Vintage

Webmaster's Note: This was one of the darkest events in the history of the GFA. Our president/treasurer embezzled our entire treasury to the tune of almost $12,000, effectively bankrupting the organization. It left the author of the Grinnell genealogy holding the bag for thousands of dollars in obligations with a printer who happened to also be the printer used by his employer. It resulted in a loss of innocence that such an event can can cause. Almost in the same breath, it marked the rebirth of the GFA, thanks to a quick infusion of cash by several nameless members which paid the printing bills, and paved the way for putting us on the solid financial footings that we continue to enjoy today. The name of the former president, at the suggestion of several board members, has been removed, instead replaced with a simple [former GFA President].

The Final Chapter on the Embezzlement of GFA Treasury Funds

by Don McMahon, GFA Treasurer

What may be the final legal action occurred in Renton, WA on March 22, 2000 when Judge Leroy McCullough, in open court, ordered [former GFA President] to make restitution to the Grinnell (sic) Family Association, Inc. in the amount of $11,950.08. Payment is to be made through the Clerk of Courts and sent to the attention of Bruce Grinnell at his address in Williamstown, MA.

However, there is no date by which restitution must be made. Since the ordered amount of restitution closely matches the amount independently calculated by the present GFA treasurer, the GFA board is pleased by the court decision. Also, while the decision of the court is on the side of the GFA it is still not known when and if funds will actually be restored.

Former Grinnell Family Association of America President F. Hugh Grinnell, portraying one of our more famous Grinnells, George Bird Grinnell (1849-1938): naturalist, conservationist, editor of Forest and Stream magazine, instrumental in helping establish a National Park service, and is the one for whom the rapidly melting Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park is named. In his travels throughout the west, Grinnell made friends with the Native American population, and wrote down their stories which up to that time were handed down in the oral tradition. Many of these stories are still available, never having gone out of print, and with the continued decimation of the Native American population, these stories were for a time the only written record of the traditional oral histories going back hundreds, if not thousands of years.

F. Hugh Grinnell has made this presentation on many occasions. This particular performance was recorded at the Providence (RI) Hilton on July 10, 2010 at the Grinnell Family Association of America reunion, on a digital camera in a room with woefully inadequate lighting and using the tiny internal microphone on the camera. The result was a very, very dark image and audio way in the background. Using digital video editing tools (Final Cut Express on the Macintosh), the light levels were pumped up with only minimal distortion to the subject. Audio levels were also pumped up and some compression added to reduce the background noise. This is my apology for the quality of this video.

The Grinnell Family Association of America has been in existence since 1979, publishes a newsletter several times per year, has published two editions of the Grinnell family genealogy with a third edition due to begin production in early 2011. We have also published a brief video history of the Grinnell family on DVD. Please visit the Grinnell Family Association website at http://www.grinnellfamily.org for more information.

Dr. Earl Grinols, GFA #293, is a Distinguished Professor of Economics at Baylor University, a nationally ranked Christian university in Waco TX. He is my 3rd cousin once removed. That means that his father Earl was my 3rd cousin.

We've never met, but have shared pictures and family facts over the years, and both of us have visited a shared relative, Myrtle Grinols - GFA #357, aged 98 now, who lives in Westfield NY.

Myrtle and my father Harold Bruce Grinols were first cousins. She is the oldest living person in our direct line.