Our founder and first members were primarily collectors and readers of the Oz series. John Fricke’s 1969 articles and checklists for The Baum Bugle helped expand Club interests to include the 1939 MGM film and collectibles honoring that classic. Margaret Hamilton was the guest of honor at the Ozmopolitan
Convention. Munchkin Coroner Meinhardt Raabe attended an East Coast event expecting to find other little people; he found an adoring audience instead.
Early members such as Fred Meyer, the Club’s secretary for decades, and Dick Martin, fueled the Club’s growth with their constant readiness to put their personal energies in the Club’s success. Other members worked in the marketplace introducing works of Oz research and fiction, mounting exhibitions and events and otherwise promoting the Club to the general public.