The 2000 meeting was another successful get-together for the Alford
American Family Association. There were a total of 145 people that
attended at least one of the sessions scheduled over the three days.
We did not arrive until Thursday afternoon. We drove right by the
hotel the first time but turned around and found it. As a matter of
fact, I followed Wick Alford, one of our illustrious founders, to
the garage area. If it hadn't been for Wick, we might still be circling
the block looking for a place to park. The meeting was held in a hotel
called the Partridge Inn. It has been called "One of the South's
Finest" by Southern Living Magazine. The Inn boasts of once serving
as host to President Warren G. Harding. In the dining area, newspaper
front pages with headlines from President Harding's stay to stories
concerning the storied Masters Golf Tournament have been framed and
hung. It was the first hotel in Georgia chosen by the National Trust
for Historic Preservation for membership in Historic Hotels of America.
As far as the hotel staff is concerned, I have never stayed anywhere
that had a more friendly, accommodating staff than the Partridge Inn.
The entire staff from the general manager to the front desk to the
maintenance people to the gardeners always spoke when they met you
anywhere on the hotel grounds. The only snafu we encountered was a
reservation problem. When making reservations, I had requested a room
with two double beds. The reservations clerk told me that all their
rooms had double beds. When we checked in and the bellman showed us
to our room, one of the beds turned out to be a sofa sleeper. To the
bellman's credit, he did call the front desk to see if a room with
two double beds was available. Unfortunately, there were no other
rooms available at the moment so my daughter had to make the best
of the sofa sleeper. Once again, Ramona Darden, Chairperson of the
Meetings Committee, did an outstanding job of planning and coordinating
the meeting with the hotel staff. Please don't think that Ramona's
job ends when the meeting begins. She is as busy, if not more so,
during the meeting as she is before the meeting. And she does it all
with grace and dignity.
We did not arrive in time for the Thursday morning tour of Augusta.
But I did hear that it was an informative and interesting tour. One
comment I heard was that the bus stopped adjacent to the Augusta National
Golf course where the Masters Golf Tournament is held. As the tour
guide was going over the history of the golf tournament (remember,
she is talking to a bus load of genealogy-minded folks), some members
were having to bite their tongues because they were parked right beside
what looked like a very old cemetery about which the guide is saying
nothing.
We had two guests, Robert & Phyliss Chapman, from the Chapman
Family Association. They happen to be passing through Augusta during
the time of our meeting and Gil Alford invited them to drop by if
they had the time. Robert is the President of the Chapman Family Association.
He was hoping to pick up some ideas from our meeting that he could
incorporate into their association. We certainly hope that they both
enjoyed their visit, as I know we enjoyed having them attend.
Friday morning, registration started at 8 o'clock. The genealogy
workshop started at nine. People kept wandering in most of the day
picking up their registration packets and nametags. The gift shop
was right across the hall from the registration table. The gift shop
(formerly called the Store), managed by sisters, Sally Stoewer and
Jeanne Singleton and ably assisted by their husbands, Dick and Clif,
once again did a landslide business. For those of you who haven't
attended a meeting, the gift shop serves as a gathering place for
those members who aren't signed up for the session that is currently
in progress and those who just happen to have some spare money that's
burning a hole in their pocket. You can hear some very funny stories
in the gift shop. But I understand that at one point during the meeting,
some of the ladies gathered there (my wife being one of them) got
to discussing topics that were so embarrassing to the male gender
that the men in the room had to leave to preserve their dignity (or
their ears, I can't remember which). I do not believe I have ever
attended a meeting where I have heard and shared in as much laughter
as I did at this particular meeting. There were stories ranging from
waking up the proprietor of a gas station at 1 or 2 in the morning
to buy dollars worth of gas to military experiences.
The photo room was next door to the gift shop. Janice and John Smith
use this area to display photos that have been contributed to the
Association's photo archive. The photos range from Alfords of many
generations back to photos taken at the previous meeting. Anytime
during the three days of the meeting that you see Janice and John,
you will see a camera hung about their necks. They do an excellent
job of recording the meetings via film media. Perhaps the most difficult
part of their job is the taking of family group photos after the Saturday
night buffet. They try to get all the people from a particular line
together for a group shot.
