Oh folks . . . Don't, don't, don't complain. Many, many folks are working extremely hard for all of us and I for one appreciate it VERY MUCH!!! I've certainly gained much more than my measly dues from all that I have learned!! Thanks to you all!! Pat Bledsoe In a message dated 2/5/2009 3:48:09 P.M. Central Standard Time, rracer@embarqmail.com writes: Very well said, sir! ~Rock~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael L. Oddenino" <oddlaw@pacbell.net> To: <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 12:57 PM Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] Can I talk now? > 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 >> >> > > ------------------------------- > 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 ------------------------------- 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 **************Great Deals on Dell Laptops. Starting at $499. (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1217883258x1201191827/aol?redir=http://ad.doubleclick. net/clk;211531132;33070124;e)