History of Hiram's Oasis

Electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS) and Kena Shriners Computer Club

Happy 12th birthday to Hiram's Oasis & Computer Club!! It was this month (November, 1999) in 1987 that Hiram's began and has been a source of Masonic light for all many years. (note to self, leave above dates, Preston wrote it) Preston E. Burner passed away on May 10, 2000 More

Meetings are in the Kena Temple Oasis room at 7:30PM on every second and fourth Thursdays of each month unless it's a holiday or something. Currently the club meetings are NOT taking place

Please join our email list server to stay up to date, see details below. Also there is an on-line membership application.

KENA COMPUTER CLUB

Meetings: Twice monthly every second and forth Thursdays at 7:30pm in the Kena Temple Oasis room.

Click on the button below that says "Join my Chat Room".

You can view the meetings LIVE via our Web cam.

Please feel free to contact us during the meeting to say hi using AOL IM or ICQ

If you do not have AOL Instant Messenger you can click above to download it.

The image will update every 30 seconds.

The Internet is here; it’s at our office, homes, schools, in the newspapers on the radio and TV. Lets face it the Internet is everywhere and is becoming a part of our everyday lives.

What is the Internet, how does it work, how do I make use of the Internet? well, join the Kena Computer Club, come to the meetings and you will find out.

The Kena Computer Club is not just for the members of Kena but also for all Masons their ladies and family members. Anyone with the desire to learn or share information about computers and the Internet are welcome.

Here's a small list of what you will learn:

AOL (American Online)

Downloading & Uploading

Reading and sending Email

Web browsers Internet Explorer

Attaching files to Email, Viruses & SPAM

How to make use of the Internet

Safe Internet practices

Where and how to shop on the Internet

MSN (Microsoft Network)

Creating web pages

Windows XP / Windows Server 2003

Modems / Cable Modems / DSL

CONTACT: William J. Baumbach II 2380 Mountain Rd. Haymarket, Va. 20169 leave a voice message or fax (703) 791-9522 email: William@Baumbach.com

2001 club president William J. Baumbach II William@Baumbach.com past president 1996-1997 2000-2007
2001 club vice-president
2001-2007 club Sectary/Treasurer Edmund Cohen cohene@erols.com

LIST SERVER:

To join the List Server just follow these procedures:

You can join the Kena Computer Club List Server by sending a message to:

ImailSrv@Kena.org

In the body of the message (text area) include on a single line:
subscribe ComputerClub [your name] [your location]
including the proper information in place of the bracket "[ ]" tags.

An example submission would look like:
subscribe ComputerClub William Baumbach Fairfax, Va.

This will subscribe the address that is the FROM: or the Reply TO: address programmed into the computer from which you are sending the message.

You will receive an automated email response in less then one minute confirming your request to join the list server, you MUST REPLY to the confirmation email within 7 days or your request will be automatically deleted and you will not be added to the list. You can at anytime resend a new request to join.

Once you are subscribed to the list server you can send a message to ComputerClub@Kena.org and everyone on the list will be sent a copy of it.

After you join a ListServ -

Once on the ListServ, you can get off the list by sending a message to:

ImailSrv@Kena.org

and in the body of the message include on a single line:

unsubscribe ComputerClub

If you have questions or have any trouble or need help with the list server email Webmaster@Kena.org

10-26-99

STOP READING HERE THE OLD WEB PAGE INFORMATION IS BELOW

Kena Computer Club

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2 B 1 ASK 1 Kena Temple, Fairfax, VA Version 11/10/99

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KENA COMPUTER CLUB

BY-LAWS

ARTICLE NUMBER ONE: TITLE:

The name of this organization shall be "THE KENA COMPUTER CLUB".

ARTICLE NUMBER TWO: OBJECTS:

The objects of the organization shall be to provide a means for NOBLES and their friends to feel comfortable with computer technology and to learn about its practical applications; to provide NOBLES with an easy introduction into the mysteries of computers, even though they might not own one; and to provide the POTENTATE, DIVAN and EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE with an established base of technical advice if needed.

ARTICLE NUMBER THREE: MEMBERSHIP:

ACTIVE: Shriners whose dues are paid shall be eligible to vote in elections and in the business matters of the club. Friends of Shriners may participate in the activities of the Club.

ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR: OFFICERS:

The officers shall consist of a President, Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer.

ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR: DUES:

The dues shall be $20 per year.

ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR: MEETINGS:

The regular ANNUAL meeting will be held on a date and time in early November for the purpose of electing the officers for the ensuing year, and for other necessary business. The Secretary will submit the names of the officers elect and the by-laws to the Chief Raban for his approval.

Other meetings or sessions may be held on days and at times that are most convent to the majority, and may be divided into any number of Special Interest Groups (SIGS).

ARTICLE NUMBER SIX: SHRINE RULES:

Imperial shrine rules and Kena Temple rules and By-laws shall apply at all times.

Kena Computer Club is NO MORE!

The ONLY two members that showed up at it's November 1997 meeting voted to CLOSE / SHUTDOWN the club due to lack of participation!

Computer Mason

Lapel Pin above

can be ordered

by clicking here

The computer club meets every third Thursday in the Oasis Room at the Kena Temple at 7:00pm (CANCELED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE) The club was inactive for two years 1998-1999.

The Computer Club was founded by Preston Burner in 1987

Stay abreast of current Masonic information through the Hiram's Oasis web site at www.kena.org/hirams

HIRAM'S OASIS. A Masonic Bulletin Board
This Board allows a remote user to use the collection abilities of computer communications to gather Masonic information. There are very few files here, as this is not like the other Bulletin boards. If you are curious about Freemasonry, please peruse the bulletins and file lists. There are many articles from Masonic publications. We need your assistance to increase the number of these files. Please upload any articles, speech texts, or information about your Lodge or other organization.

The objects of the Kena Computer Club are to provide a means for NOBLES and their friends to feel comfortable with computer technology and to learn about its practical applications; to provide NOBLES with an easy introduction into the mysteries of computers, even though they might not own one; and to provide the POTENTATE, DIVAN and EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE with an established base of technical advice if needed.

The Club has expanded and has established this electronic bulletin board for the transmission and storage of messages and of articles for publication and from publication. This board is, to the best of our knowledge, the first electronic bulletin board for Free Masons. It has been continuously running since November,1987.

The PRINCIPAL purpose of this board is to provide the exchange of Masonic information and for Masonic education.

To the non-mason, you are encouraged to read the bulletins and messages to learn about Freemasonry. You are not required to.

REVISED 10-02-2001

The Kena Computer Club was founded by Nobel Preston E. Burner in 1987. The objects of the club are to provide a means for nobles and their friends to feel comfortable with computer technology and to learn about its practical applications; to provide nobles with an easy introduction into the mysteries of computers, even though they might not own one; and to provide the Potentate, Divan and Executive Committee with an established base of technical advice if needed.

Preston was club president from 1987-1995. Since 1996 Noble William J. Baumbach II has been club president. Since 2000 the meetings have gone from once a month to twice a month, the second and fourth Thursdays. Masons, non-mason, family and friends are encouraged to joint the club and attend the meetings.

The Kena Computer Club assists in installing and maintaining the ever growing computer network and programs at the Kena Temple including the http://www.Kena.org website.

From the basement of is home in Vienna Virginia, Preston had established an electronic Bulletin Board Service (BBS) called the Hiram’s Oasis. This BBS was to the best of our knowledge the first electronic bulletin board for Free Masons. Its purpose was the transmission and storage of messages and of articles for publication and from publication. Hiram’s Oasis was continuously running for over 10 years from November, 1987 through September 1997 at which time the information from the Hiram’s Oasis BBS was copied to the internet and made available on the Hiram’s Oasis website http://www.Kena.org/Hirams by the current club president Noble William J. Baumbach II.

The BBS was at first either a XT or 286 computer with one modem and phone line. You had to direct dial-in using your computer modem and only one user at a time could connect. Since this could require a long distant phone call for users most were local to Vienna Virginia, but being such a great source of Masonic information there were several regular users from other states and a few from other parts of the World.

The internet and its World Wide Web made the BBS obsolete and within a year or two of moving the information to the internet the BBS was taken off-line by Preston.

With a lot of time-consuming hard-work Preston was able to collect and organize over 4,000 Masonic related files during this 10 year period. Since moving those to the internet there has been over 20,000 page views and many thousands of files have been downloaded by internet users from around the World. Preston continued to provide Masonic information and files for the Hiram’s Oasis website up until his death on May 10, 2000. The Principal purpose of the Hiram’s Oasis website is to provide the exchange of Masonic information and for Masonic education.

Preston Burner the Computer Club founder and president 1987-1995

The Computer Club President 1996-1997 / 2000-
William J. Baumbach II
11612 Fairfax Station Road
Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039
Phone: 703-250-4200
Fax: 703-425-4294
E-mail: William@Baumbach.com

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