Today much new Park information has been added to the Family Tree section of this website, thanks to cousin Susan Avery, Lineage Leader for the Dr. Roger Parke line for the Parke Society. The best way to find the new info is to click on “What’s New” in the first window of the Family File, under Other Features.
Note: The material has been translated from the French, so you will find a few English oddities, but it is all understandable.
General meeting on December 15, 2018
The association is administered by a Board of Directors comprising 7 members elected by secret ballot for 6 years by the General Assembly and chosen from within. Renewal takes place every third year. The order of exit of the first members is always determined by draw.
The association is administered by a Board of Directors comprising 7 members elected by secret ballot for 6 years by the General Assembly and chosen from within. Renewal takes place in half every 3 years. The order of exit of the first members is always determined by draw.
The Board of Directors meets twice a year and whenever it is convened by its chairman or at the request of at least a quarter of its members. Resolutions are taken by the majority of the present members. The releases are taken by a show of hands.
The Board of Directors meets at least once a year and whenever convened by its chairman or at the request of at least a quarter of its members. Resolutions are taken by a majority of the members present. Deliberations are taken by show of hands.
In general and for a good functioning, consensus is sought for all decisions to be made.
The Board of Directors secretly elects a bureau comprising:
The office is elected for 2 years. Outgoing members are eligible.
The Board of Directors shall elect from among its members, by secret ballot, an office comprising:
The members of the bureau are elected for the duration of their term as member of the Board. Outgoing members are eligible.
Status after grounding and recovery of falls.
Cleaning monuments.
Cleaning monuments.
COST 1: 416 €
COST: 720 €
COST: 858 €
Donation of Schertz Families
Graciously adapted and renovated by Schertz Families
Remaining funds needed – Cost 500 €
BALANCE IN ACCOUNT at 30.11.2018 = 4,469.57
EXPENDITURE EXPECTED
2018 EXPECTED CONTRIBUTIONS = 460.00
BALANCE FORECAST AFTER WORK – 428.43
COMMON SUBSIDY OF RHODES = 2,000 €
PARKING PROVISION BY THE COMMUNE OF RHODES
AFHAM GRANT = 500 €
DONATIONS (AMERICAN COUSINS) = 1,800 €
DONATIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS at 30.11.2018 = 2,305 €
EXPENDITURE:
Additional work on the cemetery took place in the fall of 2020. Here are four new photos of the nameplates and tombstones that were repaired.
Follow the 400-year path of my Park ancestry line, through the passage of time and generational migrations, as it evolves from early English Church of England dissidents to connect in Illinois with my Schrock ancestry line in an Anabaptist Christian community–told in the new article, Four Hundred Years of the Park Family From England to Illinois.
After two years of transcription and preparation, a unique book has been released that will be of interest to a variety of history buffs, including Zehr, Heiser, and Schrock descendants, as well as those eager to read stories of Mennonite families of almost one hundred years ago. Following is a description of the book and excerpts from both diaries. At the end, you will find directions for ordering your own copy.
These unique diaries of two Illinois farm women, Katie Zehr Cender (1877-1944) and Edna Heiser Cender (1918-1996), provide details about rural Mennonite life during the years of 1936-1940. Newly accessible as a window into the 1930s, the diaries will likely be of interest to many descendants of John and Katie Zehr Cender and J.A. and Fannie Schrock Heiser as well as to others interested in primary material about a close-knit church and farm community in northern Champaign County, state of Illinois.
The fact that Katie and Edna became mother-in-law and daughter-in-law adds another layer of interest, as well as the fact that these six diaries are their only extant writings for that time period. Katie’s daily diaries (1937, 1938 and 1939) offer a basic, chronological accounting of everyday events and people, and Edna’s diaries (1936, 1939 and the first three months of 1940) present a more expressive record including commentary on the self as well as on events in the larger world.
Both diaries in this publication have been transcribed and published essentially word-for-word, with occasional minor corrections for spelling and language usage. The book includes over 80 photographs and is edited by Kathryn Cender Martin with introductions and reflections by Mary Cender Miller, both daughters/granddaughters of Edna and Katie. An appendix is also included containing genealogical charts and closing reflections. 272 pages.
