Augusta Spring Dulcimer week

Since I wasn't with Betty for her classes and activities I can only report that she and her classmates seemed well satisfied with their week.    I did man the door at their Thursday night faculty concert, however, and will have to say that her teacher, Molly McCormack, has a beautiful singing voice.    In the concert she sang the best 'Orphan Girl' that I've ever heard.    I'm sorry they didn't permit recording because that would be one to have.

I also took some photos during the student showcase and I can post a few of those here.
You all should have so much fun.

Molly just sent me their class photo so I'll just add it here -
Tomorrow I'll show you my week.

He's ba-a-a-a-ack!

But nothing's happening!    I've been gone all week and I'm not overrun with results to post or new participants to talk about.    The last results we've gotten were on April 10.    Almost three weeks ago.

John, #91, did get his kit back in in record time and also in time to go to the lab with batch #202.    John's results are expected June 8.

* * * HIATUS * * *

The beginning of the 'music season'.    We leave this morning for Spring Dulcimer Week at the Augusta Heritage Center at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia.    This is Betty's week to shine.    She takes mountain dulcimer classes all week from Molly McCormack.

All I do is bum around and spend most of my time at Smakula Fretted Instruments, my friend Bob Smakula's stringed instrument repair shop.    He lets me come out and hang around and work on instruments that I've gathered since last year at this time.    I'm stricken with the dreaded disease, I.A.D., Instrument Acquisitive Disorder.    There seems to be no cure.    I don't have to be able to play them.    They just have to look interesting and like someday I might give it a try.

See you next Saturday or Sunday.

yAncestry

As you know if you're a Project member or a regular reader of this blog, or perhaps even if you're just a Berry 'lurker', we try to post the male ancestry of each of our participants, full names and birth and death years because we believe that those ancestries, especially in conjunction with DNA results, will assist our Project members and interested others in their pursuit of that elusive 'connection'.    We call this male ancestry a yAncestry.

I am very pleased to report that our last four members have already supplied their yAncestrys and they are posted.    These are Artie, #90, John, #91, John, #92 and Grant, #93.    And of these, only John, #92, has results posted. 

Sad to say, on the other hand, others have not been so forthcoming.    Both Nat, #87, and Dennis, #89, notwithstanding already having results posted, have not responded to our requests.    BJ's, #88, results (and yAncestry) are (still) eagerly awaited.    And Ronald Stuart Berry hasn't responded to either Carol's or my emails so that we can even get him in the Project.

Hopefully, a word to the wise.

Prairie Home Companion

In an amazing show of good taste, the Judges from Prairie Home Companion's People In Their Twenties Talent Contest have chosen our pals The Sweetback Sisters as finalists for that prestigious event.    They will be performing tomorrow evening, the 21st, and competing against five other bands for some sort of grand prize.    You can help them win by voting on line that night.    There is more information on Prairie Home's web page, and they will tell you how to vote during the broadcast tomorrow night.    So help the Sweetback Sisters win big by using all your email addresses to vote.

Why am I really excited about The Sweetback Sisters performance on national radio?    Their fiddler and acoustic guitar player is Jesse Milnes, Smakula Fretted Instruments' chief banjo hygienist and fiddle repairman.    You can also see Jesse here in the green shirt. -
So don't forget to tune in to you local PBS station Saturday evening and help them win!

Gift idea?

Need a unique gift idea?    The Museum of Modern Art, MOMA, is offering DNA art through its gift shop.    Here's an example:a unique DNA genetic fingerprint is custom printed as a Giclee in your choice of one of nine different color palettes.    The piece, which measures 18" x 24", uses pigmented inks on an archival-quality canvas and is varnished for protection.    A kit is provided to collect a painless saliva sample using a cotton-tip swab, which is sent to a secure certified lab for processing.    They don't say whether you also get a report.    The cost is $550, $495 to MOMA members, and may be seen here.

lost and found

I got an email the other day from Grant Berry telling me that he'd just signed up in the Project, but I couldn't find him.    After searching fruitlessley for several days I finally emailed Catherine at FTDNA who said an error had occured and moved Grant into the Project.    He is our 97th participant and will be #93 in the Project.    Grant, whose grandfather emigrated from Scotland, ordered a 67 marker test.    Now that would be interesting if he matched one of our established families!    It seems to me that pretty soon we ought to have enough haplotypes in the Project that everyone who joined then would match somebody!

In addition, I promptly heard from John, #92, and his yAncestry is posted.

