Upcoming Genealogy Classes and Family History Fairs

October is Family History Month, and boy, do we have a lot of upcoming events! First of all, I have begun my fall quarter classes for the Institute of Extended Learning, held at the Magnuson Building on the SFCC campus, Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The classes are $8.00 each. A couple are new and put together at your request! Please let your family members and friends know! Here is the upcoming schedule:

• Finding Your Ancestors in Online Obituaries and Cemetery Records - October 14
• Finding Your Ancestors in Online Census Records - October 21
• Organizing and Preserving Your Genealogy (NEW!) - October 28
• Finding Your Canadian Ancestors Using Online Records (NEW!) - November 4

To register for these classes, call (509) 279-6030, or visit http://www.sccel.spokane.edu/ACT2 and look for the "Master Your Technology" icon.

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 Next, there are two upcoming Family History Fairs put on by area LDS (Mormon) Churches for free. The first is brand new and will be held this Saturday, October 11th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM in Otis Orchards. There are 18 class topics, and workshop participants will receive a “My Family History” folder with a family tree chart and other handouts as a starter kit. A complete list of classes, along with more details, can be found at http://www.giftoffindyourfamily.com/.

The second one will be Saturday, October 18th from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Hayden Lake LDS Church north of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. This also is free, including a delicious lunch. Visit https://sites.google.com/site/haydenlakefhc/home/seminar to view the class topics and register. They suggest you register by October 10th so they can plan accordingly. I will be presenting "Online American Digital Archives and Databases" during the first session. There are 25 classes to choose from for four sessions, plus your lunch hour.

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Come enjoy learning how to trace your family tree and dig deeper into new resources.

Clark County (Washington) Genealogical Society's Spring Seminar

I'm excited to announce that once again, the Clark County Genealogical Society has asked me to be their speaker for their Spring Seminar. I'll be speaking on three aspects of social networking--blogging, Facebook, and Pinterest--as well as finding online resources for tracing your Northwest ancestors. This seminar will be held at their facility at 717 Grand Boulevard, Vancouver, Washington from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You can pre-register this week at that location; walk-ins are also welcome and the doors will be open at 8:30 AM for registration. Bring your own sack lunch. For more information, see the CCGS's home page here.

You can read my post on last year's seminar here.

Idaho Genealogical Society's Annual Meeting and Seminar

The Idaho Genealogical Society announces its Annual Meeting/Seminar on 29 September 2012 in Hayden, Idaho. It is sponsored by the IGS and the Kootenai County Genealogical Society and will be held at the Holiday Inn Express, 151 West Orchard, Hayden.

The itinerary for the day is as follows:

8:30 AM - Registration
9:00 AM - Welcome by jean Timmermeister (KCGS)
9:10 AM - Welcome and Introductions by Juvanne Martin (IGS)
9:30 AM - IGS Business and Reports
10:40 AM - Break
11:00 AM - Speaker John Schalk: "Life in Nazi-Occupied Germany"
12:00 PM - Lunch (provided by KCGS)
1:00 PM - IGS Business and Elections
1:30 PM - Speaker Miriam Robbins: "Frugal Genealogy"
2:30 PM - Break
2:45 PM - Speaker Connie Godak: "Finding Family with FamilySearch.org"
4:00 PM - Wrap-up and Adjournment
4:00 - 5:00 PM - Networking and Socializing

Registration for KCGS and IGS members is $25; all others, $30. Fee includes lunch. Lunch cannot be guaranteed for late registrants and at-the-door, so register now. For more information or to register, call Waneva Maymon at (208) 772-6618 or email wmaymon@icehouse.net. This event is open to the public--bring a guest. Deadline for registration is September 15, 2012, so send it in soon!

The registration form, directions and overnight accomodations can be downloaded here.

The Clark County (WA) Genealogical Society's Spring Seminar

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking at the Clark County Genealogical Society's Spring Seminar in Vancouver, Washington, just north of Portland, Oregon across the Columbia River. The theme was Frugal Genealogy and I gave four presentations: Frugal Genealogy, or How Not to Spend a Fortune on Your Family Tree; Finding Volunteer & Low-Cost Researchers Online; Finding Vital Records and Obituaries Online; and Finding Your Ancestors in Historical Newspapers. Here are some photos of their library and meeting room at 717 Grand Boulevard, as well as snapshots from the seminar:

Building Front

Meeting Room

Front desk in research library

Research library, view from front

Local history and records

Some of the stacks

More of the stacks

Microfilm collection and reader

Some of the attendees

Calling the group to order

I had an enjoyable time visiting with several members of the society and speaking to their group. I wish I had had the time to do some research at CCGS on my kids' paternal lines, as they settled in the area about a century ago. Perhaps next time...

