Author Archives: Roxanne Lowe

AI Workshop Registration Opens September 15, 2026

by Roxanne Lowe

The Washington State Genealogical Society is sponsoring a FREE AI workshop with nationally respected presenter and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke. The workshop “Make AI Your Personal Genealogy Assistant” will be Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The FREE workshop is open to all WSGS members, Blog subscribers and local society members. Registration will open on September 15. Space is limited to 100. The registration link will be posted on the Blog, emailed to WSGS members and through local societies.

Joe Brookshier Receives 2026 President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement

by Roxanne Lowe

WSGS President Kathleen Sizer is pleased to announce the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award: Joe Brookshier from the Olympia Genealogical Society. The announcement was made at the WSGS Annual Meeting on 27 Aug 2026.

Created in 2015, the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization who has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations. The award is not given every year as it is based on merit and accomplishments. As you’ll see from reading about Joe’s technological assistance, he is worthy of this recognition.

Joe Brookshier

It is hard to put into words the impact that Joe has had on a number of local societies as their technology needs have increased, particularly those that were transitioning from the EasyNetSites Classic (ENS-C) platform to ENS-R (Responsive).

Back in 2025, Joe offered his time, expertise and skills to a number of societies that were changing platforms. Initially, he brought numerous society webmasters together so they could be a community and support each other under his guidance.

According to Dave Storla, Kittitas County Genealogical Society, “As I began the process of building an updated website for KCGS, I emailed several webmasters for advice. Joe was quick to respond with aid. His help with my many questions, his technical assistance and most of all his encouragement made a daunting task bearable. He has helped me at times when I ‘couldn’t see the forest for the trees’ with patience and understanding, along with the needed solutions.”

LeAnne Koliha from the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society adds “To many of us who have worked with Joe, he was more than just a mentor; he was willing to step in and take on the technical tasks that we found difficult. He took the time to listen and understand what was needed in our individual website. He even suggested additional items that will make our website a better experience for society members.”

Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society‘s Tim Ward and Jane Nelson Irish received emails with tips and instructions that Joe had already shared with other societies and helped them via Zoom to step through the process and show them how to solve some of the problems they had with the conversion to the responsive version.

But no society has benefitted from Joe’s talents more than WSGS. Roxanne Lowe, WSGS webmaster, was quick to add, “It wasn’t long in the process before I realized I was stymied about how to get started – especially with a looming deadline approaching. Joe walked me (as webmaster) through the entire development process – from choosing a color palette and “playing” in the sandbox to entering data and finetuning each page.”

One particular issue stands out as critical to the development of the WSGS site. Joe, a retired principal software engineer at a major aerospace and defense corporation, was critical in trouble-shooting a tricky Pioneer Pursuit database of almost 4,500 names into the UDM (Unified Data Module). His ability to communicate with the Blue Crab CEO and interpret our desires was central to the new, improved database.

And as if helping societies with their ENS-R transition wasn’t enough, Joe has stepped in to help the Seattle Genealogical Society‘s IT team by agreeing to take on the oversight of the society’s Google Workspace account. This will entail working with SGS members who have sub-accounts on the main Google account to be used in the execution of their SGS jobs by helping them with Gmail and with finding their way around the shared SGS Google Drive.  Joe has already identified things that SGS should change to improve their use of Google Workspace and is moving to make necessary changes. 

More about the award

If you want to know more about the qualities needed for this prestigious award, click here. Previous recipients are listed here.

Five Societies Awarded Supportive Grants

by Roxanne Lowe

The WSGS Board of Directors awarded 2026 Supportive Grants to five local societies. LeAnne Koliha, WSGS Vice President, announced the awards at the WSGS Annual Meeting on August 27, 2026.

The grants were awarded to:

Clallam County Genealogical Society — CCGS is in the process of having a mural painted on their building. It will feature historical figures of those who lived on or came to the North Olympic Peninsula, including Native tribal images. The purpose of this mural is several fold: to honor the 250th anniversary of the Constitution; to increase the visibility of the Genealogy Society; and to increase visitor traffic. The estimated cost of the mural is about $32,000.  So far CCGS has received donations of $14,000 from members and the public. They have applied for a $10,000 grant, but it is not yet known if it will be approved. CCGS has contributed $5000 to date from their coffers.  They continue to do fundraising. 