Next door to the Photo Room was the Research Room. Each year, Gil
Alford, whose basement serves as AAFA Central Data Storage, packs
up notebook after notebook of data on those particular lines that
will be represented at the meeting. That is one reason that it is
so important that if you are planning to attend a meeting, you register
early so Gil can preplan as much as possible what to bring to the
meeting. In prior years, he hauled all this stuff in the back of his
van. This year, for the first time, it was necessary for him to pull
a trailer in order to bring all the material that he thought folks
would be using during the course of the meeting. The Research Room
was a busy place during the three day meeting with lots of people
availing themselves of all the material available.
The Genealogy Workshop was held on Friday. Lynn Shelley, our Vice
President, was in charge of the workshop. As usual, she did a marvelous
job ably assisted by other members of the Association. The reception
was held in the same room as the workshop. For the past several years,
the reception has been a stand up affair so as to encourage mingling.
This year, Ramona thought it would be a nice change if it were made
a sit down affair. It is rather difficult to hold a plate and a drink
and eat at the same time. If there is anything an Alford had rather
do than talk, it is eat. The food was great. There were four different
stations or areas where you could get food ranging from ham to cheeses
to vegetables to freshly cooked to order pasta. The room quickly filled
up and left some with no place to sit. Ramona to the rescue. Additional
tables were set up out on the veranda. To complicate matters, the
hotel had three wedding receptions also scheduled Friday night. Sitting
on the veranda (or porch as we called it), I observed a steady stream
of cars passing by trying to gain entrance to the parking garage or
just looking for anywhere they could park and believe me, those places
were at a premium that night.
After the reception, the Board of Directors held their annual meeting.
Many things were discussed. Among them was the establishment of some
type of scholarship fund, a Hall of Fame Album, a dues increase, web
site issues, DNA testing and other items. It was decided to establish
a Scholarship Committee headed by Seanne Carrigan to do some more
research on establishing such a fund. The DNA testing was briefly
discussed. The idea was to do DNA testing to establish a DNA genealogy
family tree to determine whether or not someone is from a particular
line or perhaps use it to establish that all of us Alfords are indeed
from one ancestor some where back down the line. As I understand it,
it would not prove inconclusively the relationship but could establish
the probability of such being the case. It was decided to forgo DNA
testing now partly because of the cost involved and partly because
of the anticipated reluctance on the part of some people to submit
themselves to such a test. Unfortunately, the necessity of an increase
in dues could not be postponed. Adding to costs over the years has
been the increase in the number of pages in each quarterly, increases
in printing costs (due to increase ink and labor costs incurred by
the printer), and increases in postage (which is due to increase again
in January).
It has been several years since the dues were increased to $20 per
year. The Board voted unanimously to increase the dues to $23 per
year and do away with the $5 initiation fee charged new members. The
web site was discussed. Kim Savage is our Webmaster and she has done
an incredible job designing the site and doing all the maintenance
since it was established on the web site of Jimmy Alford's company,
The Alford Group. It was suggested that perhaps the Association would
be better served having its own site as opposed to using part of the
Alford Group's site. The thinking behind the matter is that at some
point, as our web site grows, it will reach a point where it becomes
a burden on the Alford Group's site, either from a cost standpoint
or a size standpoint. It was decided that more research was needed
before a solution could be found. Some directors expressed concern
that the Alford Hall of Fame was not receiving proper recognition.
It seems people are periodically inducted into the Hall and then promptly
forgotten about. There is no album such as the Memorial Album to keep
track of the members of the Hall. It was decided to establish such
an album and keep the information on the web site concerning the Hall
of Fame current.
The regularly scheduled Saturday morning business meeting was held
beginning at 9 o'clock. Milton Folds, who along with his wife, Roberta,
were the hosts for this years meeting, welcomed everyone to Augusta.
Reports were heard from the President, Vice President, Treasurer,
Secretary, Census Extraction Group, Wills Project Officer, the Photography
Archives Group, Webmaster, Gift Shop Manager, Library manager, and
the nominating committee. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was selected as
the meeting site in 2004 (I think the year is correct). Competition
was heavy from another group pushing Indiana. The Baton Rouge people
had a display set up extolling the virtues of the Baton Rouge site
which no doubt played a part in the selection. The members present
at the Business Meeting vote on the sites put forth from the floor.
