Hi family, I originally had this planned to be part of the Coffee this week. However, not everyone participates in Coffee so I thought it best to present this as a separate message: Are you aware we have a family project that, with enough participation, is absolutely _guaranteed_ to help every one of us? Really... it is. This project is called the Continuum and its direct purpose is meant to point out all sites on Web that have Bau(e)r/Bower(s) surnames and/or their variant spellings and are in one specific state or country. So, this project has the opportunity to be a fantastic locator tool. We've all been to the USGenWeb sites, then to the respective counties we do our research in. Laid out before you is all kinds of information relating to that county and her former residents. Now, imagine visiting a state site targeted for Bau(e)r/Bower(s) and her variant spellings ONLY. Your name... your state (or country)... that's it. In case I'm not making myself clear, below are Continuum sites currently online: Mark Middleton's Illinois site: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/grove/8230/ Wanda Roberts' Indiana site: http://www.crosswinds.net/~indbow Mary Drye's Michigan site: http://marydrye.www1.50megs.com/index/michigan.html Rob Bowers' Ohio site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~rbower/ Mary Teeter's Pennsylvania site: http://www.geocities.com/heartland/cliffs/5410/ Gina Bower's Wisconsin site: http://www.crosswinds.net/~bowerwi Please, have a look at those sites and you'll see what I'm talking about. Frankly cousins, we need your help. After a year this project is still sitting at nine state sites and one country hosted. If you know even a little html you can host a state or country Continuum site on behalf of the family. In addition to the states listed above, California, Missouri and New York are hosted. Also, the sole country is Australia. There are still 41 states needing representation as well as the following countries Bower/Bauer surnames and/or their variant spellings are found in: Austria Germany Scotland Belgium Hungary South Africa Canada Ireland Spain Czech Republic Italy Switzerland England New Zealand Ukraine France Russia Wales As our hosts can tell you, you do not have the daily maintenance of a Web site once you're all set up. You have the option of accepting raw data from donors, or you can make a Continuum site one of nothing more than helpful links. The choice is yours! With exception of a few standards set to keep the project inline with the Cottage and Homestead, all creativity expression on the site is your choice. It also DOES NOT MATTER which family team you're in! Joe Baur (for example) can host a Continuum site just as well as Melinda Bowers (another example) or Ursula Bauer (yet one more example). All Continuum sites will represent Bauer, Baur, Bower and Bowers surnames in their represented state/country as well as the variant spellings we support (as found on the variants pages at the Homestead and Cottage). You can also partner with another cousin, if you'd like. You don't have to do this alone. I'd like to show you all something. As of 9:15 p.m. Saturday, the family teams having the following numbers of cousins: Bower 266 Bowers 121 Bauer 40 Baur 11 --- Total 438 cousins in the family to date SURELY there are more than nine of us in the family who know html. Won't you please consider giving the family some of your time to help not only yourself, but all of us and those who have yet to find the family? If we can't get this project off the ground, it will have to be disbanded, and that will only hurt all the cousins. If you'd like to join the project and host a Continuum site, please contact me at <ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. We really need your help and support. Thanks. Colleen