Clark County Genealogical Society — The society plans to replace and upgrade essential office equipment. Their current equipment is outdated, and the printers are costly to operate. Specifically, they are seeking funding for a black-and-white laser printer and a new telephone system. The ink for their current color inkjet printers is expensive; a laser printer would better meet daily needs at a lower operating cost. Replacing their old phones will improve range and voicemail, making communication more dependable during the transition to a new location.

Lower Columbia Genealogical Society — LCGS hopes to provide speakers for their online meetings. They have decreased from ten speakers per year to nine, partly due to cost. With rare exception, their speakers are from outside the area. Speaker fees continue to go up. The grant will help them obtain quality speakers with an eye to increasing membership as well as educating their members. Over the last three months, LCGS has had 27 guests out of 68 attendees, and they have had two new members. 

Mason County Genealogical Society — Will use their grant to purchase two or three photo scanners and a supply of flash drives to support their two ongoing community outreach programs. The first project is a monthly family photo scanning event with their partner, Mason County Senior Center. This helps preserve old family photos and gets them out of decaying photo albums and shoeboxes. In the 18 months that MCGS has been conducting this project, they have served over 60 community members. Several MCGS volunteers have worn out their own scanners and have purchased new ones. The other community project is their Genealogy Café where they partner with the Shelton branch of Timberland Library. MCGS wants to give visitors a flash drive to preserve the genealogical discoveries and the sources used in the findings and take with them at the end of the session.

Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society — WAGS plans to upgrade their digital preservation capabilities. The total project cost is $500, and WAGS will match the grant 100% with $250 of their own funds to purchase a pre-owned Sony Alpha 6000 digital camera and macro lens. Buying this equipment used is a deliberate, practical choice that lets them get high-quality, professional imaging gear at a fraction of the cost new. It will serve as the core upgrade for their library’s Digitizing Station, replacing an eight-year-old donated camera that is at the end of its lifespan and can no longer capture the crisp clarity needed for archiving.

For more information about the Supportive Grants, click here.

2026 Outstanding Volunteers and Team Announced

by Roxanne Lowe

Congratulations to the amazing individuals and teams who contributed to Washington’s local societies. The announcement was made on Thursday, August 27, at the WSGS Annual Meeting. Fifteen local society members and four teams were recognized with Outstanding Volunteer and Team awards. The volunteers and teams were praised for their commitment and energies to promote their local societies, family history and cooperation in their local communities.

Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society

  • Holly Ardinger

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society

  • Diane Hunter Boyd
  • EWGS Program Team (Carol Anderson, Lynda Keenan, Donna Potter Phillips, Juanita McBride, Dolly Gorrod Webb, Lola McCreary, Lynn Krogh, Margie Beldin)

Eastside Genealogical Society

  • Mary Dematteo Sangalang
  • Jane Wickert

Grays Harbor Genealogical Society

  • Polly Thomas

Lower Columbia Genealogical Society

  • Lynda Jean Newman Mathers

Olympia Genealogical Society

  • OGS Technology & Website Team (Bob Monn & Joe Brookshier)

Seattle Genealogical Society

  • Sheyna Watkins

Sno-Isle Genealogical Society

  • Corey Smith

Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society

  • Bill Allen
  • Karen Looney

Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society

  • Jean Findlay
  • Genealogy Help Desk Team (Carol Rikerd, Debbi Wigen-Noble, Gail Sanders, Judy Karns, Lisa Weaver, Naomi Ward, Patricia Gwin, Shelby Holland, Tim Ward)

Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society

  • Diane Gundersen

Yakima Valley Genealogical Society

  • Vivian Hunt
  • Gerald & Hilda Shepard
  • YVGS Librarians

For more information about the Outstanding Volunteers and Teams, visit the Washington State Genealogical Society, Local Society Support page or email Info@wasgs.org.

