) ( ) The coffee and tea _.-~~-. are still hot, the (@\'--'/. scones and crumpets ('``.__.'`) still tasty! `..____.' PROJECTS WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON [Due to our preparations for the move from GeoCities and the site fight happening at the same time, our projects got put on a back burner and we're just this past week bringing them back to the forefront.] One of the hardest things in genealogy is "the wait." We wait for the mailman, we wait for an inline cousin to join us in the family, we wait for news that will break down our brick walls. On an email list, you avidly scan each message hoping your "break" will be inside - or at least a hint to get you back on research road. It doesn't come....it doesn't come.... it just doesn't show up! Meanwhile, you've begun to lose hope that you're ever going to find anything. Not only are you discouraged, but now you're bored reading about everyone else's lines with nothing on yours. You end up leaving without the information you originally joined to get, risking that n-th of a chance that an inline cousin will join right after you've unsubscribed. You're not alone! My Bower[s] line has been stuck in New York for YEARS ....and yes, even I get discouraged sometimes. However, we're different from other email lists here in the family. Instead of having to just sit and watch messages with no information of interest to you pass over your screen day after day, we work on family- related projects that not only help pass your waiting time, but also help someone else too. The "wait" is much easier and your interest in the surname remains alive. You get a sense of accomplishment at completing the project and from helping another cousin. You also get a deeper sense of "belonging" in the family. It's true! There is something else to consider here....if you work on a project which ultimately in the end helps a newbie reach the same point in his/her research that you're at right now, you may well find that you've helped an inline cousin who has additional information that will help YOU! It comes back to the old adage, "What goes around, comes around." So, as you read our current projects, please plan to join us in one [or even two, if you'd like]: THE CONTINUUM With so many new sites coming online every day, this vital project was created as an avenue to expedite our web searches and bring locality- specific Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur, etc. data we might need under one roof. We currently have one country and eight states currently represented ~~ Australia, California, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. We'd like you to join us, build an online Continuum site, and aid in our efforts to get all those [for instance] Iowa Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur family sites that are already online linked from one site rather than having to use a generalized search engine like Netscape, HotBot or InfoSeek to search them out. Sites in this project parallel those of the GenWeb but center on Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur, etc. material only. [By the way, I've yet to mention this but the .etc part whenever I put the surnames inline? ....that .etc identifies the 81 variations of Bower and Bauer, our root surnames. The complete list of variants can be found at the Homestead off the main hallway.] Continuum sites can be as simple as state/country information and links to material in that region or, if the host elects, can add raw material to his/her site. Continuum hosts join a private email list set aside specifically for this project to discuss design ideas, project problems, and pass along helps to each other regarding the Continuum. In this way, there is always immediate help. To get an idea of what I'm talking about here, following are the URLs to two Continuum sites ~~ Rob Bower's Ohio Page ~ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rbower Mark Middleton's Illinois Page ~ http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Grove/8230 You'll have to learn at least some HTML [the coding language to put pages online] if you don't already know it. With exception of three things, your creativity is your own. If you think you might be interested in being a host for a Continuum site, please contact me at <ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. LOOKUP PROJECT ~~ This one is trying to get off the drafting board, but it's going to be another big plus for the family and any cousins who surf in to visit us. It will be set up at our [currently back on the draftboard] sister site, the Bower Cottage. The Lookup Project volunteers have small libraries in their homes or have access to research facilities. Lookup volunteers join a private email list set aside specifically for this project to discuss planning ideas, potential project problems, and general project discussion. This list may fold once the project comes into operation, however that has yet to be decided by the current project panel. If you'd like to be a Lookup volunteer, I'll be asking for them once I get the Cottage online and the project in place. Y2K Project This project is a time-capsule of sorts and is an ongoing effort only for this year. It's on display in the attic at the Homestead. We are looking for ALL Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur, etc. people who were alive to ring in the 