Family History Writing Challenge 2015

Things may be a little quiet here as I am participating in the Family History Writing Challenge 2015. For 28 days I will be blogging a story on my Write Formation site. I am actually not writing about one of my ancestors, but instead will be telling the tale of John Murdoch who, after so many years of research, feels like one of my family members. There probably is not enough interest in him for me to produce a book, but this way his story will see the light of day. I hope you will stop by and check it out!

From House History to Family History

Schwein house

Last night I had the pleasure of presenting to one of the German Special Interest genealogy groups at their monthly meeting in Kirkwood. I was asked to discuss how to research the history of your (or an ancestor's) home, writing family history and publishing your book. A tall order, but I actually managed to make that happen in my hour long talk. It was great to have an opportunity to speak to genealogists because I was essentially preaching to the choir. They already are familiar with many of the records I was discussing, so that makes things a lot easier. I just encouraged them to look at the records in a different light. It also meant they had helpful suggestions to share with the group of 25 souls who braved the extreme cold to come to the meeting. An added bonus was that I was able to include the photos of my ancestor's home in Steinweiler, Germany along with the house history that had been prepared for me when I visited there in September. It was fun to have so many of my worlds come together in one place!

Putting Leaves on the Family Tree

Fall Maple tree

Since returning from my trip to Germany and Switzerland I have been spending a significant amount of time labeling my more than 2,000 photos and going through the various books, papers and DVDs provided to me by the wonderful hosts in my hometowns. I am so grateful that I sent emails home almost daily, documenting my adventures and including photos. Between the emails and my blog posts I have been able to identify most of the photos. Remembering the food in the photos would have been a big challenge without this help.

Rolf in Switzerland sent me a gedcom file of all of the Kubler names and dates he has found so far. (A gedcom file is basically a universal file format that allows you to share genealogical data between different genealogy software programs.) Theoretically, anyway. I was unable to get my software, Family Treemaker, to open the gedcom file, so I downloaded a free software program called Family Tree Builder. I think that is the software that Rolf was using, but I am not positive about that. With this free software I was able to open and import the file Rolf sent to me. The file contains 300 names, and probably more than 275 of those were new to me. The new names I then had to type into Family Treemaker so that all my tree would be in one place.

In placing all these new leaves on my family tree I was able to see the relationship between me and the cousins that I met while there. For example Josef and Susanne Kubler, who graciously had dinner with me twice while I was in Busserach, are my sixth cousins, once removed. How fun is that?

I am still working my way through the data provided to me in Insheim, Germany. I hope to finish up with that side of the family this weekend. Then I will concentrate on uploading my photos to shutterfly.com so that I can put together a book about my trip while the memories are still fresh. It will be a joy to relive the trip through my photo book.

My Fairytale Trip and a Visit to the Palace

Before I get to my visit to the palace, I want to post a few photos of Speyer, where I stayed the last three nights of my trip. The rest of my tour group had arrived there on Friday, September 20th while I was in Switzerland. The only opportunity I had to look around Speyer was when I arrived from Switzerland on Sunday. There was so much to see in this city! It is one of the oldest cities in Germany with a beautiful old town area.

Speyer Cathedral

Cathedral interior

Street scene

Entrance gate

Through the gate

Entrance gates

Okay, my last full day in Germany was appropriately a visit to a palace - the Schwetzingen Palace to be exact. Located in Schwetzingen, Germany this palace was a simple summer home as the main palace in Mannheim consisted of a total floor area of six hectares (approximately 14.8 acres)! I didn't see a statistic on the size of Schwetzingen Palace, but some 40 rooms are open to the public for touring. We were not allowed to take photographs inside the palace, but truly the exterior gardens were the show stoppers anyway.

