Our 88th Annual Family Reunion will be held on Sunday August 6, 2006...

Below is our invitation Newsletter from 2005 this will be updated with new information as time gets nearer to the reunion date.  Please enjoy some of our articles from 2005.

87th ANNUAL FAMILY REUNION

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUR 87TH ANNUAL REUNION WILL BE HELD AT RINGO FAMILY PARK SAUTRDAY & SUNDAY AUGUST 6TH  & 7TH.  RINGO'S FAMILY PARK HAS UNDERGONE SOME NEW CONTRUCTION AND A PICNIC STRUCTURE HAS BEEN ERECTED THAT WILL LAST FOR GENERATIONS. 
PLEASE COME TO RENION TO LEARN ABOUT THE FAMILY DIRT.  RUSTY HAS SOME INFORMATION AND PICTURES FROM THE LINN BURIAL GROUNDS IN MT STEARLING ILLINOIS. 
THIS YEAR HAS BEEN AN EVENFULYEAR WITH SOME UPS AND DOWNS AND THIS NEWSLETTER COVERS A LITTLE OF EACH.
Carrie Wilcox
President    

From Ecclesiastes chapter 3,,,     For every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven:

WELCOME WAGON

HOSTED BY MARVIN FARMER
CHECK IN AT THE WELCOME TABLE TO GET YOUR NAME TAGS
REGISTERING AT THE WELCOME TABLE INSURES YOU CONTINUE TO RECEIVE FAMILY NEWSLETTERS AND UPDATES.
REMEMBER TO UPDATE YOUR MAILING INFORMATION AND ANY E-MAIL ADDRESSES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE.

FAMILY SHARING DAY with HISTORY AND GENEAOLOGY

BRING OLD FAMILY PHOTOS FOR SHARING AND LEARN ABOUT YOUR FAMILY HISTORY OR FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR LONG LOST RELATIVES.
THE GENEAOLOGY PROGRAM BEING USED BY JIM & SHARON TORANGO FOR OUR PUBLICATION OF LINN GENEALOGY ALLOWS PICTURES TO BE INSERTED.  IT WOULD BE A FANTASTIC IF WE COULD GET A PICTURE OF PHILIP LINN AND EACH OF HIS CHILDREN TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PUBLICATION.  TO DATE WE HAVE NOT FOUND A SINGLE PICTURE OF PHILIP LINN.

THE GENEAOLOGY IS BEING SELF-PRINTED ON REQUEST, RECENT INFORMATION CAN BE ADDED AT ANY TIME TO UPDATE THE GENEALOGY.  IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION TO ADD PLEASE FILL OUT YOUR FAMILY UPDATE SHEET AND EITHER EMAIL OR SNAIL MAIL IT OFF TO JIM AND SHARON TORANGO. 

PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN BROWN BAG LUNCH FOR FAMILY SHARING DAY

 FOOD SAFETY

FOR FOOD SAFETY REMEMBER TO KEEP HOT FOODS HOT AND COLD FOODS COLD.
ICEBOX WILL BE AVAILABLE HELP KEEP THE COLD FOODS COOL.  IF YOU HAVE A SLOW COOKER/FOOD WARMER TO KEEP HOT FOODS WARM WE WILL HAVE OUTLETS READY FOR YOU TO USE.

SAFETY IN THE WATER

A LIFEGUARD WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN THIS YEAR FOR YOUR CHILD'S WATER SAFETY BETWEEN 11:00 AM AND 4:00 PM.
PLEASE BRING LIFEJACKETS FOR YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY SO ALL THE CHILDREN WILL HAVE A SPECIAL DAY WITH THEIRCOUSINS.

REMINDERS
BRING YOUR PLACE SETTINGS, EXTRA CHAIRS, SUNSCREEN & PORTABLE SHADE IF POSSIBLE. 