Ken, #80, has received the results of his advanced SNP tests from EthnoAncestry refining his Haplogroup to R1b1c9*.    Here's his certificate.
Today's the day again.    At the moment we have Artie's, #90, 37 marker test, Ken's, #83, upgrade to 37 markers and Peter's, #56, R1b Deep SNP tests at FTDNA waiting to be sent to the lab this evening in Batch 201.    If you've been considering upgrading or ordering any new tests where FTDNA already has your DNA sample on hand, TODAY'S the day to do it.    It will save you up to a week on getting your results back.    Place the order before 4:30 or so this afternoon, Mountain Time, to avoid waiting up to a week additional for the next batch to be shipped out.

Lest we forget . . . .

     Since we invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003

               3,308 U.S. service members have been killed,

                    24,314 U.S. service members have been wounded, in

                         "W"'s War.


                            "When a man don’t use good judgment it’s the innocent who pays"

                                                                                                                             -- Echo Mountain

DNAH

I must confess that I completely forgot about a recent notice from DNA Heritage, where I also administer the Berry DNA Project, that John W. Berry had ordered their 43 marker test.    Until today, that is, when I got notice from them that his results are in.    I've gone ahead and posted his results as #92 even though I've never gotten a response from him.    Hopefully, now that his results are back I'll hear from him.

The reason I post them is that John's haplogroup is predicted as I1a and I wanted to compare them with everyone in our Project to see who he might match.    I'm not going to post the table showing genetic distances from everyone because, frankly, it's just too much work and he doesn't match anyone.

I will post the genetic distance table for John's comparison with all the Hg I's in the Project, however, as these are the ones we would expect a match from.
As you can see, not to be.

The pipeline

Well, maybe our 'pipeline' won't be so empty after all.    John Berry signed up yesterday for a Y-DNA12 test and has already answered my welcoming email!    Since I never got a response of any kind from Ronald, it looks like John will be participant #91.    He's promised to furnish his yAncestry to me today so I'll get it posted and we can try to guess who he might match.

Artie, #90, tells me he's mailed his kit back so after this coming Wednesday when Batch 201 is sent to he lab we'll be waiting for results from Artie's and BJ's, #88, 37 marker tests, Ken's, #83, upgrade to 37 markers and David, #57, and Peter's, #56, R1b Deep SNP tests with John and Ronald's(?) kits still out.

Oh, and if you'll go to my 'Friday the 13th' post you will see that since the 13th is over I've now provided a means for you to turn off that annoying music.    Just click on the 'pause' ||.

Friday, the 13th

Lucky or unlucky?    I would suggest to you that paraskavedekatriaphobia, sometimes friggatriskaidekaphobia, is somewhat overblown.    It would appear 'lucky' on Friday the 13th of April, 2029, for on that day asteroid 2004 MN4 will miss hitting the earth by a full 18,600 miles.    For comparison, geosynchronous satellites orbit at 22,300 miles.    Should be quite a sight.

Oh, yes.    The final Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will be released on Friday, July 13, 2007.

And . . .    Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia.    Pretty lucky day for us . . . and me, particularly, since I was fortunate enough to attend and graduate law school at his University.

What?    That was a Saturday?      Never mind.

Now, on to DNA.

Two more orders yesterday.    Unfortunately these will just sit there now until they go to the lab next Wednesday, the 18th.    Unlucky?    Ken, #83, ordered his Y-Refine25to37 upgrade and Peter, #56, his DeepSNP-R1b test.    I'll let you know as soon as they have an estimated results date.

. . . the nick of time.

Just in . . .    We got a new order yesterday and one of those 'out for swabbing' kits was returned yesterday.    Both very well timed, too.    You will recall that I've mentioned several times that if you're going to order a new test - Wednesday was the day to do it.    Just like clockwork these two tests were whisked off to the lab at around 4:30 mountain time yesterday afternoon.    Anything that comes in today now will have to sit around until next Wednesday before it even gets started.

BJ's, #88, Y-DNA37 kit was returned for processing and now has an estimated results date of 06/08/2007 and David, #57, ordered a DeepSNP-R1b test on his sample at FTDNA and already has an estimated results date of 05/28/2007.    Well done, folks!

Fini

Well, temporarily, I hope.    My last marker, and the last marker the Project had waiting for results, DXYS156, came in yesterday, 7-12.    Now I'll have to learn what those results mean, if anything.    The old DNA-FP site describes it as "a multi-purpose short tandem repeat locus for determination of sex, paternal and maternal geographic origins and DNA fingerprinting."    Duh.