Facing palace left

Facing palace center

Facing palace right

Sculptured hedge

Pruned trees line a walkway

One of the 100 sculptures

View from the back of the palace

Fountain - one of many

Me on a bridge

Reflection in the lake

Seven of us traveled by train to Frankfurt on the 25th, and then on the same plane to Charlotte before going our separate ways back home. It seems appropriate to end my postings about this trip with this picture. Because as I reflect back on my travels the past two weeks searching for my ancestors and trying to understand the places they came from and why they left all that they knew behind, I learned something else as well. My family tree is no longer a flat piece of paper filled with names, dates and places. Those names were once people with hopes and dreams, joys and sorrows. And they are MY people. As I walked their streets, photographed their homes, cemeteries and places of worship, I could almost feel them beside me. Like the people in each of the towns I visited who were thrilled that someone from America was interested in where their ancestors came from, I sensed that my relatives, too, loved the fact that I had come to their "home". As I gazed around me I couldn't help but wonder about the last time that their eyes looked upon everything that they knew and loved. What was it like on that last day, knowing that most likely you would never see your family, friends or the land you loved again? I can only imagine, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to see their homeland through my own eyes. In sum, I went to Germany and Switzerland seeking my ancestors but I found a piece of myself as well. Until we meet again...

Traveling to Insheim, Germany

Bernhard, Roland and me

Sunday evening after arriving in Speyer and checking into my room, I had some time to try and digest my whirlwind days in Switzerland before shrugging out of my Kubler Coat of Arms and into the one for my Metz family. Monday morning I took a bus to the train station, and then three trains to Insheim. I was met at the train station by Roland, our translator, and also Herbert and Bernhard. They drove me to the Rathaus, which is like our city hall, where I met with the mayor and a couple of other people. After some champagne and fresh rolls, they showed a slide presentation of some of the information they had collected about my Metz family. They also provided the data in a printed notebook, in English, which is awesome.

Following the presentation we went upstairs to the Glocken Museum, the second largest collection of bells in Germany. This collection was donated by a resident, and the town takes care of it.

Glocken Museum Insheim, Gemany

Swiss cow bell

Next we took a walking tour of the town, where they pointed out the historic buildings. We saw the Catholic Church, but as this one was built in 1912 and completed in 1914, it is not the one my ancestors would have worshiped in.

Catholic Church exterior

Catholic church interior

In Germany, the ruling king determined what religion the people practiced. So a church may have been Catholic for one reign and then protestant for the next. When that was no longer a law, then churches would sometimes allow both religions to use their building. That was the case in Insheim until the Catholics began building their own church in 1912. Here is the old church where the Metz family would have attended services. It is now Lutheran.

Lutheran Church exterior

Lutheran Church interior

The town cemetery is located next to the Lutheran Church. I took pictures of all the Metz graves that I could find. In Germany, and the same is true in Switzerland, the family rents the grave space for a maximum of 30 years. When someone stops paying or the 30 years is up, the tombstone is removed and someone else is buried there. I asked what happens to the tombstones, and was told that the family could take the stone or it would be ground up and reused. Talk about reduce, reuse, recycle!

Metz grave

Next we drove to Burg Landeck, a nature park containing a castle. There were beautiful views especially from the tower of the castle. We also had lunch at the castle restaurant.

Burg Landeck castle

View from the castle tower

Next on the agenda was a trip to Steinweiler, a small village located near Insheim. Maria Appollonia Schwein from Steinweiler married Andreas Metz from Insheim in 1777. In Steinweiler the local historians had located the house of the Schwein family from 1717. How did they know which house was theirs? It is etched right onto the house. When I saw these markings all I could think was how happy Americans would be to find out not only when the house was built but for whom, just by looking at the outside of the house. The markings also indicate that Schwein was a blacksmith.

Front of the house

Markings on the house

Inside the courtyard

Another courtyard shot

Inside the house

While we were taking photos of the front of the house the owner came home from work. When Roland explained that I was visiting from America and that my Schwein family had lived here, he invited us inside the courtyard and the kitchen area. He and his wife are having the house renovated, and the workmen were there at the time so we couldn't see more of the house itself. To say that it was a thrill to be able to cross the same threshold that my ancestors had crossed is a vast understatement. I still have goosebumps!

On the way back to Insheim we stopped at a vineyard as Roland explained to me that this part of Germany is often referred to as Little Tuscany. I can definitely see why. It is a beautiful area.

Vineyards

Grapes

Me with the Golden Book

Once we arrived back at the Rathaus I was invited to sign the Golden Book, an honor reserved for VIPs. I was flattered to be asked, and how fun to know that I have left a permanent part of myself in the town that my ancestors once called home. Then Roland and Herbert offered to drive me back to Speyer so I could avoid the three train rides and bus transfer to get back to my hotel. Since they had given me two commemorative glasses of town celebrations as well as two historical books, I was happy to take them up on their kind offer. This was another information packed day with yet another group of people who put a lot of time into looking for my family history, and making me feel welcome in their town. I feel so blessed that my family came from this wonderful little village.

