Bush River SC Quaker Cemetery Newsletter December 2008 WELCOME NEW LIST MEMBERS We recently added many new members to our list of newsletter and email recipients and we welcome each and every one. Ours is undoubtedly the best group on rootsweb! Besides being so informative, our list is unique because we know that, since our ancestors were all Bush River Quakers or their families, they certainly knew each other and worshiped together at the Bush River Meeting House. They were friends, neighbors, and business associates in Newberry. They even married each other! In addition, many of them probably traveled together to Newberry down the Great Wagon Road from Philadelphia and points north. Many of them left Newberry together, too. At last May’s Homecoming in Newberry we heard the story of their hardships and saw the actually remnants of the Great Wagon Road on which they traveled. In addition to the exchange of Bush River Quaker family information, our group is dedicated to the preservation and maintenance of the Bush River Quaker Cemetery on Dennis Dairy Road in Newberry, SC. We have completed the payment for another year of professional maintenance by Newberry Lawn Care owned by James Folk. Mr. Folk visited with us during our Homecoming and helped us with the installation of the Visitor’s Bench outside the perimeter of the Cemetery. Maintenance is entirely supported by the proceeds from our book “Historic Bush River Quaker Cemetery, Newberry, South Carolina,” and by individual donations. For several years now, we have achieved our goal of having the Cemetery accessible every day of the year and we hope to continue for many years to come. (Book sales information is available at www.bushriverquakers.org or email to [email protected] ) SPECIAL DONATION Recently we received notice of a donation toward our Cemetery Maintenance work from the Jay Family Association, approved at their meeting Board Meeting in October. They wrote: The Board discussed and approved the recommendation of a $100 donation to the Bush River Monthly Meeting Burial Grounds in South Carolina where it is probable that William Jay Sr. is buried. We are very grateful for this donation. A CEMETERY MANAGEMENT PLAN Ann Crowley and I recently had a very interesting meeting with Janine Duncan, the Historic Preservationist in charge of restoring an historic cemetery on the University of Georgia campus. She gave us many, many ideas to work on, including the most basic – we need to develop a management plan for the cemetery. A management plan would give all us an overview of what happens monthly and yearly at the cemetery as well as help us develop some guidelines about future work there. In the new year we hope to develop our plan and to investigate some of Ms. Duncan’s other suggestions which included ways to find help to investigate the possibility of further burial sites and with developing a priority list for repairs. Your help is needed on this project: Please send your suggestions of the things (large or small) that you would like to see our group accomplish at the cemetery. You can email to the list or to me or Ann Crowley ([email protected] ) Send anything you’ve ever thought of, since we want our “to-do” to be as inclusive as possible. For some good reading on Historic Cemetery Preservation see: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/hal_mhc_shpo_Cemetery_Guide_105082_7.pdf HOMECOMING 2010 We are already developing some tentative plans for our proposed 2nd Homecoming in Newberry, Summer 2010. We are taking all of the suggestions we got after our fabulous weekend this summer and working out their possible implementation. One thing we hope to do for sure is have time for GROUP MEETINGS on the various BUSH RIVER FAMILIES. A possible site for our family group meetings might be at the new Library, set to open very soon. I think we’d all like a tour of the new site also so that we can see what it will mean for our research. One suggested theme is for our 2010 meeting is “Newberry and the Revolution.” Another idea is mapping where our ancestors came from and where they went after leaving Newberry. Now is the time to send us any idea that you might want to implemented at the Homecoming! Send theme ideas, meeting events, day trips, research venues, day trips to research venues....etc., etc. At this point, the more ideas we have, the better we will know what people are interested in. We are also definitely looking for VOLUNTEERS for the 2010 Homecoming Event, even among those who don’t know whether or not they will be attending. Just let us know if you would like to help and we will find a job for you! One thing that would be great would be to have a volunteer or volunteers for TEAM CAPTAINS FOR EACH OF OUR BUSH RIVER FAMILIES. OUR THANKS TO EACH OF YOU Thank you all for your help, ideas, donations, and participation during the past year. This wonderful group has really made a difference, both at the Cemetery and in its help to other members. We hope, with your help, to continue the work for many years to come. We’ll be using this list to keep everyone informed of our upcoming projects, so if you unsubscribe from sc-bushriverquakers, be sure and check the archives from time to time for the latest news. Best Holiday Wishes, Judy Russell [email protected] Donations are always welcome and may be sent to: Quaker Cemetery Clean Up Fund 1051 Forrest Hills Drive Bogart, Georgia, 30622