ALSO A SPECIAL REQUEST, PLEASE TAKE A SMALL BAG OF GARBAGE HOME WITH YOU TO HELP WITH CLEAN UP.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALLY MERCEDES WILCOX
CALLY WAS PROMOTED FROM KELLOGG MIDDLE SCHOOL TO FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL. EARNING ONE HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT FOR HER STUDIES IN SPANISH.

JACOB RYAN LINN
GRADUATED THIS YEAR 2005 FROM
R.A. LONG HIGH SCHOOL
 &
LOWER COLUMBIA COLLEGE.
YES AT THE SAME TIME!

FAMILY QUILT

WE ARE STILL COLLECTING QUILT BLOCKS FOR A FAMILY MADE QUILT. THE QUILT WILL BE RAFFLED OFF AT A FUTURE REUNION. COMPLETED 10" X10" QUILT BLOCK. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO FANCY FOLKS, PLEASE INCLUDE THE NAMES OF YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS ON IT.

FUNDRAISING

FUNDRAISING RAFFLE THIS YEAR WILL BE A HAND TIED BLANKET MADE AND DONATED BY GENEVA " PEACH" GESTER.  PEACH HAD ALSO GENEROUSLY DONATED A 3D PICTURE OF A FLOWER FOR RAFFLE.  THE RAFFLE TICKETS ARE TWO BITS (.25 CENTS).  RAFFLE TICKET WILL BE DRAWN AT 3:OO PM, PLEASE BE IN ATTENDANCE TO CLAIM YOUR PRIZE OR MAKE ARRANGEMENT TO PICK YOUR PRIZE UP AT FAMILY MEMBER HOME IN PORTLAND.
THANK YOU PEACH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL DONATIONS.

 QUILTER'S CONVERSATION & PARTY

LAST YEAR WAS OUR FIRST GET TOGETHER FOR QUILTER'S CONVERSATION AND PARTY. A HANDFUL OF QUILTERS DID COME OUT AND EXCHANGED FABRIC AND A FEW TEENAGERS WERE TAUGHT HOW TO SEW SQUARES TOGETHER.  THIS WAS A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO ADD TO THE FAMILY QUILT SQUARES THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN COLLECTED.  BUT OUR BIGGEST SURPRISE WAS WHEN LORENE KUNZE OPENED UP HER CASE AND TOOK OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL QUILT THAT WAS BROUGHT ACROSS THE OREGON TRAIL BY NANCY SCHANKLAND IN 1855.

THE PROVENANCE FOR THIS QUILT READ "THIS QUILT WAS PIECED BY NANCY LINN SCHANKLAND BEFORE SHE WAS MARRIED PROBABLY IN EARLY 1860 IT WAS QUILTED BY HER WITH THE AID OF MRS. LONSBERRY (MATT'S MOTHER) AND AUNT MARGIE BOWEN" SIGNED WINEFRED W. PALMATEER PENDTERGRASS.  EFFIE SCHANKLAND JONES GAVE THIS QUILT TO WINEFRED IN 1954.

LORENE EXPLAINED THAT THE BORDER ON THIS QUILT IS TWO SIDED BECAUSE IN THE "OLDEN DAYS" MOST BEDS WERE AGAINST THE WALL.  LEAVING ONLY TWO SIDES THAT NEEDED THE DETAILED BOARDER.  ALTHOUGH THESE PICTURES DO NOT SHOW THE INTRICATE HAND QUILTED SEWING THEY DO SHOW YOU THE WONDERFUL FLOWER PATTERN.  THIS FAMILY HEARLOOM HAS BEEN WELL PRESERVED AND IS A GREAT FAMILY TREASURE.

