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This is the website for Nathaniel Davidson-Jane Donaldson Family Reunions.
The last Davidson-Donaldson Family Reunion was held 08 August 2009 at Noon in Cold Springs

20 August 2013

Forty Nine people were at the reunion. Thank you Ann Perkins and Laura Wallace and all who brought themselves and their pot-luck meals... Also thank you for your generosity, enough was collected to pay for the hall and the postage. Over $150 was collected

It was a good time, Saturday 10 August 2013

Please visit Heather Davidson's fine fun Facebook site "Davidson Farm" Look for it with the white and green farm house. http://www.facebook.com/www.nathanielandjanehomestead1825.ca.

Dear cousins,

Anna Jean and Cousins Laura and Ann and Aunt Eleanor are already at the farm. Denise and me will be there around noon.

There were no 2011 or 2012 Cobourg reunions.

Nor was there one in 2010, instead, that year in West Adelaide was held "Our Wiley Connection" a gathering/book launch. Here as an Adobe file is a copy of the invitation from Anna-Jean McCoskery.

"Our Wiley Connection" Gathering/Book Launch Invitation
An invitation with full details and contacts (314 KB PDF)

[Some of the Seed family at West Adelaide 21 Aug 2010]Members of the Seed family at West Adelaide, August 2010

[An inn owned by Wiley Family in the era of stage-coaches between Strafford and Sarnia, Aug 2010]

This inn was owned by members of the Wiley family and used to have a stagecoach running right in front.

Davidson Reunion 2009 (889 KB PDF)
This invitation will be sent to the family via regular mail and e-mail by 07 JUNE 2009. --- Davidson Family Reunion 08 August 2009 at noon in Cold Springs Ontario

Previously for the 2009 Reunion, I had written:

Thank you ALL for showing up, baking up a storm, talking it up, washing up, listening up to the business meeting and just being so positive and good cousins.

The agenda, activities and business matters - committees, volunteers, theme for the next reunion --- are again all ahead of us --- as is consideration for a family youth bursary?

The audio file of the entire Business Meeting is now up, the electronics have not failed us.

Copies of the invitation were mailed 8 July 2009. Received were a couple of phone calls and a little bit of e-mail too. Denise placed ads in the "Cobourg Today" paper on Friday 31 Jul 2009 and again on Thursday, the 6 August 2009. The Minutes of 2006 had two corrections in the dates and one for Wiley spelling. Those amendments are now done and published on this web site.

Davidson Reunion 2009 (889 KB PDF)
This invitation will be sent to the family via regular mail and e-mail by 07 JUNE 2009. --- Davidson Family Reunion 08 August 2009 at noon in Cold Springs Ontario

Lead-up to Davidson Reunion Business Meeting
Schedule leading up to the Davidson Reunion Business Meeting 08 August 2009

Agenda for Davidson Reunion Business Meeting (233 KB PDF)
Agenda for the 2009 Davidson Reunion Business Meeting and then a Forward Planning follow up at the Davidson Homestead

2006 Blog
Archive of 2006 blog leading up to the Davidson Reunion 26 August 2006

Some of the Cousins Around 1950 (780 KB JPG)
Cousins Tom, Sue, Jamie, Ann and Allen at the homestead
Uncle Lot will be asked to confirm the year taken and we might find a better photograph, this one came from Ann

Lloyd, Laura, Eleanor and Jim (854 KB JPG)
Lloyd, Laura, Eleanor and Jim at the homestead July 2010

Family and friends after paying their respects to Uncle Reg at Cold Springs (1.1 Meg JPG)
At the homestead July 2010, Laura with date-squares, background all kinds of family and friends having paid their respects to Uncle Reg at Cold Springs earlier in the day

Google Map
Directions Cobourg to Cold Springs

The Purpose of the Davidson Reunion Web Page

"The intent of this site is to link family cousins together on various tasks for a family reunion of between 40-60 people, with particular emphasis on giving the youngsters something to look forward to in future get togethers. This will serve as a sounding board to get comments to Denise and Suzanne, who may try to form committees. There will be telephone calls and perhaps computer assisted planning. Perhaps we will venture into computer communications using Google, Yahoo or AOL. Another way is using AltME.com "An AltME safeworld is a private world of instant communication that runs from your computer (rather than from AOL, MSN, or ICQ's computers). In a way, it's like having your own private AOL system". AltME.com has a file sharing, checklists, and a calendar and upon request other features can be developed. For a family reunion such as ours, AltME provides "a safe environment for your friends and family. Only they can enter"

The main emphasis will be on getting as many family members out as possible in traditional ways - as we have always done it. If this web page helps in even a small way, it will have served its purpose. Again, it will be important to keep the mail, the telephone and e-mail as priorities.

