GRAVES FAMILY BULLETIN

A Free, Occasional, Online Summary of Items of Interest to Descendants of all Families of Graves, Greaves, Grieves, Grave, and other spelling variations Worldwide

Vol. 7, No. 9, Nov. 15, 2005

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Visit the GFA web site at http://www.gravesfa.org

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CONTENTS:

** Graves Family Reunion in Virginia in 2007

** Other Graves/Greaves Family Reunions

** GFA Blog

** New Email Discussion List on Yahoo

** To Submit Material to this Bulletin & Other Things

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GRAVES FAMILY REUNION IN VIRGINIA IN 2007

There will be a reunion of all Graves & Greaves families in Williamsburg, Virginia in 2007 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the settling of Jamestowne, Virginia in 1607. Beginning in May 2006, there will be 18 months of festivities throughout Virginia to commemorate this event. It appears that the high point of this will be the weekend of May 11-13, 2007, with re-enactments, appearances by VIPs and celebrities (probably including members of the British royal family and George W. Bush), etc. Many of our GFA members and non-member Graves/Greaves descendants have indicated a great interest in attending this gathering.

I have discovered that there are still plenty of rooms available at hotels and motels in Williamsburg, but we will need to make our plans for the exact dates and place soon. The two places currently under consideration are the Best Western Patrick Henry Inn and The Woodlands, both very close to the historic area of Williamsburg. I feel that it is important to not only provide a good quality place to stay and meet, but also one that will be reasonably priced. Let me know if you know of other lodging places that should be considered.

There are two options for the dates. The first is to have it on the weekend of May 11-13, 2007, perhaps adding a couple of days before or after for our family events and discussions. This has the advantage of our being there for the major public events of the celebration. However, it has the negatives of huge crowds and tight security, the possibility that we wouldn’t be able to do some of the things that we might like to do (such as have a leisurely visit to Jamestown to see and learn some history), the need to get tickets to major events, and higher cost. The other option is to have the reunion at some other time in 2007. It might be best, if we take this option to have it when school is out so that children would be able to attend. We would more easily be able to explore historic attractions such as Jamestown. A disadvantage is that the weather would be hotter and more humid, but with airconditioning in the rooms and tour busses, that might not be a serious problem.

The program is expected to include presentations on the Graves/Greaves family research, including the families of the British Isles and the connections between the families of the U.S., England, Australia, and elsewhere, and the latest DNA study results. We also expect to have tours of Jamestown, the eastern shore of VA (including the area where Capt. Thomas Graves lived and Hungar's Church), colonial Williamsburg; and probably other attractions.

Note that, in addition to this bulletin, you can see information about the 2007 reunion on the GFA website at http://www.gravesfa.org. You can also provide your input on the GFA blog and on the new Yahoo email discussion list (noted below).

To make the best decisions, we need your input on the time of the reunion, the place, and activities to be included. You can reply by emailing me directly, you can leave a comment on the GFA blog (at http://gravesfamilyassociation.blogspot.com/)., or you can join the email discussion list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gravesreunion2007.

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OTHER GRAVES/GREAVES FAMILY REUNIONS

The Graves reunion in San Antonio, TX on July 29-30, 2005 was a great success. We plan to have another one next year, possibly in Dallas, TX. If you would like to help with planning, publicity, or any other aspect, contact Ron Graves at gravesronn@cs.com.

My wife and I plan to be driving from Massachusetts to Florida either late Jan. or mid Feb. 2006, and returning a month or so later. I would enjoy meeting with any Graves/Greaves descendants, especially on the way down. Let me know whether you would be interested, especially if you would like to organize a gathering of a group of people. Instead of just gathering known family members, maybe someone would like to contact Graves family members in an area who haven't been involved with the Graves Family Association before. If you can gather a group of people, I am willing to deviate from our straight drive down I-95 to wherever you want to host a meeting.

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GFA BLOG

A blog for the Graves Family Association has recently been started. Blog is a shortened term for weblog (or web log), a web site that is updated on a regular basis, and structured in reverse chronological order so that the most recent information is listed first. Blogging can be an effective communications tool for small groups of people to keep in touch with each other.

It is hoped that this will improve and increase communication among GFA members. You can access it by going to the GFA website and clicking on the Blog link at the top of the main page, or by going to http://gravesfamilyassociation.blogspot.com/

This blog will be used for any comments about what the Graves Family Association is doing or could do in the future, and the way some of these things could happen. The initial post was about the Graves Gathering/Reunion in Virginia in 2007 (see the next article below).

You can learn more about blogging by reading an article that was in the Nov. 6, 2005 issue of Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. Go to http://eogn.typepad.com and scroll down to the Nov. 6 entry titled “Blogs Explained.” It is an excellent article. I also recommend his newsletter as a helpful source of genealogy news. In his article, you will see that you can read the blog with your web browser software (such as Internet Explorer), but you can also get a blog reader (many are free) to have posts to blogs automatically sent to your computer. A big benefit of that method of delivery is that it is not subject to spam.

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NEW EMAIL DISCUSSION LIST ON YAHOO

A new email discussion list has been set up for planning and discussing the 2007 Graves Reunion to be held in Williamsburg, VA. Unlike a blog (discussed above) or a bulletin board, an email list allows a more interactive discussion among those who are especially interested in a subject. If this group works out well, we may implement email groups for other subjects. I would appreciate any and all comments you may have for the value of a blog versus a bulletin board versus an email list.

To join the Graves Reunion 2007 Yahoo list, you can either let me know or just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gravesreunion2007. On that signup page, you can also read about what the group and the concept of a mailing list is all about. You can see that we can include a number of other things that I have not yet learned about, including photos, etc.

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ABOUT THIS BULLETIN:

This bulletin is written and edited by Kenneth V. Graves, ken.graves@gravesfa.org. Ken Graves was also editor of the Graves Family Newsletter (no longer published). This bulletin will contain announcements and news of special interest to Graves descendants with Internet access. It will not contain queries, genealogies, photos, and the kind of in-depth articles that used to appear in the Graves Family Newsletter.

TO SUBMIT MATERIAL TO THIS BULLETIN:

Send any material you would like to have included in this bulletin to ken.graves@gravesfa.org. The editor reserves the right to accept, edit or reject any material submitted.

TO JOIN THE GRAVES FAMILY ASSOCIATION:

If you do not already belong to the GFA, you can join by sending $20 per year to Graves Family Association, 20 Binney Circle, Wrentham, MA 02093 (more details on GFA website). Payment may also be sent electronically via PayPal by going to www.paypal.com and sending payment to gfa@gravesfa.org. Benefits include access to the “members only” section of the website, membership directory, and help with learning more about your Graves/Greaves family. The purpose of the GFA is to bring together as many descendants as possible to work toward learning more about the Graves/Greaves families, to help other descendants, and to instill pride in our ancestry.

COPYRIGHTS:

Although the contents of this bulletin are copyrighted by the Graves Family Association and Kenneth V. Graves, you are hereby granted rights, unless otherwise specified, to re-distribute articles to other parties for non-commercial purposes only. Do not re-distribute the newsletter in its entirety.

TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE TO THIS BULLETIN:

To subscribe to this bulletin, send an e-mail message to ken.graves@gravesfa.org. Please include your full name. Your postal mailing address and information on your Graves/Greaves ancestry would also be appreciated, although not essential.

To remove your name from this subscription list, send an e-mail message to ken.graves@gravesfa.org asking to be removed.