Some of the links in my Frugal Genealogy syllabus were incorrect, even though I had checked them a week before. There were also some questions about other sites not on my syllabus for which I did some look ups during the lecture. A few members of the audience lent their expertise and recommended some sites as well. I promised the CCGS that I would post these corrected and new links to my blog. Here they are:

FamilySearch Center locations: http://www.familysearch.org/locations

Current newspaper websites: http://www.onlinenewspapers.com

World Ancestry Project (indexing for Ancestry.com): http://landing.ancestry.com/wap/learnmore.aspx

The difference between Ancestry.com's U.S. Deluxe Subscription and their Library Edition: http://tinyurl.com/6plclb6

Free Access to Pay Databases: http://www.familytreemagazine.com/upload/images/PDF/freedatabases.pdf (some info may be outdated on this chart)

Cyndi's List of Free Software: http://www.cyndislist.com/software.htm/free

For copyright questions, check out the Legal Genealogist's blog: http://legalgenealogist.com/blog/

For questions about DNA and genealogy, check out Emily Aulicino's blog: http://genealem-geneticgenealogy.blogspot.com/

PrintKey Freeware, to capture a screenshot of what's on your monitor: http://www.joshmastaaa.net/2010/11/printkey-v30-freeware.html (thanks to Laurie Burgess!)

FamilyRoots Seminar in Calgary on October 16

Alberta Family Histories Society
Presents
A
FamilyRoots Seminar
"New Horizons in Genealogy"

Featuring three of North America's leading genealogists

• Dick Eastman - The Organized Genealogist & Conservation: Keeping UP with Technology
  
• Lyn Meehan - Records Interrogation 101 - Squeezing Records Until They Talk
• Thomas MacEntree - Social Networking for Genealogists & Become a Genealogy Blogger

Saturday, October 16, 2010
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
(Doors open @ 8:00 AM)
Deerfoot Inn Hotel
11500 - 35 St. SE, Calgary, AB, Canada
Dinner (Optional)
Big Rock Grill
5555 - 76 Ave. SE, 6:00 PM
Speaker: Dick Eastman
Topic: "Putting the Genes in Genealogy"

For more information, logon to FamilyRoots
http://www.afhs.ab.ca/familyroots/

Barbara Nuehring to be Featured Speaker at Spring Seminar 2010

Barbara Nuehring will be the featured noted lecturer at the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society's Spring Seminar held Saturday, May 15th at the Country Homes Christian Church, 8415 North Wall Street in Spokane, Washington (see map at bottom of post). Ms. Nuehring has a B.S. in Business from the University of Maryland and after a successful career as a comptroller withing the U.S. Department of the Army, she has spent her time researching her family history and taking active roles in several organizations.

Currently she and her husband travel full-time in their motor home, which gives her ample opportunity to do on-site research and make regular visits to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  Barbara is the Secretary/Treasurer of the 200+ member Escapees Genealogy Group and writes feature columns for their newsletter and for the Green Valley [Arizona] Genealogy Society Past Tracks. She is a member of the National Genealogical Society; Genealogical Speakers Guild; International Society of Family History Writers and Editors; Palatines to America; and several local societies.

Barbara has been a guest lecturer at genealogical seminars and society meetings, teaching courses on a wide variety of subjects that couple traditional genealogy methodology with computer technology. The seminar's theme is "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" and Ms. Nuehring will be presenting the following four topics:

• Exploiting Maps to Track Down Your Ancestors
• Dealing with Stumbling Blocks: Calendars and Penmanship
• On Site Research: Ready, Set, Go!
• Across the Pond: Researching Your European Ancestors

In addition to the lectures, door prizes will be handed out and a raffle will be held. There will also be a contest to name EWGS's new digital publication. Registration is only $15 each for members; $18 each for non-members. No registration form is necessary; to ensure a syllabus, simply mail your check made out to EWGS and marked "Spring Seminar" by April 30th to the address below. Payment will also be taken at the door, but syllabuses are not guaranteed.

