On Feb 5, 2009, at 12:48 PM James wrote: > NOTE: It appears "GERMANNA" has become a profit center, with > exclusivity, > for selected persons > too benefit from information not available to general public. James: The Germanna Foundation has always been a member-based organization. Its source of funds are from membership dues and donations from a long history of donors of time, money and knowledge. There are no "selected persons" about it. It is a public organization only in terms of making our existence known to the many thousands of people who descend from this group of German families. So, you can be part of the solution by contributing to the group effort. I really don't see that there is a problem at all. The mailing list to which you are complaining is a rootsweb list and is not associated, officially, with the Germanna Foundation proper, though naturally the two overlap in terms of postings and membership. Hope this helps explain things a little further. Crig