EWGS February Meeting

The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society will be meeting this Saturday, February 3rd in the meeting rooms on the main floor of the Downtown Branch of the Spokane Public Library. Paid parking is available in the library garage (accessed on Spokane Falls Boulevard) or in River Park Square (linked to the library via skywalk). Some prefer to park for free down at the bottom of the Main Avenue hill in Peaceful Valley, or across the river near the Flour Mill, and get some fresh air and exercise to boot. Coffee, cookies and conversation will begin at 12:30 PM, followed by the general meeting at 1:00. Our guest speakers will be library branch manager Dennis Frederickson and other library staff, on the topic of "The Rest of the Library." We have a wonderful collection in our genealogy room on the third floor, of course, but Dennis and the staff will describe useful resources for genealogists in other areas of the library. The meeting should adjourn between 2:30 and 3:00 PM. Quite a few people, including myself, like to come early or stay late (Saturday library hours are 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM) and use the Genealogy Room, the microfilmed local newspaper area, or the Northwest Room (city archives) to do research. Volunteers will be on hand in the Genie Room to assist those with their research.

Although my parents and I are the first in our family to live in Eastern Washington, I'm always interested in learning about local resources...not only do I get an idea of what I can ask volunteers or paid researchers to look up for me in the libraries of my ancestral locations (like Michigan and New York), but occaisionally I discover resources for my ancestral locations in local collections! So if your ancestors didn't live in this area, it's no excuse not to come and learn!

As chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, I'll be selling nifty genealogical items as well as tickets for our monthly raffle prizes. Also available are the genealogy magazine exchange box, and workshop cassettes that can be borrowed (I once spent a summer listening to presentations on cassettes by Arlene Eakle and Roger Joslyn on finding New York resources!). If any members are interested in signing up for our computer classes, I'll have my sign-up sheets at the ready!

You don't have to be a member of EWGS to attend our meetings, and we always enjoy newcomers! It's a great way to get to know others who may be researching your ancestral locations, or even your family surnames! Hope to see you there!