"Grande Papa Ralph Longneck" - Just for Fun

'
People that know me will say that I am one of the last to brag about my family... but, I would like to brag just a little. The American Indians (AKA: Native Americans) waved a welcome to the Europeans arriving on the East coast of Colonial America in the 1600's or earlier. However, when the Indians first crossed the Bearing Sea into Alaska and spread across North America, it was my ancestors (who had been in America for so long) that were waving a welcome to these much earlier inhabitants to America. I am sure that some historians would try to deny this family tradition of my ancestors as being just a fabrication. I know it is true because my great aunt heard this story from her very old great grand mother when my great aunt was a very small child.

We have all heard some really unbelievable fantastic family stories! I keep meeting people that tell me someone in the family has the family tree all the way back to King So & So in the 1300's, but they do not know who their great grandfather in this line was. Well, again, not to brag, but someone in my family has traced our family line way back millions of years to the Dinosaurs! We even have a family photo of our direct
ancestors... the rather tall one in this photo is Ralph Longneck from
my mother's side (later the family dropped the "neck" part of the name). Instead of being called Great, Great whatever Grandpa, he is known to the family as "Grande Papa!" As you can see, the photo was taken during the ice age. Below is Grande Papa with wife, kid and some neighbors!

Ok, I am only joking! I liked this ice
sculpture done at the 2011 Alaskan Ice Festival and made up these
stories to legitimize directing our blog readers to these works of
unbelievable beauty. My wife's distant cousin, Gary Quick, sent this
and several other works of art by email. Here is a site to see other
photos of some more incredible ice sculptures:

https://www.google.com/search?q=alaskan+ice+festival&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7RNWN_en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2VE1T5PuMMeDtgezg-3LAg&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1680&bih=910

Above is a photo of this huge ice art work with a large crowd.

- Compiled by JGWest

"Just For Fun!"

'

The Mirror

After living in the remote wilderness of Kentucky all his life, an old man decided it was time to visit the big city.In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it. Not ever having seen one before, he remarked at the image staring back at him, "How about that! Here's a picture of my daddy."

He bought the 'picture', but on the way home he remembered his wife, didn't like his father. So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it. His wife began to get suspicious of these many trips to the barn.

One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror. As she looked into the glass, she fumed, "So that's the ugly woman he's runnin' around with."

- Diana Marshall posted this on MyFamily.com for Grayson County, Kentucky. Some genealogy related humor.

"Do You Have a Popular Surname?" - Just for Fun

'

How Popular is Your Surname?

Back when I was giving my live demonstrations of my favorite genealogical sites on the Internet, for fun (and to add a break to get everyone involved), I would go to this site called Hamrick's U.S. Surname Distribution based on the U.S. Census reports. This site is still online at http://www.hamrick.com/names/ . The site would show a sliding scale of color according to the number of your surname as compared to others and this would be shown on the U.S. state map with each state having the distribution color. If the colors were mostly blues in the map your surname is not a common one, while on the other end if the map was mostly red or orange, it was a common name.

I just learned of another site on Eastman's blog Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter This one is on PublicProfiler.org and shows some different data about surnames and their popularity. For example some of my ancestors were named FLATT not a very common name... in the world the frequency of the name was only 18.9 per million surnames. The neat thing is that of the top five cities with the largest concentration of Flatt's the one in the U.S. is Cookeville, Tennessee - which is the area where my Flatt's lived! Here is this surname site:
http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/

Check them out... you might learn something about your family!

- Compiled by JGWest

"Hostile Take-Over"

'

The Society President announces today that he has halted a vicious take-over attempt of the society...

It seems that the "Grey Lady" Ghost at Willard Library demonized an older library employee and an old maid socialite into making a bid to make a hostile take-over of the society in order to control who has access to the society storage closet and how long they can use it.

