On Feb 5, 2009, at 1:48 AM, "Michael L. Oddenino" <oddlaw@pacbell.net> wrote: > > Craig, can you talk now? Michael: This, coming from the web master, blabber-mouth and auctioneer extraordinaire of the Germanna Foundation? My mother says I was born talking. What's your excuse? And don't worry, I never run out of material! Craig

Recently, there has been a lot of xtraneous, not on subject verbage being bandied about. This DNA jibberish wastes a lot of space. NOTE: It appears "GERMANNA" has become a profit center, with exclusivity, for selected persons too benefit from information not available to general public. I have it easy. ALL my ancestors were from the basic GERMANNA families. That satisfies my curiosity JAMES ( CARPENTER, AYLOR ,UTZ, WEAVER, CRIGLER, KEMPER, LEATHERS, YAGER, ETC, ETC.) PEZZARO

To suggest that "Germanna has become a profit center, with exclusivity for selected persons" could not be farther from the truth. If you do not have an interest in the Germanna Foundation then there is no reason for anyone to get agitated. If one is interested in the Germanna Foundation and helping the organization grow and fulfill the mission of honoring our ancestors then one would be anxious to find ways to help rather than make complaints. Many volunteers put in an inordinate amount of time to help the Germanna Foundation provide valuable information and services to people with an interest in Germanna. As with any organization there are fixed costs that must be met. In Germanna's case there are fixed costs associated with the Visitor Center, there are fixed costs associated with maintaining Salubria (the storm last year caused many $$$ worth of damage that had to be paid for somehow), just maintaining a website incurs fixed costs, etc., etc. etc. To suggest that Germanna is a "profit center" can only reflect the deep well of ignorance from which one is drawing. There are no profits being made at Germanna in fact it is only because of the generous donations of a few that Germanna is able to keep its doors open. If someone finds a $30 annual membership fee to be a burden, then don't become a member. Of course, the dues paid by members is what allows Germanna to meet its many fixed costs. People who don't help support the costs of running Germanna are still able to benefit from much information on the website and the content that is available to members is a small reward for their generosity in supporting Germanna. If the definition of "selected persons'' is the general public that benefits from Germanna's public website offerings, the library at the Visitor Center, the maintenance of historic Salubria, and the genealogy books published by Germanna and available to all at a fraction of the costs incurred by the authors and Germanna, okay then, Germanna is for the benefit of "selected persons." Also, DNA information is interesting to many people doing genealogy work and the discussions here can be illuminating for those who want to learn more about DNA and its use in genealogy. That is hardly jibberish. So if one doesn't care about the Germanna Foundation and its volunteer efforts to promote information and activities related to Germanna, rest assured that no one is going to compel anyone to care, much less participate. One of the amazing aspects of the Germanna Foundation is the wealth of offerings for those interested in Germanna and it is all made possible by many hours of volunteer work and generous donations by those who do care. Okay, so don't pay the small nominal dues to help out, don't volunteer time to help out, don't write interesting historical materials for others, just complain and do nothing. I'm sure your ancestors will be very proud. james wrote: > Recently, there has been a lot of xtraneous, not on subject verbage being > bandied about. > > This DNA jibberish wastes a lot of space. > > NOTE: It appears "GERMANNA" has become a profit center, with exclusivity, > for selected persons > too benefit from information not available to general public. > > I have it easy. ALL my ancestors were from the basic GERMANNA families. > That satisfies my curiosity > > JAMES ( CARPENTER, AYLOR ,UTZ, WEAVER, CRIGLER, KEMPER, LEATHERS, YAGER, > ETC, ETC.) PEZZARO > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >

AGITATION IS A VERY HELPFUL TOOL.