BFA member Clara Reese has sent along photographs from the Bunker Family Reunion in June, and these have been added to others posted at:

http://albums.phanfare.com/3459565/2148967

Maralyn Anderson has sent along her photos from the BFA Reunion in Portland.
They’ve been added to the web photo album at:

http://albums.phanfare.com/greencity/2148967

10 of our newly published CDs on the Devon Bunkers appear to be defective due to a corrupt file. We have accounted for all and they have been replaced.

Many thanks for the quick responses so we could replace these.

Steve Bunker’s presentation at the Maine reunion dinner was so very interesting. Steve and Sharon run the China Sea Trading Co. shop in Portland, Maine (http://www.chinaseatrading.com) and have some very interesting things in it.

Some are made by Steve. He collects all kinds of “stuff” and looks for more all the time. If you are interested in Maine stuff, coastal or maritime stuff, Bette Richards recommends contacting Steve and Sharon. Steve will look for things that you are especially interested in and maybe he can even find some Bunker stuff. Steve is from the Cranberry Island Bunkers, descendants of James Bunker of Dover, New Hampshire.  The e-mail address is:  chinasea@chinaseatrading.com

Doug Detling, BFA website coordinator, has posted photographs from the Bunker Family Association’s 95th reunion, held June 11-14 in Portland, Maine. The photos are on the web at the following location:

http://albums.phanfare.com/greencity/2148967

Also included is a section on the Great Cranberry Isle trip, with photos by Bette Bunker Richards.

Feel free to visit any of the other photo albums.

This post updated June 25, 2008.

At the Bunker Family Association’s business meeting Saturday (June 14), the group tentatively settled on sites for upcoming reunions.

The 2009 reunion will be held in Omaha, Nebraska in late June 2009.

San Diego was the site tentatively chosen for 2010, followed by Philadelphia for 2011.

2012 site remains unidentified, but the group will return for its 100th anniversary to the Durham, New Hampshire area (there was substantial sentiment to use Portland, Maine–the site of this year’s reunion–for the 2013 site as it is only a 45-minute drive to Durham, New Hampshire).

More details to come.

The online photo management site used by Bunker Family Association web master Doug Detling has changed policies and once again is allowing access to photo albums through the following: http://albums.phanfare.com/greencity. The change restores a feature of Phanfare that was changed when version 2.0 was released.

We have posted a few photographs from previous Bunker Family reunions, and look forward to showing several after the BFA Reunion in June in Portland, Maine.

As you know, we had posted photographs of the BFA reunion in Olympia, Washington, and plan to do the same for the Portland, Maine reunion in June. The hosting company has recently undertaken a major upgrading of its hosting services, and one change is necessary for individuals to view any of the
photo albums I’ve shared.

From now on, it will be necessary to log-in to the site. You can sign up for the BFA group (which will give you access to all related photo albums) by creating a user account at:

http://www.phanfare.com/group/1383530

Creating a log-in and password using the link above will give you access to all BFA photo albums created to date, plus any in the future.

Alternatively, for those who might like to see any of my photo albums, you will need to send me an individual e-mail (to doug.detling@gmail.com) and I will invite you to the “friends” category rather than the more narrowly defined BFA group. You will have to confirm your participation to have access to these.

BFA members planning to attend the reunion in Portland, Maine June 11-14 should make reservations directly with the Best Western Merry Manor, if my own experience is any indication.

I first attempted to make reservations through the toll-free number given in the Bunker Banner, and the best room rate I could get mentioning the BFA was $99 a night because of my AARP membership. When I became a bit more insistent that the BFA had a $69/night rate, the reservation clerk just she had no information about that and that I would have to speak with the hotel directly to make reservations at that rate.

I immediately called the Best Western Merry Manor hotel at 207-774-6151 and got the $69 quoted rate confirmed and a guaranteed reservation within 2 minutes. As Gil Bunker, BFA President, noted in the most recent Bunker Banner, to get this rate, you should mention the BFA by name, and register by May 30. Our host site has high speed wireless internet through the grounds and free parking. Check in time is 3 p.m.

The BFA’s annual business meeting will be at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 14, in the hotel.

It’s time to register for the BFA’s 95th Annual Bunker Reunion to be held Portland, Maine June 11-14, 2008. According to BFA President Gil Bunker, Portland, especially the Merry Manor Inn, has rolled out the red carpet. “I am very confident this gala will be one of the best convocations of Bunker cousins. From all indications, Portland is a destination we may want to visit again. The advance response has been gratifying, even before the “official” reservation form is in your hands.”

