Jim Frichette was born and raised in Ellensburg. He attended Central Washington University and graduated with a degree in science. He married Florence Haight, also a CWU graduate, and moved to Harbor Island where he worked as a chemist for American Marietta. Jim was a pioneer in the computer industry and holds a patent for developing the first packing material (epoxy molding com-
pound) for mass productions of semiconductors.

He then moved to Chicago to manage the Semiconductor Product Division for Morton Chemical Company. This turned into a world-wide business which sent Jim on many trips to Europe and Asia as the semiconductor business exploded in the I970's and 80's. His next move was to Silicon Valley in California to work for National Semi-
Conductor. During the last ten years of his ?3 in California, he started his own business, Paktec Inc. He has developed and currently maintains 30 web sites for various organizations and businesses. Jim is self taught on computers beginning with main frames and finding a need to connect
with other business offices around the world. "It is amazing how fast technology has changed in the few short years", stated Jim. "The laptops we have now are even more powerful than our main frames were a few years ago and a lot easier to use,', he said.

Jim and Florence decided to move back to Ellensburg four years ago. Jim contacted Carol Findley at the RSVP office and shared his ideas of helping seniors work with computers. Since then he has developed the web sites for the local RSVP, the Washington State RSVP and the National RSVP Directors Association. He has developed the web site at the Ellensburg Senior Center and volunteers with the Chamber of Commerce SCORE program. He
has written 80 articles for the Daily Record and still finds time to play tennis and bowl.

"My current project is working with Ted Ulman on developing a new web site called thebestwebsiteintown", stated Jim. "The Senior Village.Org, part of the web site is an attempt to do an intergenerational computer project
involving seniors and youth", Jim said. Goals for the seniors in this project are to provide some with basic computer literacy and others with intermediate computer internet skills. They also provide seniors with on-going computer and internet help. The goals for the youth are to provide 

Goals for community include enabling the senior population to develop computer skills to enrich the community. They also hope to provide interaction between younger and older community members. They also want to increase inter-community communication, break down stereotypes of age groups and increase community spirit. Seniors will learn how to set up e-mail accounts to communicate with their children and families. They will be able access issues on health, government benefits and network with others with similar interests. Many will be able to continue their education while others will be able to make travel plans and shop on line. "One big area of interest seems to be genealogy and oral to written history", said Jim. '`Seniors want to communicate with children and especially grand children. They are tracing their family history and the internet can make research much easier and more interesting"

RSVP has seen changes with computers in the office as well. Seniors can e-mail in their monthly time sheets now and RSVP can communicate and respond to volunteers more quickly. Volunteers are able to connect with other volunteers anywhere in the world and share ideas. Some of the homebound RSVP volunteers use their computers to help other agencies with data entry and research. "Computers and the internet have certainly opened up a whole new field of volunteering for our community" stated RSVP Director, Carol Findley.

So, how does one get started? "You can buy a good computer for home use for about $799.00", states Jim. "Get one and experiment or sign up for one of the many free classes being offered around town" said Jim.
We hope to have classes every weekday from 3:15-5:00 pm and on every Wednesday night from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Ellensburg Senior Center.

"One of the biggest misconceptions I hear from seniors is that they are afraid that they might mess up a computer. You cannot ruin your computer." said Jim.
Jim hopes that the Senior Village web site can become a 501 non-profit agency so that they can apply for grant monies. He would like to see more computers available to seniors and  kids in the community.