Although the allegations are serious, the police nor TV's Ghost Hunters have been called in.

~~~~~~~~

***********

***********

~~~~~~~~

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Could not resist using the Grey Lady of Willard Library in an April Fool's Day gag. Last night on TV, the show "Ghost Hunters" aired a re-run of their investigation of Willard Library possible haunting by the "Grey Lady." And although there seems to be a lot of control issues of our society's storage closet, I do not think anyone would make an attempt to do anything hostile about it. This is just for fun! ;^)

"The Genealogy Funny Papers" - Just for Fun

'

The Genealogy Funny Papers...

A list of links to pages that will make you smile and maybe even laugh out loud! (If you know of other sites, please send them to me to share with our bloggers.)

These were sent to me by Don Counts:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tracers/thefunny.htm

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ruthptb/Funny_Genealogy_Stuff.html

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~frankbarton/stories/funny.html

http://familyhistory101.com/blog/?p=11

Cyndi's List has some very good sites for humor and unusual items of genealogical interest -

http://www.cyndislist.com/humor.htm

Here are some that I have collected over the years:

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cpalmer/ponder.htm

http://lest-we-forget.com/The_Outhouse/

http://www.potifos.com/tpg/index.html

http://www.cyndislist.com/odds.htm

I will close this list with this final little site that I encourage everyone to visit:

http://members.evansville.net/mylines/done.html

-Compiled by JGWest

From My Email Box - "Abbott & Costello - Just for Fun!"

You have to be old enough to remember Abbott and Costello, and too old to REALLY understand computers, to fully appreciate this. For those of us who sometimes get flustered by our computers, please read on...
If Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were alive today, their infamous sketch, 'Who's on First?' might have turned out something like this:
COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look at the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes..
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let's just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue 'W'.
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue 'w' if you don't start with some straight answers. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer.
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes.. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy Money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!
(A few days later)
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on 'START'.......….…

- Sent to me by Graham Denby Morey

From My Email Box - "Unusual Grave Markers - Just for Fun!"

.

Don Counts has sent me these photos from "Funpic" twice in the last 10 days... so for Don and all of us who find tombstones a work of art, interesting, humorous at times, beautiful & unusual - here are some good ones with added remarks by me...

[If you find anything like these in the tri-state area, consider submitting it for "Tombstone Thursday" for this blog - we will give you the photo credit. - JGW]

We have all seen this type before.
There are lots of variations of this sort of humor (or maybe not so funny!)

There are many markers reflecting hobbies: golf, fishing, etc. This one is somewhat unusual!

This one is taking the love of one's life and making it into a work of art in stone.

This may be my favorite of all time... really cool!

This is the most elaborate and unique I have ever seen.

-Submitted by Don Counts

Quilt Photo Contest!

Mary Biever, a 4-H Leader & facebook friend, suggested that I announce the Quilt Show 2009---Harvest of Quilts VIII "Through a Quilter's Eye" September 18 (set up), 19, 20, 2009 The Raintree Quilters exhibited a record number of quilts at the last show. This show promises to be just as exciting. In addition to many interesting venders the guild hosts the Treasure Table where new and used quilt items are donated for sale to the public. The 2009 Raintree Quilt Guild Harvest of Quilts Show will be held at a new venue. The new site will be the Vanderburgh Co. 4-H Center located just off US 41 N, on 210 E. Boonville/New Harmony Rd., Evansville, IN.

Mary said, "Admission is $5 per person. They are setting up now! Quilts are gorgeous!!!!!!!!!! This is a must see for any quilt lover or seamstress. They must have 200 quilts on display. They will completely fill the 4-H Center auditorium, except for a tiny area near the stage with a few designated foods tables. There will also be vendors selling quilting supplies. This is the nicest exhibition of quilts I've ever seen in Evansville or our area."

