Keeping In Touch Via Social Media - Part 3

From Sharon Isbell:

I am the granddaughter of the late Kent and Ida Cook from Hatch, New Mexico. I live in Keller, Texas and have sent a friend request on Facebook.

Keeping In Touch Via Social Media - Part 2

From Tom Cook:

I like Denna's idea.  If there is any family member that would like to "friend" me on Facebook I would be glad to keep in touch with you.

Tom Cook
(Son of Roy and Jane Sullivan Cook, Grandson of Charlie and Viola Dean Cook.)

Keeping In Touch Via Social Media - Part 1

From Deana Volker:

Any of you family members who want to stay in touch and are on Facebook, please "friend" me.  I am friends with many in the family.  Maybe people could respond to this email and we can find out who all are using this social media tool and we can stay in touch with each others' lives on a day to day, week to week, or occasional basis.  I'm Facebook friends with a few family members on both this, my mom's, and my dad's side of the family.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Deana Volker 

(maiden name Albee, daughter of Doretha Maxine Thomas Albee, granddaughter of Ina Vera Dean Thomas Nichols)

The Closing chapter on our Family Reunions

From Millie Meyer:

 Dear Family, 

The time has come to close the book on our reunions. Actually it has passed but it was suggested that we let it ride a while longer just because we could, so we did. Now is the time for the few of us left on board to turn loose.

 I have heard from several of you that would like to keep things going but you are in the same boat we are, past your prime, far away. etc. I had written this letter two months ago but a new computer came into our lives and when I tried to bring it (the letter) to the surface, it was "dinged" into cyberspace or wherever things go that just disappear when I am on the keyboard. We all have full lives and families, friends, pets, hobbies, church and just "life" that fill our time and make lives complete. Of all these things, family, by far, is the most important .

 I've addressed all of the envelopes this evening and Gail is putting the stamps on and return addresses, So they will be going out in the very near future. Tom will be writing the checks to each of the schools in Greer County, Oklahoma and we have asked that the money go toward the purchase of school supplies for learning reading and writing and 'rithmetic. These are the schools that most of the older generation attended and it seems an excellent resting place for the small amount of money left in the reunion treasury. The government hands out things like cell phones and computers, we are family.

 If anything comes out in the local papers about the donation, I have asked that a copy be sent to me and I will try to figure out how to send copies to each of you. So I am holding up sending this regular mail until we see what happens. The rest of you, getting email, could get it anytime it happens to arrive here. 

I have called several of our older-timers today and wished them a Merry Christmas. Fern Rister sounded "hail and hearty" after a few minutes, she is Aunt Viola's daughter and resides in California. Told me she had a picture of me from the last reunion sent to her by Loufine. 

Then Doris Sharp, Aunt Carrie Mae's daughter, living in Louisiana. She has spent a lot of the last year in nursing homes and hospitals and was not feeling well today but knowing her she could be a hundred percent better tomorrow. Doris will be 93 in March 2013. 

Then I called Virginia Olive, the wife of Dale Olive, and had to talk to Patye, their daughter. Virginia was in bed, very bad sick. Had had a blood clot. Did not talk very long here. 

Then I called Loetta and she sounded great after a few minutes and reminded me that she had turned eighty two weeks ago so I told her that I turned 79 yesterday, so was close on her heels. She has had a rough year with her health as well but sounds like she is on the mend now. 

Please join me in keeping all of these fine ladies in your prayers. 

One of the young chicks out there told me to quit trying to act like an old woman in an email I received about the closing of the reunion. I did not answer it but she will read this and so I say "when you get to be 79 years old, you don't have to ACT OLD, you ARE old". 

So this letter is going to rest for awhile until all is ready for the final hoorah. I guess this is as good a time as ever to go ahead and send this. I have corrected some of the above and added details, some necessary and some not, but you have been made aware of what is going on. I am still planning to collect pictures of the gravesites at the cemeteries where our family is buried and if it turns out to be of interest, I will be sharing it with you where I can. 

