I. As many of you probably already know, most Mail Lists at RootsWeb are now "closed"; only members can post to the Lists. Attempts by non-members to post to this list are forwarded to me and I will 1) encourage them to join our List, 2) notify them that their message content is not appropirate for BLANCHARD-L or 3) offer to post their message to the List if I think it would be of interest to our members. II. I will continue to add any missing Index-Lines to BLANCHARD-L posts until 31 Dec 1998. I have a pile of messages that need to be sorted for missing Lines There will be one more update of the Lines to complete the 1998 Database. We will depend on the RootsWeb Archives to search messages after that date. However, the1996/97 and the 1998 Index-Line Databases will still be available on the BLANCHARD-L Web Page. I would like to thank all the members who have supplied lines in their posts, since we started at Maiser in June 1996. I also want to thank John Chandler who had the foresight to suggest that we set up a system of identifying persons and related subject matter in the archived list messages. In the early days, we had no idea how genealogy at RootsWeb would progress. Once you become familiar with our Archives Search Page, you will find that it is very powerful, however, I often go to the Index-Line Databases for a quick check and find it helpful to be able to scroll through the list of similar given names. III. I will be away next week for 4 or 5 days but will keep in touch with my mail from time to time in case of any problems. Best Holiday Wishes to all of you and thanks for your contributions to the growth and welfare of this List. Don't forget to visit the BLANCHARD Queries Board at GenConnect/RootsWeb and let the List/me know how you think we can use it to complement BLANCHARD-L. Fletch