Reunion Wrap-up, June 24-27 2005 | Inn at Nichols Village, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
Off and Running
Weekend activities didn’t officially start before Friday afternoon’s board meeting. But the number of early reunion attendees scheduled to arrive before Thursday’s supper hour prompted the hosting Walker Family of nearby Moscow, PA, to invite them to a backyard picnic at their country home.
Chatting and chewing were cousins from Connecticut, North Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Ontario, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Lots of Business
Friday afternoon the annual BFA Board meeting was open to
anyone not exploring the Scranton area. Our main interest focused on Joan Bidwell’s Iowa family – daughter-in-law Cindy Bidwell and grandson Zebulon. They spoke of their concerns
for the future of the piles of papers for Bidwell Book Vol. 2, which they were still separating from Joan’s other research projects.
President Larry Bidwell of Raleigh, NC then added that the BFA had received a bequest of $10„000 from Joan’s will, written well before of her unexpected death. The will states that “the BFA is to deposit the money into the general account. It is further my wish that a member of my immediate family: Kenneth, Robert, or one of my grandchildren, assist the Association in evaluating how best to spend the funds.” It was informally proposed that the money go toward the completion of Volume 2. Cindy and Zeb did not object. The Board will continue to work with Joan’s family.
Webmaster Louise Fahey of Front Royal, VA, has volunteered to organize and prepare Volume 2 for publication. Joan’s family will complete the sorting process, then box and send Volume 2 to Louise. She plans to begin the work of organizing the papers sometime after the first of the year. She will work with, and seek guidance from, Gateway Press in Baltimore, the publisher of Volume I.
Statement From Louise
“I believe the most fitting memorial to our dear friend Joan Bidwell would be to publish Volume II of The Bidwell Family History. Please forward any information you’d like to see included (births, deaths, marriages, etc.) that dots not appear in Volume I to:
Louise Bidwell Fahey
161 Greenfield Road
Front Royal, VA 22630
(540) 636-8180 or lfahey515@earthlink.net
*Deadline to submit material is December 31, 2005.*
Joan had been involving high school grandson, Zebulon, in working on their family genealogies. Zeb, an enthusiastic student, especially involved in the computer side of research and recording, will take on the project of bringing Joan’s ancestral lines to publication as his time allows.