AHSGR Convention at Concordia Univ. Portland OR

I've been engrossed in my genealogy and was attending a convention here in Portland Oregon for the Germans From Russia. I am a "village coordinator" for the village of Brunnental, Russia, on the east side of the Volga River in Russia...the home of my paternal great grandparents. I've spent the last 20+ years collecting both genealogical and historical data for this village...back when we had no hopes of ever getting any data from Russia.

It's been an amazing labor or love...a story I so wish I could have shared with my father who died before I began this project. Isn't this always the way genealogy goes? So, for anyone who has parents or family alive...do your research while you can gather their stories. TODAY is the day you must start:) Happy Father's Day Dad...

This is a photo taken today as I left our "Brunnental Reunion" with those descendants who are left...this is the bell tower at Concordia University in Portland Oregon which houses the CVGS (Center For Volga German Studies), which hosted this years convention. Brunnental had a bell tower in Russia...this reminded me of the many times the bells were rung...