2022 at MyHeritage

Jan3 by Charles Hansen

2022 was quite a year here at MyHeritage. We released several fantastic new features, including DeepStory, Family Tree Timeline, Photo Tagger, and AI Time Machine™; added 2.5 billion historical records in 271 new collections; launched our podcast, Blast From My Past; and released several improvements to existing features to make your family history discovery experience on MyHeritage that much better. We also facilitated many emotional reunions and enjoyed the stories of incredible discoveries our users made through family history research and DNA — all while keeping true to our core values of innovation, compassion, and the desire to have a positive impact on the world.

And those are just a few of the highlights! We’ve compiled a comprehensive blog post and a cool info-graphic (above) summarizing our activities and accomplishments during 2022. Please feel free to share both of them with your readers and followers.

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2023… so stay tuned!

Wishing you and your families a happy and healthy new year,

Daniel Horowitz

Genealogy Expert

MyHeritage Ltd., P.O.Box 50, 3 Ariel Sharon Blvd., Or Yehuda, Israel 6037606, Israel, +972-3-6280000

International German Genealogy Partnership 2023

Jan3 by Charles Hansen

Copyright © 2022 International German Genealogy Partnership, All rights reserved.
You subscribed to receive news about IGGP and its activities. Use the links below to change your subscription preferences or unsubscribe.

Our mailing address is:
International German Genealogy Partnership
1385 Mendota Heights Road, Suite 100c/o Minnesota Genealogy Center
Mendota Heights, MN
55120-1367

EWGS Zoom Team Named One of 2022’s Outstanding Teams

Jan3 by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized over 600 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2022 award recipients and learn why they received the 2022 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing the Zoom Team that was nominated by the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (EWGS). The team was comprised of John Wilson and Carol Anderson.

March 2020 was the last in-person meeting for EWGS until April 2022 when in-person meetings resumed. April, May and June 2020 came and went with everything locked down. Then along came Zoom. Carol Anderson and John Wilson were using Zoom to communicate with their families and determined EWGS meetings could be conducted via Zoom. They reached out to the board by walking each person through the Zoom sign-in process and a new meeting format was born. It was a matter of members teaching other members the sign-in process and John posting the directions on the EWGS website.

Other societies disbanded for lack of vision, but EWGS has prospered adding new members. In April 2022, EWGS had their first hybrid meeting all because of the “can do attitude” of Carol and John.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Info@wasgs.org. Please type “Volunteer Award.”

Let’s Talk About…… New for 2023

Jan3 by Donna Phillips

It is now officially 2023 and why not treat yourself to a new book for the New Year???

One might guess that with eighteen books to his credit that Nathan Dylan Goodwin was running out of ideas. But nope. Book number nineteen, The Sawtooth Slayer, adds another star on his story flag.

The Sawtooth Slayer is set in April 2020 in Twin Falls, Idaho, where a serial killer is on the loose. A nameless man is kidnapping young women from their own homes, taking them out of the city to kill them before returning their bodies to random locations around the city. The local officers in charge in frustration turn to Venator—an investigative genetic genealogical company—in hopes that they can identify the killer from his left-behind DNA before he kills another young woman.

This book is definitely not another typical murder mystery. The Sawtooth Slayer is different in that DNA is featured prominently in the solving of the murders.

Will the Venator team solve this string of gruesome murders? You betchya….with the help from DNA.

The old phrase comes to mind: “Try it, you’ll like it.” And I believe you will. You can order it from Amazon in Kindle format, hardcover and paperback ($13.99).

Norman Dodge Named One of 2022’s Outstanding Volunteers

Dec31 by Roxanne Lowe

Today we’re introducing Norman Dodge of Olympia, Washington, who was nominated by the Olympia Genealogical Society (OGS).

Norman has been a member of the Olympia Genealogical Society for decades. He served as president of the society from 2008 – 2011. He has also been one of those all-important background volunteers. When OGS was meeting in person, he helped with setup and takedown at meetings and other events.

Along with his wife Eileen, he has assisted a great many people with their research and finding “lost” information, ancestors, and other relatives at drop-in genealogy sessions held at the Olympia Timberland Library.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Info@wasgs.org. Please type “Volunteer Award” in the subject line.

