Eric Gardner

TL;DR -- Eric Gardner, descendant of two sons, George and Samuel, of Thomas and Margaret, died recently. We offer condolences to the parents, family and friends of Eric and provide some information about Eric. His father wrote of the Magna Carta for The Gardner Annals in 2016. In that regard, we find ourselves at another milestone for that memorable document. 

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We have covered a sampling of descendants through the generations since time of Thomas Gardner and Margaret Fryer. Our brief look at each of the children and their descendants can be considered a start. 

As an example, the following link is to information about the 5th son and his descendants over the four centuries.  

Samuel Gardner -- Dr. Frank, the author, whose work led to the 1907 and 1933 books is of this line. As well, Dr. Frank was an editor, and a major force behind the publication, of The Massachusetts Magazine.  

Today, we commemorate Eric Gardner (1965-2025) who is a descendant of both George and Samuel, through his mother and father, respectively. In terms of the book, the 1933 edition was of the family of George while the 1907 book principally covered known descendants of Samuel. 

Obituary

A nephew of Ann, Eric grew up in Fort Worth, TX and attended school in TX and OK. Eric's career as a weatherman was inspired by Harold Taft of Fort Worth and took him from Texas to Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota where he was a meterologist at KOTA-TV of Rapid City. 

Eric's other interest were music, cooking, and wine. With his musical interest in the piano, Eric continued his involvement by helping to arrange local performances for visiting pianists. He held regular broadcasts concerning recipes, healthy eating, and cooking lessons. He was knowledgeable about wine and arranged local support for wineries of NAPA Valley and other locations.   

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Eric's father, Jonathan Gardner, authored our article on the Magna Carta (800th Anniversary), The Gardner Annals, Volume III, Number 1. In 2025, we have the celebration of the 810th aniversary related to King Henry I, son of King John, and his interest in the Magna Carta which needs an update related to technology (Magna Carta, technical).  

Remarks: Modified: 05/09/2025

05/09/2025 -

May Day, 2025

TL;DR -- The first day of May is about 1/2 way down the path to summer from spring. Our interest orginally was Hawthorne's look at Merry Mount and its maypole. But, the 400ths became a reality and diverted attention. So, we will get the theme/meme back in operation. 

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The first day of May is about 1/2 way down the path of spring toward summer. In that sense, it's like the Ground Hog day of February which gives some relief to winter. This year, there was a brief pause between major winter storm systems. Now, we're in the pause before the summer's heat and its storms. 

If one searches on "maypole"in this blog, several posts come up. Early on in our work, we were researching cousin Hawthorne and found out about Merry Mount and Endicotts distaste for the "hippy" environment in that area. So, we thought that the U.S. could claim to have been involved in hedonism from early on, or something like that. 

Harthorne wrote of the incident which we feature here. 

•  The Maypole that infuriated the puritans

 

By 2016, we had made progress in some areas and did a post on this May 1st while pointing to work on the Bosworth research which came back into focus this past month. This might become a regular topic.

In 2023 on Memorial Day, we did a post that pointed to earlier posts as Memorial Day's focus is right down our alley. Since then, we have had a post every year and will do so this year. In 2023, we went back and sampled a one post from each May back to the beginning. 

That might be a good theme/meme to use by quarter so as to pull old posts back into scope.

We figured that we could include Merrymount with Quincy which is a mere five miles from Weymouth which had its 400th in 2022. Other settlements in that area are expected within the next few years with their tales. 

Things associated with May 1:

• May Day 
• International Worker Day 
• Lei Day (Hawaii) 
• ...

Given the emphasis lately via the hyped look at GenAI/LLM, we might want to get back to realizing what human workers have done over the eons and, of late, the centuries. 

Though, this theme/meme might have four pieces. We mentioned 2/2 as well as 5/1. To be complete, 8/1 and 11/1 need some attention. We will look at that. 

Remarks: Modified: 05/01/2025

05/01/2025 --