This post may come to you more than once, as I am posting it on the listserves that I belong to. If it does, I apologize in advance. I work in a profession in Washington State that led me to an idea. I would love opinions, but criticism,etc is out. I only want opinions and feedback to make or break the idea once and for all. In my profession, the information I have is confidential. I will not disclose it and DO NOT ask me to. Last night alone I had over 100 people (this is an everday occurance) that were in the age ranges of 95 to 100 that had all of their vital information including ancestors, place of birth, mother, father, social security, other information, and next of kin in their records. The thought that has been ocurring to me over and over as I see obituaries posted with, hopefully providing, information on next of kin. Why not interview these people while they are still living. Most are in nursing homes, but many are not. Of the ones that are in nursing homes, only a small portion seem to be there (less than 1%) for memory problems. What I am suggesting is this: 1] If everyone who is interested would go to their local nursing homes, retirement communities, rehabilitation centers (persons recovering from surgeries,etc..) and meet the people, there is a goldmine of information available. 2] Many of these people are lonely and would love to share their ancestors and family with you. Be up front and tell them you would like to talk to people who want to discuss their families, both current and past. 3] Come armed with pencil and paper as well as a tape recorder to back you up. Ask permission to record it and tell them why. Just don't do it secretly. 4] If someone does not want to talk to you about it, you have not lost anything but a little time and you hopefull will have made life a little better for someone that day. 5] I always leave my phone number with them in case they change their mind. Many have, and I run right up there. 6] I have tried this for awhile now and I have come across many of the names you are all researching. They may not be your relatives, but they are someones. Many are Germans and Volga Germans, but there are many other nationalities as well. I am going to continue this project for myself no matter what. 7] If everyone who is interested would do the same and post the information (with the person's permission and excluding their living relatives) we would all get somewhere a heck of a lot faster. 8] Because the person who is providing the information is LIVING, they could be contacted for information regarding other living relatives. Anyone who is worried about invading their private information could do like I did and contact the nearest living relative or emergency contact to verify there is not a problem pursuing their ancestry and posting the results on the internet and in email. 9] Because the homes,etc are local there is not an expense involved in calling, faxing, visiting or contacting relatives. 10] The surname boards could carry a new heading of Living Ancestors or something like that and every one could post their info to it by State,County, Surname or whatever. Follow up names could be checked with these people for verification and possible trigger even more new information. 11] Perhaps if we listed ourselves (those who are willing) as volunteers in the community in which we live to go back and follow up for people, we would be doing a service to someone. Someone else in turn in their community may do this service for you. 12] Many of these senior citizens I have found out are trying to find living descendants because they have lost contact. 13] The advantage here is that you can finally break that 100 year privacy barrier and do it with the ancestors permission. If you are worried about it , make a form, have them sign that you have permission to post it. If you are still worried, have their living descendant emergency contact sign it too. That way you are not preying on these people. They really want to help I have found. 14] If you really care about these people, take a grandchild, child, or pet with you. They can spend the entire day just reliving their past. Children, grandchildren, and animals trigger many more memories for them. What does everyone think? Lee -- Mailto:lgarcia@ncia.com http://www.angelfire.com/wa/Lineage/index.html http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/g/a/r/Leona--GarciaWA/ http://www.gensource.com/common/ Common Threads Database Search Engine DENMARK: Bach GERMANY Kollman, Kollmansberger, Kollmansperger, Leipsig: Thaßler, Thassler Hessen: Herman, Herrman, Hermann, Herrmann HOLLAND: Warnaar, Warner NORWAY: Kvalsund, Qualsund RUSSIA: Frank: Batt, Flath, Floth, Frick, Fuchs, Gettig, Gettman, Greif, Groth, Heimbigner, Herman, Hermann, Herrman, Herrmann, Knopf, Leonhardt, Schmidt, Stroh,Wagner Grimm: Rasch Hussenbach: Fuchs, Gettig, Herman, Hermann, Herrman, Herrmann Kautz: Weber Kolb: Frickel, Koch, Muntz UNKNOWN: Adkins, Atkins, Amen, Amend, Betz, Boardman, Boedigheimer, Erwin, Graetz, Henson, Holder, Ils, Kollman, Kollmansberger, Kollmansperger, Gettman, Ore, Orr, McCae, McCay, McKay, McCoy, Muntz, Rayburn, Stroh, Talley, Waller, Warner