www.euharleevalleyhistoricalsociety.org

3 Feb.  2012
Dear Euharlee Valley Historical Society Inc. Member:                                            Newsletter
 
1. The officers here at EVHS hope your 2011holiday season was full of good health and happiness. Our prayers and wishes here in 2012 are that   we all have a most prosperous year!
            We hope that you have enjoyed your membership with EVHS and will renew for another year.   Here are some of the projects your membership has helped to support!
 
2. Our 4th Annual Veterans Memorial Service was held on 29 October this year. District Attourney  Bobby Brooks and Rev. Scott Shepard  were our honered guest speakers. We had a wonderful turn out on such a beautiful day.
 
3. The Williamson family descendants held their family reunion at the Historic Church & Cemetery in June.
 
4. Several members of the St. David’s Welch Society from Atlanta came out for a tour and we had a great time. I think that I learned more with their visit than I was able to offer them. Our two groups are in the works to plan a day in March of this year to honor the Welchmen that came to Van Wert to quarry the high grade black slate discovered by Joseph G. Blance back in the 1850’s.  
 
5. We started planting daffodils three years ago and this past spring we had a very good show of blooms. We hope to continue adding bulbs until we have the hillside full of yellow cups in the spring. An added joy to this project was to discover that the National Flower of Wales is the daffodil.  
 
6. We have three display cases and have filled them with information on our famous Sam P. Jones, a
            sample of the original foundation log timber, several samples of the slate roofing shingles donated         by  Mr. Raidon Moats that he salvaged off the Marble Hill Hotel when it was razed back in the            early 1960’s; these shingles were made with materials from the slate mine just west of our church and cemetery.
 
Projects yet to be completed.
1.  We still have a lot of work to get completed in the cemetery to make it the showplace of Polk County it
            deserves to be. This cemetery is one of the oldest cemeteries in North West Georgia; many of the earliest settlers into this area were laid to rest here.
2.  We need to make plans soon to replace some of the rotten siding and repaint the exterior of the building also.
Changes to Membership Level.
 
1. January 1, 2011 we dropped  the $100.00 Life Membership Level. All of our life members will
            be grandfathered and retain their Life Membership Level. We also revised the other Yearly             Membership Levels. Please review the changes.
Yearly
Individual ------------ $20.00
Family ---------------- $25.00
Patron --------------- $250.00
Corporate Sponsor - $500.00
2. This newsletter is being mailed with a membership application to be filled out and sent back with your
            membership dues for the year 2012. Life members are welcome to send addition funds for         operating costs and maintnance expenses.
Nell (NaNa) Burch 
(April 18, 1933 - January 2, 2012)
Mrs. Nell (NaNa) Burch, age 78, of Rockmart, GA passed away Monday, January 2, 2012 in a Rome medical center. She was born in Rockmart, GA on April 18, 1933 a daughter of the late Red Mull and Mary Williams Mull. Mrs. Burch had lived her entire life in Rockmart where she was a 1952 graduate of Rockmart High School. She was a lifetime member of the Aragon United Methodist Church. Mrs. Burch was active with the Aragon United Methodist Women and served as the church treasurer for many years. She retired from the SunTrust Bank of Rockmart following 36 years of employment. Mrs. Burch and her late husband Bobby owned and operated Bob-Nell Convenience Store in Rockmart for 20 years. She was active in the community serving as treasurer for the Van Wert Historical Society and was a volunteer and sponsor of the Silver Comet Trail. Mrs. Burch was preceded in death by her husband, Bobby L. Burch on June 19, 2000 and by a sister, Mrs. Patty Shelley on June 24, 2011. Survivors include a son, Lee Burch and wife Caye, Rockmart; two daughters: Shelley Shuman and husband Keith, Rockmart and Beth Burch, Chattanooga, TN; four grandchildren: Robert Burch, Ben Burch, Dennis Shuman and Angela Shuman; two nephews: Frank Shelley and Steve Shelley. Funeral services were held Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in the Aragon United Methodist Church with Rev. Andrew Woodworth officiating. Interment followed in Rose Hill Cemetery. Pallbearers were: Frank Shelley, Steve Shelley, Curtis Vincent, Joey Matthews, Tyre John Matthews and Keith Shuman. Flowers were accepted and those desiring made memorial gifts to the Aragon United Methodist Women, 135 N. Prospect Rd. Aragon, GA 30104. The Alvis Miller & Son Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
                                                                                                                        Greg Gray,
                                                                                                                        EVHS President
 
Note from the President.   Once again another year has come and gone and the new one is passing at brake neck speeds. March of 2005 was when I saw the Historic Wan Wert Church & Cemetery for the first time. I was out planting bulbs last week and I can tell you that I still have the contentment in my heart along with pride and love for all that have helped me get us to the point we are today.  We have a long way to go and as long as we wake in the morning, we have the opportunity to work to get us there.
  For the last several years my loving wife Brenda as been masking sweets twice a week and selling to coworkers at her work place at Meggitt in Rockmart. With these funds we have been able to get the cemetery mowed and we just purchased a set of three scaffolding units so we can start the painting project this spring.
  I do wish to thank everyone for assisting me on this labor of love. I think we have a priceless historic treasure right here in Polk County.                               Thank You,
                                                                                              Greg Gray