Thank you Laurel... Cynthia -------------- Original message -------------- > Hi Everyone, > > I am still the Message Board administrator for Hampden County. Message > Boards and Lists are sometimes administrated by the same people, sometimes > they are not. I gave up the list, not the boards. > > Now, in terms of the issues with the amusement parks, as a former Holyoker I > have lots of fond memories of Mountain Park also so I know where you all are > coming from, I really do. I am actually on the fence about the value of the > amusement park topic especially in terms of what I have seen in the actual > responses posted to the list via both methods (board and list). > > Ultimately I have to agree with Cynthia that if the amusement park > discussion isn't specifically geared toward history/genealogy it is indeed > off topic. Before I began composing this e-mail I looked through the list > of responses -- as each one of you may wish to do -- and really it is a long > list of mostly short messages naming parks, with lots of repetition. I > think Cynthia absolutely made the right call here. > > Obviously many of us are of an age where the amusement park was an integral > park of our youth! > > What I would consider to be on-topic posts would be a detailed history of a > park (how and when it started, who owned it, etc.); ancestors who may have > been an owner, employee, etc. I would even accept narratives that related > to family history: specific stories and experiences that serve the following > purposes 1) give a sense of what the experience of the park was like to both > the employee and the patron, 2) how it impacted the social, financial and > cultural elements of the city/town in which it resides and 3) gives an > occupational description of specific jobs or working conditions, salaries, > etc. But above all we must remember this is a genealogy list. > > However -- and this is the important part -- I am no longer this > administrator for this list. > > Now in terms of the Message Board being gatewayed to the list, if Cynthia > would like it removed I will do so at her request. I personally feel that > linking the two helps prohibit repetition and also from the search > standpoint, allows one to conduct a search through the list knowing you will > also get the gatewayed messages on the board. > > Most of the time we all get along just fine. But I think if people take a > moment to go through the amusement park related posts from this past week, > the call by Cynthia to cease the thread was quite appropriate. By the way, > there are a lot of amusement park links out there! > > And please remember, when someone posts you always have the option to send a > private response to that person and can continue the the discussion that > way. > > Laurel O'Donnell > >