Another order of business was the selection of three new board members.
The Board of Directors consists of 12 members who are elected for
a period of three years so that four members rotate off the Board
every year. This, in theory at least, keeps fresh faces and ideals
on the Board and at the same time, keeps a nice mix of veterans, so
to speak. Unfortunately, theory doesn't always work out that way.
The Human Resources Committee is in charge of coming up with nominations
for the position of Director. No one is nominated unless they agree
to take on the task and, for some reason; it is really difficult to
find people willing to serve. Nominations are also received from the
floor prior to the vote being taken. Again, the person being nominated
must have agreed to serve, if elected, prior to being nominated. Unfortunately,
rarely is a nomination made from the floor. It is so difficult to
find people to serve that Lynn Shelley, Vice President, who was scheduled
to rotate off the Board, agreed to serve another three-year term.
Others elected were Alicia Houston, Seanne Carrigan, and Morris Myers.
The new Board then votes for officers for the coming year. Nominations
for officers are presented to the Board by the Nominating Committee,
which by the way consists of Don Alford, Seanne Carrigan, and Jimmie
Alford. Again, nominations are also taken from the floor with again,
the only stipulation being that the person being nominated must have
agreed to serve if elected. The current slate of officers was again
re-elected. During the Business Meeting, a strange thing occurred.
When the membership present at the meeting were told that the Board
had voted Friday night to increase dues to $23, they were all so happy
at it costing more that someone made a motion, which was seconded,
that the dues be increased to $25. The motion passed almost unanimously
and the new Board by a vote of 6 to 1 agreed to the new increase.
You're probably wondering why the other five Board members didn't
vote. Very rarely (never that I can remember) are we blessed with
the attendance of the entire Board. So, it is left up to those Board
members who are present to vote on such things. The Business Meeting
was then adjourned.
The afternoon session, the Alford Family Forum, was led by Gil Alford
with assistance from Wick Alford, Lynn Shelley, Milt Folds and others.
The presentations try to cover every line represented at the meeting.
Many times, the audience will also offer some interesting bit of information
that they have attained in the course of their genealogy research.
Again, this was a resounding success and was much enjoyed by all present.
This has always drawn the largest group during the meeting and this
year was no exception.
The Saturday night buffet drew, as usual, the second largest crowd.
This year, we were entertained by the Strings Orchestra of the Davidson
Fine Arts Magnet School of Augusta. They performed under the direction
of Kirsten Hughes. The group did a magnificent job. For those of you
who have never attended the Saturday night buffet, it starts off with
the drawing of numbers to see which in what order each table gets
to proceed to the buffet line. This always leads to a lot of banter
not only among tables but also among individuals at the tables. It
starts off with someone at each table drawing a number from a hat
or box. That then becomes that table's number. A duplicate set of
numbers is then used to draw for position in the buffet line. If you
drew the number for your table and it was one of the first selected
from the hat, you become an instant hero. But pity the poor soul who
drew the table number and it is not drawn from the hat until late
in the drawing process. He, or she, catches it not only from their
table but also from all those who have already been through the line.
All of this was, of course, done in and received in the good-natured
way it was intended. After the buffet, awards are handed out. A special
award or recognition was made this year and deservedly so. Gil and
Mary Alford were honored as the Alford Man and Woman of the Century.
Gil has been the driving force behind the Association since its founding
in 1987. He would be the first to tell you that he would not have
been able to contribute as he has without Mary's support, help and,
in some cases, guidance. They are among the nicest folks you could
ever hope to meet.
There were twenty-three members recognized as Distinguished Members.
