DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!
It is only fair that I warn you about the water in North Carolina. It seems that those who indulge hear bells and find themselves with the strong urge to relocate. Let me explain.
Tom Herd, our VP, met a lovely and wonderful woman from NC at the Fulbright Reunion, '93.
Her name is Frankie. She is my Mother's sister and a big fan of country music. When she found out that we were going to Springfield, and that it is so near to Branson, she signed up to attend the Fulbright Reunion. As the story goes, Tom had to come to NC to visit and for refreshment had a sip of the NC water. He heard bells, wedding bells, that is. Now Tom is moving to NC. Overnight, my cousin 200 years removed, became my uncle. Life is grand.
We extend our best wishes and congratulations to Tom and Frankie Herd.
Remember, to pack plenty of water when you come to visit, or you just may stay. And if you’re single...do I need say more?
We have been working on the Fall '94 Reunion to be held in Catawba County, NC. We hope to show you some real southern hospitality. There are several things I want to make you aware of and some questions that I would like to have feedback from you. You may call me at the Charlotte Observer, 1-800-532-5348 extension #6084.
North Carolina is beautiful during the fall and the Fulbright General Board voted to have our annual meeting in NC for 1994 during the second or third week of October. I chose October 22nd for the reunion/meeting so we could start planning. October is a wonderful time to see the state. It is the peak season for the fall colors in the NC mountains, but motel rooms are impossible to
find. For that reason, the room reservations must be secured 30 days in advance of your arrival date. I have reserved 50 rooms and some meeting rooms. I would like to try to get an idea of who is planning to join us. I can get more rooms if needed. if you are not sure but hope to be here, I need to know. I can cancel rooms 30 days ahead, but would not be able to get additional rooms.
Would you be interested in a tour of the area? Would you be willing to pay a fee for the use of \buses? My hope is that we can show you the areas around the Catawba River and Lyles Creek, where Grandpa Wilhelm first settled in NC. You would be interested in area in Lincoln County and where our family lives now. There is Trinity Luthern Church, where Peter is buried. He was Grandpa Wilhelm's grandson mentioned in the will, his is the oldest Fulbright grave that is known. The tour would be about 75 miles round trip and probably last 4 hours. Does this interest you? What other sites would you like to see?
We would probably reserve Saturday morning for the tours. For the researchers, Saturday is a good day for you too. The Libraries are opened. You would be within a 40 mile radius of Burke, Catawba, Lincoln, and Rowan Counties, all have a great deal of information and some excellent genealogy rooms. Are any of the genealogists planning to be here longer than the weekend? I could plan a trip for you to Raleigh to the State Archives or provide you with maps to county libraries, Court Houses, and Register of Deeds offices. Raleigh is an easy 3 hour drive from Catawba County all I-40.
For those driving on 1-40 and coming through the Smokies there are some interesting sites to take in. The Shook House, Lake Junaluska, the rock chapel that Guy Fulbright built, the Fulbright Cemetery, and Fulbright Cove are in Haywood County. Let me know if you are interested and in a later newsletter I'll provide more information.
This is going to be a terrific Fall '94 Reunion and Board meeting. I hope all of our family and friends will plan to attend. I enjoyed seeing the large number of Fulbrights in Springfield, but as Cousin Dave can tell you, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Good news for the Fulbright Room. This is a special project for our family and I hope you will be able to visit there. Del Bishop is going to bring us up to date on the progress of the Fulbright Room. I wanted to share my reasons for supporting the project.
One of my special uncles, Uncle Gene, let me borrow 30 plus photos that had been passed to him. I had the pictures copied and had just picked them up from the photographers. I placed the originals, the copies and the negatives in my briefcase. Less than three hours later, my two-week old car had the window smashed and someone took my briefcase and those precious photos. They can never be replaced. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was tell Uncle Gene the pictures were gone. I would give anything to have them back and to be able to contribute copies of them to the Fulbright Room. I encourage any family member that has precious records and pictures to donate them or copies of them to the Fulbright Room.
I don't want to end on a sad note. I do feel that it is important to realize how meaningful these pieces of history that each of you hold are to all of us. This room will carry our family name and it will hold a great deal of our history. I hope everyone can realize the importance of supporting it.
Please let me hear from you soon.
Your cousin, Judy Fulbright