The first work week in August will be devoted to making whistles to auction or give away at the Jake Hoover family reunion next weekend.
Grandpa Jake had four sons:
John had one son (Mack)
Dick never married
Archie had two daughters,
Lewis married his older brother’s widow and never got to be a father
Grandpa’s daughters both had large families.
Of Grandpa’s hundreds of descendants there are seven with the Hoover name:
One unmarried great grand daughter (Mack’s daughter Norma)
two gals who took their maiden names back (Mack’s sister Juanita and cousin Darylenne)
two males (Mack and his son Matthew)
their wives (Joan and her daughter in law Emily)
Matthew alone can pass along the name, as yet has no children (just two neutered male cats, and has no interest in whistles.
But no problem!
Mack will resume making and offering whistles after August 8 with a serious zeal.
Just thought someone might care.
Mack
PS: A new feature on the Hoover Whistle website is a tour of Mack’s shop.
Hey, I care. The Hoover Whitecap D Generation that I received last month is one very sweet whistle! I haven’t decided yet what will be next one. Have fun at the family reunion!
Fear not, Mack. It’ll happen. I’m in the same boat. I’m the only one left to pass on my family name. I didn’t marry until I was 26, so my parents were quite worried. But we have a son now. All is well.
I care. When I read the subtitle I thought you were retiring from whistlemaking or something.
It’s always good to see a post from you.
It doesn’t look likely that Shan or I will have kids; fortunately, my family tree has many forks (whoda thunk it?) and I have nephews that will pass on the name.
We do have ferrets, though. Here’s some new pics and a few ferret movies:
I am in the same boat. I was an only son and I had 4 daughters. I have about 14 grandsons but none are Kileys.
I’m glad to here that it isn’t the last of Hoover Whistles. The installation of a Whitecap is the best thing that ever happened to an Oak whistle. I love mine. It is one of the 3 I take with me everywhere.
Only one of my great great grandparents’ children (on my mother’s side) passed on the family name, and that was my great grandfather, who had only one child, my grandfather, who had all daughters, so my great grandmother and grandmother, both of whom received the name by marriage and not by birth, are the only ones still living who have the family name. I was surprised this year’s family reunion had some name attached to it that I wasn’t even familiar with. Apparently their branch of the family is now largest.
We had the same thing going on here – my own family line of McAllister’s finally came to an end – everyone had daughters, and there is no one left to even hope for a continuation of the name through my great-grandparents’ lineage. My husband’s line 20 years ago was down to only one possibility of continuing the family name – our then 3 year old son. So we kept trying and came up with a daughter, then 2 more sons. For now it looks like we successfully saved the name.
Current (and probably final) child count for the 3 of us: 6 girls, 1 boy (#2 brother’s oldest).
I love my nephew, but like all teen-age boys he sometimes shows a remarkable lack of common sense, of the life-and-limb threatening variety, so direct-line name continuity is by no means assured.
On the other hand, my grandfather’s younger brother’s grandson also carries the name, so I the situation isn’t too dire.
(Quite honestly, I was really happy when we had girls - having only brothers, I knew about the headaches teenage boys can be. At least with girls I could expect a little variety. )
Have a great time at the reunion! I’ve got all my kids and grandkids at my house right now. Life has been real busy for me lately but family is surely among the most important things in life.
By the way, great Shop Tour! What talented, handsome, clever fellow did that ?
Sorry, lost my mind there for a second. I should go and adjust my medication dosage.
One of my favorite whistles remains to this day the Hoover E I won in Dale’s charity raffle many years ago. It makes me smile - I play it nearly every day.
Well, I know it’s been forever since I have posted anything here on the forum…but a few months ago I was talking to Mack and told him I had a dream that I needed a STERLING MACK HOOVER WHISTLE! He agreed to make it for me, and me being a retired jeweler…I made a few phone calls and soon a sterling tube was on it’s way to Mack! It arrived today and its beautiful! I have never been one to fully understand the tin whistle lingo..but it plays beautiful! Looks beautiful and it’s not for sale. Mack, Thank you again for such a fine whistle…Now get back to work and finish my Low D! lol
Rene
It’s been a few days since receiving my Mack Hoover Sterling High D…I just wanted to share how it plays..compared to my hoover whitecap its sweeter sounding…covers the lower and higher octives beautufully…it’'s not LOUD but not as soft as my white cap..but I think it would get lost in sessions. Please excuse my nomenclature…
Hey, I care. The Hoover Whitecap D Generation that I received last month is one very sweet whistle! I haven’t decided yet what will be next one. Have fun at the family reunion! 
When I read the subtitle I thought you were retiring from whistlemaking or something. 
)