Distinguished Members are those members who have contributed significantly
towards the goals and purposes of the Association during the past
year. They are nominated by the membership for their contributions
during the preceding year. Their efforts range from data input for
various committees to contributing prizes to be handed out during
the meeting. These members are to be congratulated for their efforts
on behalf of the Association during this year. The members honored
as Distinguished Members this year are: Jeanne B. Singleton, Ramona
Alford Darden, Kim Savage, Janice Smith, Lee Ann Turner, Ruth Eager
Moran, Elizabeth Hazlip, Earline Alford, Seanne Carrigan, Peggy Schuster,
Nancy Dietrich, Carolyn Alford Chambliss, Cecil O. Alford, Richard
M. Alford, Morris Myers, Sam McCray, Harris M. Alford, Donald R. Alford,
Jimmie R. Alford, Robin Alford Sterling, Sebastian Vetri, Richard
A. Kirk, and John A. Rogers. The two new inductees into the AAFA Hall
of Fame were Doris Vetri, who has been the Treasurer for the last
nine years and Max Alford who has been Secretary for almost the same
length of time, were inducted. Doris has done an outstanding job of
accepting dues payments and keeping the books for the Association,
which would seem to be a full time job in itself. However, Doris also
helps out in many other ways including inputting computer data, keeping
track of the meeting registrations, and she also makes some of the
door and raffle prizes handed out at the meeting each year. A new
game was introduced at this year's meeting. It was sort of an Alford
trivial pursuit game. A list of approximately 40 questions was handed
out during the first day of the meeting. You had until Saturday afternoon
to turn in your completed questionnaire. The answers could all be
found somewhere in the material in the research room. That could have
been one of the reasons it was always crowded. There were also pictures
posted somewhere in the meeting rooms. Some of the questions pertained
to identifying the people in the pictures. I do not know who was the
originator of the ideal but I do know that Sally Stoewer and Gil Alford
had a hand in getting everything together. The winner was announced
at the banquet and she was Patsy Alford Dunn who also happened to
be a brand new member. Tied for second place were Seanne Carrigan
and Vesta Bowden. I think everyone had a good time with this contest.
The winning tickets for raffle were drawn also. My wife, Earline,
is in charge of arranging prizes for the raffle drawing, which is
held after the buffet. She receives help from members who provide
some of the items to be raffled off. She also makes some of the prizes
herself. During the meeting, Earline and our daughter, Samantha, will
circulate among the crowds encouraging (some might even say "badgering")
members to buy a raffle ticket for a dollar. For some unknown reason,
it seems as if every year, there is at least one poor soul who is
targeted by my wife for special encouragement. She is relentless in
trying to encourage this person to buy more tickets. This year, the
targeted person was one of our founding members, Wick Alford. Poor
old Wick was so intimidated by Earline that I actually caught him
hiding behind one of the columns in the gift shop trying to avoid
another encounter with my wife. I would have been more sympathetic
except for the fact he only had to put up with it for three days.
I catch it the other 362 days of the year. Earline showed her soft
side this time thou. She felt so bad for hounding Wick that she made
a special presentation to him of a baseball cap that she had embroidered
with the AAFA logo. A sort of peace offering, I guess. Wick, as all
the others do, took the harassment in the good-natured way it was
intended. After the buffet, members from the different Alford lineages
had group pictures taken by John and Janice Smith. That was the end
of the official functions for the day. However, you can usually find
some of the members gathered in small groups reliving the events of
the preceding days, reliving old times and making new acquaintances.
This is the time that one gets to really know the other members and
is one of the most enjoyable times that one experiences at the meeting.
Sunday morning is devoted to using the research room for some final
last minute researching and saying your goodbyes. This usually lasts
until noon depending on how soon the hotel needs the research room
for the next scheduled function. This time the hotel had nothing scheduled
until the next days so there was no particular hurry except some people
were schedule for the afternoon bus tour of Augusta and surrounding
areas. There were less than 25 of us scheduled to go and so the bus
company had sent over a small bus. However, the bus developed a problem
with its air conditioning and with all the hot air that would be blowing
around during the course of the tour, it was felt we really needed
a bus with working air. A much larger bus was sent over and our tour
started. It was to be guided by the same lady that conducted the Thursday
tour. After the bus left the hotel, it proceeded to the old Cotton
Exchange Building where we were to pick up our guide. We proceeded
out of Augusta and actually ended up in South Carolina (by design,
not by a wrong turn). We went to the Red Cliff mansion, which is a
South Carolina State Park. It was an old house built in the mid 1800's
with a storied past. A South Carolina Park Ranger conducted the tour
through the house. There were lots of items and relics from the past
history of the area. The Ranger actually lived in a small apartment
in the lower level of the house. After we left Red Cliff, we journeyed
back to Augusta and drove along the Savannah River where a festival
was taking place. The tour then stopped at the Augusta Museum of History.
