Happy Anniversary Pam. I'm sure it's been a good 10 years for you, it's been good for us to have you as a member.

I just checked, says I registered Jan, 2012. Wow, we are old timers.

Enjoy the stir fry.

My page says I registered July of 2001....but I went to the second Garden Web get together in Chicago in 1997 and had been around for a while before that....so....

I remember that I found GW when I was looking for info about rhododendrons. I was planning a kitchen reno at the time and then found the Kitchens Forum, although it was Kitchens And Baths back then. So, maybe 10 years is pretty close to the right date.

I wonder when Gardenweb first came into being? Wow, Linda, 1997! I can remember first using the internet as we know it in 1995, so old Spike was ahead of the times.

My 10th year anniversary was July 2 of this year, and I remember Pam being here ahead of me, as well as Mustangs and a few others. I think a lot of people joined in 2002. I also remember quite a few people going through various name changes!!

Enjoy your anniversary, Pam!

Lars

Happy Anniversary, Pam!

Just checked my page and I first registered on May 11, 2002. Lots of us have been here for a long time....so are we old-timers or long-timers?

Teresa

Way back when....Spike ran the GW out of his apartment in New Jersey overlooking the Raritan River.
Gradually he needed more power, bandwidth etc....and finally moved to a much larger facility.....and a fairly few years used up all his bandwidth....and lost all info....so about 2001 sometime, everyone had to re-register.
There was a very active crew on the garden side when I came. And there was no cooking forum. There was a "singles forum" which was a bunch of friends sitting around sitting on each other's lap and buying each other virtual drinks. Then there was the OZ forum....can't remember what the official name was but lots of Aussies there.
If any of you are veterans of the old Garden Party, The Rev just resurfaced there with the name Timetraveler.

Congratulations to all of us! My tenth anniversary here was in August of this year.

Happy Anniversary!

Lee

Wow me too - December 2002! Great thread Pam!

Woo hoo! So many Anniversarians! I love it.

I prefer the term long-timers. Good one, Teresa. Amazing so many of us are still here, although why not? It's a great place to be.

Linda, you are a font of information. I had no idea of that history. I wonder where Spike is today. Maybe he lurks among us.

My page says that I registered in 2003, but that must be when I "re-registered". I have been in my house for 11 years and I was a member for several years before we moved here. I joined around 1999, starting out on the home decorating forum and migrated over here shortly thereafter.

I remember having to pay $15 per year to be a member back then....

Wow, Linda, I did not know those details about the origins of the forum either. Interesting stuff.

Happy anniversary everyone! LOL

Linda

Well, I've got to chime in, too. I've been here almost as long as you: 9 years in August, so I'm "going on 10"! Started on the Kitchens Forum and then moved over here in 2004, when the renovation was finished and I finally had a working stove and oven again. I don't post much, but I've learned a lot here, over the years, and I appreciate the friendship and camaraderie and all the good advice.

Teresa, I prefer "long-timer," but "old-timer" seems to apply to me, too. :(

Congratulations, Pam!

Sue

Actually Teresa, how about "good timer"? Good times seem to abound on this forum!!!! Although the others fit as well. My anniversary date says 2008 but I know I started on the Harvest Forum.

Anyhow, congratulations!

jude

I know I arrived in 1997. But in 1997 one did not need to register. That came later. I have been through several name changes.

Happy official anniversary, Pam.

Does Spike lurk?

Eileen

Happy Anniversary! My date says Dec. 2001 but I started lurking around 1998. I refer to this site as "my cooking forum" when I talk to my friends and even when life gets crazy and I don't check in all that often, I always come back here sooner or later. Y'all taught me to cook and I am eternally grateful!

Tracey

My page says I came on board on July 20, 2001. I seem to remember re-registering, too, and I know that I once paid that $15 membership fee. I wish I could remember how I found this place, but being a "long-timer", my memory ain't want it used to be! I know that the Cooking Forum is where I started out, and I still don't visit many of the other forums very much. Maybe I'll ponder how I got here before I fall asleep tonight! I remember hearing talk of Spike, and tales of members being sent to the "teacups". For a long time, I was a little clueless about the teacups, but I finally deduced that it was not such a good thing. Ah, good times, good times!

Mine says August 7, 2002, but I have also been here longer than that, since the days of Spike and I remember that it used to be free, then there was a charge of $15. It doesn't seem that long ago.....

Annie

I'm another who paid the $15 one year. Some forums were free and some were not. I really wanted to participate in Kitchens, so I coughed up the money.

I am still suffering from my ride on the teacups. My usual email address is banned from GW. I have to use an alternate email in order to post here. It's a nuisance because I don't check that address as often as I should. I got a lifetime sentence!

I remember when it was free, and I believe it then substituted your email address for your user name (if you did not pay), and I did not want that displayed, and so I payed the $15 within a day or two of finding this place.

I thought it would have been a better policy to have removed what some may have considered offensive posts instead of banning people. I remember that a lot of nice people got banned just because some not so nice people complained about them. I never got sent to the teacups myself, but I always tried to be extremely careful and often would simply not say anything, especially when baiting was going on. I'm glad things have changed!

Lars

Happy Anniversary Pam!

