Have you played the THE OREGON TRAIL VIDEO GAME? (See June 2008 newsletter.) Do you have advice or questions for others who have played it? Send your comments or questions to newsletter@ hmcfamily.org.
Children from both ends of the Oregon Trail, Brian Hewitt’s daughter from Oregon, and Eric Kerr’s Daughters from Missouri, playing with Gary Clifford, the husband of Barbara Kerr, at 2008 reunion
If you want to figure out how many direct ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and so on) you have, you can start adding
“(one generation back) 2 parents + (two generations back) 4 grandparents + (three generations back) 8 great-grandparents + ….”
OR, you can use the shortcut 2^(n+1) – 2, which means:
“add 1 to the number of generations back you want to go; raise 2 to that power; and subtract 2.”
For example, if you want to go back as far as your great-great-grandparents:
* the number of generations back is 4, so n=4.
* Adding 1 makes 4+1=5;
* raising 2 to that power means 2^5 = 2×2×2×2×2 = 32;
* and subtracting 2 makes 32 – 2 = 30.
* So up to 30 people since your great-great-grand-parents, are responsible for you being here. (The number is smaller if any pairs of parents had common ancestors.)
How many direct ancestors do you have going back 8 generations? When you figure it out, send your answer to newsletter@ hmcfamily.com.
* Baseball, horseshoes & more. Hear stories in the Storytelling Area. See a model covered wagon.
* Auction If you would like to make things to donate to the Children’s Raffle, here are ideas. If you try to make something and it doesn’t work, don’t worry. Just think about the fun you had working on it with your family.
* Fun, Old? Foods Ask your grandparents, parents, aunts or uncles if they have recipes they enjoyed when they were children.Try making the recipes with them. If they’re good and easy to make, copy the recipes onto cards with your best printing and draw a picture of the food. Just before the reunion, make the recipe, package a little in plastic bags, attach the recipe, and bring them to the picnic to put on the kids raffle table.
* Homemade Toys Ask the adults in your family if they played with homemade toys when they were young. If so, ask them to show you how to make them. If they’re easy and inexpensive to make, make one or more to bring to the reunion for the raffle. You could include directions so the kids who buy them can make them too.