NOTE, please: For any feedback about the Homecoming, please reply to me, jrussell2@charter.net, and *not by clicking reply,* with your thoughts. Also please feel free to forward to anyone who might be interested in coming and who might not be on our email list. *********************************************************************** Happy New Year to all! I am so glad to say it's time to start looking ahead to our planned Bush River Quaker Homecoming, Newberry SC, scheduled for May 2 - 5, 2013. To get things started, your planning committee *really needs to hear* if you are planning/hoping to coming and get your input with answers to the following questions: 1. Are you hoping or planning to be at the Homecoming? Please give us your thoughts *as of now* so we can begin getting a feel for the numbers involved. 2. What activities are you interested in: a. Newberry County and near by sites b. Union County Quaker sites tour c. Research opportunities in Newberry or other places in SC d. Quaker Meeting on Sunday morning e. presentation about departure of Quakers to the Mid West and their settlements there f. Small group activities and workshops. We need your help and leadership of such group discussions if we want to have them. Below is a list of topics that have been suggested since our last meeting. Please let us now if you are interested in participating and facilitating such groups as the ones below, or any others you might suggest: 1. dna in research 2. other Quaker cemeteries 3. Website Development...(thanks to Forrest Plumstead, we have a good start here at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bushriverquakers/Index.html) 4. Ideas for tombstone repair and replacement 5. future publications, 6. attempts to find the foundations of the old meeting house, 7. National Historic Register nomination, 8. possibility of getting a Ground Penetrating Radar assessment of the Bush River site. 3. We will need help with local arrangements after we get to Newberry. We will have to wait and see how many folks will be attending to see what kind of (all important!) dining opportunities we will have. Can you help with this? We are looking forward to hearing whether you are planning on coming and your thoughts about what you'd like to do while in Newberry!! Best wishes, Judy Russell