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Trip to England!!! The response to our "early bird special" which has now ended has been overwhelming. We had hoped for at least 15-20 people to sign up; at last count, we had 33! Due to the capacity of the bus and availability of rooms at the hotels, we will need to limit the trip to 45 participants. If you are planning to go, you will need to sign up soon to avoid disappointment. The final deadline is April 30, 2012.

Click for more information on our upcoming trip to England!

31st Towne Family Association Reunion and Annual Meeting AUGUST 13-15, 2011 Salem, Massachusetts

The 2011 reunion in Salem, MA was a wonderful experience. Co-chairs, Julia and Sarah DiCicco, planned a truly unique experience which encouraged families to come and walk in the footsteps of their ancestors. 122 people ranging in age from 5 to 90 attended, including 34 1st timers. With the asistance of vice president of programs, Lynn Bolte, we were presented with a wide variety of interesting and informative activities.The hospitality room was open from Saturday at noon until Monday evening, and provided a place for informal socializing. Saturday afternoon, Margaret Press and Paul Towne presented us with the most recent updates from our DNA project. Sunday morning we spent part of the day at The House of the Seven Gables enjoying a light breakfast, a lecture about Salem by Mary-Ellen Smiley of the new Salem Museum, and private tours of the house. Sunday evening, attendees met in the Grand Ballroom for a welcome banquet, where we were entertained with a presentation by Dr. Nate Hamilton who is in charge of the archeological dig at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead. Monday morning we met over breakfast for our business meeting. Despite rain, Monday afternoon was spent at the Nurse Homestead and at the newly established Towne-Treadwell Walking Path in Topsfield. Due to the rain, we enjoyed our picnic box lunches at the hotel before starting out. While we ate, Laura Abraham described improvements at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers and Janice Thompson updated us on efforts to save the Peter and Sarah Clayes house in Framingham. Additional information and lots of photos can be found in the September About Towne which is located on the Newsletter page.

Preliminary Plans for 33rd Reunion in Beaufort, South Carolina

Plans are being made to hold our 33rd annual reunion in Beaufort and St. Helena's Island, South Carolina on Columbus Day weekend in 2013. Beaufort is a wonderful spot for a reunion and the Sea Islands will provide a beautiful setting for our reunion. St. Helena's Island is the location of Penn Center which was the site of the first school for freed slaves in the United States founded by Laura M. Towne and Ellen Murray. Laura devoted her entire life to this endeavor and her legacy is still felt in the area. More information will be posted as plans are finalized. For a sneak preview of Beaufort go to Beaufort Visitors' Bureau

Pictured L-R: Dan Fuller, Debbie Towne Atchley, Tom Allen, Riley Atchley, Terri Lambing,
Anne MacDonald, Mike MacDonald
Photography courtesy of Jeff Atchley

Fourth TFA Regional Meeting in Germantown, TN October 8, 2011

Save April 21, 2012 for the next gathering!

Submitted by Deborah Towne Atchley

We had a small group, but we talked the whole day. We missed those of you who couldn't make this meeting. We worked with the Charles Towne collection again and had a report with wonderful pictures from Terri on the National TFA meeting in Salem. The next meeting date has been scheduled for April 21, 2012. I enjoyed our time together and look forward to April. Everyone send any suggestions of things you'd like to see us cover for the next meeting.

I sent email to the national group asking if there's another project with which we could help. We had been asked to look into John Towne, but no success there, and until they get some DNA from someone purported to be from that line we're probably stuck. I haven't asked them about a TFA Wiki yet, so any thoughts you have on that are welcome.

TFA members in the surrounding states (MO, AR, KY, AL, TN, MS)have been trying to get together about every 6 months in the Tennessee Genealogical Society's room at the Regional History and Genealogy Center in Germantown TN. We meet at 10AM and finish by 3PM on a Saturday. Love to hear from any of our new folks too.

My contact info:

Debbie Towne Atchley
email debatchley@gmail.com

Where we will meet:
Regional History Genealogy Center Library
Tennessee Genealogical Society Room
7779 Poplar Pike
Germantown, TN
There is a map on the website: www.tngs.org [click on "interactive map" in the left column] (feel free to call me if you get lost on the way in)

When we will meet:
Spring 2012 meeting will be April 21, 2012. More specific details will follow closer to the date.
10 AM until about 3PM.
The library opens at 9AM and closes at 4PM.

We usually just wander over to the nearby Picadilly Cafeteria, for lunch, as they have a variety of food choices and enough room to seat us.
Jeff, my husband, and Riley, my daughter, usually bring us donuts, coffee and juice for breakfast. (this is why I need a head count please).

If you have Tennessee connections, the Tennessee Genealogical Society has placed their collection of quarterly publications (Ansearchin' News) online. These started in 1954. http://www.tngs.org/ (You can access dm>Ansearchin' News through a link in the left column of their site) You can check to see if the library has a specific book at that location by clicking on the LIBRARY link in the left column of their site and maybe schedule a research trip to use their resources. If you're looking for information on genealogy software or helpful computer applications, click on the LET'S DISCUSS IT link in the left column of their site. I really enjoyed seeing each of our Towne cousins again and really enjoyed meeting our first time cousin attendees. I hope to meet more of you at our Spring get together. If any of you have specific requests or topic suggestions for the next meeting, please email those early.

For information contact:

townefolk@allies.com

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