We do have two (perhaps three) test kits outstanding for 'swabbing' that should be returned shortly.    Fingers crossed.

Since it will be some time before our Project results change again, I'll go ahead and post a new genetic distance table showing all results for everyone in the Project:
Since I believe that Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor tables generate more confusion than light, I'm not going to go to the trouble to prepare one for this blog post.    If you insist on seeing one, however, it is online and may be reached by clicking this link.

Madison County, Virginia

Madison County, Virginia was formed from Culpeper County in 1792.    Culpeper County was formed from Orange County, Virginia in 1749.

Madison County is one of the most scenic areas of Virginia.    Traveling Route 231 starting at about Sperryville in Culpeper Co. and running south in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, past Old Rag Mountain, down to about Banco or Criglersville or Syria, an official Virginia "Scenic By-way", is about as good as it gets, particularly in mid-October at the height of the 'colors'.There are no cities in Madison County and there seemed to be, then and now, relatively a larger number of Berry/Berreys there, so it seemed to me to be a place to study.I haven't yet been to the Berrey Cemetery shown here.    Perhaps a trip for this Spring.

I've recently re-done and expanded my Madison Co. Berrys database and now have it online.    Unfortunately, the only Madison Co. Berry family in the database that I've been able to identify to this point turns out to be a Culpeper Co. Berry.    I guess that stands to reason.

Speaking of the Culpeper Co. Berrys, David's, #57, final markers arrived yesterday and (unfortunately) matched exactly the Y-Refine37to67 panels of the other Culpeper Co. Berrys.    No distance tables changed at all but it did give us another 67 marker person to add to their cladogram.
It's almost too unimportant to mention but all my advanced markers but one also came in yesterday.    Markers don't mean a lot until they're compared with like markers belonging to another.    No other Berrys have tested these.    Yet, I hope.

So, at the moment, the only outstanding test that we have to look forward to is my DXYS156 due 4/30/2007.

slim pickins'

Well, things are tough when no new markers are coming in to talk about.    And it's not looking good for the near future.    Here's the present state and extent of our outstanding orders:

Kit      
Product             Test              Name          Batch EstResultDate
13030   
DYS485             DYS485             Jim,#7         174   11/27/2006  
DYS495             DYS495                            174
DXYS156            DXYS156                           196    4/30/2007
DYS714             DYS714                            196 
DYS716             DYS716                            196 
DYS717             DYS717                            196 

53305   
Y-Refine37to67   Y-DNA48-60 Markers   David#57       195    4/23/2007

In addition, we only have three kits that have been sent out and not returned yet in our outlook.    BJ's, #88, results should be very interesting.    Artie's, #90, should be as well.    We sort of have a good idea what to expect but never know when that 'difference' might occur.    Haven't had an answer from Ronald yet to have any idea where he may end up.    Nor whether he wants to be in the Project.

Bummed . . . a little

Well, my 'expected/estimated' date came and went (again) without results.    And I don't really resent other's good fortune, as in getting partial results 17 days BEFORE the estimated result date!    That's what happened to David, #57, a Culpeper Co. Berry, whose Y-DNA38-47 and Y-DNA61-67 markers 'crept' in unannounced yesterday.    These things just show up and if I hadn't been looking for mine I might not have seen them.    This was part of his Y-Refine37to67 upgrade and when the final panel comes in they'll let everyone know.

Unfortunately, so far, they're not much help.    David's new markers have no differences from any of the other three in the family who have tested 67 markers.    Maybe the last panel. . . ?

The Hawkins Co. Berrys

First, an aside.    Today's (another) 'expected' results date for a couple of my advanced order markers, the first being last Nov. 27th.    We'll see.

Well, another aside.    We seem to have a new Project member.    I say 'seem to' because although Ronald Berry has placed his Y-DNA12 order with FTDNA, he hasn't responded to my welcoming inquiry so I don't know whether he expects to match any of our existing families.    If he responds he'll be our 95th member.

OK.    The Hawkins Co. Berrys.    That's Hawkins Co., Tennessee, and they are possibly of more interest to the Augusta/Washington Co. Berrys than to others.    Jerry, #45, is technically a Hawkins Co. Berry and Wendell, #47, may be also.    There seem to be one group of Berrys around Bulls Gap and another in Lee Valley that may or may not be related to each other.    At any rate, it would be a good thing if more descendants of these two groups got interested in testing so we could try to clear up these relationships.

