) ( ) 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 cousins 2. Shortcut to the Homestead 3. The Retreat 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>. SHORTCUT TO THE HOMESTEAD Well, after our former GeoCities address, even our current one is like a shortcut! :) However, yes, we do have a shorter address you can use once again. It's <http://embark.to/Homestead>. That's all of it! You used to get a framebar at the bottom of your screen whenever you used the shortcut, but no more. Instead, now you'll get a pop-up banner when you can just click off. THE RETREAT Are you new to our family and don't know what the Retreat is? It's certainly time you found out... We have our own private family center at myfamily.com called the Retreat. There, we can all talk to each other online without having to download chat programs. Twice a week we get together and talk about genealogy, get answers to questions, or just visit with each other in live discussion about anything [genealogy or not]. Since the Retreat is a secure area, cousins have been placing pictures of themselves [it's always nice to be able to put a face to a name] and family member data that isn't safe to place on the general Web. The Retreat is just a place for the family to "hang out" and be ourselves. It's a way we draw ourselves closer to one another and create yet more family atmosphere than we already have. Chat sessions are regularly held one hour twice a week on Sundays and Wednesdays at 1 p.m. US PST [4 p.m. US PST]. However, you can always engage a cousin or two in friendly discourse if someone happens to be there at the same time you are. That's one thing about us -- we're a friendly group! Would you like to join us? Access to the Retreat is private and by invitation only. Simply contact our Retreat administrator, Vicky Bowers-Gielau, at <Vicky2000@myfamily.com>. She'll send you an invitation through MyFamily to which you must respond. We'd love to have you join us there this afternoon - or any day! Family...it's what we're all about... loving, caring, sharing with each other, and working together. My coffee cup is empty once again. I really enjoyed this time with you. I hope your upcoming week is filled with health, productivity, fun, and above all... filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'