In the May 1986 issue of Compute!'s Gazette, the User Group listing for the first time included The 64 User Group of America, with Kirby Herazy listed as the founder and president. The members of the group (all 35 of them!) corresponded with each other through the mail, but there were no regular group mailings, no newsletter and no dues.
    In 1987, the group's name was changed to Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail and Jean Nance became the president. A membership list was started, containing a brief biography of each member, along with their Commodore system components and their computing interests. Later that year, a bi-monthly newsletter was started with the simple, if bland, name of Newsletter, with Jean Nance as the editor. Most of the articles were (and still are) written by the group members themselves, with occasional items of special interest reprinted from outside sources. There were still no dues required for membership in the group, so donations from the members covered the cost of printing and mailing Newsletter. After three issues were published, a contest was held to give the newsletter a more interesting name, and from the suggestions submitted by the group The Commodore MaiLink was the standout winner.
    In 1988 with membership numbers and publishing costs climbing, annual dues of $5.00 were instituted. Since Commodore users being such a, umm, thrifty bunch, the membership numbers dropped precipitously. Because good word-of-mouth and a steady place in the Commodore user group listings in the popular Commodore magazines, the group membership soon began climbimg steadily. It reached a peak of more than 300 in the late 80s and early 90s. And as the membership grew, so did the membership bio list. Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail has always been a non-profit organization and it relies solely on membership dues and the occasional member donation to continue publication.
    In 1994, the combined office of Group President/MaiLink Editor was (deservedly) split into two distinct offices. Frank Redmond became the new president of Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail, with Jean Nance keeping the The Commodore MaiLink editor-in-chief position. In 1996, Frank stepped down and Tom Adams stepped up to became the new group president, with Frank assuming the vice-president's position. Longtime members Brian Vaughan and Rolf Miller maintained the membership records and the group treasury, respectively.
    In late 2001, Linda Tanner has stepped into the role of President, with Tom Adams and Frank Redmond as Vice President. Emil Volcheck is treasurer, David Mohr is the Managing Editor, with Brian Vaughn as the Bio-Editor. Our Email address editor is Joseph Fenn and Linda also handles the Member Resources list.
    Today, Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail has members in the United States, Canada, Greece, France and Australia. Some of our members are or have been contributors to such publications as RUN, Compute's Gazette, Loadstar, Loadstar Letter and Commodore World; others are active contributors to the COMP.SYS.CBM and ALT.C64 newsgroups.
The Commodore MaiLink newsletter is 18-20 pages for each issue and is published regularly six times a year (the odd-numbered months). Each issue is edited by a volunteer from the group; the articles, still with only a few exceptions, are written and submitted for publication by members of the group. The membership list is included twice yearly (in the March and September issues) and includes a brief biography, the address, occupation, hobbies, the Commodore or Commodore-compatible components owned, and the special computing interests of each member. It also includes a contact list of group members with special expertise in software packages, programming and hardware hacking and repair, along with a Commodore vendor list of those sellers that offer discounts to Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail members.
    All of our members love Commodore computing. If you use a Commodore computer, and if any of this has piqued your interest, then why not join the club?