In an effort to generate some more interest I've redone and expanded (somewhat) my Hawkins Co. Berrys website.    Where are you folks?

stealth no more

Well, I'm surprised.    I certainly didn't expect to get the balance of Patrick's, #60, results this soon, two weeks before their estimated return.    But they came in yesterday.    Since his upgrade order is now complete, Patrick should go to his FTDNA personal page and upload his new results to ySearch.    They make it very simple to do.    In the Y-DNA Matches tab just click on the line that says, "Click here to upload the additional markers to Ysearch.org" and it's done.

You will recall yesterday that at 24 markers the distance table itself seemed to be indicating some doubt about Patrick's 'relatedness'.    Here's our new distance table at 37 markers.
As we can see, Patrick is much more comfortably a member of the Augusta/Washington Co. Berry Family.

If you're interested in the actual marker values themselves, they can be seen here.

And, as promised, here's a cladogram for the dozen Augusta/Washington Co. Berrys that now have 37 marker results.
Definitely a star pattern which, I believe, is supposed to be an indication of the ancestral haplotype.

Carol Vass has been after me to do a cladogram leaving out the 'volatile' CDYa&b markers.    Here it is.
Now maybe she'll tell us what it shows.

stealth results . . .

Yesterday, without announcement, Patrick's, #60, YDNA26-37 portion of his Y-Refine12to37 upgrade was posted.    It's good news!    Patrick is definitely an Augusta/Washington Co. Berry.    I don't think he ever doubted it but I'm always hesitant to count my chickens with only 12 markers, and, at best, an 11/12 match at that.    But now, with 24 markers returned, the Augusta distance table looks like this.Dean McGee's table generating algorithm is still a little dubious, probably because Patrick is now, at best, a 22/24 match, but I'm now much more confident.

Patrick's YDNA26-37 markers were returned a couple of weeks before they were 'expected' so maybe this is a good time to mention something about how these tests are run, at least at FTDNA and I expect by other labs as well.    Your samples are sent to the lab once each week, on Wednesday at about 4:30 Mountain Time in a numbered batch with all the other samples that have arrived or asked to be upgraded that week.    An 'expected' results date is then produced and posted to your personal page.    As we have seen, these 'estimates' are rarely accurate and are sometimes not even 'approximate'.    I'm still waiting for markers that were estimated for 11/27/06.

For business reasons they do not run the samples as they arrive or even necessarily by batches.    Their tests are run in panels.    For example, the YDNA tests are run separately for markers 1-12, 13-25, 26-37, 38-47, 48-60 and 61-67.    Likewise, SNP testing is run by haplogroup.    For economy of scale they need a minimum number of orders to run a test.    Tests are run as sufficient orders accumulate.    That's not a real problem for the lower numberd panels, plenty of them come in each week.    But for the higher numbered panels, the Deep SNP tests and the advanced markers it can cause an appreciable delay.    The example given by FTDNA is "For haplogroup R1b the orders can be sent to be tested nearly once a week, but G receives fewer orders and generally requires several weeks to accumulate the minimum number of orders necessary to run."

That's just the way it is.    What it means as a practical matter, though, is that if you are contemplating upgrading your sample that they have on hand, you should do it today or tomorrow before about 4:30 Mountain Time in order to avoid as much delay in getting your results as is within your control.

another Augusta/Washington Co. Berry

Woo!   Hoo!   My half-3rd cousin just joined the Project yesterday!    Testing 37 markers.    Artie, #90, is or 94th member.    Our Great Grandfathers are half-brothers.    I wonder how many markers it will take to show some separation?    That is, unless one of us is a 'mutant'.

You all have noticed that I use the Krispy Kreme 'Hot Now' sign to signal some sort of worthwhile news for the Project.    Well, just after I said I was going to do that, both Artie (who must have been lurking) and my son the graphic artist suggested that I could replace 'DOUGHNUTS' with 'BERRY DNA' in the sign.    Artie even sent me a suggested look for it.    Well, since my son is a graphic artist and a very good one, I opted to ask him to follow through with the idea for me -- but in honor of Artie's joining the Project, I decided to use his just this one time.    Thanks, Artie.

Pancake Day

In 1957 the Winchester Kiwanis Club decided on March 30 as the date for the first “Pancake Day.”    They sold tickets for a dollar and boxes of Aunt Jemima pancake mix for a nickel and cleared more than $1,500 "... the biggest fundraiser Kiwanis had ever had in the state of Virginia for a one-day event".

Now a twice-a-year event, the 12-hour pancake extravaganza attracts about 6,000 diners and brings in closer to $25,000.    My friend Buck and I try to get there at least once a year.    We made it yesterday.