Expiration Day

Today is the day that the FTDNA Upgrade Sale expires!    If you're even thinking that you might someday want to upgrade your markers, do it now!    This sale represents about a 25% price reduction on the most important DNA tool we have, markers.    We recommend for the most informative haplotype that everyone should have at least 37 markers.    At this price, however, you might want to just go ahead to 67.

The thing that I don't know is what time today is too late?    I'm assuming midnight but even then, in what time zone?    I'd suggest not waiting until that's a question.

Just go to your FTDNA Personal Page and click on Order Tests & Upgrades.    On the next page click Standard Orders.    Then, at the bottom of the New Orders for Returning Customers page, choose your upgrade from the drop-down box.    The price reduction is already there.

Since I am urging you to spend your money perhaps I should reiterate here that both Carol and I are unpaid volunteers in this endeavor and that neither of us has any financial interest in your testing.

While I've been gone . . .

As you may have guessed, wifi was 'barely' available in Marlinton.    None at the motel and only occasionally could I 'pirate' a tenuous connection to someone's network off the street.

So  -   while I've been gone we've gotten David's, #40, Y-DNA61-67 panel of his Y-Refine25to67 order.    David is a Fayette Co. Berry, as is John, #113, who has taken advantage of FTDNA's Upgrade Sale to order his Y-Refine37to67 panel.    Too bad his results won't come in until probably mid-August because the Fayette Co. Berrys are holding a reunion on August 2, 2008 that John, David and I all plan to attend.    I'm hoping to have several free SMGF test kits with me to use if we can drum up some additional interest.

Don, #120, has also taken advantage of FTDNA's Upgrade Sale to order his Y-Refine25to37 upgrade.    He had just placed his Y-Refine12to25 order a day or so before they announced their sale.    Sure hope they gave him the sale price for that one, too.    They should.

And a reminder:    Just two more days for each of you to also take advantage of the Upgrade Sale, which expires on the 30th.

New member

We have a new Project member!    Donald H. Berry, #120, is our (maybe) 128th member.    I say maybe because James and Michael, ##108 and 109, seem to have wimped out on Brian, who sponsored them, haven't sent their kits back in and now aren't even answering his emails.    I may have to remove them directly.

But, enough of that - back to Don.    Don showed up with 12 markers already in hand and looks to be a possibility for being an Augusta/Washington Co. Berry.    He's also ordered an upgrade to 25 markers so, 12 marker matches being as unreliable as they are, we're withholding judgment on the relationship until the new markers come in.

I should also mention that 'Hiatus' or not is still up in the air.    We do have wifi here at Glenville State College but don't yet know whether it will be available when we go to Marlinton, WV, on Sunday.    If you don't hear from me after Sunday don't forget the Upgrade Opportunity!!! and I'll be back Sunday the 29th.

Upgrade Opportunity!!!

I just received an email from Bennett Greenspan, President and CEO of FTDNA, which says "Family Tree DNA is offering, for the first time ever, a discount on all Y DNA upgrades!    We will be notifying each participant in the database who qualifies for this offer by email, and will provide them a direct link they may use to take advantage of this upgrade.    There will be no need for participants to contact us directly in order to receive the reduced price; our prices will be adjusted in the system accordingly.

The offer will be from June 20th to June 30th.    During this time, Family Tree DNA will reduce all of our Y-DNA upgrade prices.    On average, the reduced prices will be 25% lower than the original upgrade price."

As best I can glean, these are the reductions:

If you now have 12-markers 

to upgrade your 12 to 25-markers  was       *$49*          it is now $35
-or-
to upgrade your 12 to 37-markers was        *$99*          it is now $69
-or-
to upgrade your 12 to 67-markers was      *$189*          it is now $139
 ___________________________________

If you now have 25-markers  

to upgrade your 25 to 37-markers was        *$49*         it is now $35
-or-
to upgrade your 25 to 67-markers was        *$148*        it is now $99
____________________________________

If you now have 37-markers

to upgrade to 67-markers was     *$99*         it is now $69
____________________________________

Rats!    I would have all my markers maxed out!    No reductions for me but this is a great opportunity for you all.   Remember, this is only available until the 30th!

* * * HIATUS * * * maybe

We're heading out today for the West Virginia State Folk Festival in Glenville until Sunday, followed next week by music workshops in Marlinton, WV, at Allegheny Echoes.    I say 'maybe' hiatus because I'm not sure whether we'll have internet access at either of those venues.

