Newsletter - Vol #4, Issue #2

1. THE PURPOSE of this newsletter: to note and share items of possible interest for the "greater Pomnitz Family". The 184 family names mentioned in the Family Tree are listed at http://www.pomnitz.net/history/surnames_list.htm. Please do send me suggestions or ideas for future newsletters: they will be taken seriously.

THE SEARCH GOES ON - by Ed Pomnitz, Sr.
As you all know by now, Art Meissner has resigned from the "Editorship" of the Pomnitz Family Newsletter. The November Fall issue was his last. We had hoped that someone would have stepped forward to fill the role.

For this Winter issue, your stuck with me, your humble Webmëister and self-proclaimed Genealogist... And now Acting Editor. Don't worry, IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY. As Art put it, "this provides an opportunity for another Family member to have a part in keeping the Family informed and aware of one another and the WHOLE clan". He's right, it's time for a fresh perspective. And, hopefully from another "branch" of our Family.

The "Editorship" functions are straight forward. We just need someone with a "little" time to:

The MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the "Editorship" is the contact of family members in ALL FIVE branches of "The Family", encouraging and soliciting articles and data for inclusion in the newsletter. The Editor also has the opportunity to assist Edwin (Publisher) and Charles (Historian) (via e-mail) in the continuing research of family history, to the extent he/she has time and inclination. Moreover, you will have your own "soapbox" to expound on topics of your choosing.

Remember, this job: REQUIRES NO EXPERIENCE AT OR IN ANYTHING WHATSOEVER.
The fine print: You only need to humor the publisher (humoring the readers would be a plus) and have a slight understanding of English! Have access to a computer would be helpful. Finding the "on" switch is a PLUS!

Please give this more than a little thought. A little time will help us maintain knowledge of what's going one in each others lives as this fast-paced world serves to isolate us. It will also help us detail a legacy for generations to come! You can contact me using any of the following:

I look most forward to hearing from you.
(Salary is not negotiable - $0.00/hr.)

THE TRANSLATOR IS TRANSLATING - by Ed Pomnitz, Sr.
The translator in our website's "Learning Center" went down when changes were made to SDL's International Translator. As our site calls SDL's resources, I've made some hasty changes to get it back up. You can find the translator at:

If you haven't used one of these online translators, I dare say you will want to double-check what they "spit out" at you. To do this, simply run the translated text back through to the language you started with. Here's a simple example of why:

The Translator Game

Starting Text:
Dear Mr. Shultz,

I am contacting you to see if there is any information you can provide us about the Village of Pomnitz.

Cordially,

Ed Pomnitz

Retranslated to English:
Dear Mr. Shultz,

I touch to see you if there is any information, that you can furnish us around the village of Pomnitz.

With sincere greeting

Ed Pomnitz

Results in German:
Sehr geehrter Herr Shultz,

Ich berühre Sie zu sehen, wenn es irgendeine Informationen gibt, die Sie uns um das Dorf von Pomnitz versorgen kann.

Mit herzlichen Grüßen

Ed Pomnitz

Retranslated to German:
Sehr geehrter Herr Shultz,

Ich berühre, Sie zu sehen, wenn es irgendeine Informationen gibt, die Sie uns um das Dorf von Pomnitz ausstatten können.

Mit aufrichtigem Gruß

Ed Pomnitz

Retranslated to English:
Dear Mr. Shultz

I touch to see you if there is any information, that you can equip us around the village of Pomnitz.

With honest greeting

Ed Pomnitz

Wow, this is kind of like playing the "telephone game" when we were kids in school. Remember that game where the teacher gave a student a simple message and it was passed from one student to the next? The final message was usually quite humorous. I must say that the translator has yielded translations that were either downright hysterical or totally absurd. It is easy to see how international relations could become strained with certain mutations of the original intended text.

