Champion 100

This weekend is the 100th anniversary of Champion, Alberta.  Both of my parents are from Champion, Ron Rhodes and Sheila Puzey, and after spending most of my childhood summers and Christmases in Champion, I claim it as my own.  Pictures and more to come.

Preparing for the Rhodes Reunion

Looking forward to pulling out my history books and preparing for the weekend with family at Clear Lake near Stavely.  I ran across this blog on Vulcan County History and found a story about the Sanderson School.  You can check it out below. 

http://vulcancountyhistory.com/2010/10/sanderson-school-no-2210/

Puzey Gathering - from the archives

Puzey get together

Originally uploaded by whistlepunch

I see that I posted one month ago and that doesn't start the year out very well at all! I have done a bit of work on new.familysearch and Ancestry.com but haven't made any significant strides forward to talk about.

So instead - here's a picture for the Puzey clan. I do recognize a few of the children as Puzey cousins (I'll have to do a bit of digging - not much but it's not right at hand - to find the names). I'm making a guess and would love some confirmation. Is the middle woman in the back Emily Neilson Puzey? And is Fred Puzey jr. the second boy from the right in the second row?

That's my guess. I would like to identify the other two women so that will be my challenge this week. See how many names I can add to this picture before next Sunday.

Next Sunday - I'll look at a Rhodes photo.

Remember to watch Ancestry's TV show "Who do you think you are" on Friday nights. I learned some great information last season and even found a connection to the Salem witches after watching the episode with Sarah Jessica Parker. (That's on the Root side of the family) You never know what may come up this season!

Family History Goals for 2011

This is the post I intended to write today.  I have been thinking about this and wanted to make my family history research and sharing plans more specific and make it possible to focus on goals for each of the four grandparents' lines. If I can break this down it may also make it easier for others to step in and share what they have or work on a piece of the research when they have the time.

So that was the plan.  Even  our  lesson in Young Women's included the advice that making comments like "If I have the time...." doesn't work if you really intend to get something done, so I thought about my day ahead (love that morning church that gives us so much time to fill afterwards) and didn't think there would be any problem.  But instead I ended up using it to work on Personal Progress and enjoy a belated Christmas with my family --good things that were also on the list so I feel good about the day but this blog post has ended up being just a commitment to a future post rather than the actual post I wanted to get to. 

Instead, here are some photos from each of those four lines.  With Sunday afternoons stretched out from winter to spring to summer and then fall - I hope that I will be able to share more posts with you in 2011.

Rhodes Family Line:

Roots Line

Puzey Line

 Toone Line

Looking at these photos and all of the people here - it's easy to see what a big job it is to sort them all out as well as what a great heritage of amazing people I have to learn from and get to know as I gather their stories and photos.   I hope that 2011 includes another family history trip to Salt Lake -- and that my plan to focus on specific tasks will make that visit more productive than trips in the past!  Lots to do!

Puzey Family on Vacation 1918

 


Puzey Family on vacation

Originally uploaded by whistlepunch

 

This is my new FAVOURITE picture from the Puzey family side.
Mom got a copy from Uncle David and I've made a copy to display in my house because it is fabulous! It just makes sense as my favourite picture with my grandfather ( the young lad in the cart) is me as a youngster with him and some elephants. The two pictures belong together on my wall.

Here's the info:
It is likely that this was taken on a family vacation to California in 1918 after the farm did well that summer. This is Frederick and Emily Puzey with their son, Frederick Elmer. from Alberta. Checking similar pictures online - it appears to be taken at the Los Angeles Ostrich Farm, which was located near the entrance to Lincoln (Eastlake) Park, 3609 Mission Road, Los Angeles, California. Visitors could pose for a photo here that would be printed up as a postcard as a souvenir.

The website shares the promotion:

"Competent guides conduct all visitors and opportunity is given to see the entire industry from the eggs up to mature birds, 39 years old.

Take Yellow car marked "Lincoln Park" and get off at the farm. Fare 5 cents. Opposite entrance to Lincoln (Eastlake) Park.

TAKE A STROLL THROUGH THE FARM WHERE YOU MAY SEE
Over One Hundred of these Giant Birds on Exhibition
Five of them being the Largest in the United States, and one of them the Tallest in the World."

The site is now a residential treatment center for those battling chemical dependency.