RINGO FAMILYPARK NEW PICNIC STRUCTURE

THE SON OF GARY AND LUANN NELZEN HAD A WONDERFUL IDEA.  WAYNE NELZEN IN MEMORY OF HIS GRANDPA RINGO, WANTED TO BUILD AN ENDURING NEW PICNIC SHELTER.  THE GOAL FOR THIS PROJECT WAS TO BUILD A STRUCTURE USING JUST THE MATERIAL OFF OF THE FARM IN MEMORY OF BOYD RINGO

 WAYNE AND HIS BROTHER JERRY NELZEN CUT ABOUT 30 TIMBER TREES IN TOTAL OFF THE FAMILY FARM.  THERE WERE SEVERAL TREES NEXT TO THE POND THAT WERE DYING AND THE WAYNE AND JERRY CUT THEM AND USED THE WOOD FROM THOSE TREES FOR THE ROOF OF THE NEW PICNIC STRUCTURE.  ON THEIR PORTABLE SAW MILL, THEY CUT OVER 1,000 2X6'S FOR THE ROOF.     

      
    THE CARRIER BEAMS ORGINALLY CUT FOR 24 INCHES, WERE NOT LARGE ENOUGH FOR THE INSPECTORS, SO JERRY NELZEN CLIMBED MANY OF THE OLDER TRESS UNTILL HE FOUND TWO PERFECT 28 INCH ROUND BEAMS TO USE. 

 WITH THE SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY COOPERATION AND FRIENDLY UNITY THAT BOUND THE PIONEER ANCESTORS TOGETHER IS STILL EVIDENT IN THE CLARKE'S AREA. THIS INCLUDES THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH GENERATION FAMILIES. AN OLD-FASHIONED ROOF -RAISING BEGAN IN THE EARLY SPRING MORNING OF MAY AND WAS COMPLETED BY NIGHTFALL.  A DOZEN STALWART WILLING WONDERFUL NEIGHBORS VOLUNTEERED TO CAREFULLY ATTACH THE GREEN METAL PIECES TO THE LARGE COVERED PICNIC SHELTER. 

 WAYNE AND JERRY STARTED THIS PROJECT LAST JAN. AND IT HAS TAKEN A YEAR AND A HALF TO DATE AND IS EXPECTED TO BE ANOTHER YEAR FOR ALL THE FINISHING TOUCHES TO BE IN PLACE.  THE BUILDING OF THE NEW PICNIC STRUCTURE HAS TRULY BEEN A LABOR OF LOVE.

  THE CLACKAMAS COUNTY INSPECTORS HAVE TOLD THE NELZEN FAMILY    "THERE IS NOT ANOTHER BUILDING LIKE THIS IN THE STATE OF OREGON."

MAURICE (MAURI) BULLARD BELOVED FAMILY PATRIARCH
JANUARY 07, 1907 - JUNE 17, 2005

MAURICE LESLIE BULLARD SON OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BULLARD AND CLARA ELSIE LACEY WAS BORN IN ESTACADA, OREGON JANUARY 07, 1907 AND PASSED AWAY JUNE 17, 2005 AT 98 YEARS OF AGE.  HE MARRIED EVA ERNESTINE KRAUS MARCH 18, 1933.  EVA PASSED AWAY MARCH 07, 1993.  MAURICE AND EVA HAD TWO CHILDREN BOTH BOYS, ROBERT LEE AND JAMES MURRAY BULLARD.

MAURICE GRADUATED FROM ESTACADA HIGH SCHOOL IN 1925, RECEIVED HIS BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN 1931 AND MASTERS DEGREE IN 1949 FROM OREGON STATE COLLEGE.  HE WAS AN INDUSTRIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR FOR CORVALLIS HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1945 TO 1948 THEN VICE PRINCIPAL FROM 1949 TO 1959.  MAURICE WAS DIRECTOR OF GUIDANCE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION FROM 1959 UNTIL RETIREMENT IN 1972. 
MAURICE ENJOYED CONVERSATION AND HIS MANY STORIES OF THE PIONEER ERA AND THOSE OF THE EARLY YEARS OF OREGON WERE HIS FAVORITE SUBJECTS.  HE GRACIOUSCLY SHARED HIS KNOWLEDGE AND COLLECTED MEMORIES OF THE BULLARD FAMILY INCLUDING THE LETTERS OF RHODA BULLARD WADE THAT WAS WRITTEN SHORTLY BEFORE HER DEATH TO TUBERCULOSIS IN 1880.  HE SPENT MANY HOURS RECORDING HIS MEMORIES OF EARLY LIFE IN ESTACADA, TWENTY FOUR TYPWRITTEN PAGES OF MEMORIES WERE LEFT AS A PART OF HIS LEGACY TO THIS FAMILY RECORDED WHEN HE WAS 93 YEARS OF AGE.

