At last year's Campbell Reunion, we formed a committee to address when
future reunions should be held - both as to frequency and time of year. The
date we chose for that reunion, the last Saturday in June didn't work out
too well - there were too many calendar conflicts. Some people had to be at
weddings (in one case - his own); many had class reunions that same
weekend.
So a committee was formed to address this problem. They made a good start,
but because of illness, travel, computer crashes, etc., progress was much
slower than anticipated. By the time Chairperson Sue Campbell felt she was
unable to continue, they had created a survey and a cover letter to send
out, but had not yet done that.
Most of the members of that committee are on this mail list, as are all the
officers of our Reunion Society. I want to thank all of them for their
efforts and a good start. I think they had all filled out the survey and
returned it to Sue, but I believe their responses were lost when a virus or
worm damaged Sue's computer files.
Below is the cover letter and survey as of that point. I've made a couple
of changes to have them returned to me instead of to her.
Please fill out the survey and FORWARD IT TO ME INSTEAD OF TO THE MAIL LIST.
The instructions are slightly different for those that will be used when
the survey is sent through "normal e-mail" or US Mail.
Because it was designed to be sent directly through e-mail or printed and
mailed, please be tolerant of the alterations that the mail list program
makes -- differences of font, size, bold, underline, italics, etc. are all
stripped out my the mail list software. If any one wants the original
message, please let me know, and I'll e-mail one to you directly.
If you have any comments or suggestions about changes to the survey before
we e-mail and US mail it to the rest of the family, please send them to the
list (or to me if you prefer). And if anyone would like to volunteer to
replace Sue as Chair, please let me know.
Thanks.
----------
From: Sue Campbell
To: Bill Thompson
Subject: Revised Cover letter and Survey
----- Original Message -----
After we perfect the email version, I'll modify the directions and produce a
printed version to be mailed to descendents who don't have email addresses.
Here's the Cover Letter and Survey:
Dear Campbell/Harper Descendent,
You may know already that you are descended from Joseph Campbell and Mary
Harper, both of Scottish heritage, who settled in Nelson, Pennsylvania in
1811, with children, grandchildren, and Hazlett sons-in-law.. You also may
know that the Campbell/Harper Descendents liked to stay in touch. They held
a family reunion in Nelson each year from 1893 until 1942 when gasoline
rationing during World War II made travel impractical.
A few years ago, several family members came up with the dread of reviving
the tradition of holding reunions and, through their hard work, the reunion
of Campbell/Harper Descendents was held in Nelson in June 2001. About 30 of
us attended to meet new relatives, catch up with old friends, swap family
histories and just have a good time. Our inter-related Campbell, Hazlett,
Blackwell, and Lugg families attended as in "the old days".
Many more of you would have joined us had the reunion taken place on a
different date. Some of you told us you have too many commitments to attend
each year. A committee was formed to consider these issues and recommend a
date for future reunions that will enable more Descendents to attend.
As the Committee discussed the problem, it became clear that more was
involved than just scheduling. Since the 1940s, the Campbell/Harper
Descendents have dispersed all over the United States and beyond. Fewer of
us are linked to each other by shared memories of relatives, hometowns and
holiday visits. We are more likely to be strangers than family. How many
of us want to get together? For those that do, what common interests draw
us together? Are there other ways to stay in touch for people who cannot
attend a reunion?
Please tell us what is best for you by completing the attached survey. It
will only take a few minutes and your response is very important to us.
Thank you and we hope you will stay in touch!
Sincerely,
Scheduling Comittee
.
DESCENDENTS OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND MARY HARPER SURVEY
Directions: Start by pressing the FORWARD key and entering
bill.thompson@wtassoc in the "To:" field. Please respond right on this
survey, in the body of the message. Type the requested information
following each questin. After you finish, click on SEND to return the
survey.
1. I would like to stay in touch with the Campbell/Harper descendents so I
can:
(Check all that apply.)
___Find relatives
___Keep up with ones you know
___Learn more about your ancestors
___Other
reason________________________________________________________________
___Do not want to stay in touch (Stop here & return survey.)
2. What is the most convenient way for you to stay in touch? (Check one.)
___Attend a reunion
___Write a letter
___Make a phone call
___Send an e-mail
___Visit a website
3. Would you be more likely to attend a reunion if:
a. Reunions were held closer to you? (Please check the farthest distance you
are likely to travel to attend.)
___0-100 miles
___101-250 miles
___251-500 miles
___Over 500 miles
___Don't travel much anymore
___Keep in Nelson PA (Current location)
b. Reunions are scheduled during a more convenient time? (Please check the
months that you would be most likely to attend.)
___January ___May ___September
___February ___June (Current Mo.) ___October
___March ___July ___November
___April ___August ___December
c. Reunions are held less frequently? (Please check how often you would
attend.)
___Annually (Current frequency)
___Every other year
___Every 3rd year
___Every 5th year
d. Reunions are held near tourist attractions like Pennsylvanias Grand
Canyon near Wellsboro or Disneyland?
___Yes
___No
5. To help me stay in touch, I would like a Directory of addresses and
numbers for Campbell/Harper Descendents that is: (Check one.)
___Paper and mailed to meI would pay a small fee for postage and handling.
___Electronic version accessed via website
___Not interested in a Directory
6. I want the following information about me listed in the Directory:
Name:______________________________________________________________
Mailing Address:___________________________________________________
Telephone Number:__________________________________________________
Fax Number:________________________________________________________
E-mail Address:____________________________________________________
Personal Website Address:__________________________________________
7. If a Campbell/Harper Descendents website is developed, what would you
like to see on it? (Check all that apply.)
___Directory of Descendents
___Current news about living Descendents (important events, address changes,
vacation photos, etc.)
___Family trees
___Old photographs of ancestors
___Reasons for death of family members to help you assess your risk for
illness
___References for genealogical information
___Other suggestions:_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
7. Do you have information/memorabilia about the Campbell/Harper descendents
that you are willing to share on a website? (Please describe any items.)
Current news____________________________________________________________
Family trees____________________________________________________________
Old photographs_________________________________________________________
Reasons for death_______________________________________________________
Genealogical references_________________________________________________
Other___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated.