Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Change Is In the Air at WSGS

by Roxanne Lowe

Please join me in welcoming Heather Murphy as our new Web Manager. Heather is a WSGS member from the Tri-Cities area. She will be transitioning to the position in the next few weeks. Welcome, Heather!

A huge debt of gratitude goes to our outgoing Web Manager, Roxanne Lowe. She has made many improvements to the WSGS website over the past couple of years. We are sorry to see her go, but family obligations come first!

Please consider how you might contribute to our genealogical community. We are still looking for someone to take over the Recognition and Awards Program. If you are interested, please contact me.

Virginia Majewski, President

ginnym51@msn.com

Kelowna & District Genealogical Society September Conference

by Charles Hansen

 

 

Guess Who’s Coming to the Conference? …Louis Kessler!

 

Louis is a programmer and a genealogist and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG). He developed the genealogy software Behold and built the GenSoftReviews site where genealogists go to rate and review their software. In 2016, Louis got into DNA in a big way and developed his Double Match Triangulator program for autosomal DNA analysis. The program won third place at the 2017 RootsTech Innovator Showdown.

 

Louis lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his wife and two daughters. He has been the chair of the Archives Committee, leader of the Genealogical Institute, and a Board member and President of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada. Louis is an active GeneaBlogger and participates in the genealogy communities on Twitter and Facebook.

 

Since Louis has registered for our Conference, we asked if he would give a talk in the late afternoon time period as Blaine Bettinger’s talk is now full. Louis has kindly agreed and will be talking on:

Using Double Match Triangulation to Find DNA Ancestors:  There’s more to a DNA segment match than you think. If the same segment is passed down from a common ancestor, it is called IBD (Identical by Descent). But matches can be by chance or false and you need to distinguish these. Find out what triangulation can and cannot be used for. Learn how to efficiently find all triangulations with double matching techniques and how to use triangulation groups to help you find your DNA ancestors. Level I-A.

 

Louis is also donating three licenses to his Double Match Triangulator software – two as door prizes and one to an attendee of his talk! We are very grateful for Louis’ generosity and look forward to having him at our Conference!

 

ARE YOU REGISTERED FOR THE CONFERENCE?

 

 

Claire Smith-Burns

Kelowna & District Genealogical Society

Director, KDGS Family & Local History Resource Centre, Librarian@KDGS.ca

“Harvest Your Family Tree” Conference 2018, Conference@KDGS.ca

www.KDGS.ca

 

Spotlight on Clark County Historical MUSEUM

by Charles Hansen

Danielle Utter is a ball of fire….fire for a good cause. She is the Education & Programs Manager for the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver. I was blessed to meet her at the Clark County Genealogical Society conference the end of last May.

I asked her to tell me more about the collections of the Museum. “How long do you have?” she prompted quipped back.  “We have 46,000 photos of Clark County history posted online; we have issues of the Vancouver Independent back to 1910; we have ‘rooms and rooms’ of boxes for artifacts; we have the local NAACP collection online; we have hundreds of oral history interviews all online and so much more!

Ginny Majewski  (president of the Washington State Genealogical Society) and I visited the museum together that day and were so very impressed by their library…… shelves and shelves of archival boxes of documents all labeled for ease of access and more shelves and shelves of books regarding local history.

Danielle explained that they do work on mail or email research requests for a per-hour fee, but it’s free to anyone to come use the library in person. “Most folks come looking for information on property, homes and people” of this area, she said.

The museum partners with other local smaller museums; they have a First Thursday speaker series; they offer periodic historical Walking Tours (like of the old City Cemetery) and they have changing exhibits. The next exhibit, “Music, Movement & Sound,” features the Cotington piano, the very first piano in the Northwest, Danielle happily explained.

Danielle Utter welcomes questions, especially questions about photos to donate. You can contact her via the museum website, www.cchmuseum.org.

Thanks, Danielle, for a lovely (and too short!) visit.

