For those who don't subscribe to the RootsWeb Review I thought you might be interested in readin the following from tonight's issue. Thanks, Nancy! Joan CONNECTING THROUGH ROOTSWEB. Thanks for sharing your stories. On behalf of many of my very distant cousins, I want to send a letter of appreciation to RootsWeb for being instrumental in bringing several of us together for a reunion, or I probably should say for a meeting, as we had never met in person. The GEIGER list on RootsWeb is a very active list, and through it a number of us GEIGERs decided to meet over the Labor Day weekend for the Salzburger Society meeting at Ebenezer in Georgia, where our common ancestor lived. There is an active Lutheran church at Ebenezer, which was organized in 1733 and the building, which is still being used for services, was completed in 1769. There is also a museum there, which is run by members of the Salzburger Society. This was once a thriving community, which established the first orphanage in Georgia and even, for a time, had a silk industry. Now, the church, museum, old restored houses, cemetery, and a conference center are there. We felt as though we already knew each other, but we had only conversed through RootsWeb. It was a delightful experience actually to meet face to face and to learn even more about our ancestors. We toured a cemetery on Fort Stewart, where my great-grandfather and his three wives are buried (the first two died soon after childbirth, and the third outlived him). We were only allowed to tour one cemetery as the Army was holding maneuvers that weekend, and we were fortunate to be riding in a four-wheel drive vehicle in order to traverse the deeply rutted, very muddy roads. We later attended the Labor Day festivities at Ebenezer, and we had a great time. One couple came from Florida, one man came from Texas (and he spells his name GIEGER and pronounces it like GIGGER), and we went from Tennessee. We all had a common ancestor, and truly felt a kinship. Thank you, RootsWeb, for making this gathering possible. Nancy Geiger Ford [email protected] Previously published by RootsWeb.com, Inc., RootsWeb Review: RootsWeb's Genealogy News, Vol. 3, No. 43, 25 October 2000. RootsWeb: http://www.rootsweb.com/