Hi Mike. My HLAA chapter is in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin. Fox Valley Regional Chapter meets in Appleton WI. The chapter is 35 years young, so that article is in the history books. There is no reason why you cannot do this today. It took quite a bit of courage for me to come out of my 'hearing loss closet' and go public with my invisible disability. Like many people, I had been hiding it for years. Not sure you'd get the same response I had back then because hearing loss is talked about more today than it was then. But why not try? Ask someone in the features department to write an article about what you want to do; share info about HLAA, etc. Share a story with a meeting announcement. Have a location and timeline available so that can be a piece of the story. I also went directly to people I saw who had hearing aids, and asked if they might be interested in helping me. I think that made a difference. We had no e-mail then, so personal communication was the only way to connect. HLAA was SHHH then, and was a very young organization. I really believe that if you can get 4-5 dedicated people, who want to learn how to live WELL with hearing loss, you can get something going and build on that. The 2019 HLAA National Convention is pretty close to your area. Create awareness of that event and encourage people to go. Good luck! Hey, just listening to the people on this list talking about how alone they often feel, says that people need to come together to talk and learn.