News from the Violette Family Association

Eric Violette - what next?

David@Violette.com (David A. Violette VFA# 621) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:40:00 GMT

You have seen one of our Violette Family Association members on your TV screens for the last couple of years, whether you knew it or not. Eric Violette VFA#2298 played the role of lead singer in the fun "band" starring in those FreeCreditReport.com ads. He was the fellow who had all kinds of unpleasant things happen to him because he did not know his credit score. That we will not see him any more in that role has both positive and negative aspects.

Latest print newsletter sent

David@Violette.com (David A. Violette VFA#621) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:40:00 GMT

The Aug 2010 Violette Family Association newsletter is available at the web site VioletteFamily.org

The latest print newsletter was sent to members without an email address on file today. This most recent newsletter contains information about the upcoming Reunion 2011 to be held in Van Buren ME tentatively August 5-7, 2011. Members are encouraged to pre-register for the Reunion so the Reunion Committee can plan for how many to provide for. Pre-registration is easy at the Violette Family Association web site www.VioletteFamily.org; look for the Let Us Know button on the front page.

Those with an email address on file will receive the newsletter as an email attachment in PDF form so they can print it themselves.

Passports - Updated

David@Violette.com (David A. Violette VFA# 621) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:40:00 GMT

The price for some U. S. passport and related items will increase on July 13, 2010 though not as much as we reported in our earlier story. Click the Reunions button at our web site - VioletteFamily.org - for more information or go directly to http://travel.state.gov/passport/fees/fees_837.html for the official story. As of this writing no increase in Canadian passports is forecast.

Reunion Area Map Added at Web Site

David@Violette.com (David A. Violette VFA# 621) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:40:00 GMT

We have a map feature at the web site that will show places of interest to Reunion 2011 attendees as well as all Violettes.

We have included a map function associated with the Reunion page at our web site—VioletteFamily.org. Click the Reunions button and at the Reunions page click the Map of Reunion Area button on that page. The points on the map will be added to all the time, so check back often to see what is new. We have also added a button in the sidebar at the right of the pages so you can get to the map from every page at the site.

We plan to show points you will be interested in when attending Reunion 2011 as well as any time you are visiting the Upper St John River Valley. You will receive copies of this map in your registration package at the Reunion. There will be a map to show you where Reunion events will be held as well as the location and details of lodging, restaurants, shopping, and other needs for Reunion-goers.

But even more, we will be showing you places around the region that have a relationship to the Violette family. You will be able to use that map to explore the places that were important to our ancestors.

And we will include places of historic or regional interest that you may want to include in your exploration of the area.

Each mapped item will have a description, an address where applicable, and GPS coordinates to help you drive right to it. Photos will be included to show you what you will find there.

Map contributors

Randy Violette, VFA #2673, of Presque Isle ME helped to locate some of the points shown on the map by checking with his father, Rene, VFA #646, of Grand Isle ME and his grandmother, Anne Violette, VFA #569, (wife of Valerian and current owner of the Violette House in Van Buren). Dave Violette, VFA #621, did the programming and also included points from his visit to the area in 2008 with wife, Elaine, and his parents Alderic O. “Dick” and Alice Violette, VFA #100 and 101.

We encourage members to help us make this map system more complete by suggesting other points to add to the maps. We need to know at minimum the name of the place and the reason why you think it would be of interest to family members and Reunion-goers. We also need to have an address (and GPS coordinates if you have them) but would also like photo(s) and contact info if a business or privately-owned place (name, address, phone, email, etc). Don’t worry if you do not have GPS coordinates since we can develop those using geocoding. We may also ask members who live in the area to help provide GPS coordinates (and photos) for points we cannot otherwise pin down.
Using the maps

Each map layer has its own marker color, so all points of that category will have the same color marker. To the right of the map is a group of expandable tables that will open up to list all the points of a category when you click on the + button and close up when you click the - button. (The Family History section is expanded in the map view on the previous page) Each point is numbered sequentially in each category and the markers shown on the map bear those sequential numbers.

While this mapping system will be of great benefit to those attending Reunion 2011, it will remain at the web site as a lasting (and growing) source of information about “things Violette” and can be used by visitors to the area at other times as well.

The present mapping system and its features are only the start; Dave Violette, our WebMaster, will continue to expand the features as well as to add content.

Violette Family Association RSS feed now available

David@Violette.com (David A. Violette VFA# 621) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:40:00 GMT

Look for one of these symbols at a web site to indicate that an RSS feed is available

For those who use RSS to keep up with news items, the Violette Family Association web site at www.VioletteFamily.org now has an RSS feed available. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an easy way to learn about news items without having to go to all the separate web sites to check. You can use an RSS aggregator (such as SharpReader, FeedDemon, NewsGator, etc) and subscribe to feeds from many sources and have them show up on your desktop. Do a search for RSS readers to find them.

Most modern browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, but not Chrome) have RSS feed capability as does Outlook.