The Dunton Times - Vol. III Issue 7

In the December, 1997 edition of this periodical, there was an article highlighting the life and artwork of W.Herbert Dunton. If you didn't get a chance to read it, it isn't too late. It is still in the archive.

Recently, I was contacted by a relative of his and he in turn put me in touch with "the" expert on W. Herbert Dunton.

With the materials that they have provided, there was enough to clean up the old "virtual art exhibit" plus allow for an expansion of resources.

Even if you are not a blood relative of this man, he was a very accomplished artist, his pieces are highly sought after, and you can enjoy examples online without paying six figures or travelling many miles to view one.

This article marks the beginning of a big project. For any of you that have planned a family get together or perhaps a family reunion, you will appreciate the work that will be involved.

We are in the beginning stages of planning a family reunion. Unlike the usual one where you may drive a few hours, and see people that you have not seen in a long while, we are hoping to gather as many of us as possible -- from all over the world.

The location will be a bit more interesting, and nostalgic, than a county park or an Auntie's house. We are planning on gathering in England.

The goal is to put together a schedule of events that will span several days and includes functions such as a 16th Century feast, tours of ancestral Halls and lands, site-seeing, genealogical digging, time for making new friends, and connecting as a family community.

Although we all come from various occupations, religious backgrounds, and geographical places, we can all trace our ancestry to England.

Because of the complexity of this task, the cost that will be required, and the commitment we must make to pull this off, we are planning the event for around Mid-summers Day 2000. Some of you will understand the significance of this time. Others will have to keep checking back to The Dunton Homesite GeneWeb Page for updates.

Here is what you can do to help. First, get out your planner or calendar and block out the June of 2000. Keep checking back to refine the dates. Second, determine that it is possible and start saving. (Editors note: There are 6 of us in my family, I am not wealthy, but with two years to plan, I know I can pull it off.) And finally, participate by emailing us to let us know that you are interested and how many you think will likely attend. We will place you on a special email list and keep you posted.

Remember, it is possible. -- "U.K. in 2K" !!!

With all of the activity and the continual changes that occur at The Homesite, this column will likely be regular. Here is a listing of new pages and changes to existing ones:

The Life and Art of W. Herbert Dunton -- see article above.

A Virtual Tour of Dutton Hall is on-line. Thanks to Colin Dutton of England for taking all of the photographs, scanning them in, and providing the descriptions. A lot of documentation can also be found here. Thanks to GeoCities for providing the web space.

The Research Library was completely restructured and many new links added. This section actually changes nearly daily!

The GeneWeb Project has also been restructured. The goal to these changes are to make navigation simpler.

Finally, The Homesite Webstore is becoming a viable resource for all of us. With the association of Amazon.com, we are able to provide the same service, selection, and great prices that you get directly from Amazon.com, but if you make your purchases via The Homesite Webstore, a percentage is returned to this project. As stated on the site, it will be completely used towards improving the site.

If you are going to purchase a book, email me and I will add the title to the site. Remember, ordering is secure and a great way to purchase a present for someone. Amazon even provides gift wrapping.

"Announcements" - Submit obituaries, marriage, military service, special events, and birth announcements to keep us all up to date!

"Life On The Farm"
Being a brief monthly accounting of the events from life on the Victor Hugo Dunton farmstead in Oregon

Summer finally came and is quickly disappearing. We are located a few miles north of the 45 parallel and the nights are definitely coming earlier. As I type out this article, a thunderstorm is rumbling and the power is threatening to disappear (luckily the computer is plugged into a UPS). All signs that Fall is in the wind.

It was Spring in the last installment of this column and the farm was waking up late. The calves have been born -- one required help coming into the world -- but they are fine.

Although there was a chance that we could get our hay put up early than usual this year, the weather never stabilized long enough until mid-July. Very late in the year again.

We planted a very large garden and it is just recently starting to produce -- not yet peaking. Denise and the girls have started canning apple sauce, jams and jellies, and preparing to start the green bean harvest.

We have had poor luck with corn the last couple of years so I compensated this year by planting more. I put in eight, 50 foot rows. It all came up, is over seven feet tall, and seems to be developing well. Maybe I overcompensated.

We have about 40 tomato bushes that are heavy but have yet to get one ripe one.

Along with all of the food preservation, several major farm maintenance projects, and getting our winter supply of wood needs to be completed before we can start into a restful season.

Fall is my favorite season of the year!

I hope that you are all enjoying your Summer, that it is restful and productive, and that you are prepared for the change in seasons.

Mike Dunton - 8/20/98