JULY 2004 REUNION PLANNED - by Art Meissner
FAMILY REUNION SET FOR JULY 17 - 18 , 2004 IN FERGUS ONTARIO. Donal and Marion (Gow) McKeown are looking forward to hosting our gathering. Please check our website for details and updates. If you don't have online access, please contact our 2004 hosts, Donal & Marion 2004 - The 8th Biennial Pomnitz Reunion

McKeown at the following address:

3. HISTORY - OFFICIALLY A "VILLAGE" by Ed Pomnitz Church in Pomnitz

At the time I wrote the four-part article entitled, "Pomnitz Aus Deutschland" early 2002, it wasn't yet clear to me whether Pomnitz, Germany was a hamlet or village. You may want to take a little time to review this interesting series of articles. They can be found in our online Newsletter Archive beginning with the February, 2002 issue.

Although most information I had gathered by the time I began writing "Pomnitz Aus Deutschland" seemed to infer or refer to Pomnitz as a "village", I had no proof it truly was. A settlement must have a Church to be called a "village" or else it is a "hamlet". I had no reference to a Church in Pomnitz and but one aerial photo in which I could not discern one.

Since that time, I was quite fortunate enough to come across a wonderful photo of a Church in our quaint little village. At long last, I had my proof and it is now "official", Pomnitz is indeed a village!

Of further interest is that information (written in German) accompanying the photo indicates that people began to build chapels and churches around 1050 AD within the three villages of Niedermöllern, Obermöllern and Pomnitz. While the churches in Obermöllern and Pomnitz were once built as little chapels they were eventually replaced later by a new construction, and/or reconstruction. The church in Niedermöllern has been rebuilt closer to its original architectural style.

The church in Pomnitz was begun by the evangelist "Saint Johannes" sometime between 1050 and 1150 AD. It's original structure was that of a "Chapel". The original chapel was largely dismantled in 1718 due to it's aged condition. Its reconstruction was completed in 1719. Today, the visible remainder of this medieval chapel is the baptismal stone manufactured with raw "Primitivität" out of the Romanic times (930 AD - 1220 AD). Also to remind us of the essence of the original chapel is small walled up Romanesque window at the south side and an entrance portal at the north side.

The possible early date of 1050 AD pushes us back in time nearly another complete century in our quest to affix an accurate date to when the man who liked to tell heroic stories of the wars established the "Settlement of the Pomen". It is becoming increasingly more obvious that our endearing and enduring village of Pomnitz has stood many years as a settlement before it's 1144 officially documented recognition (**the Emperor Lothar confirmed at the Merseburg Diocese the donation of "12 hooves goods" from the villages of Meller and Pomnitz by Bishop Reinhard). Is it possible that we may still be able to discover with some degree of certainty that we ultimately are descendents from the Saxon tribe? I doubt it, but the further I dig, the more interesting it gets!

*This confirmation has appeared in several historical notes.
The exact interpretation from its German form is not yet understood by this writer.
(Resources include Evangelischer Pfarrbereich Bad Kösen, http://www.kirchenkiste.de)

4. PASSAGES: EVENTS REPORTED SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER (births, graduations, marriages, deaths, careers and announcements):

WHO & WHEN?

Do You Recognize This Person?

Is This Someone You Know?

Rules:
The rules are simple. The person pictured, living or otherwise may not enter. All others, belonging to any branch of the family, may enter.

Entries:
To enter, E-Mail editor@pomnitz.net
or send postcard to Ed Pomnitz, 7891 Marlborough Ave., Parma, OH 44129. Include the following information:
1. Your name.
2. Person's name in photo.
3. Age of person at time of photo.
4. Year photo was taken.

Entries must be received by
Midnight, April 15th, 2004.

Contest Results:
Be sure to "stay tuned" and see the results published here in the May 1st Issue. Win the auspicious distinction of having YOUR NAME published in big bright bold print along with the correct answers RIGHT HERE! In case of a tie, everyone is a winner! Have fun!

7. THE POMNITZ FAMILY FUND REPORT - (A Note from Ed Pomnitz, Sr.): The greatest significance of our Family Reunions, our Family Newsletters, our Family Tree Database, Family Website and ongoing Research that they help us to: 1) Understand our rich heritage... 2) Stay in touch with one another... 3) Allow "lost leafs" to find us!