1899/1900 New Year. It doesn't matter whether or not they were your people, how old they were, where they were living, whether or not they were even at home, or in a different state or country, single or married makes no difference. All that matters is that they were alive that particular New Year. The people don't even have to have been your relatives. You'll see the format we're looking for once you've been to see the project. In addition, a contact name if you can provide more information, or the source of your info is required. As you find Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur, etc. ancestors who lived to see 1 January 1900 roll in, please send their information to me at <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> so I can enter it into our database. If we continue to work at it all year, this is going to be a wonderful tool that will help us all a lot. GEDCOM PROJECT This project is going to be unbelievable! It's also trying to come off a back burner after a full year; but slowly we're getting there. This will be housed at the Cottage. We are going to take our GEDCOMs and put them online. The prime requirement here is NO living people are to be included. I'd planned to merge the files using the Personal Ancestral File [PAF], a program I've been using since the early days of computer genealogy [with updated versions, of course :) ]. I've already received several cousin's GEDCOMS and now find that PAF doesn't recognize other program's note tags. This is going to be a problem. If necessary, I'll change to a program more compatible with everyone else's. INDIVIDUAL LOOKUPS This isn't really a project, but a request from all of you. When you go to a research facility and scan a book or a film with the intention of extracting all the [for instance] Bowers, won't you please also go a step further and extract the Bauer, Baur, Bower, etc. spellings as well? We have cousins with us who, for one reason or another are not able to avail themselves of research facilities. Online resources are their only link to research. When you extract the data, and notify the family about it, most times I will contact you to see about housing it at the Homestead permanently with you credited as the submitter. THE RETREAT You've seen the first message come out this week about our newest project, the Retreat at <MyFamily.com>. There, we can all talk to each online other without having to download chat programs. We can talk about genealogy, get answers to questions, or just visit with each other in live discussion. Also at the Retreat, we will be placing pictures of ourselves. [It's always nice to be able to put a face to a name.] This is yet another way of bringing our family even closer together. Access to the Retreat is private and by invitation only. Those invitations will be sent only to cousins who express an interest in participating. A message will come out this week giving more information on where to send your notice. We still need two BAUER researchers to function as administrators in the chatroom. The only requirements for this project are that you have at least one year genealogical research experience [to be able to answer a newbie's questions] and that you are able to spend at least one hour a week in the chatroom to moderate any discussion. If you're interested, please contact me directly at <ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two annual events occur in this family. They are discussed below: FAMILY REUNION Our BOWER-L and the Bower Family Homestead came online August 5th, 1998. To celebrate our coming together as a family, we held a cyberspace reunion at the Cottage. It was a potluck affair, with quite a few cousins supplying the "food". We will be holding another online reunion this year on August 5th. The "potluck dishes" are files that will ultimately be housed at the Homestead or Cottage, depending on what they are. The files can be extracted county/state censuses [variants included], deeds, wills, biographies with pictures, generation pedigrees, marriage records of a given county/state - just anything. They are NOT sent to your list, but directly to me for the family to "feed" on at the reunion. Reminders about the upcoming reunion will come out in the Sunday Coffees beginning the middle of May or beginning of June. FAMILY CHRISTMAS We are a family and we celebrate Christmas together. We give gifts to the family. Gifts are files of information, the same as those potluck dishes at the reunion. Again like the reunion, gifts are sent directly to me for "wrapping" [preparing for online] and placing under the tree to be opened on Christmas Day. Last Christmas we had a bingo through one of the gifts. Two cousins discovered each other and that made a happy Christmas for all of us. Reminders about Christmas start coming out the end of October. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Other projects are on tap as well, however, they haven't been started yet. To get an idea of what else is in store for this year, please visit the Homestead's bulletin board [near the bottom of the main hallway]. There you'll find a link to "Plans and Proposals". I hope I've covered everything! :) If you've made it this far without falling asleep, then I thank you for reading it all. My attempts to get you filled-in have not gone to waste. I wish you and your family a happy and blessed Easter. Colleen