ISSN #1055-1891

Volume 8, No. 3                                                          September 1995

Dear Cousins all:

It's been another reasonably good quarter. For some reason we have had a spurt of new membership applications, or inquiries as to what we are all about. It's meant a lot of correspondence, and when the subscriber signs up, they invariably want all the back issues. This will explain why the financial report shows two entries for the newsletter, one for the printing of the newsletter, and one for all the recopying. I try to keep at least 10 copies on hand but it costs 4¢ a page if you only have a few newsletters printed at a time, say 20 or 25. If we have one hundred printed it's only 2.2¢ per page, almost half price. So that's what I did last month. I had to have most of 5 years of newsletters done. But we won't be doing it again soon. Now it's a question of storage.

Also, I apologize for my rickety old typewriter breaking down on me again. Major surgery this time. But I have been told Santa is bringing me a new one so we won't have that expense anymore, plus the wear-and-tear on my nerves dealing with the temperamental thing.

We have been receiving a lot of suggestions of the various genealogical societies to when we could send copies of our newsletter. I am about to send out a letter to them to see if they will be interested in receiving them. I'll report back on that next time.

Read an interesting book about how to go about putting together a history of your family. It's entitled "Stories: The Family Legacy" by Richard Stone. In it he tells how you can organize your family history, how you go about dredging up those stories buried in the minds of your relatives as well as in your own. For example, at the upcoming family reunions at Thanksgiving and Christmas, sit everyone down with a pencil and paper and have them draw the floor plan of the house they were brought up in, particularly what they remember best before they were 10 years old. This will start memories, first as a trickle then it will be a flood. Sit quietly and think back on the sounds, aromas, tastes and music of your childhood. Look carefully at family photos and remember the person or persons depicted and what memories they brought back. Personally, I think that's a great way to do it and the upcoming holiday season is the perfect time to do it. Go for it!