Bette Bunker Richards, BFA genealogist and hostess for the 2010 reunion in San Diego, posted the following update to the Bunker list at rootsweb:

It is time to think about our reunion again.  The one in 2010 will be different from any we have had before.  We will be going to San Diego, CA and staying at the Holiday Inn Bayside, www.holinnbayside.com.  It has a restaurant on-site, a 9 hole putting green, swimming pool, Jacuzzi, billiards, shuffleboard, ping pong, and free bike use.  Across the street is the Point Loma Harbor with lots of boats, boat rental service, deep sea fishing rentals and a top notch seafood restaurant.  Our hospitality and banquet room has a balcony that overlooks the harbor.  There is a free shuttle from the airport to the hotel and there is free parking for those that bring their own car.  That is just the beginning.

We will be going sailing!  We will visit the Maritime Museum, www.sdmaritime.com, with its exhibits on the “Star of India”, schooner; the steam ferry boat, “Berkeley”; the harbor pilot boat, the 1904 steam yacht, “Medea”; a Russian submarine, an American submarine and more.  Saturday afternoon, we will go sailing for four hours on CALIFORNIAN, a replica of an 1800s revenue cutter.

Of course, we are also just a few minutes from Sea World, www.seaworld.com/sandiego/; San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park with its many museums, www.balboapark.org/ and old town San Diego.  Next door to the Maritime Museum is the USS Midway aircraft carrier museum, www.midway.org/hours-tickets.

And then we are going to have a pirate party!  Everyone is expected to wear a pirate costume.  Think George Washington for the right era.  However, all sailors wore tight clothes on board as loose clothing would get caught in the riggings.  So knee-length pants and a T-shirt are authentic too.  The men also wore long pants that could be rolled up to the knee and hip length vests to keep warm.  Either a tri-corn hat (on shore) or a knitted watch-cap (on board) was worn by the sailors.  On board they usually went barefoot or in their stocking feet, as it was easier to climb without shoes. Most sailors wore dull colored long stockings but pirates were known for wearing striped ones.   Female pirates wore the same clothing as the men on board and long dresses on shore.  For costumes try your local after-Halloween sales or www.orientaltrading.com.  People without proper pirate clothing just might be forced to walk the plank by our “short” pirates.  (Glow pirate “cutlasses” will be supplied for all the kids so be sure to tell me how many are coming so I can order one for each child).  Also, watch out for those pirates who want to take all your valuables or make you walk the plank.  (Beads and gold coins will be provided for all adults).

Warning: pirates who let their beards get scruffy may have to deal with their irate wives.

Practice your arrrrghs and be ready for a great time in San Diego June 16-20, 2010.  See you there.  Registration blank will be in the November Banner and online (see link below).  Early reservations are needed to sail on the sailboat to be sure everyone gets on board and for the group tour price we are getting so send your reservations in no later than May 1, 2010.

See you there.

Registration form [PDF]

Bunker Family Association genealogist Bette Bunker Richards recently sent an e-mail message to our Bunker mailing list on Rootsweb that I thought was worth posting to the website:

I keep several databases for the BFA.  One is old and is not regularly updated except for the unconnected Bunkers in it.  These are Bunkers who have not been connected to the two English branches that we know about, Devon and Bedfordshire.  In this database there are many duplicates and some old records for the Devon and Beds Bunkers.  There are more than 34,000 people entered in that database.

The Devon database, which includes the descendants of James of New Hampshire and the Modbury Bunkers, and anyone other family whose DNA indicates they are related to this branch, contains 17,200 people.  This is up to date and has few, if any, duplicates.

The Beds database which includes all of Roger of Tingrith’s descendants that we know about including the Nantucket and Charleston American Bunkers and those who match with the DNA, includes 7,800 people.

Our UK database has people that we cannot connect to the Beds and Devon Bunkers and is up to date with 2,900 records.

When someone asks me about an ancestor, I search all the databases.  I am searching through about 62,000 people.  Some people have more than one name so I am looking at about 80,000 names when I search for someone’s ancestors.

We use The Master Genealogist program and it is good but we still have to sort through about 1,000 George Bunkers, 800 William Bunkers, 700 Joseph Bunkers, 1,000 Elizabeth Bunkers and 1,000 Mary Bunkers.  Can you imagine doing that on paper?  Aren’t we lucky that we have computers?

This is why it is so important that you give me all the information you have when you ask questions, even if it is only a guess.  In addition to our own databases, I search through several online ones to try to find your ancestors and up date all the information I can find.  It is also why we ask that you share the information that you have.  Certainly, we have more information about Bunkers than anyone else in the world, but every day I learn something new.  And I really do appreciate your help.

