Family History by Sid

          I retired completely in November of 2018 and then started my family history research in earnest. I’ve searched through documents, interviewed relatives, connected with many people around the world and through it all I have not discovered any people of world wide acclaim. There are no blockbusting superstars or rock and roll legends. No Pulitzer Prize novelists nor fearless explorers who discovered previously unknown lands. We are however, not boring. There are a number of individuals throughout our family tree that have enjoyed some notoriety in the public eye.                Arlene’s Uncle, Louis Rubin was an optometrist by day but his love of theater and acting prompted him to invest in the Swift Mill Creek Dinner Theater in Petersburg, VA. He helped produce the musicals and plays that were presented there and he performed in many of them. He was also seen on the air in local commercials and appeared in many print ads in the newspaper.           Arlene’s cousin,

           I’ve hit a bit of a brick wall. That is the term genealogists use to say they can’t find any documentation to connect one person to another in a family tree. I’m searching for the siblings of my great grandfather Beryl Levine and have progressed nicely for a while but my efforts have seemed to stall.             Here is what I know. My great grandfather Beryl Levine was the son of Eli Lazar Levine. Beryl had 5 siblings. Moishe, Meyer, Leibe, Eli Lazar, and Genashna. This information comes to me via my Uncle, Murray Ringold who had interviewed my grandfather, Louis Levine. Those of you who knew Louis know that he was very astute and mentally sharp up until the end of his life.              Beryl died in 1889 on or about the day his daughter, Bertha was born. This was in 1889 and has been corroborated by interviews with both Louis and his sister Mary. I have no pictures of him nor have I found any documentation of him or his family in the European databases which are