Just like they do now, TeamFTW members will help answer your technical questions and offer their advice on using Family Tree Maker. Keep in mind that because they are not employees, they can't help with issues of shipping or returns. Those types of non-technical questions are best addressed to Customer Service.

Here are the members of TeamFTW. Click their name for short biography.

Orvis Kline	Kim Lake	Wayne McElreavy
Nick Spalding	Oren Wood	H.R. (Russ) Worthington

Orvis Kline

I attended Westminster College (PA) and the University of Maryland (Overseas Campus). I retired in 1992 from Bell Atlantic and became a consultant - a "job" that allowed me to travel worldwide. I also have owned and operated a locksmith shop for almost 25 years now and that's one of the things I do for "fun" now. I also referee high school and college wrestling (and have been a baseball umpire and lacrosse referee - I LOVE it when they BOO!) for over 30 years. A lifetime goal was achieved when I officiated at the Pennsylvania State Wrestling Championships for the last two years.

I became interested in genealogy in the 60's when my mother announced that she had separated mine, my two sister's and my brother's stored "memories" (junk from high school and college) into piles that would be thrown out if we didn't claim them immediately! Well - she accidentally put my brother's 8th grade "Family Tree" project notebook in my pile - and that started it! After ten years of paper records, I decided that these newfangled computers should be able to do this better and wrote a VERY basic program to do so. I then tried several commercial products (each time laboriously re-entering all my 220 names) and then I tried the "new kid on the block", Ken Hess's (Banner Blue) Family Tree Maker! What a winner! (although at the time - I kept "breaking" it with all the intermarriages in my family). Banner Blue got the kinks worked out, got bought a zillion times (because they were so good!!), and have now returned to a separate company. By the way - my brother's little 124 name Family Tree Project has now grown to over 7000 names! Most of this has come about since the advent of the internet and WFT CD's.

Other things that keep me and my family busy are: searching for our fortune with metal detectors; hunting and fishing; traveling; scuba diving; boating; publishing a family newsletter and planning for our annual reunion.

Kim Lake

I've also lived in San Diego and Oceanside, CA, and have spent time in the Philippines, Korea, and Japan.

I work for a office machines and stationary store where I manage the Machines Sales and Service and the IT/MIS department (such as it is!).

I'm married, and my wife and I have four children, thirteen grandchildren, and one cat. In College I studied Data Processing, Computer Science, Emergency Medicine, Business Accounting. I was a group account Director on the original on-line CAI system from the University of Illinois' PLATO system for our local College. I spent six years in the Marines. I've also been a Firefighter, EMT, and HazMat emergency responder.

I've been involved in genealogy for about 30 years. I've been using Family Tree Maker since its DOS days, though don't ask me which version! I've probably still got it around here somewhere.

I enjoy photography, outdoors, programming, gaming, CAD, tinkering, modifying, and the Internet. Mostly though, I haven't the time for those pursuits anymore. I rebuild and rescue old Computer Systems for people and do a little Computer Tutoring on the side. I've worked as a Software/Hardware prototyping Tech for a few local inventors. I collect old computers, and my collection now stands at somewhere between one- and two-hundred systems (I've lost track).

Wayne McElreavy

Nick Spalding

• Lisbon, Portugal
• Cocos-Keeling Islands, Indian Ocean
• North Borneo, nowadays called Sabah
• Poughkeepsie, NY

I'm a retired computer programmer and was originally a telecommunications engineer.

I've been widowed since 1993 and am 67 years of age. I have three sons and two daughters with ages between 30 and 40. I also have four grandsons and two granddaughters who are between two and fourteen years old.

I've been involved in genealogy for four years which is also how long I've been using Family Tree Maker.

In addition to using my computer for genealogy, I follow several newsgroups on general subjects and am a beta tester for the Agent newsreader. I look after racing results for the sailing club I belong to and run a cruiser handicapping system for the Irish Sailing Association for all the Dublin area clubs.

Oren Wood

My mother began working on our family tree in 1950. She used the LDS family group sheets and typed the information. After her death in 1991, I took over her notes and continued her search using the Family Tree Maker. I started with version 3.0 and used every version as it came out. I just updated my FTM to 7.0.

I have always been interested in computers and over the years have upgraded my 386 computer to a Compaq Presario with a Pentium II processor. I enjoy helping others upgrade their computers by installing memory and new programs. People come to me with their operating problems. I enjoy showing them what their computers are capable of doing and helping them operate and understand new programs.

On January 31, 1999, I married my second wife. She is also working on her family tree and uses FTM version 7. This summer we took a two-and-a-half month trip around the USA meeting many of my distant relatives and gathering family history and information for my family tree. Before we left, she made sure I had all the equipment needed for our quest. On several gift-giving occasions, she gave me a laptop computer, a portable scanner, a printer, and a digital camera. I am in the process of putting all of these pictures in the scrapbook and up dating the notes about each person in my FTM. We are already planning another family fact finding trip this coming summer to meet relatives that we didn't see on our first trip. Not only do we enjoy meeting and visiting with these relatives, but we are gathering valuable information and pictures that we didn't know existed.

H.R. (Russ) Worthington

My oldest daughter is in banks and lives in the Boston area. She has been very helpful with gathering family information in that area.

After being in the United States Coast Guard, I lived in Maryland and then came back to my home state of New Jersey.

I started my "collecting of ancestors" about 5 years ago (1996) when my youngest daughter gave me Family Tree Maker (version 3.4) as a gift to "give me something to do." Little did I know where this would lead me and the people I would meet.

Each year the extended family gets together and exchanges information. We all enjoy sharing our "finds," working out relationships and keeping our loved ones close to us. One comment that comes up frequently is that we all wished we had started our various "hunts" years ago when we lived near where our ancestors were. But we all love the challenges of finding them now. You can see our "work in progress" at:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/w/o/r/H-R-Worthington/

I am excited about the changes in the research being done. I enjoy helping others in their "hunts" and in building their "family relationships." I am still learning too and like being a part of a group helping not only myself but others along the way.