Events
Strother Conference - 2014
The Strother Conference 2014 was held in Atlanta, Georgia, and the host hotel was the Atlanta Marriott, Perimeter Center. Members and their families enjoyed a series of activities in and around Atlanta that included, in addition to the Board and Business Meetings:
- a tour of the Atlanta History Center, including the Tully Smith Home and the Swan House. At the Kenan Research Center in the Atlanta History Center, members were able to view documents from the Strother Collection. The Society also presented a check for $50,000 to the Atlanta History Center for four microfilm scanners to aid in digitizing the Strother Collection.
- dinner at Maggiano's included a presentation by Sue VerHoef from the Atlanta History Center on migration patterns out of Virginia.
- a visit to Oakland Cemetery, which contains graves of Strother descendants and local Atlanta celebrities Margaret Mitchell and golfer Bobby Jones.
- at the Business Meeting on Saturday, Bill Garner and Andrew Barry from the George Washington Foundation made a presentation on the progress and plans for the development of Ferry Farm, once owned by William Strother, grandson of William the Immigrant, and boyhood home of George Washington. The Strother Society presented a check for $250,000 to Bill and Andrew to assist in funding the renovation.
- following the banquet on Saturday night, Dr. Thomas Daniel Knight made a presentation on the Virginia gentry.
For more details on the activities at the 2014 conference, and especially more information on the Strother Society partnering with the George Washington Foundation, please check the October 2014 issue of the Houses of Strother Newsletter. This newsletter also contains many photographs from the conference.
Strother Conference - 2012
The Strother Conference 2012 was held in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the host hotel was the Fredericksburg Hospitality House Hotel and Conference Center. This was the fourteenth biennial conference of the Society and ninety members and their families enjoyed a variety of social, educational and historical activities that included, in addition to the Boad and Business Meetings:
- officers and board members visited and dined at Oaken Brow Plantation, the historic home of Judge Perry and Virginia Bowen in Jersey, VA. Prior to the Oaken Brow visit, the group walked the grounds of the old Strother Church which dates to the late 17th century.
- a bus trip to Washington, DC, to tour the National Headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The tour included lunch and a genealogy workshop in the DAR Library. Some members also walked to the nearby Willard Hotel to view the Strother Historical Plaque on display there.
- tour of Ferry Farm, former home of William Strother, grandson of William the Immigrant, with discussion by archeologist Dave Muraca. The tour continued to Kenmore House, home of George Washington's sister, Betty.
- the Saturday night banquet at the Hospitality House Hotel featured a presentation by Dr. Alexander Johnson, Arader Galleries, San Francisco, CA, on stories of early Strothers.
For more details on the activities at the 2012 Conference and accompanying photographs, please check the October 2012 issue of the Houses of Strother Newsletter.
Strother Conference - 2010
The Strother Conference 2010 was held in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the host hotel was the Williamsburg Hospitality House Hotel and Conference Center. This was the thirteenth biennial conference and was attended by 42 members and their families. The programs centered around the historic restored district of Colonial Williamsburg and included, in addition to the Board and Business Meetings:
- a Tea Party Dinner "Christmas in July" with Donna Strother Deekens at the Hospitality House Hotel.
- exploring Colonial Williamsburg, with or without guided tours, and dinner at historic Shields Tavern.
- bus tour to historic Millbank, home of William the Immigrant, in King George, VA. The tour of Millbank was hosted by the current owners, Dr. Gail Williams Wertz and her husband Dr. L. Andrew Ball.
- a "Colonial Williamsburg Candlelight Ghost Tour" -- an evening walking tour led by "William the Conjurer" an 18th century magician and an afternoon walking tour led by John Rollison, an historical figure of the times.
- the Saturday night banquet at the Hospitality House Hotel featured a "Colonial Groaning Board" dinner reminiscent of an 18th century Williamsburg tavern, and entertainment by Mrs. Ginger Crapse portraying "Mistress Caroline Johnson", a wealthy widow of 18th century Williamsburg.
For more details on the activities at the 2010 Conference and accompanying photographs, please check the October 2010 issue of the Houses of Strother Newsletter.
Strother Conference - 2008
The Strother Conference 2008 was held in Richmond, Virginia, and the host hotel was the Holiday Inn Select/Koger South Conference Center. Sixty-eight members and their families traveled to the capitol of the Confederacy to enjoy social and history-related activities that included, in addition to the Board and Business Meetings:
- a dinner cruise on the James River.
- dinner at the hotel on Thursday included a group of actors from the area performing music of the period and demonstrations of what life was like in 1862 Richmond.
- a Confederate Capitol Tour bus tour that included the Museum of the Confederacy, the adjacent Confederate White House, the Richmond Battlefield Park Headquarters at Tredegar Ironworks, Hollywood Cemetery, and Monument Avenue with statues of many prominent Confederate men.
- a wine-tasting tour to the Woodland Vineyard Farm Winery.
- the Saturday night banquet at the Holiday Inn was followed by the keynote speaker, John W. Mountcastle, Brigadier General US Army (retired), who spoke on Men, Women and War in Virginia, May 1864.
For more details on the activities at the 2008 Conference and accompanying photographs, please check the October 2008 issue of the Houses of Strother Newsletter.
Strother Conference - 2006
The Strother Conference 2006 was held in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the host hotel was the Holiday Inn - University Area. Ninety-nine members and their families enjoyed programs that focused on historic estates around the Charlottesville area and included, in addition the Board and Business Meetings:
- tour of Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson.
- following dinner on Thursday, a presentation by C. Thomas Chapman, Archeologist and Historical Researcher at Montpelier, on the restoration work underway at Montpelier, home of James and Dolley Madison.
- bus tour to Montpelier to see the restoration work underway, a box lunch on the grounds; then a tour of Meadowfarm, the largest private family farm in Virginia today and home of the Honorable Helen Marie Taylor; and a tour of Bloomsbury, the home Mrs. Taylor received as a wedding present from her husband and formerly the home of two US presidents, James Madison and Zachary Taylor.
- the Saturday night banquet at the Holiday Inn was followed by a presentation by Dr. Gail Williams Wertz, who, along with her husband, Dr. Andrew Ball, currently owns Millbank, on the restoration of Millbank and the archeological digs underway. Millbank was originally settled by the Strother ancestor, William the Immigrant.
For more details on the activities at the 2006 Conference and accompanying photographs, please check the October 2006 issue of the Houses of Strother Newsletter.