Tag: Christmas

Christmas is a holiday observed generally on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus.

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Wanda’s Letter to Rebecca


Saturday, August 8, 2020, 1:56 PM

John [and mom] –

At Christmas time, I would take the opportunity and write to your dad and Aunt Wanda for quite a few years. Each time Wanda would always respond to both of them. I continued to stay in touch and write Aunt Wanda a holiday letter even after your dad had passed.

I kept this letter, albeit it is in quite a rough shape. From reading it, I must have asked your dad to write down the words to the nursery rhyme for me. [see letter page 1].

This text is a link to the letter.

I do not know the year she wrote the letter, but Wanda does state she is 72 years old. If you know what year she was born, we can figure out the year.

Enjoy – becky

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Corrections and Connections

Tue 8/11/2020 9:01 PM

John,

The information I gave you about Jane Plourde wasn’t correct. She DIDN’T drown in the Androscoggin River. She drowned in a pond near her house in Lisbon. I always thought it was the Androscoggin, but Jack corrected me. My bad.

Jack also remembers going to Durham with his father and Bob Elcik’s father, George, to Bob’s grandfather’s house, John Elcik. That’s where they learned to smoke kielbasa from Bob’s grandfather. They would do that so they could have Kielbasa for Christmas. It was a Slovak tradition.

I have yet to record Jack’s family on Ancestry. I have all the information I need, need. I also need to “fix” all my Purinton, Goddard, Day mistakes. I had day surgery last Friday and have been a little “under the weather” since then. I’m feeling better and will “get back at it” in a few days.

I’m still thinking, as I believe you are too, there’s a connection between the two Elcik families. Maybe grand or great grandfathers were brothers??? The problem is, we can’t find any records stating that. Some day, just maybe someday, we will. To be continued.

Beth

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Durham Book

The original book was published in 1899 and had been out of print for decades. It was published again in 1979 with only 500 copies. My parents were able to obtain several copies at that time. It was a Christmas gift from my parents that year. In my mother’s handwriting, it says “Jack and Beth, Christmas 1979 from mom and dad.” I cherish it. There are many wonderful “old” pictures of residents in the book that I love.

I also have a book “Vital Records of Durham, Maine” that I bought from the Maine Genealogical Society. This book has been a tremendous help with birth and death records of the Days and Goddards.

If only there was one for the Elciks, we’d be all set!!!

I may have won this round but you’ve won many more than me but then “who’s counting”??

Beth

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Elizabeth Chute

Wed 11/25/2020 3:50 PM

I am “over the moon” ecstatic with my package.  There are gems here to keep me busy for some time. Thank you…thank you… thank you!

I’m taking excellent care of everything and setting up a different printer (one with a scanner), so I can make electronic copies and return the originals to you.

Wow!

The first thing I found of significance are clues where to find the gravesite of my Great-grandparents.  We agree on the dates of birth and death for his wife, but her maiden surname exists in official records with at least 6 different spellings. Even her first name varies between Mary and Marie.  Ouch! Finding their gravesite would be a big help.  The online records for the clues you provide didn’t work.  I have a helper in Maine that will visit the cemeteries. Beth (Purinton) Gamache is married to my 1st Cousin Jack “likes” visiting cemeteries and has taken pictures of many gravesites for me.  She is just as passionate as I am about this work.

I’m working on three big projects: the family tree, an eBook, and history, all under the umbrella title: My Cousins. Beth is co-author of the eBook.

Everything will be put on a Flash drive to accommodate the number of documents and photos I have.  Currently, it is about 20  gigabytes.

You are on my list to get one of the first copies.  I even bought your Flash drive using a Black Friday discount to inspire me.  I won’t be ready this Christmas, but I hope to publish sometime next year.

Warmest regards,

John, IV

[Elizabeth Chute, a.k.a. Elizabeth May Adams, is married to Larry Chute. Her parents are Charles Harry Adams, Sr. (1914-1986), and Edna “Ferne” Whitlock. They owned the Adams farm where my mother and Uncle Clyde are buried.  Elizabeth inherited the ancestry documents from her sister Sylvia Elaine “Sally” Adams (1939- ). Sally was married to Nelson Wentworth. Sally and I were kindred spirits when it came to recording family history.  – Dr. John P. Elcik – Editor]

 

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Re: Request for Your Holiday Status?

Thursday, December 17, 2020, 10:35 PM

John,

We have the family here for Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day, we’ll go to our daughter Loni’s house.  Derek has moved to a mobile home, and his children, our grandchildren, will be with their mother this year.

I love the puppy’s new name.  FYI, Tinker Belle was and always will be my favorite Disney character.  Pam and Michelle will be happy to hear that, you, not so much!!!

Beth

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Re: Request for Your Holiday Status?

 
Thu 12/17/2020 10:35 PM
 
John, IV,

 
We have the family here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we’ll go to our daughter, Loni’s house.  Derek has moved to a mobile home, and his children, our grandchildren, will be with their mother this year.  
 
I love the puppy’s new name.  FYI, Tinker Belle was and always will be my favorite Disney character.  Pam and Michelle will be happy to hear that, you, not so much!!!
 
Beth
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Re: FYI

 
Thu 12/17/2020 10:25 PM
 
John, IV,
 
LOL, I’ve never heard the poke in the eye theory before!!!

 
Now I know what you’re talking about.  I went to someone’s profile on Ancestry, and it works great.  I’ve never done that before, but I’ll definitely be using that in the future. 
 
Thanks for the tip.  I haven’t been on Ancestry too much lately but will get back to it after the holidays.  I just renewed my membership for another year.  
 
I’ve also talked to Dot, the president at the Historical Society, and am working on filing the Sale and Use Tax for the State of Maine for the Society.  We haven’t sold anything this year because of COVID, but I believe we still have to file a return.  I do it electronically, which is easy to do.  That’ll be my priority once the holidays are over.  I’m hoping I can convince her to let me go to the Society and look for Hillside and St. Cyril cemeteries’ maps.  Not sure how she’ll feel about that because COVID is spiking in Maine right now, and she’s been overly cautious about going out in public.  
 
We got a foot of snow today, and it’s beautiful outside.  It’s freezing, which makes the snow light and fluffy and easy to shovel.  We have our neighbor plow our driveway, thankfully, but we still have to clear our steps and front and back porches.  That’s on tomorrow’s list of “things to do.”   There were lots of closings and parking bans everywhere.  We will definitely have a white Christmas!!! 
 
Since we have lots of snow, I won’t be able to go to the cemeteries until Spring.  I think I have most if not all the Elcik and Byras gravestone pictures, but I won’t know for sure until I see the maps at the HS.  I’m very anxious to look at them, but that may have to wait for a while.
 
I’ll do that as soon as I’m able to do so. 
 
Beth