ANNOUNCEMENT Anyone interested in Bates history or research is invited to attend the Bates Association Reunion from Oct 15-18, 1998 in Plymouth, MA. The Association was established in 1907 and is now international with over 200 members. They publish the Bates Bulletin and sponsor annual reunions for their members. However, this year the reunion committee will accept registrations from non-association members so that they can "try out" the organization. No obligation to join. The host hotel will be the Sheraton Plymouth. A block of rooms is set aside for the Bates Reunion and any unused rooms will be released on Sept 15. The cost of the weekend's activities is $65 per person (whether you come for one day or all 3-1/2) and includes all group activities, speakers, and group meals, but advance reservation is required by Sept 28. Please Email me if you would like a registration packet sent to you. The line up of the weekend's activities is as follows... Thursday evening (10/15) there will be a registration time, a welcome reception, and an opportunity to greet/meet Bates cousins and share research. Throughout the weekend, members will have items on display--books, photos, and memorabilia items of interest including items on loan to us from a Bates descendant in England. Friday will include a bus trip to Boston--a visit to NEHGS and a tour of their new facility, a lecture by their staff, and time for private research. (Membership in NEHGS is not required for this day only with our group). We will also visit the Boston Public Library to tour the newly renovated and highly publicized Bates Reading Room (the library's initial benefactor was Joshua Bates). We will also tour the Columbia Point Archives (where early MA vital records and wills are kept) and have some time for research there also. In the evening there will be a guided/ narrated tour of the Plymouth waterfront by lantern light. (Easy pace and terrain--suitable for everyone including wheelchairs). Saturday AM will be our business meeting of the association, followed by some special presentations. One will be a slide show by our reunion committee showing photos of historic Bates sites of interest in the local area. The second presentation will be by Creative Memories, and will discuss preservation of our priceless photos and memorabilia. We will also have a break for lunch followed by a trolley tour of historic plymouth. In the afternoon, our featured speaker, Dr. Melinda Ponder will speak and show slides. She is an Associate professor of English at Pine Manor College in Wellesley and a Wellesley College grad. She is also an accomplished author and is currently writing a literary biography of the late poet Katherine Lee Bates. Dr. Ponder appeared on a nationally broadcast telecast of a July 4 Boston Pops concert where she was asked to discuss Katherine's writing of the famed piece for which she is best known, "America the Beautiful." She will give a talk about Katharine, her achievements, her research here and abroad to trace her family roots, and also show photos of the family and family tree she prepared. Saturday evening will be a group dinner (possibly a clambake or lobster boil based on interest) and we will end with a Sunday brunch at Isaacs on the Waterfront. It promises to be a wonderful weekend and we hope to have some new Bates researchers join us for it. Thank you for your time. Lauren Delaney, MA Reunion Chair The Bates Association