THANKS to our contributors, we'll be able to stay online until the end of March. As you can see by the Family Fund Report, we have $19.51 remaining in our fund. We are now in need of $97.04 to remain online to the end of 2004.

YOU can help out through the purchase of a family T-Shirt or by simply making a contribution. All NET PROCEEDS from our T-Shirt sales go towards the Family Fund! We STILL have a little bit (-$21.87) to go to pay for the initial run of T-Shirts.

8. SERVICES OFFERED TO FAMILY MEMBERS: Here is a list of some of the services that are available to you on our website. Please contact Ed Pomnitz regarding any these services at webmaster@pomnitz.net.

PHOTO GALLERY II: Family members can load their own family photos directly onto our website for all to see. The Pomnitz Family Web Photo Gallery II can be found at http://www.pomnitz.net/pg/gallery_ii.htm.

We would like to see at least one photo of each family member posted here. You can include a title and description of your photo as well as "keywords" to help others search for your information. Please follow the categories that have been supplied. If you require a new category, please E-Mail webmaster@pomnitz.net with the photo category you would like to see added.

Join in the FUN. Registered family members can post new photos, leave comments and even vote on any of the photos in this area.

Registration is simple. Just use your FIRST and LAST NAME when asked for a USER NAME. Then select a PASSWORD of your choice and provide a valid E-Mail address.

AUTOMATED NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS: Our automated subscription service is fully automated. You can subscribe or un-subscribe from this newsletter online. You may also elect to receive Web Update Notices. An update notice will let you know when something has been changed or added to our website. To subscribe or unsubscribe go online to: http://www.pomnitz.net/news/newsletter/subscriptions.htm.

CHAT ROOM ACCESS: The family website now offers family members (only) their own 'chat-room', where you can (at no cost to you) chat with others anywhere in the world. You can find it in the "In Touch" area, http://pomnitz.net/intouch/index.htm and just click on "Family Chatter". This area requires a USER ID and PASSWORD. Contact webmaster@pomnitz.net for your password.

PERSONAL WEB SPACE: Family members may request personal web space for the sole purpose of creating and maintaining their own family site. Your family's web address will be similar to "http://yoursite.pomnitz.com". If you are interested in web space for your individual family, please contact webmaster@pomnitz.net for further information.

INTERNET DIAL-UP SERVICE: Family members are offered an economic way to get to the Internet as well as having e-mail AND their own WebSpace, if desired. Ed Pomnitz' computer consulting company (FXtra) which handles the technical side of "Pomnitz.net", is also able to offer Family Members a low-cost connection to the Internet, called "EZDial". A special offer for low-cost EZDial is available in both the US and Canada, is economic ($15.95 USD per month) and reliable, with no pop-up ads, no-spam, privacy (does not sell your e-mail address), no set-up fee, free web space, unlimited access. If you are interested and want to join-up, you need to go to http://www.fxtra.com/deal and enter this PIN number when prompted: "ae80701". If you need more information before you do, contact Ed at webmaster@pomnitz.net via e-mail. The added benefit to us all is that Ed's company will donate another $2.00 per month to the Pomnitz Family Fund, which helps to underwrite our website and our other family activities.

9. NEWSLETTER MECHANICS: TROUBLE VIEWING THE NEWSLETTER IN THIS FORMAT??: Please notify editor@pomnitz.net to describe any problems you are having. This Newsletter is composed and sent to you in "html format". Some subscribers may not have computers capable of handling html or graphics in their e-mail. If you are having difficulty with this E-Mail, go to the Newsletter section on our family website. http://www.pomnitz.net/news/newsletter/index.htm. You can print a copy if you wish.

10. CONTACT INFORMATION: To Subscribe or Un-subscribe to this Newsletter, or to correct names and addresses, please do so online at:

http://www.pomnitz.net/news/newsletter/subscriptions.htm

or send a regular postal letter to the address below.

PLEASE DO SIGN OUR GUEST BOOK on your next visit to The Pomnitz Family Web: http://www.pomnitz.net.