Tuesday’s Trivia

by Charles Hansen

 

In 2009, the City of Washougal endeavored to create a connection between the downtown district and the Columbia River.  The SR-14 Pedestrian Tunnel is now open.  This tunnel provides safe passage from Pendleton Way to Steamboat Landing, William Clark Regional Park, and the Steigerwald National Wildlife Refuge & footpath – all connected by the US Corps of Engineers 3-½ mile long levee trail.

(The words over the tunnel read Gateway to the Columbia. I stopped at the Pendleton Woolen Mills outlet and could walk right through this tunnel from the parking lot.)

The tunnel passage between downtown Washougal and the Columbia River takes visitors back into ancient times.  The City of Washougal created a “petro glyph design team” consisting of nine students from Washougal High school, several adults, and led by artist Rex Ziak.  The design team researched Columbia Basin rock “art” to develop concepts for seven hand etched basalt slabs.  Ziak designed the images and had them hand etched by local craftsmen.  The pieces provide glimpses into the ancient Columbia River Corridor.  It’s up to you to determine the story behind each petro glyph.  For more information on the “petro” team’s journey and to learn more about this ancient form of communication, log on to http://culturewatchnorthwest.blogspot.com/

(Info and quote from Google-search-website; photos from Donna.)

 

Monday’s Mystery

by Charles Hansen

Ah, got a good one for you today. What can you tell me about the connection between Washington, specifically Clark County, and prunes?

Yes, prunes……that yummy, sticky dried fruit that begins as juicy plums. Vancouver, in Clark County, was once the Prune Capital of the world. There were prune-themed everything including a parade and a Prune Princess! And wouldn’t you guess that Prune Wine would be delicious?

(Took this image and learned all about this at the Clark County Historical Society in Vancouver.)

Tacoma Pierce County Genealogical Society June Meeting

by Charles Hansen

TPCGS will hold our monthly meeting this Tuesday, June 12, at 6.30 pm, at Bates Community College.

Our Speaker will be Midori Okazaki  from the Washington State Archives.

From  6:30 to 7:00 she will explain how to become a Scribe for the Washington State Archives. Then after a short business meeting, she will also cover the Preservation of physical records.

Hope to see everyone there!

TPCGS monthly meetings are held September through May from 6 pm to 9 pm, usually at Bates Technical College, South Campus, Building E, 2201 South 78th St., Tacoma. Guests are always welcome, so bring a friend!  For more information check our website at www.tpcgs.org.

Success Story

by Charles Hansen

Genealogy Serendipity

By Barbara Gorham Johnson

We’ve all heard of serendipity in genealogy but how many of us actually experience it? Well I did!

I had the great experience about one year ago when my husband and I were planning a trip to Ireland and Yorkshire. As a veteran genealogist, I knew to research my ancestral parish by looking for a local genealogical society. Nope. OK. Next step is to look for a local historical society. Bingo! Saddleworth (a tiny parish in West Riding of Yorkshire, England) has a very active Historical Society with lots of publications. I also made arrangements to tour the “family” church, St. Chad’s, built in 1215. Turns out I have thousands of cousins in the Parish.

I looked through the Historical Society web site and noticed that the President was a Mike Buckley. Hmm. I have Buckleys in my tree. I quickly sent him an e-mail and politely asked him how I could find out the maiden name of the Elisabeth who had married my John Buckley. A few days later, Mike responded that the bride was Elisabeth Heywood, gave me the date and the fact that they were married by licence (UK spelling) which meant one or both of them were wealthy. How did he know that? His response: our ancestors have lived here since the 1100s. Gasp!

After booking our flights, I re-contacted Mike to ask him if we could meet him. He responded affirmatively, saying he would be delighted to drive us around the parish and show us the ancestral sites! The day finally arrived. Mike picked my hubby and me up at our B&B and proceeded to drive us around for 5 hours! He was an encyclopedia of genealogy, family history, Roman history, and had tales to tell about our ancestors. We scoured the local cemetery finding grave after grave of MY ancestors! As a small thank you, we treated him to dinner.

Trivia: I learned from him and a few other locals that a Saddleworth good-by is a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Mike and I still email and exchange information. What an example of Serendipity!

