TerMaat and B Stevens cousins visit Burton Tower

On a 1969 trip to Ann Arbor, the TerMaat kids and Brian, Lisa and Jessica Stevens went on a tour of the carillon in Burton Memorial Tower on the University of Michigan campus.  I remember the demonstration was very impressive.  You can get a taste of what the tour was like via YouTube here and here.  Someone snapped these photos of our outing. Above, Brian, Pete and Chris look down from the tower. Below, Lisa, Jess and I take a turn.

The Graduate

I've got graduation fever. Fresh off my celebration of Stevens diplomas, here's a TerMaat story. Even though Dad went on to earn a stack of diplomas after moving on from Sheboygan Christian School, his eighth grade graduation produced the most impressive document, one of those 17x22 wall-covering behemoths.



The ceremony took place on June 4, 1943 and we have the program so we know young Connie gave a speech:



Here's what the school looked like:



The handsome graduate:



The class had a reunion (I'm guessing in 1993) and this is what they looked like 50 years later. Connie is in the back row, second from the right:



Remember, if you are reading this on the blog, you can click on the photos to enlarge.

Diplomas and Certificates

It's graduation time and it seemed an appropriate time to share some of my grandparents' educational accomplishments, and more interestingly, just what they got to testify to their achievements.  One is for Albert Stevens, graduate of Fremont High School in Michigan, Class of 1920, and the other for Angelyn Bouwsma, graduate of Calvin's preparatory school in 1919.  Impressively illustrated, to get the full impact of these diplomas you have to visualize them filling half a wall-- each one is 17x22, too big for me to scan so I've done my best to photograph them. (Click to Enlarge).

By the time Albert had graduated from Calvin College proper, the diplomas were still huge but not at all so impressively embellished.

As a bonus, I am throwing in here, the magnificent 1892 20x16 marriage certificate of Angelyn's parents, Jochem Bouwsma and "Hilda" Kolk.  I'm guessing they were never keen on displaying this glorious document due to the clerical error of mistaking Hilda for Hillegien.  Perhaps Aunt Mary can identify the pictures which would have been in the insets.

Click on the picture to examine the signatures:

Chris visits Aalten, Ancestral Home of TerMaats

Back in 1995, Chris made a little side trip from some business junket to visit Aalten, the ancestral home of the TerMaats in the Netherlands.  As far as we know, TerMaat is not a common name in the Netherlands and pretty much if your name is TerMaat, this is where your ancestors came from.  He found a Reformed Church and cemetery with some TerMaat gravestones.  Perhaps he can add more about the trip in comments, but here is a little slideshow of his adventure.  (You may need to view or browse these photos on Flickr if you are reading this post on Facebook.)

DeGeus Family Photo Album

Here's my little contribution to remembering Uncle Con-- a little DeGeus family photo album spanning brat fries and Thanksgiving in Sheboygan to fishing at Deer Lake. The quality of some of the photos is not terrific but the memories are!

If you are viewing this post on Facebook you will need to click here or here for the full show. You can also browse the pictures on Flickr here.