Have Suitcase, Will Travel

TripAdvisor - don't leave home without it

It seems hard to believe that in just a few more days I will be boarding the flight that will take me on my Family Tree Tours to Germany and Switzerland. I have a few gift items left to buy for the people who have been gracious enough to volunteer their time looking for the missing branches on my family tree, but I am actually in pretty good shape at this point. While we were encouraged to try and make due with only a carry on bag, there is just no way I could make that happen. Not only will I be gone 13 days, I have the gift items to transport in addition to my genealogy materials, and I need to bring a special outfit for my family gathering in Switzerland. And that necessitates bringing a second pair of shoes. I was able to get everything into a smaller bag than I anticipated however. I have to be able to get my bag on and off multiple trains, and I have no idea if the hotels I am staying at have elevators. I suspect not. So I am pleased that I was able to scale back enough to use a suitcase that I am actually capable of carrying up and down stairs. Since my husband is not accompanying me, I cannot rely on his help. I offer up a heart felt thanks to my personal trainer for pushing me every Tuesday. (And she will be pleased to know that I packed a couple of fitness aids into the suitcase as well.) My strong arms will certainly pay off on this trip!

One of the big things that had been hanging over my head was what to do about a phone while I am gone. I have read horror stories from reputable sources about people getting hammered by their American phone carriers while abroad, even if they purchased the international plan ahead of time and thought they were covered. I decided to err on the side of caution and rent a phone. After reviewing multiple companies I decided to go with the one recommended by AAA, which is planetfone.com. The gal at AAA had just used the service in multiple countries recently and had no problem with the phone at all. Because I am going to two different countries, I did not want to worry about changing SIM cards or anything else. PlanetFone's minute rates for talking and texting were a little higher than my second choice, but because I have a Citi Bank credit card, they waived the rental fee. A special promotion added free insurance on the phone, so that sealed the deal for me. The phone will be mailed to me in a couple of days, and I will receive a postage paid envelope to return the phone when I get back home. Sounds easy enough, so I hope that ends up to be the case. Obviously I will use free wifi on my iPad whenever possible, but my researching contacts may need to call me so I need to have a phone for them or in case of an emergency.

I picked up a travel hair dryer that folds compactly and is designed for multiple currencies. Because all of my other devices are as well, that eliminated the need to purchase a converter. I secured an adapter for Germany and one for Switzerland, because of course they are different. I also bought a power strip so that I can charge multiple devices at once since I will have my camera, phone, iPad and camcorder to charge. Hotels are usually a little stingy on the number of outlets, and this way I only need one adapter to plug into the power strip to handle all my charging needs.

The other thing I really wanted for the trip was a packable rain jacket. I remember my mom had a wonderful windbreaker that folded into its own pocket that she kept in her golf bag. I wondered if there was a similar design in a coat that would provide a little more protection from the rain. Sure enough there are dozens out there, with some of them being stored into a separate little bag as opposed to the pocket of the coat. I read many reviews and decided that the sizing was all over the place and ordering online would not be wise. So I went to REI so that I could try the jackets on for size. Har, har. I narrowed my choices down to the North Face and the REI brand. While I think the North Face probably looked a little better on me, I tried it on with a fleece underneath and it was too snug across the shoulders. Going up a size just looked ridiculous. The REI jacket looks fine and can handle a fleece underneath as well. Unfortunately the forecast for my trip looks a little cool and rainy, so I may need to layer. There are many features I like on this coat. I can put an iPod or my phone in a designated pocket so I can listen to music yet the device is secure; it has the zipped vents under the arms if you get too hot; the hood is designed in a way to really protect your face in a downpour and is also detachable; it folds into its own pocket so no extra bag to worry about; and it has nice, deep zippered pockets. The only negative is that when it is tucked into its pocket, the pouch is probably a little too big to put into my Curse (see previous post for the Curse) along with the camera and iPad. I am looking into fitting it with a clasp that could attach to my bag.

jacket tucked into pocket

REI rain jacket

I downloaded a language app onto my iPhone, but of course that will only work if I am in a free wifi zone since I will the cellular data turned off. I also put a currency app on the phone so that I can convert the pricing on items. Germany uses euros while Switzerland has francs. Again, that is only helpful in a wifi area, but at least I can use it part of the time.