The Minutes of family reunions and perhaps certain photographs and videos will be something to work on too. The Davidson homestead will be the site of work parties this Spring and early Summer - I invite you to consider doing a little something at the Farm this year. The front rock garden was hand weeded in the Fall and some Snow on the Mountain should self-seed again this year on the East side amongst the painted rocks. There are already raspberries, peonies, tiger lilies, tulips, hostas, spiraea bushes, lilies of the valley and oregano. The compost heap is quite full. A rain barrel, such as the one from Arbour Recyling could be a real asset. It costs $80 and must be safely mounted and secured. It would be great at the Farm, as water is always an issue.

Current information on my activities and updating of reunion tasks will be done on this site. I would like to develop and maintain contact with all my cousins this year, especially since the gap in communications which happened within the last 12-18 months. I need to reach out to you. This site and the whole reunion need your ideas. What are your thoughts on our 8th of August reunion, what would you like to see done, who are you most anxious to see in attendance, what needs to be done to keep things focused and on track?"

A lovely donation

A recently donated second photograph of Mary Ann Whiley, grandmother of Elizabeth Perkins (née Davidson), James T. Davidson, Mary Bateman (née Davidson), Eleanor Wallace (née Davidson) and Bob Davidson was donated by Roger Benedict in 2009 and as an aside to you Roger Benedict... saw you once, and I tried to find you again and talk to you but missed you on the 21 August at Adelaide... but I will write you. Anna Jean brought it to the 2009 Reunion and I was able to bring it to the "Our Whiley Connection". Uncle Lot is safeguarding it, and I should be able to take a better quality photograph through the glass next time I see Dad. Cousin Ann has the one from the Farm in her safekeeping.

[Photo of RDP Davidson`s Mother, Mary Ann Wiley]

Mary Ann Wiley, RDP Davidson's Mother, Photograph donated by Roger Benedict (999 KB JPG)
Mary Ann Whiley

Useful links
Family Reunions - celebrating your roots
Reunions Magazine

Interesting links
REBOL Web site of one of the former Amiga computer gurus, Carl Sassenrath
Carl Sassenrath is getting back to the land, but living the computer dream too
AltME, Sort of Virtual Meeting Room, written in REBOL
You may contact Jim Davidson to be accredited and be interactive on AltME
Grassworks Bluegrass band from Nova Scotia
A course presenter with Service Canada is part of a Nova Scotia a family bluegrass band, here is their web site
Hillcrest High School 50th Anniversary Web Site
Web site for the 50th Anniversary of Hillcrest where Jamie, Susan, Big John and Brigitte all had some of the same teachers to annoy!!!

"Family Biz" - Brigitte Video Edited
YTV's Show site for Family Biz
The Internet Movie Data Base, Family Biz

Brigitte edited this for WWF and Earth Hour (Brigitte's video of 2008 for Earth Hour)

Anna-Jean Irish Toast video

Anna-Jean toast 21 Aug 2010 Anna-Jean toasts us in an Irish way (18.6 meg video file .mov)

One little extra video

Jamie greetings on 26 March Small video file (video file .wmv)

Audio file of a funny start to the 08 August 2009 Family Reunion

Jamie forgets his glasses as the meeting almost doesn't get started Small audio file (audio file .mp3)

Audio file of the entire 08 August 2009 Family Renion. Big John has a video.

Davidson Reunion Business Meeting entire 50 minutes 45 Meg audio file (audio file .mp3)

Archive links
Minutes of 12 Aug 2000, Cold Springs
Minutes of 16 Aug 2003, West Adelaide
Minutes of 23 Aug 2006, Cold Springs

and finally

National Capital Freenet in Ottawa - host of this web site

Contact us

Please e-mail your comments to the Organizing Committee - Denise and Suzanne [Scan of Jamie's Coffee Cup 2000] [Picture of Jamie 2009]

Jamie 21 March 2009

Brigitte's Web Site
a link to Brigitte's page... some links of interest and will contain some of her video and pictures

John Nathaniel`s Web Site
a link to John's page