ONE EARLY OCCUPATION MAURICE HAD RECALLED FROM THESE RECORDED TAPES WAS WHEN HE WAS EMPLOYED IN A GROCERY STORE BEFORE PAPER BAGS WERE INVENTED.  THE PURCHASES WERE WRAPPED IN PAPER AND TIED WITH WHITE TWINE AND HE RECALLED THAT HE HAD A PUZZLE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO WRAP 22 ROLLS OF TOILET PAPER. THE SHOPKEEPER HAD SAID TO MAURICE "WRAP IN UP, TAKE IT UP THE HILL AND DELIVER IT" AND WALKED AWAY. AFTER HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO WRAP THE BUNDLES OF TOILET PAPER HE TRUDGED UP THE HILL TO DELIVER THE PACKAGE.  HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A CHARGE ACCOUNT AND THE WHEN THE WOMAN ASKED WHERE WAS THE BILL THAT DID NOT STOP MAURICE, ON A PIECE OF TOILET PAPER HE WROTE HER OUT A BILL AND PRESENTED IT TO HER.

MAURICE BULLARD WAS INVOLVED IN THE ESTACADA COMMUNITY, THE FAMILY REUNION AND SERVED AS TRUSTEE FOR THE FAMILY CEMETERY FOR 63 YEARS.  THE TRUSTEES OF THE CEMETERY WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE MEMBERSHIP AT THE FAMILY REUNION DEEDED THE CEMETERY TO THE TAX SUPPORTED ESTACADA CEMETERY DISTRICT WITH SOME RESERVATIONS.  IN 1983 THE TRUSTEES SELECTED THE NAME PHILIP E. LINN PIONEER CEMETERY AND MAURICE CONSTUCTED AND PAID FOR THE STAINLESS STEEL AND ALUMINUM SIGN THAT WAS ERECTED IN 1986.  THE PHILIP E. LINN DESCENDANTS WAS ESTABLISHED AND MAURICE AUTHORED THE CONSTITUTION, THE ACTUAL INCORPORATION OF THE ORGANIZATION OCCURRED IN 1994.
BETWEEN MAURICE'S OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PHILIP E. LINN DESCENDANTS WAS SERVING AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR MANY YEARS.  MAURICE TOGETHER WITH HIS BROTHER MERLIN ARRAGNED FOR THE GATHERING AND PRINTING OF THE MATERIALS FOR THE PHILIP E. LINN DESCENDANTS GENEALOGY THAT WAS PRINTED IN CHINA IN 1984.  AMONG HIS MANY ACCOMPLISHEMENTS WAS THE EDITING OF THE STORY OF CROSSING THE PLAINS IN 1865 MAKING A SHORTENED HISTORICAL VERSION OF THE STORY IN 1977.  MAURICE ALSO AUTHORED THE MANUALS FOR THE PHILIP E. LINN BURIAL AUTHORITY COMMITTEE AND THE MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE MANUAL.

MAURICE LESLIE BULLARD IS ONE THE MAIN REASONS THAT THE PHILIP E. LINN DESCENDANTS REUNION CONTINUES INTO IT'S 87TH YEAR IN 2005.
MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU AND HOLD YOU IN THE PALM OF HIS HAND.