SEND E-MAIL REPLIES TO editor@pomnitz.com. Replies by regular postal mail may be sent to Ed Pomnitz, Acting Editor, Pomnitz Family Newsletter, 7891 Marlborough Ave., Parma, Ohio 44129, (440) 842-6968 OR TO OUR ASSOCIATE EDITOR, Nancy Meissner, at nlmeissner@aol.com.

1/24/04 - Jan Tolson - Chuck's Mackinaw visit:
Our Readers Say... Enjoyed Chuck's story re. visiting Mackinaw Island. I definitely will return sometime in my future. I recall when I was about 12 or so when Aunt Ruth (Binney) and Uncle Harry Wyche were brave enough to come by Rock Island and pick me up for a wonderful trip through Michigan and a visit to Mackinaw... I was in awe and remember a huge bridge in the area which ferried cars across to somewhere. Years later Ruth's sister Agnes, my mom, visited the island when she was about 70 with a busload of friends and stayed at what I think was the Grand Hotel and of course had a GRAND experience. Thanks for the recollection, it will indeed inspire some of us to make that trip one day.
- Jan

Chuck has written several delightful articles for us. Chuck's "Vacationing in History" can be found in our November 2003 issue. For those that haven't experienced Mackinaw Island and all it's rich history, Jan summed it up perfectly, "it will indeed inspire some of us to make that trip one day".
- Ed

1/27/04 - Chuck Pomnitz - Newsletter:
Our Readers Say... It occurred to me that we have a grand family tree but in many instances there are names that are just that to us, names. I wonder if we could ask for a little biography of each family for the newsletter. There need not be personal information, perhaps just family origins and their aspirations. A family group could be featured in each edition...
- Chuck

One of the goals of this Newsletter is to make family members aware of the ever-growing tree we have as well as the rich heritage our tree yields us. Our tree continues to flourish with each new marriage that, in effect, establishes ("sprouts") a new branch. A new birth presents a new "leaf" on that branch and a potential to "sprout" yet another branch of it's own. As Chuck so aptly points out, there are people (names) that most of us in "one of the other" branches are unfamiliar with. This Newsletter would love to provide an opportunity for our readers to "meet" all the wonderful families our tree touts and learn about their ancestral roots (beyond the common connection of "Pomnitz"). Each marital addition to our family joins yet another piece of "ancestral history". We can't do this without YOUR help! Please participate by sharing YOUR own stories, biographies and remembrances!
- Ed

12. DAS HUNDHAUS BEMERKT (The Doghouse Notes): By Ed Pomnitz, Acting Editor.

DADDY DO DO-DO
Oh my, another three months have passed... I had hoped that we would of had a new Editor by now. It's been a tough year over all with our move, the business has been slow (you have to work harder when it's slow), the kids (need I say more), holidays and a cat that's always hungry. All have served to keep this self-proclaimed genealogist from making much headway. I've lost track of the growing number of entries needing to be made in the family tree database. And I have been wanting to get back to the old photos that I've only half-restored and are taking up over a gigabyte of my hard drive.

Now comes the "Daddy-Do List". You might say I'm up to my knees in DO-DO. I'm still working on items from '98. Yup, you better believe it I'm in the doghouse as far as the better-half is concerned on this one... Thus at this very moment, you are privy to Das Hundhaus Bemerkt.

That's "The Doghouse Notes" in some foreign language.... well it's suppose to be. POOF - I've just been transported back to the days when we were trying to translate Art's chosen column title "Notes from the Goathouse" into German. We generated a bit of E-Mail between us on that one. It was Jim Tolson who had the final and what SEEMED to be the best answer. I'm not the brightest light bulb in the chandelier, but German and English doesn't translate well without an firm understanding of the language. POOF - Back to the present day. What do you think Jim? Have we got it correct this time? SDL's, International Translator came up clean both ways for a change... well almost.

Gee, Art, you have it made in that spacious goathouse... It's cramped in here! Fortunately, I (we) do not have a dog. Just a doghouse.

