Ginny Majewski Elected WSGS President

Virginia “Ginny” Majewski

Virginia “Ginny” Majewski from Sequim has been elected President of the Washington State Genealogical Society for the 2017 – 2018 term. Currently, Ginny is WSGS Secretary and also President of the Clallam County Genealogical Society. She replaces Mikal McKinnon from Richland who presided over the society for two terms, 2013 – 2017.

In other election news, Karin Coppernoll from Monroe and Opal Myhres from Yakima were elected Secretary and Region 5 Representative (Kittitas, Klickitat, and Yakima counties), respectively.

For more information about Ginny and Karin, read the 01 Dec 2017 blog post.

How to Post on the Blog

Do you want to broadcast information about your local society, workshop, genealogical tip, or a research query? Just post to the WSGS Blog! You can reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state. Just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and the blog masters will do the rest.

We’re always looking to publicize local events and workshops, feature stories, updates from your society, and other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers.

We hope to hear from you soon! And don’t forget to encourage your Society members to subscribe to the Blog for the most up-to-date information from around the state.

You may manage your subscription options from your profile.

WSGS Elections Open December 1

WSGS members will receive a link to their election ballot via email on Thursday, 01 Dec. Offices on the ballot include President, Secretary and Regional Representatives in Regions 1, 3, 5 and 7. Below are profiles for President candidate Virginia Majewski and Secretary candidate Karin Coppernoll.

Virginia "Ginny" Majewski

Virginia “Ginny” Majewski

Virginia “Ginny” Majewski of Sequim, Washington, is running to serve as WSGS President for the next two-year term. For the past two years, she has served as the WSGS Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee. Prior to that she was the Regional Representative for Region 3 (Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Mason and Thurston counties). She has served as President and on the Board of Directors for Clallam County Genealogical Society for many years. She has given a number of presentations for various societies and Family History Centers throughout Jefferson, Clallam and Kitsap Counties.

Ginny has worked on her personal family history for over 20 years. She attended the National Institute of Genealogical Studies, University of Toronto and graduated with a certification in advanced genealogical studies in both American Records and Methodology.

Ginny’s personal statement: Genealogy is one of my passions. The past 10 years have brought about a tremendous amount of change in genealogy with so many advances in science and technology. We need to keep informed and relevant if both WSGS and local societies are to survive. I believe that WA State Genealogical Society can be a resource and help to local societies. The Board has been working hard the past few years to make WSGS more visible, active and relevant and I hope to continue that effort — and more.

Karin Coppernoll

Karin Coppernoll

Karin Coppernoll of Monroe, Washington, is running to serve as WSGS Secretary for the next two-year term.

Karin is a professional genealogist with more than 30 years of experience research her family history. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, as well as two state genealogical societies and trustee of her local historical society. She is also a member of Sno-Isle Genealogical Society.

Karin has a certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University and  has attended the Salt Lake City Institute of Genealogy.  For more information about Karin, visit her website.

Karin’s personal statement: I’m excited about the opportunity to serve genealogists and local societies in Washington on the state board. It’s my way to share my passion and experiences in the wonderful world of genealogy and family history.

WSGS Board Secretary Needed

There will soon be an opening for Secretary on the WSGS Board of Directors. Are you interested?

The Board Secretary, a member of the WSGS Executive Committee, records the minutes at the society’s business meetings, including quarterly board meetings and the annual business meeting. More information on the position’s duties and responsibilities is available here.

Being a member of the WSGS Board is an excellent opportunity to involve yourself in a statewide organization designed to support local societies and individuals interested in the educational and historical value of genealogical research. And besides that — it’s fun and interesting!

If you’re interested in this opportunity or have questions, please contact WSGS President Mikal McKinnon.

How to Post on the Blog

Do you want to broadcast information about your local society, workshop, genealogical tip, or a research query? Just post to the WSGS Blog! You can reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state. Just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and the blog masters will do the rest.

We’re always looking to publicize local events and workshops, feature stories, updates from your society, and other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers.