EWGS

P.O. Box 1826

Spokane, Washington 99210-1826

Registration and check-in begins at 9:00 AM. The meeting will begin at 9:30 AM, with the first lecture starting at 10:00. A potluck lunch will be held at 12:15 PM. Members are asked to bring the following items according to their surname (coffee, tea, and water will be supplied):

• A-F: potato or pasta salad, or rolls and butter
• G - L: fruit tray or dessert
• M - P: green salad with dressing or veggie tray with dip
• R-Z: meat or bean dish or casserole

The last lecture will conclude at 3:30 PM.

Ms. Nuehring was EWGS's featured speaker at the October 2008 workshop and her presentations were met with much enthusiasm. This is a seminar you won't want to miss! For further information, please contact Miriam Robbins Midkiff by phone (484-6759) or e-mail.

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Reminder: Get Your Registration In to Hear Colleen Fitzpatrick

Kootenai County Genealogical Society
& The Family History Store
Present

Colleen Fitzpatrick, PhD - Forensic Genealogist

Come join us - May 30, 2009

Friends Church
251 West Miles Avenue - Hayden, Idaho

Dr. Fitzpatrick is the author of several books, including:

Forensic Genealogy

DNA & Genealogy

The Dead Horse Investigation: Forensic Photo Analysis for Everyone

Dr. Fitzpatrick is world renowned for her expertise in solving the cases of "The Hand in the Snow" in Alaska, "The Unknown Baby from the Titanic," and in helping Dr. Ken Waltzer expose the Herman Rosenblat Holcaust Fraud.

9:30 a.m. ~ Registration

10:15 a.m. ~ Introductions

10:30-11:30 a.m. ~ Session 1: Forensic Genealogy
CSI Meets Roots: The DNA Detective - As described in Forensic Genealogy and DNA & Genealogy, and featured on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program, forensic scientists and genealogists share the same goal - to find out who was who, and who did what and when. If you are interested in using your genealogical materials in unique and innovative ways, this talk is for you! Come learn new approaches to using photographs, databases, and DNA either alone or in combination to solve your genealogical mysteries. This talk will give you new insights into how DNA works and how it can be useful.

11:30-12:00 p.m. ~ Break and Browse Books

Lunch Break ~ 12:00 - 1:00
Bring a sack lunch or eat at a nearby restaurant

1:00-2:00 p.m. ~ Session 2: DNA & Genealogy
You Will Never Look at Your Old Photos the Same Way Again! As featured on NPR’s Talk of the Nation with Neil Conan, in Internet Genealogy, Family Tree Magazine, Ancestry, and Family Chronicle, Forensic Genealogy offers innovative new tools for getting the most information out of your old photographs. This talk will present innovative approaches to identifying old photographs, many drawn from Forensic Genealogy and from solutions to the weekly photographic quizzes offered on the website www.forensicgenealogy.info. After attending this talk, you will never look at your old photos the same way again!

2:00-2:30 p.m. ~ Break and Browse Books

2:30-3:30 p.m. ~ Session 3 Forensic Photo

Analysis: The Database Detective- Discovering facts about your ancestor such as his birth, marriage, and death dates is much easier to find nowadays thanks to the internet. The challenge to modern genealogists is to extract information from those facts. As featured on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program, and as the cover article of Internet Genealogy, Family Tree Magazine, Ancestry, and Family Chronicle, Forensic Genealogy shows you how to extract exciting and unusual information about your ancestors by milking databases for every drop of information they can provide.

3:30-4:00 p.m. ~ Break and Browse Books

$25 Pre-registration ~ $30 at the door, if space is available

Make checks payable to KCGS and mail with name, address and phone number to:
Kootenai County Genealogical Society
8385 North Government Way
Hayden, Idaho 83835

Space is limited so pre-registrations must be in by May 15, 2009.

Questions? Contact Louisa Durkin at (208) 699-2687 or (208) 666-6064
or email leory1@earthlink.net.

Ancestry Hosts Free Online Ethnic Seminars

Do you have German, Irish, Polish, or Italian ancestry? Ancestry.com is offering free online ethnic seminars (called webinars) online on Tuesday evenings this month and July 1st (5 PM Pacific Daylight Time). You do not need to have an Ancestry subscription to participate. You can go to this page to get more information and register for these classes. Links will be immediately e-mailed to you so that you can access the webinars on the days of their showings. You should click on one of the links ahead of time to test your computer's audio and video capabilities.

I'm a little disappointed I didn't hear about this sooner, because I missed the English genealogy webinar that was broadcast June 3rd!

Hat Tip: Genealogy Guys