It's a lovely article, Nancy, and we do have RootsWeb to thank. I still marvel at how quickly we all bonded from the minute we met! Now I wish we ALL could meet - including our cousins to the north! To all - sorry if I've seemed a little distracted lately ... the injury to my husband's shoulder in England last July turns out to be a torn rotator cuff and torn ligament. He's been in a LOT of pain. He will have surgery tomorrow a.m. Anne C. -----Original Message----- >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/