Dear Listers, The funny thing about the remarks I'm seeing on here is in regard to something that has crossed my mind in the last couple of months. It has become more evident that the obituary notices & just a few specific surnames have become almost all of what is appearing on this site with the exception of a few odd items now & then as I monitor the mailings. Now, please, this is not being critical of that because it's what genealogy is all about. I do see people on here sharing info back & forth on the aforementioned names & that is really a very positive thing. However, one cannot rely on just the listowner to be the contributor to the site. It takes a number of facets to really have an active one. Just like in all organizations there are the ups & downs over a yearly span. I've noticed that on some of the other roots sites there is hardly any activity at all, but they are still there. I can't help wonder what can be done to make this site & other ones more useful to more people. Don't you sometimes wonder how many are out there that are just taking in the news & not saying anything about their lines & might be hesitating on saying anything for one reason or another? I do have to mention that I've had private e-mails come to me about some of the "cutting remarks" some people make on here personally & know that more than once I've had others ask me to please not Unsubscribe from this list because of it. It makes me wonder how many people have done just that, so it seems to me that one of the first thing the regular readers of this list have to keep is "get a positive mind set & encourage others to keep "the good of the list" furthermost in their minds. With that said we need to move on to what to do to make it a better site. Now that the subject of the obituaries has been brought up, possibly Ed could think about a game plan to teach those on here how to easily access them, for future use, in the roots archives. Most people do not know how to use that archives at all. I guess this paragraph is now in his little corner of the world to address to all in the best way he can. I'd like to see Ed give a little instruction info on her for new people to use the archives to search for earlier material. Let's move on to other ideas. I've never pushed on any site for a "roll call" on any roots site. That's up to the list master as far as I'm concerned, but I do have a suggestion. I'll use myself as an example. If I just say on here that I'm interested in the names Reese, Lichty, Farquhar, Moss doesn't tell anyone much. It might be more useful if I said something brief on each, like in a query as: I'm back as far as a Mary Reese, daughter of George Reese of Saltlick Twp., Fayette County. Mary married Jonathan D. Lichty. She died about 1849 & her grave is not marked but said to be in a specific one in Somerset County. Jonathan later married again & is buried in the old Garrett Union Cem. in Someerset with his wife. He is said to be the son of David Lichty & Catherine (most likely Bittner). George Reese had a son Hambright Reese & this may be significant in further ancestery on the Reese name. One George Reese who married Rachel Hambright is found in eastern PA records. Anyone interested in these particular branches for research on the family names is encouraged to write to me off the list, then we can share future findings with the list on the progress made. Another thing is general material that might help in area research. That's covering a lot. If we do that it should be organized like the Fayette Wills that were contributed on here by Robert in groups. When someone sends things 1 at a time is not as desirable in my book. There's a lot more that can be done but let's just give this a little time & think it over. Enjoy the sun being out today. Let's hope the next blast to come through will be the last big one for the winter. Think Spring! Regards, Ellen (ETHS) email: ellen@b-n-s.com Visit my web site: http://www.geocities.com/ellenj3