Welcome Message

I'm glad that you are interested in Bay County's history and learning more about Bay-Journal.

Bay-Journal went online April 2002.
As long as I can remember, I've had an interest in history -- even at a age when I wasn't able to define it as such. The question of, "What was it like before now?", always seemed to be on my mind. When I retired in 2000, I had no plans to become so deeply involved in the subject. Shortly after I retired, I received two inquiries about my family from individuals doing genealogy that peaked my own interest in knowing more about my beginnings. Soon, I was deeply involved in the search that led to my first website, "Ancestry - The Polish Connection". It was intended to be my "beacon" on the internet where distant lost relatives might find me.

My interest turned to local history. Unable to find much on the internet in this regards, I went to the library where I found a wealth of information providing answers to, "What was it like before now?" I decided to create the Bay-Journal website so others might enjoy learning some of our history over the internet and about some of the resources on the subject that are available to them.

Website Design.
I'm a novice at creating web pages, learning only enough about the required "HTML" coding used in generating web pages to achieve my purposes. I mention this to alert you of this deficiency as it may affect the visual quality of Bay-Journal depending on the browser being used. What I know is the results are as intended when using Microsoft's Internet Browser, version 5.5 or higher and a screen resolution of 1024 x 724 with Java enabled.

• Visual Appearance:
  I've attempted to obtain the look of being at a theater with the background representing the curtain and content appearing on a white screen.
• Organization:
  There are six major sections for categorizing content.
  1. Bay County: Community histories.
  2. Information: General items that inform or entertain.
  3. History: General county history.
  4. Heritage: Subject histories such as people, places and things.
  5. Pictorials: Photo presentations by subject.
  6. Personals: Web pages of sponsors and others.

A Community Affair.
Bay-Journal is our space on the internet where we can share our common heritage with each each other and the world. Much has been accomplished in the first year...

• We'e created over 280 pages.
• We've added over 400 photos.
• We've been viewed nearly 100,000 times by me, you, others and search engines up dating their databases.
• We've had 32 individuals that helped build content.

While we are off to a good, we've only scratched the surface here and there. There are thousands of stories to be told. How far we progress and how quickly it will happen depend very much on you and others willing to participate in its growth.

If You Can Help.
Share your subject articles, pictures, maps and other items that help to tell our story. To help stimulate your thoughts, I've created the {Adopt A Piece of History} page. Join me and others if you can, let's make Bay-Journal a valuable community resource for all to enjoy.

Bay-Journal Monthly
Our newsletter is maintained online then emailed to subscribers at the end of each month. It provides informaton on up dates to the website, featured local history, featured local websites, highlighted local news and some personal commentary. The current edition may be seen at Bay Journal Monthly Online along with an archive of previous editions.

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life -- make the most of it!"
This is one of my favorite sayings. It's a perspective that has helped weather stormy times knowing I can navigate my life to where the sun shines brightest for me. Bay-Journal is such a destination for me and it has plenty of sunshine for others to enjoy as well.

BAY-JOURNAL.COM

Marvin Kusmierz
Webmaster/Creator
April 2003