CHICORA — Robert “Boone” Burns rarely wonders what's happening with his extended family.

The 85-year-old receives a steady stream of updates that he publishes each week in a family bulletin.

Together with his sisters, Sister Mary Michael Burns, 80, and Catherine Burns, 93, the Chicora native compiles the publication, mailing copies to 55 on the distribution list.

“We work on it Monday so we can mail it Tuesday,” said Robert, explaining he and Sister Mary Michael each author a side of the legal-sized sheet, then collaborate on printing and folding.

Published continuously since 1953, the newsletter began when their mother Stella had eight sons serving simultaneously in the military.

“Mom wrote to each one of them once a week,” Mary Michael said, explaining one letter eventually was duplicated for all eight and later for additional family members.

“She kept writing every week to everybody even after they came home,” she said.

Titled the Burns Family Bulletin, Catherine began as producer of the newsletter but soon was succeeded by another sister named Mary, who continued until early 2009.

“She wrote the very last one before she died,” said Robert, noting there was no lapse in production even then.

“I had already been helping Mary with the back page,” he said of his ability to maintain the production schedule afterward.

As well as documenting family happenings, the Burnses say producing the newsletter illustrates changes in technology: Production began after World War II with gelatin pens and a now-obsolete hectograph, which made copies by pressing blank pages against an inked, gelatin surface.

By the 1970s, the siblings had acquired a photocopier. Manual typewriters gave way to electric ones and eventually to personal computers.

Computers also come into play as the family's emerging generations adopt their forebears' tradition.

Christopher Burns Sr., 47, of North Boston, N.Y., has hosted an online adaptation of the newsletter since 1996, when he organized an e-mail chain. In 1998, Christopher launched a website called BurnsNet, where relatives can submit news. The submissions are compiled and posted every two weeks.

Christopher, a computer-software consultant, is the son of the late Philip Burns, one of 14 siblings who grew up on Main Street in Chicora.

“It's actually a family history site, because nothing in our collection is ever deleted,” said Christopher, who also scanned the Burns Family Bulletins and archived them on the site.

“My expectation was that Burns Family Bulletin would sunset at some point and BurnsNet Family Bulletin would succeed it. Never in a million years did I expect (Mary) to make it to 2009, and I certainly didn't expect Burns Family Bulletin to continue after she passed away.

“So my emphasis now is shifting away from being a ... successor and more toward creating a comfortable social network for the extended family. That's why I'm reaching out to the 20-something crowd to take over the site.”

Christopher said archiving the newsletters led to a new appreciation of personal history as well as how historic events impacted lives.

“Examples might be 9-11, the Kennedy assassination or the first moon walk,” Christopher said.

“We even have a special series of diary entries from 1945 that described how the end of World War II impacted the tiny borough of Chicora, as several Burns sons were in the service at the time.”

Those factors continue to impact the mailed bulletins, as Robert and Mary Michael fill in with local news on weeks with fewer submissions.

Estimating his late parents now have 46 grandchildren and 84 great-grandchildren, Robert said he often gets news of younger relatives relayed through their parents.

“The young people (post) it on the BurnsNet,” Mary Michael said.

However the news is relayed, all age groups seem appreciative.

“I believe that it's one thing to be related to someone, but another to really understand who they are,” Christopher said.

“When family members post news that comes from the heart, we know them much better and appreciate more what little time we get to spend together at reunions.”

“It's been a beautiful way to keep the family in touch,” Robert said.