At long last, I can post again… After a hard disk crash due to a power failure, I decided a couple of weeks ago to upgrade my family house network to devolve my old (but still relatively new) computer to the grandkids who live with us.  Isabel and Manuel are both in school, but love to get on the Disney web site on their mother’s laptop as soon as they can. So, we’re dedicating one machine for their use, and grandpa gets a new PC.  I’ve got the system running, and have reinstalled most of the software…though I still have some to go.  But it’s back to my many projects which I steadily work on…a little at a time but try to progress each week.

• I’ve updated my personal family history software to Family Tree Maker 2011, and am now checking entries for the descendants of Elizabeth Williams, daughter of my 5th-great-grandmother Sobriety Bunker Williams.  It is only Elizabeth’s descendants I have to update and I’ll be ready to do a new CD version of my 1996 work, Descendants of Sobriety Bunker, which was produced in print form for the Bunker Family Association. I hope to have the new CD available by Christmas, adding to the two CDs compiled by Bette Bunker Richards.  Those CDs continue to be available for purchase.   The Sobriety Bunker CD will extend the information on Sobriety Bunker’s family, some of which is contained on Bette’s first, tracing the Devon Bunkers.

• Bette’s data bases are maintained in The Master Genealogist, which I also use. So Bette asked that I install a backup of the BFA data bases on my network.  As major updates to those occur,  we will continue to maintain remote backups.

• Reinstalling a scanner this weekend will allow me to continue working on another CD publication, which will be an electronic version of the back issues of the Bunker Banner, the newsletter of the Bunker Family Association. The Association was founded in 1913, but the Banner was first published in 1971. BFA members Ruth Bunker Christensen, Edward F. Cooper, and Gil and Carole Bunker were editors in the first 25 years of the Banner’s history. Gil and Carole continued to share the production duties of the Banner thereafter until Carol’s death in 2009, and Gil has continued with the Banner editorial duties in addition to his role as BFA President.  Hopefully the production of this CD will allow Gill to clean out some paper copies of older Banner issues.

Please continue to use the Bunker e-mail list at Rootsweb as it is the easiest way to exchange and obtain information.  If you are interested in subscribing but don’t know how, instructions are on the e-mail page on this blog. Or you can send an e-mail to me:  doug.detling@gmail.com.