The connection to genealogy (or history) is the fact that most families have quilts passed down from generation to generation. There are many "Friendship Quilts" that list friends or members of a group or family members... often with signatures & sometimes little notes or messages (poems). As Mary stated these quilts are gorgeous and would be great to show some photos on this blog. We had the Frog Follies Photo Contest... it would be fun to have a Quilt Photo Contest.

RULES for contest: First, there is no monetary award, just the honor of having your photo and name on this blog and preserving a little history. I will select at least six photos to display on "The First Mate's Photo Album" feature on Wed. 30 Sep 2009 of the TSGS Cruiser Blog. Other photos may be displayed between then & now, but may or may not be the final "winners." The photos must be from the Quilt Show 2009---Harvest of Quilts VIII "Through a Quilter's Eye." All of the quilts are winners, so you need to find a neat way to present one or more of them or catch something that makes your photo stand out a little more than the other great photos. Send as many entries as you wish, but only 3 at a time, to John G. West jgw.mylines@gmail.com You can send me an url to where you may have a photo album that I can pick from and save. Before I will post any photos, I must have the permission of the photographer to post them on the TSGS Cruiser Blog. If you want to have a copyright for the photo, please state that and it will be included. Include any comment or explanation if desired, your name, where from, if you know the name or title of the quilt. Thanks for helping us have some fun and preserve a little history... Good Luck to all! - JGWest

"A Photo is Worth a Thousand Words!"

.

They say (you know who "they" are)... "That a photo is worth a thousand words!" or is it?

Here is a photo of Ruth Hall (with the purple Colonial dress and her back is to the camera) giving a speech before a large crowd at Central High School. The event was the Junior ROTC Awards night and our Ohio Valley SAR Chapter was to present an award to a deserving cadet... DAR does the same along with each of the branches of the military and other groups. In this "standing room" only crowd, you can see the interest everyone has in Ruth's speech.


This photo is a fooler... Ruth is not giving a speech - she is taking a photo of some of us that came to present the award after the meal. Those standing were in line to get food! So, a photo may be worth a thousand words, that is, if you know what the photo represents. If we put a caption to this picture as: "Ruth Hall addresses large crowd at CHS JROTC Awards Banquet" - you would think that she actually did address this big group back in 2006!

- Photo taken by Chris Myers

Photo Contest - Frog Follies 2009

.


2009 Frog Follies Photo Contest
Vanderburgh County 4-H Center
Evansville, Indiana

Click on samples below to see the full size image. The contest is just for fun and to preserve one of the Evansville area's largest events... some 5,000 vehicles will be on display this weekend - all must be 1949 or older. The cars have come to Evansville over the last 35 years and is like an invasion... they are everywhere! You can go to the 4-H Center or just roam a little around town or out in the rural areas, too. At least two were at The Hornet's Nest in Earle, IN.

RULES for contest: First, there is no monetary award, just the honor of having your photo and name on this blog and preserving a little history. I will select at least six photos to display on "The First Mate's Photo Album" feature on Wed. 02 Sep 2009 of the TSGS Cruiser Blog. Other photos may be displayed between then & now, but may or may not be the final "winners." The photos may come from previous years, but must be from the Frog Follies (please include year). The photos may be of anything connected with the Frog Follies: cars, people, signs, etc. All of the vehicles are winners, so you need to find a neat way to present one or more of them or catch something that makes your photo stand out a little more than the other great photos. Send as many entries as you wish, but only 3 at a time, to John G. West jgw.mylines@gmail.com You can send me an url to where you may have a photo album that I can pick from and save. Before I will post any photos, I must have the permission of the photographer to post them on the TSGS Cruiser Blog. If you want to have a copyright for the photo, please state that and it will be included. Include any comment or explanation if desired, your name, where from, if you know the year and make of vehicle, what year photo was taken if other than 2009. Thanks for helping us have some fun and preserve a little history... Good Luck to all!

The following are photos taken by Linda L. Young-Niemeier of Evansville. Click on the photos to enlarge!

- All photos taken by Linda L. Young-Niemeier

From My Email Box - "Puzzles - Just for Fun!"

