsletters will continue to me produced. But now it will be a simple matter to simply copy information from the Website and paste it into the newsletters. Now, instead of sending out 5 MB newsletters and tying up everyone’s servers, I’ll simply notify members that the Website has been updated and what specifically is new. Of course, if a member would still prefer to have a newsletter e-mailed, I will accommodate him.
Over the last few days I have contacted several Christian Hunting and/or Fishing organizations. To date both God’s Great Outdoors and Rock Dove Publications have linked to us. The President of Rock Dove Publications, Tom Rakow, is also the President of The Christian Deer Hunters Association and The Christian Anglers Association. If you know of any other Christian Organizations that you think might link to us, please let me know. I also joined the Texas Hunting Trail Outdoor WebRing. This should generate lots more hits on our site (see the bottom of the main page).
Lastly, I do not want the Website to be a "One man band". I have already received several good ideas and material but keep them coming! This is your site, as much as mine. Help me to make it into what you want it to be.
Serving you and Him,
Randy Rowley
FCS North Austin Chapter President and Webmaster