Hi,
Looks like the NAFEX conference is coming up in a couple weeks, and it's on Zoom this year. They're doing two sessions a day from Nov 15 - 20. The schedule is posted here: NAFEX Conference.
The names of a couple of the presenters are familiar. Joanie Cooper is on Monday at 4:30. Dan Bussy (The Illustrated History of Apples in the United States and Canada) is on the schedule for Friday pm. I may have to tune in both, and don't want to miss a zoom with "adult beverages optional." It's on Thursday.
Any of you active in NAFEX? Anybody thinking of zooming the conference?
katmendeux
Looks like a good lineup. The membership is reasonably priced. I just have all the things that I want to do when I finally get the time, and it seems that I never really finally get the time.
John S
PDX OR
I hear you, John. There never seems to be enough time for all the things that you want to do.
In an earlier life, I was a member of NAFEX for quite a number of years. I always enjoyed the articles from both amateurs and professionals, although at times an amateur would have an article that showed profound ignorance of the subject matter. On the other hand, I can remember an article by a presumably amateur author about how she would ride her bicycle around her local neighborhoods in her fruit exploring, and it was such a beautifully written piece that I felt like I was right there next to her on my own bike.
I probably haven't been a member of NAFEX for a couple of decades now, but I still carry the underlying sense of exploration and discovery. Five days ago, on the way back from a couple of errands, I stopped to collect a couple of apples from a relictual portion of an orchard about 3/4ths mile away that was largely annihilated when a power transmission line with a very broad right-of-way was put through (-1940's?). This patch of ancient apples has always intrigued me. There may be other varieties represented there, but the 2 apples that I collected appear to be 'Ben Davis', an apple from the 1800's that was once very popular and widely grown. However, I can't be certain; I don't have all the appropriate references for confirmation. That's where the true experts come into play.
Back to the matter at hand: the NAFEX conference on Zoom sounds like it will be GREAT! I would love to see and hear both Joanie Cooper and Dan Bussy giving presentations. Regrettably, I have found in recent times that our Apple computer will not download "Zoom" if it has not been downloaded from the Apple Store and -- guess what-- it is not available from the Apple Store!
...Such are my countless frustrations with the modern computer age! I'm goin' back out to the woods! [Uh, faithful dog at my side, of course!] 
Reinettes (Tim).