Genealogists are detectives... puzzle solvers! I thought it might be fun for visitors to have a few puzzles to sharpen their puzzle solving skills.

Telephone Mathematical Puzzle

Grab a calculator. (You won't be able to do this one in your head)

1. Key in the first three digits of your phone number(NOT the Area
code...)
2. Multiply by 80
3. Add 1
4. Multiply by 250
5. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number
6. Add to this the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
7. Subtract 250
8. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer?
- Submitted by Sherri Bradley

From Alice Warner comes the mathematical explanation how the above puzzle was developed and how it works... she makes it all quite simple!

When done properly, it should concatenate the two numbers used (the
first three digits, and the last 4 digits) so that you wind up with
your 7 digit phone number.

The way this works is through algebra. Assume the first three digits
to be "x" and the last 4 to be "y". The instructions lead you to this:

Step 1: x
Step 2: 80x
Step 3: 80x+1
Step 4: (80x+1)*250 = 2000x+250
Step 5: 2000x+250+y
Step 6: 2000x+250+2y
Step 7: 2000x+250+2y-250 = 2000x+2y
Step 8: (2000x+2y)/2 = 1000x+y

Then, since multiplying by multiples of 10 shifts the decimal point
one number, 1000x means that your three digit exchange becomes
###0000. Then by adding the last 4 digits you wind up with #######,
which will always be the first three digits concatenated by the last 4
digits, on the assumption that the first number x is ALWAYS a 3 digit
number and the second number y is ALWAYS a 4 digit number.

My cousin Beverly Justus Jones sent me this great puzzle that will help you learn the locations of exactly where each state fits in our country - it is kind of a geography puzzle.

Place the States!

This is fun, lets see how good you are.!!!

Place exactly on the spot....

Wonder how a high school senior would do on this one. See how you do in placing the states of the United States of America. All you do is look at the top of the page and "drag'n'drop" the state where it belongs. Smart map, varies the order of the states' placement with each new try! Look across from the word Place to see the state!

It isn't easy mostly because placing a state in the precise location when it as yet has no boundaries in place is a bit tricky! No half credit for close but over a tad....If you get it wrong, click and drag to the correct area which will show up in red.

http://jimspages.com/States.htm
Click on the above site.

Have some fun and improve some of your genealogical skills! - JGWest

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

My Little Princess at the Evansville Zoo

Halle West poses for Grandpa for this photo at the Amazonia Exhibit at the Evansville Mesker Park Zoo. One of her favorites are the bats! (Summer 2009)

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

Walking Through the Park with Grandpa

Evan West walks through Evansville Mesker Park Zoo with his Grandpa West (Summer 2009).

- Photo taken with a cell phone by JJ West (Evan's father & son of John West - aka Grandpa)

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

Another one of God's beautiful sunsets!

Taken on Interstate 64 on way back home from Louisville Zoo on 06 Jun 2009. Becky & I had such a nice trip to Louisville. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack, toured a nearby car cruise-in and local bands playing music (fund raiser for children) and then to the zoo where we witnessed a wedding in the cemetery in the zoo! This sunset was just a wonderful close to a great day. Many have liked the sunsets on this blog, so I thought I would share this one with you.

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

Beautiful White Marble Plaque

1931 Dedication

Downtown Central Library

The city built a very nice, larger, new library downtown and this building was adopted by the Children's Museum of Evansville (AKA: cMoe). My wife & I took our grandkids to this marvelous building that has been restored and preserved and being used for kids of all ages to have a lot of fun and learn, too! If you have not been there get your kids, grandkids or the neighbors' kids and go... you will be proud of what Evansville has to offer our kids!

-submitted by JGWest

"Wedding in a Cemetery in a Zoo!"