I love all of you, please remember that. 

Much love, Your secretary, Millie Meyer

 The home of numerous Rough and Smooth coated, home bred, group winning Collie champions, among the over 100 titled individuals we have been privileged to have born here and share our lives. Thanks for the memories! Also enthusiast of wolf memorabilia, lace making, seamstress, jewelry making, family history, genealogy, family preparedness, gardening, and student of Biblical history.

Family Reunion This Summer in Texas - Part II

Below is an update and some additional information regarding the 2009 family reunion in Texas from Millie Meyer:


Dear Family,

First off, to all of you receiving this, I'm asking that you pass this along to any cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. that you have that fall into the category of relatives, as time is short and we would like for this to be a well attended, successful reunion, one that can be remembered fondly for many years to come.

Many addresses are incorrect and I may not be able to give full attention to those that have new addresses, if they are not in my hands within the next few short weeks. When I accepted this position of secretary, I had full intentions of digging in so to speak and get this reunion back like it use to be. However when the people are gone that made it work (I'm referring to the first generation removed from my grandmother and grandfather Dean, their children and older grandchildren) the enthusiasm is still there in a lot of us, but our children and grandchildren just haven't caught fire yet. You don't have to tell me that things are different today, but to keep things in perspective, family is still family and should be right up there among the important things in life.

In selecting a place for this reunion, I have tried to keep it more or less in the middle of the United States. Go to lantanaresort. us or state parks in Texas, same name, and you can learn as much as I know about the place. They encourage you to bring your horses as they have stabling facilities for a nominal fee. Also if you have a boat, bring it as they hope to have a Marina by the 4th of July but IF THEY DON'T, there is still a place to dock your boat less than a minute from the lodge and it is free. The resort overlooks a lake. Everything is on the ground floor. There are trail rides @ $25 per hour ($35 for two hours) located nearby at the Black Mustang Ranch. Monica should answer the phone 1-817-915-8455 to use this facility. There are also bike trails.

This is located near Point Pilot, Texas.

Their rooms are $85 and $95, the latter are on the lakeside. All facilities here are on the ground floor. The number of people in the room makes no difference but a rollaway bed is $10 extra per night. There is no cooking in the rooms like grills etc. but you can have an ice chest in your room and they have coffee makers in there. They also have TV's in each room. I have requested a block of ten rooms including the 2 handicapped rooms for the reunion. Some have 2 double beds and some have a king sized bed. When you make your reservations please tell them that you are with the Cook-Dean reunion because when the 11th room is reserved with a credit card, we and those reserving after that get $5 off each of the rooms per day. Every little bit helps is how I feel. Most rooms have step in showers so if you require a tub please tell them when you make reservation. The phone number for the Lantana Resort is 1-940-686-0261 for reservations. This block of rooms will be held until May 22nd when they will be made available to the public, which includes you and there are certainly more rooms available if you reserve early enough. They tell me this is usually a busy weekend.

We plan to breakfast in our room with cold cereal, fruits, and cocoa or milk and have sandwich stuff for lunch in our room. They have a continental breakfast available for $7.95 with the usual fare. Saturday there will be a buffet style meal served in the meeting room and I'm trying to narrow that down at the present time. Prices are not cheap and it has been a struggle making a decision but I don't have time to contact each of you and then make a decision. With tax and tip the Rosemary Lemon Roasted Chicken will run right at $30. The family Reunion Treasury is putting $8 toward each dinner reservation so that will leave a balance of $22 for each person to pay. Reservations for this dinner accompanied by your full payment of $22 for each dinner should be sent to Doretha Albee, 9202 Inverness Road, Santee, California 92071 NO LATER THAN 3 weeks before the Reunion. I calculate this as about the 10th of June. Checks are to be made out to Doretha Albee NOT TO the reunion because she can do nothing with them but return them if they are.