Because I have a pretty full itinerary I created a calendar in Microsoft Word, listing my flights and daily activities. Not only will it be a useful tool for me, it will allow my husband to virtually travel along with me.

my travel calendar

So overall I feel really good about where I am at right now. I have a small list of things to do each day this week for the trip, but nothing overwhelming. I have already contacted my credit card company about my travels, but my bank insists it only needs 48 hours for my debit card. I will call them tomorrow anyway because waiting until Wednesday makes me nervous. And I have a few little gift items to pick up. I am so ready to do this!

Finding New Leaves on the Family Tree

Things have really been moving on my genealogy trip to Germany this fall. Family Tree Tour reps Kathy and Matthias have found people in both Germany and Switzerland who are willing to do some research on my family and also meet with me when I arrive. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the volunteer in Insheim is looking for my Metz family records. He will also accompany me to Steinweiler where my fourth great-grandmother was from, though she married my fourth great-grandfather Andreas Mez in Insheim in 1777. The volunteer sent an email with a document about this couple, which lists 10 additional children that my cousins and I did not know about! It was in German, so I ran it through a translating program in Gmail. I got a chuckle out of the fact that the program translated Apolonia Schwein to Apolonia Pig. Somehow, I don't think she would have appreciated that!

Meanwhile down in Switzerland, volunteer Rolf has been a busy bee! He has taken photos of over 400 documents to share with me. Wow! But perhaps even more exciting is the fact that he has contacted 25 members of the Kubler family in the area, and they want to have a family meeting with me. This is so above and beyond anything I could have imagined! We are still working out the logistics, but I believe I will leave my tour group in Boppard, Germany and take a train to Busserach on a Thursday. I have no concept of how long that will take by train, but it looks like it is about four hours by car. Then on Friday Rolf and I will go to the research center together and look at records, and Saturday will be the family gathering where we will talk about what we have found. At this point I am not sure if I will take the train to Speyer, Germany to meet up with my group on Saturday night, or if I can stay until Sunday. Currently I am scheduled to go to Insheim on Sunday to meet with the volunteer there, but Matthias is checking to see if we could do it on Monday instead.

Near Busserach is an inn called Gastof zum Kreuz where I hope to stay. My ancestor in 1854 sold his house and his land to finance his voyage to the United States. He left Switzerland after February 1854 with four children. We are uncertain at this time what happened to his wife. But how amazing would it be to stay at an inn that is part of my ancestor's history?

Yesterday I attended a workshop on writing your family history. While I have written other books, writing about family is another animal altogether. Trying to take dry statistics and turn them into something others will want to read is a challenge indeed. But I have a feeling that after my trip this September I will be able to find a way to make two of the branches come to life.

How Deep are Your Roots?

As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, I am heading to the Rheinland-Pfalz area of Germany with Family Tree Tours this fall. As a tour company specializing in genealogy, their trips combine the best of both worlds - travel to beautiful locations and the opportunity to learn more about your family heritage. In looking at all the names in my family tree, including those of Jim's ancestors, I was only able to locate one family in this part of Germany. But it happens to be the Metz family, and I have a couple of cousins who have previously researched the family so at least I have a base to work with. My 2nd great-grandfather was only 43 when he died of a bee sting in Insheim in 1862. His wife Barbara was left with a rather large family to raise, including my great-grandfather who was only 4 months old when his father died. In 1866 Barbara boarded the ship Fulton with 6 of her children, heading for Cincinnati where at least one of her older children resided.  I provided Family Tree Tours with all the information I had about this family.

Barbara Karch Metz grave, Cincinnati, OH

I was excited to learn recently that the company has already heard back from volunteers willing to help research my Metz family in Insheim, Germany. Someone will meet me when I arrive in the town and will show me around the area and talk to me about what they have found. Insheim is only about 30 minutes away from the town of Speyer that will function as our base on the second half of our trip, so that will be an easy trip to make.

As I studied the map of the part of Germany where we will be staying and traveling, I decided to gauge the distance between Speyer and Busserach, Switzerland. It appeared to be about a 2-3 hours ride. Busserach is where my 2nd great-grandfather Joseph V. Kubler was born. Kubler is my maiden name, which we always believed to be German. As I began to research the name many years ago, I traveled to Connersville, Indiana where Joseph raised his family and is buried. I found a death notice in the newspaper that stated he came from Busserach. An additional article in a book about leading industries in Fayette County, Indiana corroborated that fact. My dad was so surprised to learn that he was Swiss! No one had ever mentioned it in the family.