We hope to hear from you soon! And don’t forget to encourage your Society members to subscribe to the Blog for the most up-to-date information from around the state.

You may manage your subscription options from your profile.

Publicize (and Find) Upcoming Events

Want to spread the word about your society’s program, workshop, seminar or training class? Or are you looking for a training opportunity? The WSGS website and blog are great ways to publicize and find local (including nearby states and British Columbia) events.

It’s easy to have events posted on the WSGS Events Page and Blog. Just send an email to webmanager@wasgs.org (website) and WSGSBlog@wasgs.org (blog) with the details (who, what, where & when) and/or a flyer. As if by magic, information about the event will be posted in both places for all to see.

New WSGS Treasurer Named

Sue Semenza Ericksen has been appointed by WSGS President Mikal McKinnon to take over the state society’s treasurer’s duties. Sue replaces Kathy Bowen who moved out of the state to be closer to family.

Sue’s presence in WSGS is long-standing. She is Immediate Past President and previously served as membership chair, web manager and Region 5 representative. In addition to her WSGS dedication, Sue is an active member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, currently serving as its vice president and web manager.

A routine audit was conducted on the WSGS finances and all was in order. A big thank-you to Sue for stepping into this important position.

 

Blog Banner Photo Challenge

IMG_0095Summer’s in full swing and that means many of us are on the road, in the air, or on a boat visiting people, places, and things. It also means you’re taking lots of photos. So…we’re sponsoring a Blog Banner Photo Challenge, looking for a few good photographs to highlight in our Blog banner.

The rotating banner will feature a series of photos taken by you, our readers. The latest entry in the Photo Challenge is a photo of the waterfall at the bottom on Barker Canyon, down the west side of Banks Lake in central Washington near Coulee City. The photo was taken by WSGS Vice President (& Past President of Eastern Washington Genealogical Society) Donna Potter Phillips of Spokane. It’s a great example of the beauty of our Evergreen State — and makes a great blog banner.

Rules are few:
•Landscapes, landmarks, and scenery photos are preferred. If, however, you have a perfect photo that includes people, please obtain their permission to post the photo.
•Photo must have been taken in Washington State (this is the Washington State Genealogical Society blog, after all!).
•Photo will be cropped to 1100 x 250 pixels, so keep that in mind.
•You may enter as many photos as you want.
•Final decisions on suitable photos will be made by the awesome WSGS Blog Team.
•There’s no prize if your photo is chosen – just the satisfaction that your photo is being showcased on a blog viewed by hundreds of enthusiastic genealogists.
•There’s no firm deadline to submit photos, just keep ‘em coming. We want to rotate lots of photos to keep the blog fresh.

To submit your photo, please email the image (jpg only, please); what, where, when, and by whom the photo was taken to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.

Got questions? Email the blog team at WSGSBlog@wasgs.org.

Meet Your Blog Team

Have you ever wondered who’s behind the scenes of the WSGS Blog? The terrific trio of Charles Hansen, Roxanne Lowe and Donna Potter Phillips work together to bring you interesting articles, news and tidbits about genealogy and family history in Washington State and the Pacific Northwest. All three of them are at the WSGS Conference in Tacoma tomorrow (18 Jun 2016), so look for news and photos about what’s happening there.

Roxanne Lowe, Charles Hansen & Donna Potter Phillips

WSGS Blog Team: Roxanne Lowe, Charles Hansen & Donna Potter Phillips

In the coming months, you’ll learn more about Charles, Roxanne and Donna, as well as the rest of the WSGS Board in a bi-weekly feature called “Meet the Board.”

In the meantime, if you’re looking to publicize your local event or workshop, have a feature story or update about your society, or other genealogical information that might be of interest to our many subscribers, just email a Word document, text file, PDF or graphic to WSGSBlog@wasgs.org and Charles, Roxanne and/or Donna will do the rest. The blog is a great way to reach hundreds of genealogists from around the state and beyond.