The schedule calls for us to visit the Bunker Garrison site (a short trip into New Hampshire) and its nearby graveyard of Dover ancestors. It offers a pleasant trip into our heritage, and a quiet place to ponder the hardships of our forebears more than 300 years ago. In 1960, Anna Tenney of Newport, New Hampshire located the site and began its 11-year restoration. Eleven of our earliest pioneers (James 1 family) were buried in unmarked graves, lest the Indians desecrate their remains. Eight rough fieldstones marked additional graves of our ancestors, although the markers mysteriously increased to 15 by 1993. We are fairly certain about these departed cousins. White, marble engraved slabs identify the final 15 interments in the 1800s (plot list and diagrams will be distributed).

The Madbury graveyard contains the graves of Zachariah (D-11) and 30 family members. Fieldstones mark their final resting-place, only a few stones contain initials and/or dates. Special thanks go to Laurel Bunker, her sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Bob May, for helping with the discovery in 1986 and the restoration.

For those not up to a 10- or 12-hour Friday coach trip to Great Cranberry Island, an alternative guided excursion to local attractions will be provided by Steve Bunker, who owns and operates a nautical shop in Portland. However, the term nautical is not quite appropriate for his China Sea Marine Trading Co. For sure you can purchase a ship’s wheel or carved wooden mermaid, and in case you need to prevent sickness, Steve may provide an African fetish for your medicine cabinet. If it can ward off evil, as is claimed, you probably won’t need to worry about that headhunter’s knife. Rather then part with scarce, maritime “tools of the trade” to be hung on a forgotten wall, Steve will save the antique implements for working seamen. And you probably can’t buy a wood plane, unless you’re going to use it in the workshop. Steve traces his ancestors back to the Cranberry Isles and claims he personally knows “Ensign Ben.” We’ll just have to wait and see about that yarn, but as a tour guide, you’re in for an unusual day.

The Cranberry museum will be open and we’ll certainly pay respects at the graves of our formidable ancestors. Hopefully, the island Bunkers will join us during the walk-about. “Tinker” Bunker (D-1106) of SW Harbor will join the Cranberry tour and provide a personal glimpse into island life.

The host site is:

Best Western Merry Manor, So. Portland, ME
700 Main Street, South Portland, ME 04016
1-800-528-1234 or visit the web site www.merrymanorinn.com
Room rates, $69.00 + 7% tax - Mention BFA by name
Hotel Reservation deadline - May 30, 2008

Reunion Calendar

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 - Check-in: 3 p.m.
Hospitality Room, Greeting & Conviviality 3 p.m.
Hang your relatives on the clothesline exhibit - Tables available for displays, door prizes, BFA library, archives, etc.

Thursday, June 12, 2008
Dover, New Hampshire Tour (approx. 62 miles one-way) 1-7 p.m.
Charter coach tour to Bunker Garrison site and Graveyard; visit Madbury graveyard; tour Durham Museum; Dinner, on own, at Newicks, Dover Point, New Hampshire (seafood dining at its best).
Hospitality Room 7 p.m.

Friday, June 13, 2008
Great Cranberry Island, (approx. 175 miles one-way) 6 a.m. - 6 p.m. Coach service from hotel to Northeast Harbor,
Beal & Bunker ferry to Great Cranberry Island

or Alternate Local Guided Tour

Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, Peaks Island; Eastern Promenade; Portland Head Lighthouse; Marine Observatory and cemetery with War of 1812 veterans. Lunch on island - Tour itinerary may vary - Times to be announced.
Hospitality Room 7 p.m.

Saturday, June 14, 2008 - Flag Day
Group Photo Session 6 p.m.
Banquet w/cash bar 6:30 p.m.
Choice of: Roast Beef, Chicken Cordon Blue, Seafood Newburg includes fresh baked rolls & butter, Chef’s choice of potato or rice, veggie du jour, salads, coffee, assorted tea, coffee, desert.
Entertainment by Ensign Ben 8:30 p.m. +/-
Raffle 9 p.m. +/-
Hospitality Room 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. & 10 p.m. +/-

Sunday, June 15, 2008 - Father’s Day
Farewell breakfast on own - Checkout: noon