AI Workshop Coming Soon!

by Roxanne Lowe

The Washington State Genealogical Society is sponsoring a FREE AI workshop with nationally respected presenter and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke. The workshop “Make AI Your Personal Genealogy Assistant” will be Thursday, October 22, 2026, from 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.

The FREE workshop is open to all WSGS members, Blog subscribers and local society members. Registration will open on September 15. Space is limited to 100. The registration link will be posted on the Blog, emailed to WSGS members and through local societies.

Reminder: WSGS Annual Meeting — August 27, 2026

by Roxanne Lowe

You’re invited to the WSGS’s annual meeting! Thursday, August 27, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

In compliance with Washington’s Nonprofit Corporation Act (24.03A), we’re holding our annual meeting.

Here’s the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84911154165?pwd=6w3P7KCgNunmb1YseVyo9NDtB98262.1

Meeting ID: 849 1115 4165
Passcode: 113167

Phone: +16694449171,,84911154165#,,,,*113167# US

The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.

We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.

Reminder: WSGS Annual Meeting — August 27, 2026

by Roxanne Lowe

You’re invited to the WSGS’s annual meeting! Thursday, August 27, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

In compliance with Washington’s Nonprofit Corporation Act (24.03A), we’re holding our annual meeting.

Here’s the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84911154165?pwd=6w3P7KCgNunmb1YseVyo9NDtB98262.1

Meeting ID: 849 1115 4165
Passcode: 113167

Phone: +16694449171,,84911154165#,,,,*113167# US

The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.

We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.

Artificial Intelligence is Coming to You!

by Roxanne Lowe

The Washington State Genealogical Society is sponsoring a free workshop with Lisa Louise Cooke on “Make AI Your Personal Genealogy Assistant.”

Date: October 22, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

Registration will open on September 15. Space is limited to 100 participants.

This FREE workshop is open to all WSGS members, local society members and Blog subscribers.

If you have questions, email Info@wasgs.org. Please put “AI Workshop” in the subject line.

A New Look is Coming to WSGS.org

by Roxanne Lowe

Under Construction

For years, WSGS has run on the ENS-C (EasyNetSites-Classic) platform — and it’s served us well. But technology moves on, and ENS-C is being phased out. So we’re migrating to its successor, ENS-R (Responsive), built by the same company, Blue Crab Software in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

What’s changing

ENS-R keeps everything you rely on — our search tools, member database, Pioneer Pursuit Index, cemetery information and site organization — while adding a modern, mobile-friendly design. Pages will automatically resize for phones, tablets, and desktops, so browsing on your phone will finally feel as smooth as on a computer. You’ll also notice larger text and a top navigation menu instead of the sidebar.

What’s staying the same

The blog isn’t changing. It moved to a new server months ago without any issues, and this update won’t affect it.

What you need to do — right now, nothing

We’ve spent months testing in a private preview environment to catch problems before they reach you. As with any technology change, small hiccups are possible, and we appreciate your patience if anything needs fine-tuning after launch.

Once ENS-R goes live, we’ll email members with simple instructions for resetting your password to access the Members Only area. Until then, there’s nothing you need to do.

If you have questions about the new website, please email Info@wasgs.org. Thank you in advance for your patience!

WSGS Annual Meeting — August 27, 2026

by Roxanne Lowe

You’re invited to the WSGS’s annual meeting! Thursday, August 27, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

In compliance with Washington’s Nonprofit Corporation Act (24.03A), we’re holding our annual meeting.

Here’s the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84911154165?pwd=6w3P7KCgNunmb1YseVyo9NDtB98262.1

Meeting ID: 849 1115 4165
Passcode: 113167

Phone: +16694449171,,84911154165#,,,,*113167# US

The agenda will include the announcement of the 2026 Outstanding Volunteer and Team recipients, President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and the Supportive Grant awards. We’ll also have a short presentation titled “Writing Your Family Story Using AI” with Forrest Adams, North Beach Genealogical Society and Grays Harbor Genealogical Society.

We hope you join us! If you want more information, email Info@wasgs.org.