Joseph V. Kubler grave, Connersville, IN

I forwarded my information to Family Tree Tours, and they said it would be doable to travel to Busserach though I will have to spend the night there due to the distance. They contacted someone in the town and heard back from them right away. Someone from Busserach is willing to show me around the area, and there are still families named Kubler who live there. Further, they forwarded a Kubler family tree dating back to 1700! Is it my tree? I don't know yet as the birth year for their Josef and the one I have for Joseph (father of Joseph V.) is off by quite a bit. But it definitely points me in the direction of what I need to do next in order to see if they are one and the same.

In all my years of doing genealogy, and house research as well, things have never come easy. To have the opportunity to see these two ancestral towns with experts from the area is something I never dreamed would happen. I believe I will have much to write about this fall!

Family History Fair

National Archives

Yesterday I attended the annual fair of the St. Louis Genealogical Society, held at the Maryland Heights Centre. It is the largest single day genealogy event in the Midwest, and is always well attended. A national speaker is brought in, and then other breakout sessions are held throughout the day. I normally stick with the sessions presented by the national speaker as I feel I can usually catch one of the other speakers at a different time. This year's presenter focused on records available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and how to best utilize your time if you plan to visit. She also talked about the National Library buildings as well, and what we might find there. Since Andy and Megan live in the area, I would very much like to plan a trip to see them and visit the archives. The information I received at the conference was helpful, and hopefully I can put it to good use.

When the main presenter had a break, I was able to catch a session on researching in Germany, which could not be more timely for me. Better yet, the speaker was the woman who is leading my Germany tour this fall, so it was great to be able to meet her face to face before the trip. I also was able to talk with the other couple from the society who are going on the trip and touch base with them again. So overall, a good day with new leads on pursuing my family.

A Family Tree Vacation

For several years I have been seeing advertisements by Family Tree Tours to travel to the country of your ancestors for the purpose of doing genealogical research and also to see the areas where they lived. It seems that the trips are normally to Germany, though I do think they went to Ireland last year. What makes these tours unique is that the tour director will try to line up an English speaking person in the town you want to visit, and will help you get to the town for a visit to hopefully learn about your family. Since I don't speak one lick of German, this would be of great benefit to me.

The reason I began to think seriously about going this year is the fact that we have a copy of the travel journal that Elsie Metz kept back in 1912. My Metz family is from the Rhineland Pfalz area of Germany, and that happens to be one of the tours in 2013. As I looked at the map I realized that the last town the tour will be visiting is only a thirty minute drive from Insheim, where my Metz family lived. Additionally one of my Metz cousins has introduced me through Facebook to a Metz relative who still lives in Insheim, so the possibility exists that I could meet her as well.

Unfortunately after looking at all of the German ancestors on both my side and Jim's side of the family, the Metz family is the only one from this region of Germany. So I would not be able to try and find any additional families on this trip. As part of the tour price, they will arrange for you to visit up to three ancestral towns so I would lose out there.

After reviewing the tour as a whole and all the wonderful places it will be visiting, I decided to go ahead and sign up for the trip. I mailed my deposit off yesterday. I know there are a couple people from the St. Louis Genealogical Society who have also committed to the trip, so I am hoping that we might be able to coordinate our travel plans so that I am not flying that distance alone. But if not, I will survive. What an adventure this will be! I can follow Elsie's lead and keep a travel journal. I will definitely be thinking of her on the trip.

Shaking the Family Tree

Crusham Family

On my Write Formation blog I have been writing about the fact that I am participating in the February Family History Writing Challenge again this year. For last year's challenge I was writing about one of the branches on my mom's tree - the Crusham family. I would love to do a book about the family particularly since I have traveled to where they lived in Ireland, and I thought the challenge would give me the push I needed to get on with the project. I was able to keep up with the daily writing word count I had established for myself, but I realized there is still a lot I don't know about the family. So I have continued to research them and the towns they lived in. For this year's challenge I decided to write my own story, and it has been much easier to come up with things I want to say. I think I will probably just keep going with it once the challenge is done the end of February.

