By Bobbie L. Carpenter
Tribune Correspondent
WESTERNPORT, Md. - Westernport Heritage Society member John Fazenbaker wants to invite all area residents to surf over to www.myfamily.com to learn more about the rich history of the Tri-Towns area while reading stories and viewing photographs of Westernport, Piedmont and Luke nostalgia.
Fazenbaker explains that myfamily.com is a website internet host that provides a space where
families can connect with each other.
“In the case of the Tri-Towns site, it provides people from the communities of Westernport, Piedmont, Luke and surrounding areas a chance to keep in touch and share information with each other,” said Fazenbaker.
Within the site, viewers can access featured areas such as photographs,
history, birthdays, recipes, file sharing and news. The best part, Fazenbaker adds that any member can contribute items to all of these categories.
Fazenbaker said in order to become a member of the Tri-Towns site, interested residents must be invited by a current member of the myfamily.com.
Names and addresses are used in the invitation and upon invite, local residents or anyone interested in learning more about the Tri-Towns area, are provided with a username and password to access the site. “Follow the simple instructions provided and you are ready to start exploring the site,” said Fazenbaker.
The site does charge a nominal administration fee to host 1,200 pictures; however, Fazenbaker who serves as the site administrator for the Tri-Towns area, has covered this cost, which was $30. “Currently, there are about 1,300 photos on the Tri-Towns page,” said Fazenbaker. “If the need
arises, any member can buy additional space.”
Fazenbaker shared that he found out about the myfamily.com website when he was invited to view the George’s Creek myfamily.com site in 2007. Impressed by the number of people using the site, he decided to jumpstart one for the Tri-Towns area.
“I decided that it would be nice for the Tri-Towns community to have their own page,” said Fazenbaker. “In January 2009, I started up the Tri-Towns site. It started out slow, but eventually as word spread and people started inviting their friends, membership grew to 600.”
As of last month, there are more than 350 active members that visit at least once a month.
Fazenbaker added that he is “pleased with the positive response I have received from many members and I hope that they continue to use the site and invite additional friends and family.”
The Tri-Towns site on myfamily.com is not only a place to see the yesteryears of the Tri-Towns area and learn about its beginnings, it is also a useful medium to encourage special events in the town – most recently the Kellogg’s Cereal Corporation’s Plant a Seed Contest that awarded 30 fields across the nation with complete renovations, including that of the old Bruce High School athletic field for the Giant’s Little League.
“The Tri-Towns site was utilized by encouraging members to access the Kellogg’s web page and vote for Giant Field, which is the new name of the field and name of the present Little League football team…. I believe the web site helped to contribute to the voting effort along with the Keyser News-Tribune and
other local media groups.”
In addition, Fazenbaker’s hobby of collecting post cards and old photographs also sparked his interest in creating the Tri-Town’s site on myfamily.com.
“I love to collect post cards and old photos of the local area. I buy a
lot of items on eBay, at auctions and yard sales,” said Fazenbaker. “I wanted to share these old photos and post cards by posting them on the web site and I encourage others to do so also. Some members post family photos and current photos of the local area. Still other people share news, history and even local recipes. I find it all interesting and I look forward to see what is added to the site each day.”
Anyone interested in logging on to the Tri-Towns myfamily.com website, email tri_towns@verizon.net with your name and email address and you will be
added to the members list.
Westernport, Md. —