It had many artifacts from Augusta's past. Among the exhibits were
Revolutionary and Civil War weapons and uniforms, Native American
culture, natural history (including a major dinosaur exhibit), space
exploration, communications, vintage photographs and a tribute to
the city's and Georgia's founding father, Gen. James Edward Oglethorpe.
Other jewels include Savannah River marine life that inhabits a small
aquarium and "Old No. 302," the Georgia Railroad's last
steam engine. I did detect one slight flaw in one of their communications
exhibits. It was of a telephone lineman who was on a pole with old
open wire strung along the pole line. This particular wire has not
been used for many years but the figure of the telephone lineman had
upon his head a very modern hard hat. The next stop was back at the
old Cotton Exchange Building Welcome Center. This building had some
interesting displays. As the name implies, it house at one time the
Cotton Exchange where cotton was bought and sold on the open market
with current prices posted on a large blackboard. At sometime in the
building's past, the blackboard was walled up during a remodeling
of the building. When the building was being remodeled into the welcome
center, the old wall was torn down and behind the old wall was the
old blackboard in almost perfect condition with the chalk writings
still on it almost as if they had been made the day before. There
was also an old style weather map used many years ago by the railroads
to keep track of weather conditions along its entire system. There
was also the usual assortment of souvenir items that could be purchased.
The bus than departed the Welcome Center and we were returned to our
hotel.
When we arrived back at the hotel, it was time to start packing up
the material in the research room and loading it back into the trailer.
With help from one of the bellman, this was soon accomplished. Those
of us who were staying over at the hotel Sunday night had a last meal
together at the restaurant in the hotel.
The early part of Monday morning was spent saying some final good
byes. We stopped to help Gil get the trailer hitched back up to his
van. Mike Heazel also was there to lend a helping hand with the process.
We soon had Gil hooked up and on his way and then we departed for
our return trip to Mesquite.
There were forty-three people who were attending their first meeting.
From there, the number of meetings attended went up all the way to
thirteen meetings, which also happens to be the number of meetings
that have been held. The three people who have attended every meeting
were Wick Alford, Gil Alford, and Gil's lovely wife, Mary. We also
had several people to join the Association during the meeting. One
new member, Anne Alford Lewis, and her husband had read an item in
their local paper about the Association and the meeting in Augusta.
They drove down from Cleveland, Tennessee, to look us over and were
so impressed that they joined. Well, at least they joined anyway,
impressed or not. This was another good, successful meeting well attended
and enjoyed by all.
The following people were in attendance at the meeting:
| BAL784NC |
0152 |
Janice S. & John Smith |
| BRI781NC |
0751 |
Cecil O. & Yvonne Alford |
| |
|
Lisa & Joe Freschi |
