The 39^th annual Aldrich Reunion was held in Newport, RI.  Many thanks to John John Aldrich for organizing an enjoyable weekend.  The Friday evening early bird gathering was held at Eileen Darling’s Restaurant at the Ramada Inn in Seekonk, MA.  A genealogy session was held the next morning at the Portsmouth, RI Senior Citizens’ Center.  Luncheon was taken at the Center, followed by the business meeting and election of officers.

Outgoing president John Aldrich as he is about to board the boat

for a tour of Newport Harbor

Lew Harris was recognized for traveling the furthest distance

(Palm Harbor, FL) to attend the reunion

Alice Pallidini was recognized by John Aldrich

for her outstanding work for the Association

On Saturday afternoon there was a bus tour of Newport which included a stop at a famous Newport mansion.  Sunday luncheon was enjoyed at the outdoor Dockside Restaurant on Goat Island, overlooking Newport Harbor.  Afterward, we took a cruise around the harbor on the Spirit of Newport.

19-21 July 2002 Business Meeting.

The annual meeting was convened at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, 20 July.  NAA President John Aldrich presided over the meeting.  John called a moment of silence to remember those Aldriches who had passed away in the previous year: Herman Aldrich and Gertrude Lena (Niles) Aldrich.

Denice Mitchell gave the Secretary’s report, reading the minutes from the annual meeting of 2001. 

Historian Bob Criswell reported on contact he has had from descendants of Timothy Aldrich who went to Ohio and other points west.  There were Aldriches of this lineage who went back and forth across the western states.  Bob also reported that Edward Aldrich and Peggy McLuth are working on their lines;  also the John and Joseph Aldrich lines are being worked on by various members.

Bob has made CDs from his files—he brought his laptop to this meeting—he’s updated and added data since last year.  The CD contained a GEDcom file of the database he uses as his primary reference, as well as the index of the Aldrich Family by Pearl and Raplh Aldrich.  He said his would overwrite an existing file, so anyone could add information to their computer files.  John Aldrich commended Bob Criswell for all his work as Historian on the website and answering questions for people through the site.  He described Bob as a very willing helper.

OLD BUSINESS:

John Aldrich said that Volumes I and II of the Aldrich Genealogy are available from Quinton Books of Pawtucket, RI.

It was announced that over 14,000 have visited the National Aldrich Association website and want to “get into” their Aldrich history, and there are currently over 200 people on the Aldrich List.

Bob Criswell reported that Ralph and Pearl’s genealogy, which is a study of the Aldrich family, containing 3,000 pages of manuscript, and which has never been published, has been donated to the Rhode Island Historical Society, and another copy was donated to the New England Historical Genealogical Society.  John Aldrich spoke of the guidelines that he and Alice Palladini drew up for the National Aldrich Association so that future officers will know how the organization works.  No board meeting has ever been organized—perhaps future officers may want to organize such meetings.

Alice Palladini said that she is the Moderator of the Aldrich List on the internet.  She supervises this project.

NEW BUSINESS 2002-2003:

The proposed slate of officers was read by Alice Palladini.  They were:

Nancy Eaton, President

Carol Minnis, Vice President

Wiley Aldrich, Treasurer ( Later replaced by Patty Hand)

Denice Mitchell, Secretary

Bob Criswell, Historian.

The proposed officers were voted on and unanimously approved.  It was noted that the new President and Vice President are granddaughters of Earl D. Aldrich, founder of the NAA.

Alice said that she and John had organized the reunions since 1997 Alice said that John had been doing the newsletter, taking over from Bob Criswell, to help reduce Bob’s workload.  Alice thanked John for all his help over the years.

Alice reported that the new President and Vice President will bring the next Annual Reunion to the Bethel, Maine area

Alice Palladini pointed out that while the Aldrich List has become a popular forum for Aldrich researchers, only about 20 people off this list have actually joined the National Aldrich Association.  The list was begun in hopes of boosting membership in the Association, but that has not happened.

In regard to the site of the next annual reunion, which will probably be held in Maine, Lew Harris said a state park, with volleyball, beach, etc., is a great setting for a reunion;  other family reunions he has attended have used such sites with great success, attracting many families, so that the family information and traditions and contacts can be passed down to younger generations.  Alice Palladini and others agreed, however, that the historical and cultural aspect of these reunions should not be ignored;  family visits are nice, but we should focus on Aldrich heritage of the past as well.

Alice Palladini and John Aldrich moved and seconded to donate $60 to the Portsmouth Senior Center for letting us use this meeting space during this day of the reunion.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:25 p.m., so that the attendees could drive to Newport and get aboard the scheduled harbor cruises.

-Denice Mitchell, Secretary.