[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Conference Musings and Kudos

[sylviamccul at aol.com]

Dear Cousins,

     What a whirlwind!  The conference was wonderful.  I met so many lovely people, including Beth Burke, and her son, Sam; Sigrid and Phil Perry; Marie Swanson; Bill Remus; Rose Ingrahm; and many, many more.  I learned a lot informally, just chatting,  and formally through the seminars.  From Sigrid I came home with reams of instructions on how to decipher Russian Cyrillic documents from the Napoleonic era, that is, when I get my eyes uncrossed.  From Barney Franks I now know much more about the cloth making industry in Poland.  That a "Tuchmacher Meister" is a master cloth maker who was a member of the distinguished cloth makers guild.  From Ron Neuman I heard the hair raising,and sometimes, heartbreaking, saga of one family's struggle to stay alive during the war years.  From Bill Remus I learned how DNA analysis works in an "L" rated format:  that is, safe for Lutherans to view!  I now understand the importance of having a targeted hypothesis to test in order to make DNA work for genealogy research.  Bill also delivered a detailed personal lecture on the evolution of our shared Spitzer families, and how they made their way from Prussia, across Poland into the Ukraine.   And from Marie Swanson I learned that there are Germans from Russia and Poland in places like the remote Northwest Territories!  It seems we do get around!  Felix Kuehn entertained us all at great length about the vast network of intricacies that took place in the creation of the International Boundary Line between the US and Canada, almost all of which originated from, or returned to, his backyard!  

     I also learned that next year I plan to come a day or two early, instead of a day late, and missing half the conference, and seeing nothing of Winnipeg!  Live and learn!   

     Altogether, it was an informative and heart warming experience to be immersed in my extended family, getting to know some of you personally, and appreciating even more the extent of our shared common experiences growing up in families and communities that have their roots in the same corner of the Old World!  I hope that in future we can continue to build on what we learned and shared at the conference as we continue to explore our common heritage.  Thank you, all.

Best Regards,
Sylvia McCullough
Tempe, Arizona