| |
1140 |
Elaine Loftin |
| |
1141 |
Hazel Alford Middlebrooks |
| BYN787GA |
0387 |
W. Dean & Martha Steward |
| DAV785VA |
0059 |
Don & Joan Alford |
| |
0832 |
Janet Alford Hemby |
| |
1071 |
Robert A., Deb, & Lauren Hemby |
| EDW792NC |
0673 |
Carolyn Alford & Will Saunders |
| |
|
Kirk, Jenifer, Cara, & Annice Saunders |
| |
0772 |
Robert & Kate Hollingsworth |
| |
|
Katelyn Hollingsworth |
| ETH800NY |
1051 |
Paul L Allison |
| GRE787NC |
0011 |
Wick & Frances Alford |
| |
0177 |
Louise Alford & Bill Ekin |
| |
0965 |
Carolyn Alford Chambliss |
| |
1084 |
Vesta Alford Beany |
| HAY780GA |
0176 |
Betty Alford & Bob McGugan |
| |
0227 |
Harold G. & Freda Alford |
| |
0242 |
Kenneth & Darlene Alford |
| |
1119 |
Sandy & Billye Campbell |
| ISA782NC |
0258 |
Kim Savage |
| |
1095 |
Lucy Dodd Eastham |
| JAC781NC |
0717 |
Mary V. Alford |
| |
|
Julie Alford McCall |
| JAM791VA |
0763 |
Frieda Roberta Shepherd |
| |
1000 |
Laura Tuffnell |
| JOH787NC |
0447 |
Benjamin F. & Ruth Alford, Jr. |
| JOH795VA |
0664 |
Mike & Betty Heazel, Jr. |
| |
1051 |
Catherine Allison |
| JOH797SC |
0655 |
Joan Hallford & Gerald L. Hidle |
| JOH801NC |
0196 |
Arliene F. Alford |
| |
0230 |
Max & Earline Alford |
| |
0303 |
Doris O. A. & Buzz Vetri |
| |
0615 |
David & Lana Alford |
| |
0836 |
Samantha Kay Alford |
| JOH807LA |
0019 |
Gil & Mary Alford, Jr. |
| |
0064 |
Patricia B. Smith |
| |
0120 |
Sally & Dick Stoewer |
| |
0235 |
Josephine Alford Carrigan |
| |
0249 |
Jeanne & Clif Singleton |
| |
0335 |
Seanne Carrigan |
| |
0537 |
Vesta G. Bowden |
| |
0539 |
Shannon Carrigan |
| |
0611 |
Charles H. & Joan Alford |
| |
0839 |
Fran & Jack Harry |
| |
1142 |
Joana B. Breeland |
| |
|
Hugh (Mac) & Marie Bateman |
| |
|
Daniel & Sherryn Carrigan |
| JOH844SC |
1090 |
Jean & Bob Barkalow |
| LAM835NC |
1143 |
Ann Alford & Terry Lewis |
| lav806va |
0622 |
Ruth Eager Moran |
| luc784nc |
0593 |
Peggy & Sam Wood |
| mir815nc |
0358 |
Elizabeth H. Hazlip |
| |
1139 |
Cecila Ann Gossman |
| NEE789NC |
0503 |
David Gaston & Dorothy Alford |
| ORI806NY |
0633 |
R. M. "Dick" & Connie Alford |
| PLE818AL |
0199 |
Billy R. Gibson |
| RAN818VT |
0217 |
Virginia Alford |
| ROB806VA |
1045 |
Corinne & Ray Kesner |
| SAM814SC |
0440 |
Dolores F. & Craig Rhodes |
| SEA807LA |
0481 |
Evelyn Z. Mistich |
| THO802VA |
0001 |
Alicia R. Houston |
| WIL787GA |
0715 |
Ramona Alford Darden |
| |
1133 |
Patricia Ann Jensen |
| |
1144 |
Patsy Ruth Alford Dunn |
| WIL794GA |
0076 |
Elisabeth A. McLane |
| WIL794NC |
0528 |
Julia L.Duke |
| |
0533 |
Miles & Judy Jackson |
| |
0773 |
Myrtice Alford Edwards |
| |
0774 |
Leaette Alford Braswell |
| |
|
Keith, Marcia, William, Melissa Braswell |
| |
|
Lillian, Rebecca, Matthew Braswell |
| |
|
Susan Braswell |
| |
0775 |
Celeste E. & Richard Furr |
| |
0989 |
Sandra Kay & Jerry Harwood |
| |
1044 |
Myra & Bill Bishop |
| WIL799?? |
1129 |
James K. & Sue Adams |
| WIL804GA |
0606 |
Catherine A. & Bruce Ellard |
| |
0708 |
Frances Alford Herrington |
| WIL812GA |
0049 |
Roberta A. & Milt Folds |
| |
0562 |
Pat & Robert Thorn |
| WIL820SC |
0667 |
Harris Monroe Alford |
| |
|
Robert & Phyliss Chapman |
| |
|
Margaret Shipp Henley |
| |
|
Wally & Carrie Mentel |
| |
|
"Bob" & Michael Pearson |
| |
|
Ona Faye F. Simmons |
