A One-year Review for V. F. Thomas Co.    On 13 February 2011, I retired and began to use my time to work on a variety of projects that I hoped would be of benefit. After one year, I evaluated the progress of each project and what I perceived to be its importance. Below is a list of projects, with notes on the status of each one.    Because some of the projects tend to be somewhat seasonal in nature (e.g., observing and photographing wildflowers of Mount Desert Island), their web pages may not show much change for several months at a time. Therefore, I post the date of the most recent addition of material near the top of each page, with the exception of the relatively unchanging home pages of some of the projects.    All of the material posted on this website is for the free use of anyone who wishes to use it, with the requirement that no one using this material will ever charge anyone for access to it, either online or in print or in any other form.    I am trying to find organizations that are interested in carrying on any one of the projects below (except for the Mount Desert Island Cultural History Project which is in the process of being transferred). Web hosting for the V. F. Thomas Co. website has been paid through 1 May 2013. Unless funding is obtained to continue the website, it will be closed on that date. Projects for which I have found no interested parties will be deleted.

MOUNT DESERT ISLAND CULTURAL HISTORY PROJECT    This project is a compilation of information about Mount Desert Island's people and their interaction with the island. It is in the process of being transferred to the Mount Desert Island Historical Society. I hope that others will contribute to the society digital material they have accumulated, not to be maintained as separate collections, but to be merged into one coherent whole. It does not make sense to me to maintain multiple genealogies for the same surname. Instead, all material on that surname should be combined into one file for ease of use. Until the transfer to the society has been completed and the information is available on the Society's web site, it will remain available here.    You may click on the link above for an overview of the whole project or on one of the links below to explore a specific topic. businesses and professions | cemeteries | census records | cottages | deeds | genealogy | hotels, boarding houses, and tourist homes | houses and outbuildings | markers, monuments, and memorials | public buildings | roads and streets | schools | town records | trails and memorial paths MAINE CEMETERIES    This project is new and is the result of what I perceive to be a need for an accurate list of Maine's cemeteries, with GPS coordinates and directions. After completing a book about cemeteries of Cranberry Isles and the towns of Mount Desert Island, I noted that the list of cemeteries posted by the Maine Old Cemetery Association for the towns covered by the book was inaccurate. I volunteered to help correct their list but was unsuccessful in this effort. Therefore, I have started a website that I hope will be helpful for those who are trying to find a cemetery in Maine. I do not travel a lot, so there will be a lot blank towns unless individuals volunteer to help with this project. CHAMPLAIN PROJECT This project is a record of the natural history of Mount Desert Island and the immediately adjacent ocean. I would like to see this project adopted just as the MDI Cultural History Project (above) has been. I envision the creation of a nonprofit organization, perhaps called the Mount Desert Island Natural History Society, that will be the natural history equivalent of the island's historical societies. The new society would, among other things, (1) have its own website, (2) maintain/update the Champlain Project data, (3) develop a newsletter, (4) provide scholarships to help students and adults attend various natural history camps and programs, (5) create displays for libraries, schools, and other interested groups, and (6) create and/or support natural history collections. Until such an organization is created, I will continue to host and update the Champlain Project.    You may click on the link above for an overview of the whole project or on one of the links below to explore a specific topic. checklists | mysteries | nature calendar | volunteer opportunities | programs and activities | organizations and other resources GENEALOGY This project includes three brief articles (Redundant Research | Not Another Book! | Where Did You Get That Information?) and an online surname-based genealogy. I plan to continue work on the surname-based genealogy. STAMP COLLECTING The emphasis of this project is the development of identification keys for U.S. stamps and postal stationery. I plan to continue this project and add to it as time permits. You may click on the link above for an overview of the whole project or on one of the links below to explore a specific topic. downloadable Excel file for U.S. front-of-the-book stamps | online keys to design types of U.S. stamped envelopes and wrappers. BOTANICAL LATIN The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature used to require that, for effective publication, a new name of a taxon must be accompanied by a description or diagnosis in Latin. Effective on 1 January 2012, this was changed to require that the description or diagnosis be either in English or Latin. Although many important botanical works from the 19th century and earlier were written in Latin, new information will likely be published in English. The need for an online reference to botanical Latin is now much diminished, and because my time will easily be filled with work on the above projects, the botanical Latin project has been discontinued. RECOMMENDED LINKS Here are some websites that I think are worthy of your attention.    Anaskimin - a nonprofit whose mission is "to reawaken people's awareness of the landscape they live in, enabling them to reconnect with, appreciate, and value natural places". As treasurer of Anaskimin, I am aware of its financial needs, not only in terms of the dollars needed to carry out its goals but also the need, as a nonprofit public charity, to show (to the IRS) that it has broad public support. Although gifts of $100,000 or more would obviously be welcomed, donations of smaller amounts (every $1 is important) from many people will help demonstrate public support. You may send a check, payable to Anaskimin, to P. O. Box 400, Southwest Harbor, Maine 04679, or you may call 207-266-5748 to make a donation via credit card. All charges incurred when processing credit card donations and payments are being covered by a donor, so 100% of your contribution will be available for Anaskimin. Thanks.    Delta Institute of Natural History - a school for small group instruction on a diversity of natural history topics, with focus on plant taxonomy and primitive technologies.    The Naturalist's Notebook - a unique shop and exploratorium for anyone who is "even a little curious about the last 13.7 billion years". I particularly recommend their blog.