Top 25 WSGS Blog Posts for 2022

Dec29 by Charles Hansen

1. /blog/
2. /blog/2022/07/19/washington-state-non-profit-handbook/ Glad to see this is one of the top posts of 2022, so every non profit can have their own handbook.
3. /blog/2022/10/31/wsgs-announces-pioneer-pursuit-contest/ Lets hope this generates a huge database that can help future genealogists.
4. /blog/2021/11/24/2022-clallam-county-genealogical-society-events/
5. /blog/2015/06/04/university-of-washington-genealogy-class/ This post from 2015 is always near the top even though it was posted 7 years ago.
6. /blog/2022/07/26/lets-talk-about-words/
7. /blog/2022/06/22/heritage-quest-research-library-getting-started/ Guess there are a lot of beginners out there yet.
8. /blog/2022/11/01/gift-idea-washington-pioneer-certificate-3/ Great birthday gift.
9. /blog/2022/08/03/seattle-genealogical-society-tip-of-the-week-finding-your-family-in-newspapers/ Tips of the Week are always popular.
10. /blog/2022/06/29/myheritage-theory-of-family-relativity-2/
11. /blog/2022/06/28/lets-talk-about-railroads-part-1/
12. /blog/2022/08/09/lets-talk-about-websites-for-social-history/ I guess people like to socialize as well as research
13. /blog/2022/06/01/2022-outstanding-volunteers-and-team-announced/ Wonderful group of volunteers announced
14. /blog/category/2022-seminars-conferences/ Not really a blog post , but the category of 2022 Seminars & Conferences
15. /blog/subscription-form-2/
16. /blog/2022/09/20/lets-talk-about-funnies/
17. /blog/2022/10/26/somethings-coming/ See #3 above
18. /blog/2022/10/21/clallam-county-genealogical-society-finding-descendants-in-your-family-tree/
19. /blog/2022/08/20/lets-talk-about-heritage-from-the-heartland/ This is a blog post talking about a series of short seminars on research in the Mid West for EWGS
20. /blog/2022/07/25/heritage-quest-research-library-autumn-quest-9/
21. /blog/2022/09/24/heritage-quest-research-library-open-house-party/
22. /blog/2022/10/21/lets-talk-about-ancestor-arrivals-in-the-colonies/ This was actually on New England Colonies
23. /blog/2022/11/08/ngs-2023-conference-richmond-virginia/ NGS 2023 Conference
24. /blog/2022/09/19/seattle-genealogy-society-tip-of-the-week-resources-for-help/ Tips of the Week are always popular.
25./blog/2022/11/11/lets-talk-about-history-of-ancestry/ Nice background on Ancestry

Happy New Year from WSGS

Dec28 by Charles Hansen

Postcard to my grandmother Anna (Dillingham) Hansen from her niece Mary. Notice the 2 cent stamp on the penny postcard to help finance WWI.

Happy New Year from Kathy, Valorie, Roxanne, Frank, Charles and Diane

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society Legacy Family Tree SIG

Dec28 by Charles Hansen

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society

Legacy Family Tree SIG Meeting Jan 3rd, 2023, 7:00 pm

Happy New Year! This week we will finish reviewing a longer video presented by Geoff Rasmussen that is free and available from the Legacy Family Tree Webinars site. The direct link to the video is listed below its title:

Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 1): Your First Few Tips

Legacy 9 Unlocked (part 1): Your First Few Legacy Tips

This Week we will finish up with the middle 3^rd of this video that we started back in December.

We hope to see you this coming Tuesday, January 3rd!

Our meetings are held on the 1^st Tuesday of each month from 7:00 pm until 8:30. The link to the reoccurring Zoom Meeting is located at the bottom of this page.

The first half of each meeting we will work thru training videos, watching, and then pausing to talk about the section we just watched before moving on to the next section. The second half will be used for open discussion of topics related to using Legacy. This could include any questions or problems we are having with the program or tips and features we have discovered. If you think of something you would like to bring up, please write it down so you can share it with the group.

Meeting Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82495661568?pwd=dy85YmluVzF5aEU4SzFTcTUrVDlTUT09

As always if a hyperlink is not active just copy and paste it into your browser.

Clallam County Genealogical Society Finding & Using Historic Newspapers

Dec28 by Charles Hansen

Saturday, January 14th, the Clallam County Genealogical Society will meet at 10 am. Claudia Breeland will be the guest lecturer. The title of her presentation is “Finding and Using Historic Newspapers.”
Claudia is a professional genealogist, author, and a wonderful lecturer. She shares her experience to illustrate how she has found missing ancestors and answers to questions about the lives they led – answers found in newspapers. We will learn about the many online newspaper databases, both free and by prescription, as well as how to obtain news articles not found online.
News articles may include birth and death announcements, marriage, anniversary and baptism announcements, awards, travelers, parties, and visiting firemen, civil and criminal judgements, advertisements for your ancestor’s business, and so much more.
There is no charge for hearing this Zoom presentation. One can watch it at home or at the County Genealogical Society’s Research Center located at 403 E. 8th Street in Port Angeles. Call the Society to receive the Zoom meeting number and passcodes at (306) 417-5000. For more information about the Society and its programs check out their website: www.clallamcogs.org.

Zimmerman and McLean Re-elected

Dec28 by Roxanne Lowe

Congratulations are extended to Valorie Cowan Zimmerman and Frank McLean who were re-elected to WSGS Vice President and Treasurer, respectively. Their terms run through Dec. 31, 2024.

Valorie and Frank, and the rest of the WSGS Board, are anticipating a year filled with growth and service to its members. They are particularly excited about the Pioneer Pursuit Contest which is running now through 31 Oct. 2023. For more about the Pioneer Pursuit Contest, click here.