[Szt-newsletter] SZT winter newsletter 2021

[Patrick Babcock]

*Snell-Zimmerman-Timmerman Family Reunion*

*Winter 2021 Newsletter*

Hello Family Members

I can not believe that it is the holiday season again and the winter is
coming. There have been a few snow flurries in the valley, but we have not
had a large snow storm. We do not mind the cold weather so the snow can
stay away a little longer.

We had the Fall Business meeting at the Snell Bush Church and we were able
to prepare the building for the winter. At our meeting, we discussed the
project to install a handicap ramp.  It was decided to install a door on
the cemetery side of the building (where the old toilet was in the book
room ) with a handicap ramp leading into the church. We are asking our
family members for comments on this project and it will be voted on in the
Spring of 2022.  Currently, there is one entrance to the church and this
can be an issue when we have our reunion. Also, putting a handicap ramp at
the front of the church would take away from the style and look of the
front of the church.

Because of the Covid rules and mandates, projects and events at the church
were delayed or canceled, but we were able to have our Annual Family
Reunion last August. It was mostly attended by the family living close by,
but as usual it was a great day to gather at Snells Bush Church to honor
our ancestors and reconnect with family.

Our family, who lived in those early years, also struggled to overcome the
problems of the time while working and raising families. They faced trying
times throughout the years of a milk strike, Two World Wars, Spanish flu,
Great Depression and other events.  They made it through the trying times
and we can as well.

The painting of the church is progressing and  will be worked on in the
Spring. We are hoping that next year will not be as wet as this year so
this project can be completed.  The painter still has to paint the steeple
and we need a dryer season and a lift to accomplish this task.  The lights
in the steeple will also be changed while we have the lift for the painting
project.

Our carpenter will place led lights in the front two stained glass windows
at the front of the church ( the windows came from the Old Yellow Church in
Manheim when it was torn down in the 1960’s).  A section of the third
window from the old Yellow church will soon be in the Herkimer Historical
Society depicting the Pickert family, it was held by family members for
many years.  We attempted to convince the family members to donate the
windows to the church so all three windows would be together again.

The grounds of the cemetery are in good condition and thank you for the
great groundskeeping performed during the year. There were two weddings
this year and we have a few planned for next year.

The Annual Family Reunion in August was a success even though it was
attended mostly by local family members. The bateau was on display from the
Mabee Farm operated by the Schenectady Historical Society. Nancy Timmerman
Cioch spoke about our ancestors, especially William Feeter, working the
bateau on the canal during the American Revolution.

The “powder puff” man came to spray under the church building to make sure
the wood eating “powder puff”  ( powder post) beetles will not return. He
was able to detect a new colony of “power puff” beetles on one of the
center boards under the church, so we will continue spraying each year.

The window project is still under way and we had one window return and
another window was taken out for repair.  We did have a little problem with
one of the weddings which was held after the window was taken out. The
wedding party requested that we install the window for the wedding but
settled on painting the ply-board covering the window opening white. So our
president Bill Timmerman painted the ply-board white on both sides so
photos could be taken and the church would look terrific. The wedding was a
success.

Nancy and I have been working on the files and stacks of notes, letters,
documents collected that are in the files at Snells Bush church. It is
interesting to read these items. The Journal and Courier newspaper printed
in St. Johnsville ran many articles on the family and they contain
interesting items. Some of the articles are fading over time and need to be
copied. Nancy and I have been working all summer on these items and will
continue during the winter. These articles tell the story of the area and
how they lived. Also the genealogy books that we sell have many stories of
the family travels, events that happened and interesting things that every
child of the next generation should know. These genealogy books tell the
story of the United States development and they make great gifts for the
holiday season.  Just maybe the books will be read, especially since the
history of our country is not taught in schools.  In re- reading these
books, something new is read each time. The records that we have in our
files also tell the story of our family members homesteading on the
frontier and their various travels to the gold rush in California and
Alaska homesteading in Canada and Mexico. Please read the diaries of
Willard Broat that are located on our website. It gives us a look into how
they lived and worked in those times.





Kevin Jorrey our webmaster would like family stories to put on the web. We
need to put new items on the web—photos as always nice to send to Kevin.
Please also send up a date on the genealogy of your family.  The
information is only the name put on the web—no other information.  We need
to add interesting items every so often as we have many hits on the site.
We also have found family members from the site.

Please contact us either by email or snail mail with any updates and
stories that we can share with the family (births, marriages , and
deaths).  If you updated your mailing address or e-mail address please also
let us know.

It takes a lot of time and funds to keep our Snells Bush Church in order
and funds are always needed. Currently, the only way that we receive funds
is from donations from our family members and the ice cream social.  There
are two ways that you can donate to our church to keep the reunion going
every year.  The first is by sending in donations and the second is to
volunteer for a position or run a fundraising event. We are always looking
for new types of fundraisers. We are looking at our younger family members
to organize and run the event.

As usual we have genealogy books available. They hold a lot of information
on the early families that lived and worked and attended Snells Bush Church
those many years ago. The stories are wonderful in these books and every
member needs to have copies of these genealogy books.  Tell your children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren about these stories. This is your
heritage, be proud of it. Also we need updates on your family history—who
died—who got married—and who is the new arrival in your immediate family.
It is important to keep this information up to date.

The SZT Family would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and if you are in
the area please contact us to visit Snells Bush, we will be happy to open
the church for you to visit.

Happy holidays from the members of the SZT board

Bill Timmerman President

Sarah Timmerman Israel Corresponding Secretary and Historian

We are always looking for updated contact and family information for our
extended family.  We are a family proud of our history and have to keep
younger family members involved. We are constantly getting people who
discover our family on the web, by DNA or people searching for genealogy.
They are very interested in how they are related to our family.

Please contact us at our mailing address



*Snell- Zimmerman-Timmerman Family Reunion Inc.   P O Box 623 Little Falls
New York 13365*

*www.**szt-genealogy.org* <http://szt-genealogy.org/>

*We are also on Facebook please look for us--- Snells Bush Church.  *



If you need to contact us, please e-mails or phone us at the following
contacts:



Sarah Timmerman Israel                              Nancy Timmerman Cioch
sarahtisrael at yahoo.com
<sarahtisrael at yahoo.com>ncioch at yahoo.com
518-489-2725
315-866-3419



Patrick Babcock is our coordinator for our email mail server.  If you have
changes to your email address, please send them to us.

Kevin Jorrey--- our web master would like genealogy updates and interesting
stories to put on the web. www.szt-genealogy.org
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