Video Club Receives Equipment from Fred Harshbarger Estate

By Tom Nash, Club Vice President, Studio Manager, and Learning Activities Director

Fred Harshbarger (right) was an active member of the Video Club of Laguna woods. He was a retired space scientist with a doctorate. Photography and videography were his hobbies. He traveled all over the world shooting film and video.

Fred made an huge contribution to the Video Club through his time and talent. A resident of Costa Mesa, he volunteered to lead Video One Productions as the group’s Facilitator during and after the Covid pandemic, hosting Zoom meetings twice monthly and seeing the VidOne team through a difficult period.

He also served as a camera operator for many club shoots and loaned equipment to the club for various projects. When he passed away on May 15, 2023, Fred donated most of his equipment to the Video Club. There was so much equipment that we had a rent a van in September to bring it to the Video Studio (see photo at left), where it is currently being sorted, inventoried, and labeled.

Fred’s bequest included several excellent cameras, which arrived at a perfect time since several of the Video Club’s better cameras have developed problems recently. Other pieces of equipment include audio recorders, microphones, tripods, and lights. 

Through his life and even in his death, Fred made a huge difference for good. His work will live on through the videos the club produces using his donated equipment.