In this issue:

*   Youngsters' Pen Pal Project takes flight,
*   South African Uberstein branch grows to 155 cousins.

Sam is on the left of the threesome (the man in the middle is a mystery).  Sam's youngest brother, Archie, on the right of the threesome, was not only a cousin of Arthur's but, because they shared interests, he was also a close friend.  Arthur made his family the first on their block with a radio when he built one himself, and Archie, who is now 91, made his career in selling the latest developments in home appliances, from vacuum cleaners to home voice recording devices.   So did his brother, Sam, whose great grandchildren are now corresponding with Ruthi and Asher Varon of Rehovot, Israel.  

Why a pen pal project?  Nothing works better to perpetuate our family history amongst the younger generations, and to develop written [non E-mail] language skills.  Some new pen pal doings are now underway with the Ohio Uberstines.  Anyone interested in joining the fun is welcome to send an E-mail to smrogers@cousinsplus.com .  For more history, see web page stories,  Ethel: from kid sister to matriarch, and The Farbermans of Brooklyn.  

South African Ubersteins' chapter debuts The descendants of Faiva and Chipa Uberstein of Gorodok and South Africa surfaced in January with first names such as Trevor, Selwyne and Cyrile.  Their chapter debuts in our March web page with an overtree chart on their own trees page, which presents every possible clue and deduction about how we could be related.  Everyone is encouraged to theorize.  

From Trevor's chart, we created the same trees as CousinsPlus; Faiva's branch now numbers 154 but could grow to perhaps 250 with participation of the Israeli branch, who hosted a 100th birthday bash six years ago for Faiva's last surviving son, Louis Uberstein.  He appears in the chapter album, thanks to photos from Trevor Uberstein of Sydney, Australia. We have Faiva's granddaughter, Rosie Rom Hummel of San Diego, CA, to thank for three phone conversations recounting memories that made a story possible.  

Giving up: Just as I announced to the dozen on-line South African Ubersteins now scattered around the world that I was giving up on figuring out a link between Usher, Lazar and Faiva, Selwyne's wife, Pamela, sent an E-mail about how DNA testing could provide the answer. 

"Whilst talking with Selwyne," it occurred to her "that [DNA testing] could be used to establish bloodlines," she wrote.  The cost, which turns out to be prohibitive, depends "upon the number of markers that would have to be screened, since we would be testing 'skipped' generations," said Pamela, adding that her "laboratory (and expertise) is restricted to oncology testing, i.e., screening for the presence or absence of genetic anomalies that are associated with specific types of cancer."  Pamela is director of Molecular Diagnostics at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. So we find yet another distinguished Uberstein/Uberstine.