Whether we do or not, it's been too long since I've reminded you of the costs of "W"'s folly, the Iraq war.

Since we invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003:

      4,101 U.S. service members killed.

     29,978 U.S. service members wounded.

     - Iraqi civilian deaths estimated at between 84,723 and 92,414 

          in "W"'s War.

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

                                                                                                                             -- Echo Mountain


No. 4100

End the war  -  vote Democratic

Our cup runneth over!

HVR2 results, Y-DNA48-60 markers and a new participant!    Could it get any better?

Philip, #10, our adoptee searching for his family got his HVR2 results yesterday, part of his upgrade to mtDNA Full Sequence (the entire 16,569 base pair long genome of the mitochondrion!).    Philip is our first mtDNA Full Sequence testee so I don't know exactly what to expect from FTDNA.    I don't know how much of the genome will be available to the administrators, nor how much of it Philip would want displayed of what is available, nor just how I might do it.    Live and learn, I guess.

Richard, #82, received his Y-DNA48-60 markers, the final panel of his Y-Refine37to67 upgrade.    Unfortunately, Richard not only has no matches in the Berry Project, he has no significant matches in FTDNA's entire 128,771 haplotype database.    But hope springs eternal.

Our new participant is Emmett Raymond Berry, #119, our 127th participant.    Emmett's yAncestry is posted on the Unassigned page because so far he can only trace his family back to around 1800.    Just the kind of folks we are looking for.    We can all search and anticipate along with him.

Back, again - temporarily

We had two new results while I was (sort of) gone last week.    John, #105, got the results of his Deep Clade-R test last Monday and Paul, #36, got his Y-DNA26-37 marker results on Thursday.

John's results seem to show a disconnect between the naming conventions used by the various parties in the DNA arena.    According to FTDNA John is haplogroup R1b1b2g1 while, as best I can tell, ISOGG would call him R1b1b2a1a.    What does this mean?    I don't know.    I know that your haplogroup maybe helps you determine ancient migration patterns and I think that perhaps the more 'refined' the result is the more precise the location of your ancient ancestor.    Maybe.    This is one of the areas of Carol's interest and I only know enough to be dangerous.

Paul is a Faires Berry and his additional markers further confirm 'tbd' as a part of this family.    Now we just need to find out more about him because I think he (tbd) may descend from John Berry whom I thought might be a son of Benton Co. Berry's ancestor Samuel Berry/Nancy Crow.    Apparently not.

Sorry, grandkids week.

I guess I knew we didn't have internet access at the cabin (I did) but I didn't seem to recognize that it might be like the 'old days' (before laptop) when we went off for music weeks.    Sorry.    Granny and the kids went to see Singing in the Rain at Shenandoah University this evening so the dogs and I are at the house on the internet for a couple of hours.

We do have some new results but they don't change anything and I've commented on those involved before.    I'll comment more fully this Sunday or early next week.

In the meanwhile, you should bookmark this website:    Fight the Smears

Fayette Co. Berrys

No sooner had I realized that I'd missed a new Berry family, than Dave's, #40, Y-DNA26-37 markers came in, further confirming his and John's, #113, genetic retationship as the Fayette Co. Berrys.

Perhaps of interest to someone, there is to be a Berry Reunion for, I think, these Berry folks on August 2, 2008 at high noon at the little church on Highland Mountain Road just off Route 41 in Layland Heights, WV.    This happens to be about 10 miles from where I'll be then, at the Appalachian String Band Music Festival at Clifftop, WV.    What an opportunity for any of you all that would like to get a 'twofer'.    A Berry reunion and a string band music festival!    C'mon down!    Pot luck.    I'm thinking about showing up with a handful of SMGF kits.    It would be great to see some of you there.

Obama!

Missed it!

I'm sorry to say that I completely missed the new Fayette Co. Berrys family, and I was alerted to the expectation of it by John, #113, when he sent me his yAncestry.    If you examine the recent Project-wide genetic distance table it's right there, admittedly inconspicuous, but there nevertheless.    A genetic distance of one between John and Dave, #40, who tested 37 and 25 markers, respectively.

Here's their yAncestry and here's their haplotypes.

Sons

For some of us, it's too late.    For the rest of you   --   you sure you want to have boys?