Dear friends, This last weekend, while on vacation, I noticed wholesale changes in our TNGenWeb project. Pages had been removed, along with many research papers. Very quickly, the Home Page and other structural pages were replaced, some in abbreviated form. When I returned home, I was inundated with a plethora of e-mail messages, and a few recorded telephone messages, regarding the change of guard in the TNGenWeb hierarchy. By being home earlier than expected, I was able to enjoy the luxury of reading all the messages without interruption. As I sifted through the messages, it occurred to me that we might have lost our focus as to why the TNGenWeb exists at all. The real purpose of our TNGenWeb is to serve our clients – many of these clients are in the later years of their lives. If we "Volunteers" can give our little old ladies and gentlemen clients some pleasure, then simply, we have done our jobs. While each of us may have different reasons to participate in our all volunteer system, I personally participate because it pleases me to do good work for others. I am sure this is the same reason why most of our volunteers give so much. The TNGenWeb has certainly worked well as our communication tool to reach our clients. The USGenWeb works well as the networking agent for all of our state sites. Undoubtedly, neither our state and national bodies were established with outstanding internal organizational structure. As they mature, the need for further improvement becomes evident. I propose that we face this issue and meet its challenge. As you are already aware, the TNGenWeb has enlarged its scope of coverage during the last few months. In addition to queries and genealogical statistics, living history projects are now part of the TNGenWeb. These projects will continue to expand through the years to come. Lastly, I state here my commitment to our TNGenWeb system. It is a good system that we volunteers will make better. Happy Holidays. May the light of God shine on you and those you love. Fred Smoot -- <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> Fred Smoot, Dog Trot X Press Art, Graphics, Maps, TN Land History. Patty Sokolecki Smoot, Panoramic Photography. Personal Homepage: (as soon as I get a round tuit) Tennessee Genealogy Web; Letters from Forgotten Ancestors: http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/tnletters/ TNGenWeb; The Maps Our Ancestors Followed: http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/maps/ TNGenWeb; Warren County Tennessee Homepage: http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/warren/ TNGenWeb; The Land of Our Ancestors: (under construction) http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/tnland/ TNGenWeb; First People of Tennessee: Tennessee's Real First Families. http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/tnfirst/ TNGenWeb; Chickasaw Cessions, Tennessee: http://www.usit.net/tngenweb/tnfirst/chicksaw/