Hi cousins, Below is a copy of the original message followed by the resulting questions (with answers) I sent to everyone regarding our first family Christmas. If you've already seen both, please consider this a reminder. If you're new to the 4-H family, you'll want to read this so you'll know what's going on. I'll send this same reminder again a couple more times before the November 30th deadline so all our newest cousins will know about it, too. I wish you all a peaceful Sunday. :) Colleen -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [HOWELL] A 4H FAMILY CHRISTMAS ... EVERYONE PLEASE READ Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 12:48:44 -0700 From: Colleen Pustola <[email protected]> Hi family, Well, you knew it had to happen .... that I'd come up with yet another idea for all of us. <g> Christmas... it's less than 60 days away now. I love Christmas -- not so much the getting as I do the gift giving. I love surprises and the joy they bring. Yes cousins... this IS leading somewhere. We ARE family, you know, and families do 'family' things together, right? Well, Christmas is coming and that IS a family holiday. Many of us have begun making Christmas lists; this time you can make one with a twist... We're going to spend Christmas together ... as a family ... all of us ... in cyberspace, in a private room off the HRR. Picture this ... A family Christmas tree with family around ... Christmas music ... gifts ... Santa Claus ... We're going to have a Christmas tree. I'll set it up as a page off the HRR hopefully just after Thanksgiving. Gifts will be new material that we all have stored in our home files or found recently after forays into libraries or archives. If each of you will send me one new list/record to be placed "under" the tree, then the family's Christmas will be a resounding success! We'll all benefit from this, have fun doing it, AND add some of the magic back into our own Christmas holidays. Even more, we'll do it as a family. Gifts can be: * a list of names on (for example) a year's tax records * a biography * 3-4 generations of a family * a couple wills * photographs * a few deeds * a county's/country's obituaries for a given period * immigration/emigration records * copies of certificates (deceased only - no living) * etc. ~~ whatever else you'd like to give the family for Christmas provided there is no data on living persons included The list does NOT have to be limited to what I've given above; those were just ideas/ suggestions. The point of this is to give a gift to the family and have fun doing it. ***IMPORTANT*** ~ PLEASE BE SURE TO READ ALL THREE *** *** Your gifts will need to be set up as close to online-ready as you're able to do; if you don't know how, don't worry ~ your gifts are still welcomed. Text files are fine, and so are RDF files. Label your message as CHRISTMAS GIFT so I won't miss it in the middle of all the roll calls and I'll know you have that particular message designated as a gift. *** Questions? Just send an email to me <[email protected]>. Make your subject line as RE: CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. *** Your gifts should be submitted DIRECTLY TO ME at <[email protected]> ~ NOT ON THE LIST. (We need to be good "secret-keepers," don't you know! :) ) Deadline for submissions is November 30th as I'll need time to "wrap" everything. So, cousins... what dusty, musty records do you have hidden away that you'd like to "wrap up" and put under our first family tree to be opened on Christmas day? What HOWELL[S]/HOWLE, or other variant spelling gift would you like to give to the family for Christmas? I'm totally excited about our first family holidays together! Are you? I sit here and imagine the surprise on your faces as you read about this, then the smiles, then the flicker of interest and excitement -- the spirit of Christmas coming alive. . .yes, this will be a magical time once again for all of us. I hope each of you will find at least one special gift to give at this, our first Christmas together. It can be an exciting and magical season for all of us ... looking once again at the holidays through child-like eyes. WELL... WHADA'YA THINK??? Are you all ready to feel like little kids again? :-D Colleen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AND THE RESULTING QUESTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q: What are you planning to do with all these "gifts"? A: That's easy! Just like at your inlife-home after you've had Christmas, the gifts will be put away in _our_ home ~ the Howell Research Room. They'll be there for everyone in the world to see and hopefully, connect to you through. Yes, you'll still be given credit for your work and a email hyperlink ~ just like what's at the HRR now. I take absolutely nothing from you. Q: You want us to send these "presents" to the list, or what? A: No, send them directly to me at <[email protected]>. That way, only you and I will know what you're giving the family ~ until Christmas morning US MST, that is. :) Q: How many gifts do you want from us? A: Just one is all you need to send me if you'd like to participate. Q: Can we contribute more than one? A: You sure can! How "Christmas-ey" do you feel? :) You can give the family as many presents as you'd like. Q: You're already so busy! Why are you doing this? A: That's EASY!... it's because you're all WORTH IT! :) Q: I only just started doing research. I don't have much but I want to do something... A: Well, do you have pictures of your early ancestors? Do you have vital certificates from them (birth, death, marriage, military, etc.)? You can certainly use those. The idea here is to keep in mind what you have isn't necessarily what _I_ have or what "cousin Howell" has. We may all shop at the same store, but we're all likely to select different gifts. If duplicate gifts should happen to come in, the cousin sending the gift in first gets the credit.