Having said that, I am excited to be going over to Cincinnati this weekend with my sister. We always have a lot of fun visiting the relatives and eating unique Cincinnati food, but this weekend I will be pushing forward with my Crusham research. Two of my mom's first cousins, sisters in fact, are meeting my sister and me for lunch on Saturday. My mom's two remaining sisters will join us as well. These cousins, whom I have only met briefly at funerals, used to live with my great-grandparents when they were young. I am so eager to hear the stories they will have to tell! And I am hoping they won't mind if I videotape them as well, if that is possible at a restaurant. Maybe they know why great-grandpa's dad came over from Ireland all by himself when he was only about 18 years old. And why he picked Cincinnati as a place to live. If I am lucky I will be getting some great material to add to the Crusham Chronicles!

Family Heirlooms

Last weekend we attended the Wolterman Family Reunion at Lake Okoboji in Iowa. As I was already up in Iowa to be of assistance as my mother-in-law had surgery on her carotid artery, Jim drove up separately for the gala. We were excited about this year's reunion because first of all it was being held at a lake, so swimming and boating were involved. But secondly, one of Jim's cousins had sent out an email earlier indicating that she was no longer interested in keeping a dresser that had been Jim's great-grandparents. The email told the story (and included pictures!) of the dresser, and how it had been passed from generation to generation, often serving as a baby changing table - before they came up with all the fancy changing tables on the market today.

If you had an interest in the dresser, you simply had to let Kay know and she would bring the piece from her home in northern Illinois to the family reunion. If multiple people wanted the dresser, then all the names would be placed in a hat and a winner would be drawn. The caveat was that you had to be able to take the dresser home with you. No delivery would be available. Anyone who knows Jim and me, especially if they had seen our house and all the antiques, would know that we put our name in the hat. Besides the fact that this is an antique, we would have wanted it due to the provenance of the piece. Interestingly, Jim's dad was the first one to say he wanted it. Jim and I discussed this, and we decided that if our name was selected, we would give it to his dad. In my opinion, the piece should have been offered to the remaining siblings first.

Jim's folks were unable to attend the reunion, located two and a half hours from their home, due to Lorraine's surgery the previous week. As it turns out, that would make Jim and me the only Woltermans at the Wolterman reunion. Funny... None of our names were selected for the dresser, which went to a first cousin of Jim's up in Minnesota. We were disappointed, but we had a great time at the reunion that day. There was great conversation, good food, boating and swimming. The lodge in the state park was huge, with screened in windows, ceiling fans and loads of tables and chairs. In the evening we headed to a cousins lake home, and didn't get back to our hotel room in nearby Spencer until nearly midnight.

The next morning the cousin with the lake house hosted breakfast, and Jim took off on a jet ski with another cousin. Had I not showered and done my hair and make-up that morning, I would have gone along. I love to jet ski! When we arrived back at the lodge for lunch before heading home, we were told that the sisters (Jim's aunts) had decided that we should take the dresser because the person whose name was drawn was not even at the reunion, and her mom didn't have a car big enough to take it home nor was she at the lodge that day to make arrangements for the piece. So we loaded it up and took it back to Charles City with us. There may be some hard feelings from the one family member, but for now the piece is in my father-in-law's garage where he is anxious for the weather to cool so that he can restore it. It was meant to be!

Family Timelines

The St. Louis Genealogical Society had a presentation yesterday on linking historical events to your family history. The presenter, Pat Stamm, used Samuel Clemons in her illustration of how events in history probably shaped Clemons' life in terms of where he moved and what he wrote about. It was a very interesting discussion, and one I hope to put into use as I write my dad's story during WWII. I had gone to the meeting thinking about how to use timelines in writing family history, and how talking about historical events could add another dimension to it. But during the Q. & A. a woman mentioned how she was going to take what she learned and create a timeline of her father-in-law's life for an 80th birthday party. Which got me thinking about the senior all night graduation party I have been working on with the other parents. Wouldn't it be fun to create a timeline from 1990 to 2009 and have it on a board for the kids to look at? A lot has happened in the world and the country in the last 19 years. Being in charge of memorabilia, it would fit right into what I am working on. I already have created a list of the number one songs for each of those years (with the exception of 2009, of course), and we'll have photographs from years past on boards for the kids to look at. A timeline will be a nice addition to all that, I think. We'll see what pops up.