Local Web sites are spreading

By day, Jonell Lindholm is critical to the development of margarines and other spreadables for Lipton.

But tear her away from spread production and you'll find the Reisterstown resident busy clacking away at her computer keyboard as webmaster for the site owned by the Reisterstown Jazz Ensemble.

Lindholm says the 3-year-old site is "a logical extension to the other stuff I do. I've been into personal computers since before IBM, even when they came with those huge floppy disk drives," says Lindholm, who plays the French horn in the ensemble. "I've been doing this for a long time by now, I don't know how many systems I have built."

Lindholm is a member of the old school when it comes to do-it-yourself computer skills. But millions have joined techie pioneers like her in the ever-growing league of self taught computer gurus who build their own Web pages.

"I'm not a computer person at work," says Lindholm, whose job at the Lipton plant in Baltimore is to monitor troubleshooting in spread production, along with some product development. "But I know how to do a few simple things on the computer.

Surely an understatement from a person who has built several personal computers. The Reisterstown Jazz Ensemble's Web site has a look comparable to sites produced by professional Web page designers.

Though the Web page designer and host she is using, Yahoo! GeoCities http://geocities.yahoo.com/home/, claims you can "use your mouse to build a professional-looking page in minutes."

With her interest in computers and the Internet, building a Web page for the Reisterstown Jazz Ensemble was a natural for her, Lindholm says.

"I came up with the idea and told our director we ought to have a Web page and he said, 'Sure, fine,' Lindholm says.

While the site is a great place for fans to go and see photos of the group, band-member profiles and show dates, Lindholm says it has also brought performers into the ensemble.

Says Lindholm, "We found six or seven new members from our site out of a 21 member group, so that is quite a few."

There are several locally produced Web sites on the World Wide Web. While you can find them by simply typing the name of a local town into a search engine like AltaVista.com or Yahoo.com, here are a few to browse, including the jazz ensemble.

• Reisterstown Jazz Ensemble is reachable at http://www.oocities.org/Bourbon Street/8400/index.html.
• The Pikesville-Greenspring Community Coalition, a non-profit organization formed to promote the physical, social and economic environment of the Park Heights, Stevenson, Old Court Road and Smith-Green spring communities can be found at http://members.aol.com/pgccinc/index.html
• The Pikesville Volunteer Fire Department's web site at http//www.pvfc32.org/ is full of information about the Sudbrook Lane rescue team, including upcoming events like an April 8 shrimp and bull roast and annual activity reports.
• To visit Main Street in Reisterstown without leaving the comfort of your desk chair's spongey cushion, try http://www.reisterstown.com/. This site contains information about the history of Reisterstown as well as links to local businesses, schools and directions for how to get your own free Reisterstown e-mail address.
• To buy the latest CDs or to dig up a hard to find recording, try the Music Machine at http://www.musicmachine.com/index.html, an Owings Mills-based music shop on Cronhill Drive.
• Owings Mills Elementary School has a site at http://www.towson.edu/coe/owingsmills.html, with links to information about Towson University's Professional Development School program. The schools work together to train college students studying education.
• Sacred Heart Catholic Church is online at http://www.clark.net/pub/fraiken/home.htm, featuring information about the parish family, school and other ministries, as well as a photographic tour of the Glyndon campus.

This page has been visited times since 08/12/01.

Jonell Lindholm
Reisterstown, MD jlindhol@bcpl.net
08/12/01

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