) ( ) 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. A brief history of April Fool's Day 3. A message for our newbies and newest cousins If you've been with the family for at least three weeks, you'll probably want to skip the following paragraph… 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 or 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 or Baur ancestors or any of the 81+ variant spellings we research 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. Our home is Bower Community, located at <http://bowercommunity.com>. There, we currently have two sites: The Bower Family Homestead [a.k.a., the Homestead] is our primary homesite and the gathering place for much of our information. It waits to join us all in welcoming you into the family at <http://bowercommunity.com/homestead>. Smaller is our sister site, the Bower Cottage, which houses most of our projects including an online GEDCOM fed by quite a few cousins from our research groups. Find the Cottage is at <http://bowercommunity.com/cottage>. A BRIEF HISTORY OF APRIL FOOL'S DAY The history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. However, it appears to have come about as a result of converting to the Gregorian calendar. The nearest date that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25 and ending on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1. Due to the slowness of "sandal-net" communication back then and general resistance to change, the January 1 date was not fully accepted for several years. Those traditionalists who clung to April 1 as New Year's Day were scoffed at as "fools." They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes. The more flexible French mocked the rigid revelers by sending them foolish gifts and invitations to non-existent parties. In time this harassment evolved into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century, and later introduced to the American colonies. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families. **The first of April is recognized as a day of pranks not only in the United States, but also in France, Germany, and Great Britain. **In Scotland, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance. **In Scotland, a fool is called an "April gowk" or "April cuckoo". **Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is "El Dia de los Inocentes," which is December 28. Originally, the day was a sad remembrance of the slaughter of the innocent children by King Herod. It eventually evolved into a lighter commemoration involving pranks and trickery. **A British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. **In India, the feast of Huli occurs in March. The final day of Huli is March 31, and is traditionally celebrated by acts of mischief. **In France, the victim of an April Fools' Day prank was called a "poisson d'avril," or an "April fish," because at that time of year, the sun was leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces. **French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. **Napoleon I acquired the *nickname* "poisson d'avril" when he married Marie-Louise of Austria on 1 April 1810. **One of our forefathers' favorite jokes was to send someone on a "fool's errand." For example, one might have been asked to go out and obtain a copy of "The History of Adam's Grandfather," or bring back some "sweet vinegar." A MESSAGE FOR OUR NEWBIES AND NEWEST COUSINS Cousins, I don't know what's going on... maybe it's the change-of-season "grouchies," or something, but in the past two weeks I've received messages from four newbies who have been slammed online by people outside our family. This just isn't cool! Now, all four cousins are "gunshy" (as one of them put it to me) and are afraid to post messages or ask questions of us. The following message is for our newbies (new to genealogy) and our newest cousins, so they'll understand a newbie's place in the family. The following is a reprint of a portion of one of last year's Coffees. It laid everything out very clearly for everyone who isn't aware of how our family works; hopefully, the same will happen again. If you're rather new to genealogy, computers and/or computing genealogy then this next section is just for you ... I already know (because you've told me) that some of you have been yelled at (called flaming) or ridiculed by people on other lists or forums and now, you're afraid to post here, too. I want to tell all of you that life runs a LOT differently here than it does on many of your other lists. You do NOT have to worry about being humiliated here! WE ARE A FAMILY here ~ cousins who treat each other with respect and dignity. We are a caring lot and we share our information across the board. We HELP our newbies; we will NOT criticize you if you foul up (I do it all the time!), but will gently help you toward the correction ~ whether it be your own data (a transposed date, for example), your procedures and/or methodology. You newbies are vitally important to the family and whether you realize it or not, it's true. You may not be experienced in the "how-to" aspect of genealogical research or list netiquette, but you bring valuable information into the group by way of your lineages, even if that knowledge currently goes no further than your grandparents or great-grandparents. Those ancestors could very well be another cousin's great aunt or uncle they've been searching for or, even better, could be their (heretofore unknown) great-grandparents, too! Additionally, ANY little scrap of information offered to the family is valuable. Even scraps, once pulled together, will help create a family's quilt of ancestry. That's another reason why you newbies are so important. You tend to provide many of those tiny bits of family data that a lot of us long-time researchers haven't been able to locate in records. ["Oh this? It was just a page Grannie wrote up and stuck in her Bible ~ nothing important, really." Looking at it I see a handwritten paper showing the immigrant family that came from England, and I sit there dumbfounded!] So you see, tender newbie, you ARE important to the family and we desperately need you to not give up or be afraid to say anything. Remain with us, read the way messages are formatted by everyone else, and do the same thing! The ONLY two things you need to remember are: 1.) In the first line of your message, tell us you're a newbie so we can give you special attention; and 2.) Never post information about living relatives. This is for their protection against identity thieves. There is not a single cousin here who will "dump" on you ~ criticize you, put you down for your lack of knowledge, ridicule you ... or do any other hatefully negative thing you might think can/will happen here. Family takes care of family, and we take care of our newbies, our novices, and each other. Criticism is always constructive and gentle. And, in case you're wondering ... the penalty for flaming in the family is IMMEDIATE removal. PLEASE, dear newbie, take that first step and "test the water." Send in your posts and let us know who you are and who you're looking for. You won't be able to trust us until you take that initial leap and give us cousins a chance. After all, we're family ... and that's what we're all about. To those cousins with April birthdays, the family and I wish you a very happy and special day. You are loved!! :) And once again, my coffee cup is empty. I so enjoyed this time with each of you. I wish you all a week filled with health, productivity, fun, and above all ... filled with love. ) ( ) _.-~~-. (@\'--'/. Colleen ('``.__.'`) `..____.'