A FEW OF ALAN'S FAVORITE THINGS ...

ALAN RUSSELL GERGEN, born January 7, 1956

All right, everyone! I have been really sick the past two days ... so, I'm just catching up with emails and such, but still not doing so hot. I have somewhat collected my thoughts. Here are some things about Alan and what he likes that you may never have known. Alan has ancestors who are from the Wampanoag Nation ... the First Thanksgiving Indians! This is, perhaps, his first association with loving to prepare and share food!!

The Indian Tribe that

• Met the Pilgrims in 1620 . . .


• Fed the Pilgrims and kept them alive in the bitter winter cold . . .


• Met Roger Williams with the words "What Cheer Netop" (Providence 1636) . . .


• Fought and died for the colonies in 1777 . . .


• Fought and died for the United States in 1812 . . .
  is still among you today. They are the Wampanoags: The First Thanksgiving Tribe.
  http://www.wampanoagtribe.net/Pages/index
  http://www.seaconkewampanoag.com/home.html

http://chappaquiddick-wampanoag.org/

http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/B990 (a link giving details of a children's book by Medicine Story, a Wampanoag Indian, which tells the many stories of the beginning of the world.)

The language this nation speaks is Massasoit, and often people refer to them as Massasoit Indians, but they are, in fact, Wampanoags. You may know them by one of their more famous peoples: Squanto. Many films have been made about Squanto's stories.

Now, the second reference to Alan's love of food and history has to do with survival ... he is also directly descended from The Donner Party. He always says, "I'll never starve as long as I'm surrounded by a few good friends and family members!" teehee.

http://www.donnerpartydiary.com/

Alan loves all Native American history, lore, music, and artistry. He is currently collecting all of his regalia to begin dancing again. He used to attend and dance in PowWows. He also loves all things to do with Mountain Men and their history ... their hunting, traveling, and trading. We have begun collecting Hudson Bay trading blankets. In come the dutch ovens, with the mountain men, I think. In addition, he loves all things Colonial Americana. All these things, naturally, combining to bring us our America that we so enjoy today -- and the America he is currently defending. I don't think it is a secret that Alan loves cooking. I think his type of cooking could be best described as rustic gourmet. It is delicious, and we all miss it. He also loves anything and everything to do with guns and armory. Alan's favorite animals would be the redtail hawk, racoon & moose. His favorite colors are green and orange, but don't let this limit you! He loves ALL colors. He also loves mountains & rivers and he used to be an avid white water rafter. The Gergens come from LUXEMBOURG, a small European country that is often mistaken for a French or German city. http://www.visitluxembourg.com/ I understand it is stunningly gorgeous and I look forward to visiting someday. Alan is a very driven individual who grew up participating in a multitude of clubs and sports. He ended up on a full ride football scholarship at Utah State University (Val & Chad's alma mater) and then went on to be an assistant football coach at UNLV. He left coaching, as it took too much time away from family. And chose, LAW ENFORCEMENT, which also takes a lot of time from family. Hmmmm. Anyway ... he LOVES his current profession.

I am SO EXCITED about this quilt. I hope that we can beautifully and artistically bring all of these elements together "painted through fabric" in a wonderful picture of his loves and interests in one piece that will knock his socks off. He has NO IDEA, and I want to keep it that way. These kinds of things are SO IMPORTANT to him. Gifts of the heart mean more to him than all the tunnels of gold Hussein has hidden in Iraq.

I am thinking if we can tie all the squares together with deep navy and a deep country red, it will look rather patriotic with the off-white muslin that will be the backdrop for our collected artistry. He will love it and treasure it. Call or write me if you have any questions regarding Alan that will help you in your endeavors to create a square. I love you all!