I started lurking around 2000. We had the deli then and I didn't have much time to post...but I did print out many recipes. I decided to get involved and joined so that I could post, around 2005. I remember Spike well, he was one of the reasons I was afraid to post way back then.
I enjoyed the forum when we had to pay, it seems like only the serious cooks joined. We had fun!
I still enjoy the forum but it is different now.

Nancy

Lars, I never got banned either, but I did get a couple of "friendly warnings"! I eventually learned (most times), to just ignore people trying to stir up trouble.

Once in a while, though, I still post when I should just close a thread...

Annie

I paid. How many years was the pay system in place? I don't recall.

Eileen

I paid $15 also and I joined April '04. It wasn't pay though when I first started over on the garden side.

/t

Happy anniversary to you, Pam. It's been a pleasure posting with you and getting a chance to meet you too.

I was directed here from Dayle's Growlies for Groups in 1998 or '99 when I was planning a brunch for DH and my wedding vow renewal. I always loved to cook so just settled in and have been here since then.

Great thread! I began posting in April of 2002 as I researched my kitchen remodel with Pam, Jessy, Diana and Sushi. One of you pulled me over here after we finished and I've hung on ever since. I've enjoyed meeting plenty of interesting and fun "virtual friends"!
I'm sure that I paid Spike $15 at least one time, maybe more.

Yep, for a bunch of us, it all started in Kitchens. I followed the crowd over here.

In the very beginning the $15 was voluntary...when you signed in you got a message "contribute $15 and help support this rinky-dink operation"....and that $15 got you a tee shirt!
Then it was made mandatory to post....no pay-ee no post-ee. think that lasted about a year or so.
Some where in this crowded computer filing system, I have a picture or 2 or Spike.
I might could be persuaded to do a search and post....maybe!!

Hey old-timers! I started on the orchid forum around 2000. Then migrated to cooking around a year later.

Believe it or not, the orchid forum was in turmoil - people argued heatedly about the "right" way to pot an orchid, etc. And there were folks who sold orchid care and potting supplies, and of course there is a fine line between participating and giving free information, and advertising your business. So the forum imploded and many folks split off to a different forum.

I had also participated in a couple of other forums that eventually imploded with infighting and nastiness, so when I found the relatively moderate and calm Cooking forum it felt like a safe haven! It's all relative isn't it?

Man I feel old!

Happy Anniversary! I started out on the GW in 1997 I think. Roses were my passion at that time, along with the Bird forum so those were the 2 forums I hung out most at the time. Got tired of all the constant fighting on those forums so stop posting on them. I sooo enjoyed the Garden Party and many, many of the people that posted there. Lots of fun and silliness. And the occasional fights too. Was never sent to the tea cups or banned despite giving my opinion on certain subjects. And as was stated previously many good people were banned unjustly by Spike. He did have his favorites that could do no wrong. Don't remember how I found out about the CF, but I do remember my first post. I love kitchen antiques. Have many about my kitchen. I had just purchased a wooden butter churn and wanted to use it. My first post was for a recipe and how to use the butter churn. My God has it been 15 years already! NancyLouise

My 10th anniversary was in March , I just checked, that's a long time in forum world. I remember the beginning of us posting pictures, it was discussed a lot.

I recall a picture of Lars and some lovely asian figurines. I also remember crazy times and lots of fun postings.

Mitch, I remember fun postings too, and the pictures. We had dial up, it took FOREVER for pictures to load.

Annie

Wow, I remember the old days too. I think I've been here since the days when we had to pay. Good times!

An awful lot of us seem to be "first registered" in 2002. That must have been the year we had to reregister.Happy anniversary to our little family!

dedtired, I think that's after Spike, maybe when he sold out to whoever he first sold to?

Annie

Happy Anniversary to you and everyone! Another who has a regestered date of 2002. Not sure but I think I was here a year or more before that??? I remember Spike, the tea cups and having to pay for a year or two.. I think my first post was about storing potatoes. LOL

I ran across this place researching washing machines many years ago so my first place here was laundry when it was a fun place but went overboard so to speak. I still remember a pic of our EJ in a directer chair with a bottle of wine and clip board reporting back on her first FL washer.... I think Scott use to hang out over there too (here too)? Anyone hear from or talk to him anymore?

Anyway, glad to have found this forum and a great bunch of friends!

David

I arrived here via a search re gardening concerns. Or pets or both. Eventually found the cooking forum. I cook more than garden and the pet people scare me.

Eileen

David, Scott is very active on Facebook but hasn't been around here in ages.

I don't post very often, so cannot find a post right now to see "my page" to see what my official anniversary is. My profile page does not say, but the zip code showing corroborates my memory that I could have been registered since about 1991 or so.

I, too remember Spike and the teacups. Those posts that earned a trip for someone to the teacups were often very fun! I remember several members that I miss off and on, but I like the "newbies" here, too. I come to read almost daily as I have since I found the cooking forum so may years ago.

As with any family there is some tension sometimes and I even recall a period of time where there was so much trouble here I almost wrote this forum off, but thank goodness we all get over things and try again.

Great recipes, great information, great people, great fun!

Empress, your member page says January 20, 2002. That sure was a busy year.

Thanks, dedtired. That may be the year ivillage took over. Even with all the changes, this is still one of the best, most active, funnest forums I visit. So nice to just be able to roll on through the entire thread without constant clicking for each post like so many sites. And all the pictures right there as well. Just always a good place to spend a little time.