Memory books can be homage to ancestors

After my dad died two years ago, I did a picture homage, grouping a photograph of him with one of his ship from World War II and presenting them to my siblings for their birthdays.

I’d been wanting to do something else, but am not quite ready for a big-production genealogy. So I’m starting with a memory book – a loose-leaf binder with dividers.

The centerpiece of the book is a transcribed interview I did with my dad in 1994 for a Bangor Daily News story on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. I have the tape and the story, but I wanted my siblings and my children to have the whole interview to read, as well.

Another section of the book is the NEWS story itself, and a few others I wrote about my father over the years. What a privilege it was to let the world know how proud I was of him – while he was still alive to appreciate it.

Whether you have had stories published about your family or not, you could still write them and share them as I have.

Another portion of the book is some simple genealogy on the Moore line as far back as I can trace it, to the Moores of York County. Each generation is fleshed out with a paragraph or two about our ancestors.

For instance, I didn’t know until recently that my paternal grandfather and his second wife once ran a florist shop in Guilford. Also saved in my book are my dad’s Sons of the American Revolution application under the line of Isaac Bennett Sr., and my dad’s own obituary. Then, too, there are his Navy separation papers, and a small map showing the locations of the battles he participated in – Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa.

I hope my brother and sister will find things of their own to add to these books, as I’m sure I will. The point is I’ve made a start, made an effort to find another way to say “we remember.”

When my father died on May 29, 2002, we found ourselves saying thank you to so many people who had taken care of him in illness and continued to care for him respectfully after his death.

One thing I will never forget is the members of the Conner-Trafton American Legion Post who attended his graveside service in Abbot. For more years than I could remember, my dad had participated in Memorial Day parades with these fine people – and now they were honoring him.

If you happen to be in Abbot today for Memorial Day, you’ll want to check in on both ends of town. The Abbot Historical Society Museum, in the former K of P Hall located in Monument Square, will have an open house 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The museum also will be open Sunday afternoons this summer.

Also, the society will hold its traditional baked bean dinner with a first seating at 11:30 a.m. Memorial Day at the town hall on the other end of town, next to the cemeteries. The cost is $5 for adults, $2.50 for children 12 and under.

Today, Cole Land Transportation Museum will offer a variety of activities at 405 Perry Road in Bangor, beginning at 12:15 p.m. In addition to the usual World War II and Purple Heart remembrances, the museum will dedicate an addition to its Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a Huey helicopter and an M-60 tank.

The Sarah Elizabeth Palmer Tent of the Daughters of Union Veterans will host a brief wreath-laying ceremony at Palmer’s grave at 3:30 p.m. today in the old section of the Dover Cemetery on Vaughn Street in Dover-Foxcroft.

Sarah Elizabeth Palmer was raised in Dover and served as one of Dorothea Dix’ nurses during the Civil War years. She nursed for a few years following the war and then returned to Maine, where she died in 1894. All are welcome to attend. To carpool to the cemetery, gather in the parking lot at the courthouse.

Officers elected for the tent are: Donna Runnels, president; Kathleen Sinclair, vice president; Marcia Albert, junior vice president; Mary Annis, chaplain; Leilani Stites, patriotic instructor; Cindy O’Connor, Estella Bennett, Joyce Austin, council members; Nancy Battick, treasurer. Appointed were: Leilana Stites, secretary; Nancy Battick, press correspondence; Kathleen Sinclair, guide; Joyce Austin, guard; Estella Bennett, assistant guard and historian.

I was fascinated with the “Colonial House” series, which was filmed in the Machiasport area and aired on Maine Public Television. My understanding is that the houses have been dismantled and will be re-erected as part of Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts.

Even before the series finished airing, we started getting requests for information on purchasing the series. It is available on CD for $49.95 through the Web site at www.pbs.org/wnet/colonialhouse. There is also a good amount of information on the Web site.

Good job, PBS!

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net.