The balance of the dinner is salad, rice pilaf, seasoned vegetable medley, and assorted wheat rolls with butter honey and your choice of coffee, tea, or water for a drink. Sodas are extra. No additional charge for children under 5 years. There is no dessert furnished with this meal.

We have a meeting room reserved for Saturday, July 4, 2009 costing $450 which the reunion is paying. We have it for the day. We will have dominoes during the day and hopefully albums of pictures and memory books for sharing in this room. This is where we will have our annual meeting, auction, and Bingo in the evening plus our "together"meal about 4 PM. There are a lot of places we can sit and visit including the lobby or a covered area outside with tables and seating should we overfill the room capacity. We plan to have a schedule of events waiting in the lobby when you arrive. Tentative reservations for the rooms are starting on the 2nd of July this year and leaving on the 6th. I did this to give some flexibility to everyone in case you wanted to come early or stay late. The closer the time gets, the less likely you could get 5 nights in a row. Friday evening we will gather in the lobby to visit and share pictures.

Do I ever hope that I have covered everything but in case I haven't here is my address:

Millie Meyer
5200 W. Teal Road
Fairburn, Georgia 30213-2303

You can e-mail Millie at gaymillacywolf AT (@) aol.com

Next is, in case this is your first time attending, our auction. Usually, but not limited to, homemade items are brought. For instance this year I am bringing my pepper jelly and maybe a couple pieces of my handmade jewelry. These items are donated to the reunion for the auction and that is how we can afford to do something like this. Then you spend your money to buy them. Any suggestions for an auctioneer?

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely, Millie Meyer

A Reunion This Summer In Texas

Hey Gang,

You read it right. Plans are in the making for a reunion this summer in late June or early July at Lantana ResortLantana Resort web site and get information about the Lodge but what I want to send you is about your family so we can put something together for our future on how we are connected. Neda volunteered to put this information together and then sent it to me so I want to pass it further along to you so you can either bring it with you or send it if you cannot come. outside of Dallas (north of it) and south of Okla. City (of course). I hope to finalize this by the weekend and get some information to you in the regular mail as soon after that as is possible for an old person. This will involve information about the rooms, costs and so forth. I would sure like to have all of your mailing addresses because I have a feeling that the addresses I have are going to bounce back on a lot of you. SO, if you have family or know family that might be remotely interested, please pass the word on and get them to send me mailing information as soon as possible. I am illiterate about sending attachments on email and so have to send what I want you to have in the mail. You can go to the

Also I would like to encourage you to bring your pictures of past reunions so we can all get a look at them and if you need names on them, maybe there will be people there who can help with this. I'm going to start putting mine in an album this coming Monday after I buy a table to put in my workroom so I can just leave them out all the time til I get it together. I haven't been to many reunions but I sure want to make this one. If we get bored with each other, I will try to remember to put in the Dominoes and maybe Doretha can bring the Bingo pieces.

There will be a shared meal that the reunion will pay $5 toward for each person but we will have to have advanced reservations on this and that money should go to Doretha Albee, 9202 Inverness Road, Santee, 92071. As soon as I get the final details I will put out another newsletter with those details.

Even my husband is coming this time. It will be a first in a long time experience for us to be away from home together.

Think I'd better close for now and take care of the home front. You will be hearing from me so please start thinking about a trip to some of our root country.

[We hope to have a lot of genealogy information as well, and maybe Vicki Dean will come and share of her voluminous knowledge on our family history as well as others.

Sincerely,

Millie Meyer

You can e-mail Millie at Gaymilllacywolf @ aol.com

You'll need to take the spaces after and before the "@" symbol out for your e-mail to work.

(They were put in to help prevent anything on the internet from stealing her e-mail address and filling it with Spam/junk e-mail)

Or, if you prefer snail-mail , her mailing address is below:

Millie Meyer

5200 West Teal Road,

Fairburn, Ga. 30213

For more information about the Lantana Lodge and Marina, click on the link below:

http://www.lantanalodge.us/