Meeting Notes

Attendees: Sharon, Jenneif, Carol, Harriette, David, Hope, Michell, Marlene, Mark.

Urgent TODOs: Get final list of attendees. Breakdown of adults and children (ages). Food allergies. T-shirt sizes for ordering.

Reunion lodging: Marriott and Staybridge are right across the street from each other, so very close. Marriott plain rooms for the $169 price. The Staybridge Hotel rooms will be more like suites. They will have stoves, microwaves, and refrigerators. Meet and Greet: will be at the Staybridge.

Dues: Details were discussed. Set at $25/per person. Further discussion of family dues vs. per person or per adult person. Trying to maximize dues income for resource while still minimizing financial burdens. Dues will help to offset property taxes and upkeep offering Resource. Bank account is set up and ready. Carol and Harriette are joint. Access through Zell or a check. Discussion of access methods: email and phone numbers to use. Dues will be separate from reunion fees. Reunion fees haven't been decided on yet. Discussion of delaying requesting dues until next year if property taxes have already been paid by Patrick. Uses for dues should be discussed at the reunion.

Committee meetings: none so far. Need to get one set up for food committee to get work up a menu. Genealogy comittee June 5th

Attendees Number and breakdown of attendees still not final. Adults and children. About 70 people came to mind.

Activities: Dependent on interest and number of children. Discussion of where to have activities; inside or outside. Type and length of activities. Noted that Tiara, on activities committee, was thinking of combined activities for adults and children. Watch a school baseball game nearby. Possible Zumba class. Genealogy presentations and surveys. Dominos. Grills available at the Staybridge. Maybe a cooking station as part of health and wellness. Saturday meet-n-greet on Saturday. Setup a health and wellness area. A tv will be available for posting of personal videos. Presentation on Resource property. Identify old photos. Interview and record elders on family knowledge. Scan photos with iPhones etc.

Reunion Food: Need to get menus and meals planning going to see about costs. Need to ask people about any allergies or dietary restrictions.

Genealogy: Hope shared information she has printed from Ancestry. People with Ancestry or Family Search would share their trees with whoever wanted to see them. Noted that spellings and dates sometimes varied widely. Different documens have different spellings of names. Influenced by whoever was writing the record at the time. Discussion of Mimi's family tree and the Hazels. Sometimes formerly the Jamaican registrar's put the birthday as the registration day and not the actual date of birth. Same with the spelling used by the Registrar, misspelled names went uncorrected. Search for Carol's family data.

T-Shirts Discussion of cost, design, color, style (collar or none) order sizes. Maybe just re-use the previous design. Shirts for everyone at the reunion. They will also be available to order for anyone else who wants one. Need to get proactive on design and ordering since turnaround time is getting short. People will look for the order form that was used last time.

Newsletter/Website Discussed need for a Newsletter and someone to write it. Could important information be shared on the website and direct people to it. If anyone who doesn't attend Zoom meetings shows any interest then direct them to the website. There is very little response to Sharon's emails. Hopefully at least one person per branch could check-in and provide thoughts and direction. Website is not private but public and discoverable by anyone. Personal, private, and sensitive data should not be shared on the website. Still looking someone interested in writing the newsletter. Question of would/could we share sensitive information on the Resource FB page since it is a closed group. Genealogy: should we share ancestor information for anyone who isn't living as is the default on most genealogic websites.

Resource property: Taxes are roughly 400/year. USD or Jamaican money? Patrick has been paying the taxes for the last couple of years. Marlene noted that her mother used to pay taxes. Then Leslie paid them followed by George and now Patrick. Uncle George passed in 2004. Tax records would be nice to see. Can we do that online? Will Freddy Sherwood be able to help us figure out how to contact Jamaica property tax office? Records or fragments of records and notes seem to be scattered among family members. There seems to be no physical address for the Resource property. It needs to have it's boundaries surveyed. Road to it is being upgraded (cut and paved). Ownership of the property and proposed uses of it is an urgent topic needing discussion. Are there deeds or titles? Family ownership or ? Legal ownership and title to the land is unclear. Should Patrick be reimbursed for his work on the property. Use a gofundme for reimbursment? Survey at the reunion about knowledge and interest in resource.