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PRA 2003 San Rafael Annual Meeting Review

By Gene Pennington, Host

Well, it’s come and gone. For those of you who missed the 2003 PRA Reunion, we missed you and hope you’ll join us next year at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. My wife Judy and I were pleased to have the opportunity to share our beautiful San Rafael and the San Francisco Bay Area with those who did attend and we hope you enjoyed yourselves.

Photograph by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

The 2003 Reunion was held in San Rafael, California (a suburb of San Francisco) from July 24 through July 26, 2003 at the Embassy Suites Hotel. San Rafael is located just 20 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Photograph by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

Prior to our Board meeting, we learned of the death of Dr. Richard P. Bailey. His daughter, Ann Bailey, had arrived at the Reunion and was just settling in when she learned of his death. We all gathered around Ann for one big group hug and tried to help in any way possible. Ann was able to get an early flight out the next morning so she could return home and be with her family.

The Board of Directors met for several hours on Wednesday and accomplished many important tasks. Read President Alice Sanders article for a summary of those accomplishments. Click here to read her article.

On Wednesday several of us attended a baseball game in San Francisco. We watched the SF Giants beat the Arizona Diamond Backs (sorry Rene’e) and witnessed Barry Bonds hit homer number 645. As of 9/27/03 he is at 658 just 2 short of beating the record of his Godfather, Willie Mays who hit 660 lifetime homers.

We traveled from Marin County to Pac Bell Park on a Golden Gate Ferry and got to see many of the beautiful sights of San Francisco Bay including the Golden Gate Bridge and views of San Francisco and Oakland that were memorable.

Photographs by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

The return trip at night was equally as beautiful but much colder and many of our group could be found huddling together in the enclosed passenger areas of the ferry. Some were even noticed sipping on warm cups of something that I suspect contained more than just coffee.

Photograph by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

The conference on Thursday started with two (2) new members joining the PRA. The new members are Roxanne Connell, Kentfield, CA and Ryan Vogt, Chandler, AZ. Roxanne lives near me while Ryan was on vacation in the area and when he learned our Reunion was being given at the same time he was going to be here, he decided to join us. What a great surprise!

Our conference offered presentations by Jasper Green Pennington and me. Jasper talked about the new PRA Research Library and Archives and held everybody in suspense as he shared his Pennington Papers (or “Monograms” as he refers to them) with us. I talked about the DNA Study and our Family Groups which drew many comments of interest from the audience. I have a more detailed article on that same subject in this issue of the Pedigrees. I also discussed the JFMF and our new website on www.MyFamily.com and demonstrated how it worked and explained how PRA members will soon have access to the JFMF.

Friday was Tour Day and we loaded on the bus and headed off to visit Muir Woods where we saw very tall old growth Coast Redwood trees. What a sight! That's me standing inside the trunk of one of the older trees.

Photographs by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

There are more pictures available in the October 2003 issue of the Pedigrees or click here to view the most recent pictures.

Then we went for a tour of the Presidio, the oldest fort on the West Coast, and other sights of San Francisco. We next arrived at Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 where we walked and walked and walked. Some found time to shop and to eat lunch in one of the many famous sea food restaurants. Rumor has it that one of our group also arranged for a secret date with a very unusual looking man who was posing for pictures near our bus, but we won’t tell you the details.

Photographs by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

From there we continued our tour of San Francisco seeing some spectacular views of the City. We then crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped on the North Vista Point where we took pictures and braved the very cold wind and mist. Some members of our group even walked out onto the Golden Gate Bridge hand in hand. What a romantic group!

Photograph by Don Salyards, published with his consent

Then we had a real surprise as our bus driver took us into the Marin Headlands for a rare look at the beaches and hill tops of this famous area of the Golden Gate Recreation area. We stopped several times for pictures and to admire the views. Some of our group took some great pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and our group. A couple of them are included in this article and there are more pictures available in the October 2003 issue of the Pedigrees or click here to view the most recent pictures.

Photographs by C. E. (Chuck) Pennington, M.D., published with his consent

Throughout the day I entertained (I guess) our group with stories from my days as a police officer in San Rafael (all true by the way). Once I had a captive audience, you just couldn’t stop me and I managed to tell several stories during the day.

We ended our day totally exhausted and glad to get back into a warm hotel lobby! Some of our group could be seen hurrying to the hotel bar yelling “Give me an Irish Coffee – Quick!”

The Board of Directors and their spouses and/or guests met Friday evening for dinner and were entertained by a humorous waiter that was a little short on his waiting skills but very talented with his quick wit. Just ask Flo French!

Saturday was a great day for genealogy researchers. Cyndi Howells gave her presentations throughout the day and she was an outstanding speaker. Cyndi used her laptop computer that was connected to the Internet and a large overhead screen to demonstrate as she move around the World Wide Web showing us many secrets to help us with our research.

Cyndi Howells presentation was attended by about 100 people and I think it was one of the best presentations the PRA has ever sponsored. Many of the people who attended from other genealogy research associations complimented the PRA for hosting Cyndi and for the quality of the conference.

Saturday afternoon we held our membership meeting and conducted several items of business. Refer to Alice Sanders article for details of the membership meeting.

Saturday night was our banquet. We were entertained by a very special person, Michael Valcour, a gifted 30 year old baritone, trained to sing a varied repertoire of classical, pop and children’s songs. Despite being diagnosed at a young age as having autism, Michael has managed to astound a large number of people with his talents.

Michael sang The Star Spangled Banner, God Bless American, America the Beautiful, American, Climb Every Mountain, If Every I Would Leave You and Lean on Me.

Following dinner, we held drawings for several door prizes donated to the PRA by several companies. We finished the evening with pictures of our group and individual pictures of the Family Groups represented.