Greetings! The RICH-L list has been fairly quiet lately, but we've had 5 or 6 new members join just since the new year so I thought I'd welcome them and say hello to all the rest of you. I started this list in the fall of 1997 and for a few weeks I was the only member. (Boy, did it get boring!) Tonight, I went back and tracked our growth and it looks like this: 7 FEB 1998 -- 100 members 14 DEC 1998 -- 172 members 14 MAR 1999 -- 204 members 15 AUG 1999 -- 252 members As you can see we've leveled off a bit. We currently have 262 Rich researchers on the list, representing most areas of the US and other points on the globe. Many of us (like me) descend from Richard Rich of Eastham on Cape Cod, while many others have southern Rich roots. I notice several of you are also checking out GenForum's Rich list at: http://genforum.familytreemaker.com/rich/ And several of you are listing your Rich surname and others at Rootsweb's Surname List Finder at: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/Genea/rsl?rich And many of us are members of the Rich Family Association at P. O. Box 142, Wellfleet, MA 02667. If you're not a member, you should really consider it. It's only $20 for new members, then $15 annually. The RFA newsletter "Kinfolk" is worth the price of membership, not to mention the contacts, the information and the annual reunion. As a life member, I am especially proud that the RFA allowed me to design and maintain their official web page at: http://www.richfamilyassociation.org Watch the RFA web page in the future. Decisions are being made regarding content and links. Hopefully, some day it will be the quintessential resource for RFA members throughout the world. All of this amounts to a lot of work and effort going into the Rich line which will, undoubtedly, lead to new discoveries. Your contributions to this mailing list are a very important part of this camaraderie Please remember to continue to post your inquiries and answer each other's questions ON THE LIST, if appropriate, rather than by personal e-mail so all of us can share in the information. Also, if you've posted your Gedcom or put your ahnentafel (family tree) on a web page, please let us know so we can take a look at it. You may hold the missing link for someone! PS: here's my Rich line: Richard Rich of Eastham on Cape Cod Thomas Rich John Rich James Rich Belden R. Rich Noah Rich Noah Rich (Moved to Michigan) Edward Belden Rich Charles Loase Rich Charles Edward Rich Craig Robert Rich (Me, still in Michigan) -- Craig Rich crich@macatawa.org (home) Hey, I finally redesigned my personal web page at: http://www.macatawa.org/~crich/ My ahnentafel is at: http://www.macatawa.org/~crich/famtree.htm Advertising Sales Consultant, Grand Rapids Business Journal Mayor ProTem/City Council Member - Holland, MI/USA Scuba Diver, Wreck Searcher, Researcher Genealogist, Listowner: MAYFLOWER-L and RICH-L mailing lists