) ( ) Good Morning Family! .-.,--^--. ( Come on in. . . \\|`----'| - The coffee pot's on. . . \| |// ...and we even have decaf, | |/ tea, and hot chocolate! \ / ------ Today's topics include: 1. Welcome to new Bower/Bauer/Baur, etc. cousins 2. Illinois Continuum site up for adoption 3. Two more research groups added to the family 4. Bringing your cousins together If you've been with the family [the BOWER-L list] for at least three weeks, you'll probably want to skip the following paragraphÂ… TO OUR NEWEST COUSINS ~~ On behalf of the entire family, I'd like to extend a most hearty welcome to those cousins who came into the family fold this past week. We are very glad to have you with us and hope you'll stay and remain a part of our online family. As soon as you're comfortable with us and the list, please send in your Bower[s]/Bauer/Baur lines so we can all see how we're related to you. We do not have a fancy format for sending in records or queries to the list. Post as many as you wish! If the data has anything to do with Bower[s]/Bauer/ Baur lines or any of the variant spellings that might help someone, please feel free to post it. Every scrap of information is appreciated. If you haven't visited the homesite of this list yet, you are encouraged to do so. The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowerhomestead>, or you can use our shortcut URL of <http://embark.to/Homestead>. We also have a newly opened sister site, the Bower Cottage, that we've begun to fill. There are currently only a few names there, but give us time... :) The Cottage is at <http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowercottage>, or you can use the shortcut URL of <http://embark.to/bowercottage>. ILLINOIS CONTINUUM SITE UP FOR ADOPTION Mark Middleton <OldIllini@aol.com> has built a terrific Illinois site <http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Grove/8230> for our Bower/Bauer, etc. researchers but has found he needs to give it up. Do you have spare time to take this site over from him? If so, please contact Mark directly to work out the details. TWO MORE RESEARCH GROUPS ADDED TO THE FAMILY The family grew again this week! I picked up the Brower and Brouwer discussion lists, neither of which are very large, 42 and 30 cousins, respectively. For the next two weeks these new cousins will be holding a roll call, one group per week. Unless the individual surname appears, the Bowers, Bauer and Baur groups will NOT be affected by this roll call - only the Bower group will see a slight increase in traffic as I'll be cross-posting messages to them. BRINGING YOUR COUSINS TOGETHER The grandparents pass away. Next, the parents, aunts and uncles depart this life. With today's world, if your family is anything like mine your first cousins live in six different states with at least one in a distant country. Also if you're like me, you wouldn't know your first cousins if they passed you on the street - it's been that long since you've seen them. Who holds your childhood family together - not your sibling family, but your cousins? Usually it's the grandparents and once they're gone, it's the aunts and uncles who hold the bonds of family unity. What happens to that family unity once those aunts and uncles pass away? Who will be there to see that your family doesn't go in twelve different directions with the family information and heirlooms being spread even further? As we are our family's historians, who better than us to begin bringing our first cousins together to start talking and bonding? In my own family we'll be talking and sharing with each other by way of a private site at <MyFamily.com>. How else could we, so spread apart, otherwise communicate together? An added benefit though, is that one of our aunts will be there with us to help melt the ice and get us all talking. Another idea is for the family seniors to schedule a reunion for benefit of the cousins. The concept is for the elder generation to begin handing over the family's "reins" if you will, so that when WE and our first cousins become the bonds holding the family together, it can be done with close family unity and not that of casual acquaintances. Bringing first cousins together strengthens the family while at the same time assuring its information and history remains intact. Weak family bonds are a prime reason second-hand stores have that box of lost souls I spoke of three weeks ago. I don't plan to let ANY treasures, be they cousins, letters, pictures, etc., escape my family! I'm also trying to prevent anyone in my family from becoming one of those future "lost ancestors" my own descendants may one be looking for. What about you? Family... it's what we're all about. I really enjoyed this time with you. It was so nice. I hope you all have a fantastic next two weeks. I wish you all a week filled with health, fun, productivity, and above all, filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'