Since we all have so many seafaring ancestors, we decided to go sailing in 2010.  We will set sail on the cutter “Californian”, a replica of an 1847 revenue cutter that sailed the coast of California during the gold rush.  www.sdmaritime.org

June 16, 2010 to June 21, 2010, our pirate’s headquarters will be at San Diego Bayside Holiday Inn www.holinnbayside.com, phone 800-662-8899. Rooms for up to 4 adults will be $129 plus those dreaded taxes.  The hotel has a nine hole punting green, billiards, spa, pool, table tennis, exercise room, free parking and free airport shuttle.  The Point Loma and Bayside Bar are on site.  Across the street is the Point Loma Wharf with hundreds of boats, a place to rent a boat for deep sea fishing, seafood restaurant and more.

Friday, we are tentatively planning a dinner in memory of Edward Bunker, the founder of our Mormon branch of Bunkers.

Saturday, we will visit the Maritme Museum www.sdmaritime.org where the schooner “Star of India”, steamboat “Berkeley”, B-39 Russian submarine and more are docked.  In the afternoon, we will take a 4 hour sail on the “Californian” or you can take a trip around the bay on the “Pilot”.  This will be followed with a pirate’s barbeque where we will distribute our loot.  And we may have some “short” pirates who make us walk the plank or other pirate activities.

Get your pirate costumes, cutlasses and other gear together and start planning now for our Bunker pirates invasion of San Diego in 2010.

The e-mail directory (in PDF format) has been updated to reflect new members added as of July 14.

Follow the link at the top of the page to access the new directory.

Bette Bunker Richards sent me a few photos from the Bunker Family Association’s reunion last weekend. Apparently everyone had a great time, and we’re sorry we had prior obligations that prevent us from going. More photos will be published as they are obtained.  Photos are visible in this album:

http://greencity.phanfare.com/4146721

Earlier this week, our genealogist Bette Bunker Richards wrote a note that prompted an addition to our web site. Bette said:

Of late, I have a lot of trouble finding people who have died.  Many dying now had parents born after 1930 and that makes it really hard from the obits to connect them.  In 2010 the 1940 census will come out and that will help a bit.

I have an idea … Could we put a copy of the Family Group sheet (both sides) on the web site so people could link to it?  Along with it we could put a statement about updating the records and put in my address so that they could mail or email it to me.  It just might get us some updated information.

So we did just that.   The form has been updated with Bette’s address, and is available via download. The file is

Bunker_family_data_sheet.pdf

If you can, take a few minutes and update the information on your family or your various Bunker relatives, and send along to Bette so we can update the Bunker Family Association files.

Nantucket Land and Landowners by Henry Barnard is online at http://books.google.com/books?id=424aAAAAYAAJ.

Bette Richards notes that the book contains many references to Bunkers.

BFA Genealogist Bette Richards has updated information on James Bunker (D-1), George Bunker of Charlestown (C-1) and George Bunker of Nantucket (N-1).  These updates include the information on each contained on the Devon and Bedfordshire CDs.  Here are the links:

James Bunker [PDF]

George Bunker of Charlestown [PDF]

George Bunker of Nantucket [PDF]

Please visit the DNA project page, which has been updated to reflect findings of the project to date.  The Bunker Family Association continues to seek individuals willing to participate in the testing to expand our findings on the various branches of the Bunker family.

Noted genealogist Dick Eastman, who edits Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, recently published a note on a new book to help genealogists use modern search engines–not just Google–to perform family history research.  Based Dick’s review, the BFA website administrator–that’s me–purchased a copy that arrived yesterday, and I’m half-way through it already.  Google Your Family Tree (FamilyLink.com, Inc., paper, $34.95) is an excellent way to harness technology in family history research.  Author Daniel Lynch is not only a genealogist, he’s a practicing Internet entrepreneur.  If I had to write a one-sentence review of this 350-page paperback, I’d simply said “It’s about results.”

Lynch shows readers how to use basic and advanced search features to focus their searches and filter results.  But that’s not all, he shows you how to use Google Images and Google Video to find visual images to illustrate family histories, how to use Google Maps and Google Earth to explore family history locations current and pasts, and how to use Google Books and Google News Archives to conduct research. Google Language Tools will help translate foreign content.  The book contains visual aids to show you how to use these tools, not just describe them.  There are even descriptions of top free genealogy sites and how to use them, as well as a basic guide to starting a family history.

Lynch describes other search engines, and notes which ones are likely to be most helpful to family history researchers as well.    In my opinion, if  you want to seriously improve your research using the internet, this would be an excellent addition to your library.