I joined the Club in 1977, but I first got really involved the following year, when a bunch of members in the Seattle area decided to get together and start a local gathering called an Oogaboo Rendezvous. Unfortunately, when the invitation to the first meeting came, I was away on a Boy Scout hike and couldn’t make it. (I quit the Boy Scouts not long after!)

We met every few months at someone’s house, and we’d all bring a pot luck dish for dinner. After thirty years, we’re still meeting. We were so close I think my girlfriend was more nervous about meeting them than my parents! (We’ve since gotten married, and the Oogaboos eagerly accepted her as one of their own.)

Unlike other Oz groups around the country, we seem to be the casual, social bunch. We don’t have a lot of events planned out each time, we just get together and meet and catch up with each other’s lives. Sure, we’ll have a quiz or other game, but these have gotten less and less serious over the years. We’ve shared our joys, our pain, our losses, and our triumphs. And even if the conversation doesn’t always center around it, through it all we share our mutual love for Oz.

Eric Gjovaag