Ok, you go to a zoo to see animals (sometimes botantical gardens); but at our recent visit to the Louisville Zoo, we found a nice little cemetery, too! Later, as we passed the area of the zoo with the cemetery, we observed the photo session of a wedding party after the vows were repeated... where? in the cemetery in the zoo! Click on photos for a larger image.



Above is the wedding party bridesmaids getting their photo taken. We noticed that the ladies had very nice black & white floral design sun dresses, bright yellow high-heeled shoes with matching yellow necklaces & earrings. The groomsmen wore black tuxedos with yellow handkerchiefs and ties.

Here is the cemetery in the zoo that the wedding took place. This confirms the new wave or trend to get married in cemeteries as this blog recently reported. We posted a blog on here about the cemetery with a few more photos.

On our way out of the zoo, we came upon some of the groomsmen and commented on the wedding, they pointed out that they all wore yellow socks and yellow personalized monogramed tennis shoes. Ross let me take a photo of his shoes. My thought is that this was a really neat wedding with a creative young couple starting a fresh life together.


-Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

From My Email Box - "100 Years Ago!"

THE YEAR 1909
One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :
************ ********* ********* ******

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
Of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health'

- Sent by Ed Hitchcock

RECORD OF THE SHIP'S CREW - "Fancy or Unusual Family Tree Charts"

Thanks to Don Counts for this idea for a new feature. We all have family tree charts hanging on the wall, in the family Bible or just rolled up in a box or drawer. Send us a picture of yours to share with everyone... it does not need to be filled out. - JGWest

This is a wall chart that is framed of Don's Floro family

Close-up of the entries on the chart.

- Photos submitted by Don Counts & taken by Kim Whitmore Weber... descendants of the Floro Family.

"The Kiefer Mystery Case"

Frank Vincent Kiefer

Yesterday for Tombstone Thursday we featured the grave marker for Frank Kiefer. Several odd pieces of information has made him a bit of a mystery. The marker states he is an actor... so one would wonder, what type of actor - and was he local, regional or on a larger stage? That is just mere curiosity, however. The mystery is a little more than that. His marker states he was born on"Friday May 26, 1873" & died on "Friday May 26, 1933" - for any genealogist this looks suspicious and sticks out like a sore thumb! One of those "Friday May 26" engravings is probably incorrect! Now, Brenda Jerome reported that the 1930 Census lists a Frank Kiefer who would be about the right age living with his family on Emmett Street in Evansville, Indiana. Now, in the Browning Obits Database there is a Frank Kiefer age 79 that died in 1955 with the similar survivors as the Keifer family in the 1930 Census living at 1303 Emmett Street. At age 79 in 1955 (if that is the right age) this Frank Kiefer would have been born about 1876 (close enough to suspect he is the same man).

So, what is the scoop on this guy? Genealogists, historians, mystery lovers... I challenge you to unraffle this man's life so we will know his story! Write to me or comment on this blog. Here is my email addy: jgw.mylines@gmail.com

- Submitted by JGWest

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

Back on Aprill 11, 2009, I posted a photo of Henry Maurer's watermelon with other fruit & vegetables to form an Hawaiian scene.
Square Watermelons

The next day or so, Don Counts sent me two items about watermelons. A round watermelon can take up a lot of room in a refrigerator, and the usually round fruit often sits awkwardly on refrigerator shelves. Smart Japanese farmers have forced their watermelons to grow into a square shape by inserting the melons into square, tempered glass cases while the fruit is still growing on the vine.

The other one is just for fun! From "Funny Town" - incredible watermelon sculptures! You have to see these!!! Click here to see some of the most beautiful art you may ever see all from a watermelon.

Thanks, Don, these are great!

"For Our Civil War Buffs!"

Bill Cook sent me the following link for some great Civil War photos:

http://www.mikelynaugh.com/VirtualCivilWar/New/Originals2/index.html

Bill says that these are "awesome photos" and those interested in the Civil War could kill an hour or so viewing them. Click on the photos for an enlargement and more information about each photo.