You know... it's the kind of doghouse that's imaginary in one's own mind. You find your way there when you've run out of GOOD excuses why you haven't fixed the hole in the window. Feebly you utter, "It could be worse, it could be 14 degrees outside instead of the relative heat wave we're having at a tropical 16 degrees... And besides, I shoveled the snow... both inside and out". Actually I have a snow-blower which made this job easy. It was just a bit tough getting up the stairs.

OK, you've heard/had enough. Now on to Das Hundhaus Bemerkt of more import'.

Does the name Charles H. Baldwin ring a bell? It should, most certainly to those bearing the first or middle name of Charles. Charles Edwin Pomnitz, son of Adelbert and Ida Pomnitz was named after Mr. Baldwin. It seems that Charles Baldwin's Grand Nephew, David Baldwin, came across our website while trying to do a little ancestry research of his own. Spotting our write-up on "The Name Charles" (http://www.pomnitz.net/history/charles.htm), David wrote us in an endeavor to discern whether or not we were referring to the same "Charles Baldwin". After digging through some letters and comparing people, dates and places, we were able to confirm that, indeed, we shared a common link in time. Thus, as David put it, "It's quite apparent now that the Friendship between the Baldwin's and the Pomnitz's goes all the way back to 1875 in Cleveland." It was quite refreshing to make such a discovery and renew the friendship between two families.

It's on these very cold days I think about Donal and Marion McKeown way UP THERE in Canada. I keep wondering if Donal will have the snow cleared by July 17th for the Reunion? Bert Smith's been complaining it's chilly in Orangevale, California. Come on Bert , just how chilly does it get in Orangevale? How about poor Art Meissner OUT EAST? I can see it now; Art and the goats all huddled together, keeping each other warm. How about Nelson & Janice Kelm WAY OUT there in Colorado? Snow doesn't melt in Divide... it evaporates as the air is so thin even the snow doesn't survive too well. I don't want to slight any of the clan UP NORTH in Michigan, but we all know they've been closet Eskimos for years. It's no wonder why Spike (Len Miller) has a good portion of the Ohioans convinced they need to move to Nashville where it's a whole "whomping" 40 degrees. Hey, if we're going to move again pal, it's Bora Bora for us!

It has been a bit of a tradition around here to run the Christmas Pickle story pop-up on our website during the Holiday Season. We've been doing that since the Holidays of 2000. It's a bit amazing what E-Mail I get on this particular story. Of all stories, it is the most popular. Most recently I had a request for a printed copy from a poor soul who's "printer was broken". In the past, I've had to settle a brutal dispute between mother and daughter over the origin of the tradition. For several years running, the dispute had its own "tradition" of surfacing and putting a damper on the Holidays for the two. The daughter wrote, "...I know this sounds crazy but it would be nice, to have at least one Christmas where this debate does not ensue... " It's this sort of thing that serves to illustrate the importance of accuracy of the materials written for our website. It's also gratifying to know that I was able to, once and for all, settle this pickle pandemonium. And thus, restoring the peace and bringing the true Holiday Spirit once again to this family. Perhaps, someday, I may even be recognized for this work of literary genius by reward of the revered Pulitzer Pickle Prize??? The Nobel Pickle Peace Prize??? SEE:

The last thing I see here on Das Hundhaus Bemerkt is a reminder to offer you, the readers, "Stress Release". No, its not a pitch for Excedrin, but it is much more effective. This great stress and tension reliever is intended in particular for all those who hate their PC (don't we all?). It is obtainable from Wacky Zachy's at http://zachary.pomnitz.net/playtime/downloads. Speaking of stress... uh-oh the Daddy Do Do-Do list.... maybe tomorrow :)

13. NEXT NEWSLETTER is tentatively scheduled for May 1, 2004. It will contain a summary of then-current Family news as well as any articles submitted by family members. Please help by submitting newsletter items no later than April 15, 2004. You do not have to do a lot of writing: Just list WHO in the Family did WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE. ("How" and "Why" are optional.) We will edit it for a future issue. THANKS!