Hey, howdy! Well...it has been a really, really busy summer around this neck of the woods. For newbies, and there are quite a few of you, my name is Vonda, I'm the former listmom for Taney Co.'s list, and the current listmom (looking to retire...anyone interested?) for MO-AR-WRV. I live just east of Branson, in Taney county, MO, about a mile by "holler" from the White River (Lake Taneycomo). My husband and I are both at least 6-generation White River Valley natives, although we were both born accidentally in the metro-Kansas City area <BG>. The WRV website (1st link below my signature) is currently undergoing renovation, to emerge (hopefully soon) as the White River Valley Historical Society website. All current files will still be available, but you'll have to change your bookmarks, for I'm re-doing all those confusing directories. One change will be the focus; it will have predominantly Taney county information, since we've revamped the society and other counties seem to have caretakers extraordinaire. I've been adding links, fixing broken links, and so on. Right now, it's only available on my computer, and I don't know for sure when I'll get it up. Time is still one of my worst enemies/best friends. People have been asking me for a long time what it is I do, and I've never had a ready answer. I do a lot of things in regards to history and genealogy. This summer, not in any kind of order, I've: 1) hosted a family reunion 2) transcribed a cemetery or two 3) attended board and other meetings of the society 4) gotten information via phone in regards to historical structures and "lost" cems within the county 5) went gallivantin' by myself, with Ingrid and Greg, and with Ingrid and the kids. Poor "Mountain Chivy" has had the miles put on him, to be sure. 6) went cabin hunting, finding a wonderful cabin on a friend's "back 40" that sits on a beautiful piece of creek 7) worked on aspects of the "Outlaw Roundup" and "White River Valley Homecoming", events held by the White River Valley Historical Society. This year, due to flooding, the 2 will be combined into 1 event, Homecoming, held 12 October, probably in Rockaway Beach (more later when I know more). The Bald Knobbers play, "The League: Taney County Justice" will be held on that date, as well as a pow-wow hosted by White River Band Cherokee. 8) attended a city meeting in regards to the proposed convention center on Branson's lakefront. It seems that my friends have been effective in convincing the "city leaders" that a convention center doesn't belong downtown--yeeeehaw! We won! It appears that several structures are going to be saved, the White River Hotel (originally the Hotel Malone) included. There will be some new attractions, etc., but Branson's original downtown should retain much of its current "atmosphere". No, they haven't asked us for any help, and they probably won't--we've been quite vocal in the local papers and at the city meetings. 9) hand-sewed a baby's dress with Ingrid for a girl due in early September. The dress is patterned after baby clothes made in the late 1800s, out of beautiful green calico. We hope to get a bonnet for mother and daughter done as well. The baby will likely make her acting debut in the pre-show skit, "He Married 'Em All", 12 Oct. 10) worked on salvage operations in a wonderful old house, due for demolition. We "rescued" newspapers, letters, pictures, and more. 11) attended a work session of the new Cemetery Committee, in which we began mapping cemeteries in Taney county. Roughly half are plotted on a big wall map; we are up to 128 "known" cemeteries within county lines. The interesting thing to me at this point is how close cems are in some parts of the county, and the "empty" areas in other parts. Tells me that there are even more "unknown" burials out there, for this is rough country, and there are too many cems that are likely "lost", one way or another. 12) worked a rummage sale at the Old Jail, to raise funds for the production of the play. During the sale, a map book of the upper (MO) White River, done by the Corps of Engineers in 1944 (pre-Bull Shoals and Table Rock Dams), was donated to the society. That's exciting! 13) went to a potluck and musical gathering at Boston Community Center, up in the NW corner of Taney County. My great-grandmother attended church in the building; my grandmother and a couple of aunts went to school there, so lots of "memories" in that area. And that's for starters. I get phone calls out of the blue, about cemeteries, old books, you name it. I get to meet some fascinating people. And I get to share this with all my friends. Last week, while reading my morning paper and drinking coffee, some article or comic strip listed the various kinds of activism--religious, political, social, you name it...and my mind continued the train of thought to "historical". It was one of those "light bulb" moments, and I realized that historical activism is what we do...we are historical activists. Later, when writing the article, I went back to the paper to try to find just what it was that sparked me, and you guessed it...I couldn't. I'm almost ready for work, and so I've got to go finish. But that's letting you know what's going on! Vonda Wilson Sheets ListMom for MO-AR-WRV http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~moarwrv/ http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gregvonda/ http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~vondak/