And all it took was a quick Google search and one e-mail.

 

 

Ann Olson Awarded President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement

by Roxanne Lowe

Ann Olson

In an announcement made at the WSGS Annual Meeting on 26 May 2018, Ann Olson from Olympia was awarded the WSGS President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. The award, made by WSGS President Virginia Majewski, is designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization that has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations.

Just a few of Ann’s accomplishments:

  • Founding member of the Olympia Genealogical Society 44 years ago.
  • Has served in every board position; more than once in many cases.
  • Organizes and teaches a beginning genealogy course at the local library.
  • Affectionately called the “lead-off batter and team captain” of the society.

Ann’s involvement in her community is broader than genealogy. For example, she is a docent at the Governor’s Mansion; member of the Daughters of the Pioneers (including being president of her local chapter); and registrar of the local DAR, where she’s been a member for more than 30 years. When her children were growing up, Ann was active in the PTA, including being state president and national vice-president.

Ann exemplifies what the President’s Award stands for: long-term, consistent service in genealogy and in the community. Congratulations to her!

WSGS Awards Announced in Vancouver

by Roxanne Lowe

Many thanks are extended to the Clark County Genealogical Society for hosting the WSGS Annual Meeting and Awards Event on Saturday, 26 May 2018. The annual meeting was held in conjunction with CCGS’s Spring Seminar featuring David Allen Lambert, chief genealogist with the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.

During the annual meeting and awards lunch, 30 local society members  and 4 teams were recognized with Outstanding Volunteer and Team awards. The volunteers were praised for their commitment and energies to promote genealogy and family history in their local communities. For more about the Outstanding Volunteers, read this blog article.

Other awards presented included:

  • WSGS President Virginia Majewski presenting the Outstanding Communication Award to Nancy Cordell, president of the Olympia Genealogical Society

    Outstanding Communication – Olympia Genealogical Society for their new website. Check it out!!

  • Clark County Genealogical Society members Brian Runyan and Lois Boslund receiving the Outstanding Project award from President Virginia Majewski

    Outstanding Project — Clark County Genealogical Society for their dedication to digitizing, transcribing and indexing original tax ledgers for the City of Vancouver for the years 1886 and 1891.

Five local societies were awarded Innovative Grant Awards. Congratulations to:

  • Eastside Genealogical Society – help paying for “The Photo Detective” Maureen Taylor at a workshop to celebrate the society’s 40th Ms. Taylor will present “Finding Family History in Your Picture Mysteries” on September 15 in Bellevue. Society members will get to attend for free while the public will pay a small fee.
  • Lower Columbia Genealogical Society– to purchase genealogical books to donate to the Longview Public Library for public use. Lower Columbia has generously donated books for a number of years, using money from membership dues and their coffee stops.
  • Okanogan Genealogical Society – help purchasing supplies to repair and preserve books holding the “Tonasket Times” newspaper from 1913 – 1952. They use a special archival document repair tape. Each book uses a whole roll of tape. This grant will buy a few rolls of tape to stop the destruction of the collection.
  • Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society – help publishing a book on “Early Stillaguamish Valley Schools” in the Arlington Area. It’s taken years to gather historical documents and photographs for this project from the 1800s to the early 1940s and now they’re ready to publish.
  • Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society – For the 4th consecutive year, WAGS has applied for an Innovative Grant to promote genealogy in their area. This year, they’re focusing on the digital preservation of family records, library holdings and archival documents. They plan to preserve family histories and archival materials of their society, its members and the community.

The President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Ann Olson of the Olympia Genealogical Society. See separate blog feature.

For more photos of the seminar and annual meeting, visit our Facebook page.

Friday Serendipity

by Charles Hansen

It’s June! The month announcing summer, my mother’s name and, the name of a particular green beetle. Is there really such a critter?
Well yes there is:  
Cotinis nitida, commonly known as the green June beetle, June bug or June beetle, is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in the eastern United States, where it is most abundant in the South.  
I’ve never seen one but I know my Dad called my Mom his “June bug.”