Although for years I have had in my possession the 1939 diary of my paternal grandmother, Katherine (Katie) Frances Zehr Cender (1877-1944), of rural Fisher, Illinois, I never could get into it. I would read a page and be instantly bored: temperature, weather, hired man at noon meal, trips into town for groceries and “business,” laundry, ironing, chores, fieldwork. Katie did not skip a day of this stuff throughout the year…I began to type out January just to see if there was anything quotable, and, sticking at it, suddenly the magnitude of the whole became more evident. I saw that the reader could not help but be pulled into the rhythm of Katie’s daily schedule. Further, that right there among her ubiquitous activities, a scintillating jewel would occasionally catch the reader’s eye. Further, what Katie neglected to explicitly record, was often there to be inferred. It was pretty interesting, after all.
January 1, 1938, Saturday — 30 Degrees, Sunshine and cold northwest wind it thawed some this PM. Lelia has a cold on her chest, she is hoarse she didn’t go outside all day. Alva cleaned out the barn, and Nattie [Fresh Air boy] tried to help him, then the horses got scared and ran thru the field and broke the double tree. How thankful I am this New Years day that no one got hurt. Alva also hauled a load of cobs in the basement. Lelia is teaching the Sunday School lesson to Nattie this eve. We celebrated our New Year at home.
Reading Edna Heiser Cender’s 1936 and 1939-40 diaries, and having grown up as one of her six children, and having heard pieces of some of the stories and circumstances she relates, I nevertheless felt quite a bit of shock and dismay, particularly as I slipped into 1936 and met my eighteen-year-old mother for the first time. Some of her depressive mood passed right off the page, and yet, I knew that within the limitations of her home environment and her community’s culture, she was holding up pretty well…. What is it like when young people in their teens have such strictly proscribed lives, especially people like J. A. and Fannie Schrock Heiser’s children with lively minds and keen intellects? To be deprived of high school, to have to be at home day in and day out, to not experience the academic stimulation of schoolwork, to miss out on social interaction with four years’ worth of peers in a social setting so different from that of church? Edna tells us.
January, 1936, Friday 10 – Another year has dawned. We’re supposed to start out with a clean sheet, forget the past as if it never happened, and strive to a better standard of living and some more of such tommy rot. But – I’m just going on right through, it’s merely a continuation of last year and the year before and so on. I for one will not forget the past, I rather live in it, but I too want to strive to a higher aim. New Years day we spent in hard work. The Sunday school committee met here in the evening. Eunice came out on Thursday. That evening we went to Elmer Springers. We had candy and apples. Friday night the Literary committee was to meet here. Fern Zehr and Chet didn’t come so it was just Joe and Dutch. It didn’t take us very long to appoint the committees. And that was all.
The books are priced at printing cost.
Copies of the books could be delivered by Kathryn Cender Martin in Champaign County. Out of state orders, including multiples, will fit into postal flat rate boxes.
To order, contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
Just posted under Articles > Related Families: A downloadable copy of the 71-page book – The Store – by Mary Ann Jost and Gerald Heiser. A history of the first 60 years of the Heiser & Ingold grocery store in Fisher, Illinois. Included is genealogical information about the Heiser and Ingold families.
New content has been added to the “Articles” navigation — a short history of the East Bend Mennonite and Memorial Gardens Cemetery (Fisher, Champaign County, IL), first published in the April 2018 issue of Mennonite Family History, along with photos and a list of surnames.
This is the meeting place for all descendants of Joseph Schrag and Maria Neuhauser through their five immigrant children: Johannes, Peter, Andrew, Magdalena (Smith), and Barbara (Belsley). Also welcoming cousins interested in Schrock history back to our roots in Wynigen, Switzerland.
If you are interested in joining this group, please use the "Join Group" button on the Facebook group page, answer a simple question and submit your request. We will respond as quickly as possible.