It’s Time to Recognize Your Outstanding Volunteers and Teams

by Roxanne Lowe

Now is the time for genealogical societies and organizations to select their local outstanding volunteers and teams so they can be honored at the WSGS Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on May 26, 2018 in Vancouver. The annual meeting will be held in conjunction with the Clark County Genealogical Society’s Spring Seminar.

Each year, the State Society recognizes local volunteers and teams nominated by their society or organization at the annual conference. In 2016, more than 20 local volunteers and four teams from 20 organizations were recognized for their support and dedication to their society and the researching public.

The process for this year’s Outstanding Volunteer Award program is much like last year’s – no significant changes. In addition to the traditional Outstanding Volunteer Award program, there are three other recognition awards: Outstanding Project, Outstanding Communication, and the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. Information about those awards will be forthcoming, but should not impact organizations’ Outstanding Volunteer Award nominations.

Letters to local societies and organizations, with additional details, have been emailed to society contacts. If you have not received that information, please contact Roxanne Lowe, WSGS Recognition Chair. The milestones for this year’s nomination process are:

  • No later than February 15, 2018: Submit the name(s) of your honorees to the Recognition Committee.
  • By March 15, 2018: Submit a narrative (approximately 150 words) explaining the accomplishments of your nominee and why you are honoring him/her. Include a good quality digital photograph (at least 300 dpi).
  • May 26, 2018: Formal announcement and presentation of certificates at the Annual Meeting and Recognition Ceremony in Vancouver.

Additional details and deadlines, plus indexes and narratives of accomplishments of past honorees, since 2003, may be found at the WSGS website here.

Please contact Roxanne Lowe at roxanne@thekeeffes.com if you have questions or suggestions.

Wednesday Nostalgia

by Charles Hansen

It’s almost Christmas. As I thought upon what was the Christmas gift that you were most excited about as a child, my mind went back to the little green plastic pocketbook (that’s what purses were called back then) that I got in about 1952.

We lived in California; my Aunt Ruth lived in Michigan. She always sent presents. Cool presents. This particular year she sent a wrapped-hard-something that had broken through the paper on one corner. It was green! It was hard! It sat with the other presents upon the piano, supposedly out of reach (hahahaha). I could NOT leave it alone; I was only nine. That already-half-opened gift was the first one I torn into when opening time finally arrived. I was not disappointed; I was in heaven; it was beautiful.

What favorite or special memories do you have of a Christmas gift? Have you written it in your journal? Told it to your grandkids? 

Tuesday Trivia

by Charles Hansen

Everybody enjoys granola in one form or another. …. cereal, bars, ice cream topping, etc. And most everybody knows the basics of ingredients: oats, nuts, honey, etc.

Seems a bakery in Massachusetts had listed, among the items in their ingredient list for their granola, the item “love.”  The “ingredient” was a nod to the passion bakers put into their product and wink to fans of the snack.” The company’s chief executive officer was quoted as saying: “People ask us what makes (our products) so good. It’s kind of nice that we can say there’s love in it and it puts a smile on people’s faces.”

But the Food & Drug Administration didn’t see it that way. “A human emotion, it said, cannot be an ingredient in baked goods.” They published a warning letter to the bakery, telling them to “stop claiming that its granola contains love.”

(The FDA) “expects the company to correct the serious violations found upon FDA inspection, as noted in the warning letter.”

How would you have responded to this situation??

(Bangor Daily News, Oct 6, 2017)

Washington State Historical Society Celebration

by Charles Hansen

 

WSHS
 

 You’re invited! Join us to celebrate.
January 18, 2018, 5:00 PM, with special guest Governor Jay Inslee.

Celebrate new galleries in the Great Hall of Washington History
We’re celebrating the opening of our recently renovated galleries in the Great Hall of Washington History and you are invited! Please join us for a performance, remarks, and a ribbon cutting on January 18 (Third Thursday).
This event will mark the completion of two galleries, recently renovated thanks to financial support from the State of Washington capital budget. The State’s contribution to revitalizing the Great Hall supports our mission to partner with our communities to explore how history connects us all.
Hear from special guest Governor Jay Inslee at the ribbon cutting ceremony with community partners and exhibit contributors.
5:00 PM – Program
  • See the award-winning Living Voices perform the multimedia theatrical performance Northwest Passages
6:00 PM – Remarks and Ribbon Cutting
  • Remarks from dignitaries with special guest Governor Jay Inslee
  • Ribbon cutting and welcome to the Great Hall
  • Light refreshments on the Mezzanine
Free and open to the public. We hope to see you there.

Monday Mystery

by Charles Hansen

Yes, last week’s mystery photo was the backwash from a ferry….. Pat Manning was first to post the correct answer. We be Washingtonians!

Question: Are there now, or have there ever been, any Homes for Aged Women in Washington???

Well there was in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1861. I think today they’re called Long-Term Care Facilities, or some such. Interesting idea, I thought. And especially for this place to be established right before the Civil War.

Wonder what’s listed on the 1870 census for this place???

DIGITAL ARCHIVES PASSES 200 MILLION RECORDS MARK

by Charles Hansen

DIGITAL ARCHIVES PASSES 200 MILLION RECORDS MARK

Graphic of file cabinets feeding information to a matrix-like binary screen
The Washington State Archives’ Digital Archives reached a milestone achievement last month when it entered its 200 millionth record into the state database. In the months leading up to the milestone, the Washington State Archives ran a public contest to see who could guess the exact date on which Digital Archives reached the record. The winner, who guessed December 5 and was closest to the actual date of November 30, got to take home an Ancestry DNA kit.

The Washington State Archives’ Digital Archives was the nation’s first archives dedicated specifically to the preservation of electronic records from both state and local agencies that have permanent legal, fiscal or historical value. The facility, which opened in 2004, includes a research room, computer research stations, a high-tech presentation classroom, and a world-class data center. Digital Archives delivers broad public access to both digitized and “born digital” records of state and local government, provides government accountability and – in the case of digitized documents – helps preserve the originals.

Great job to our dedicated Archives and IT staff that make this possible!

Sign up for Scribe an join the super scribe’s

 

 

Eastside Genealogical Society German Interest Group

by Charles Hansen

The German Interest Group of The Eastside Genealogical Society (EGS) will meet on Friday, January 5, 2018, from 1 to 3 pm in the Relief Society Room of the LDS Church at 10675 NE 20thSt, Bellevue, WA 98004 with doors opening at 12:45 pm for networking. Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.

 

Topic:  Using US Records to Search for an Immigrant Ancestor’s Village – Locating an immigrant ancestor’s village can be challenging.  Not all records are online or have the information being sought.  Three speakers will share their experiences using US records to find an ancestor’s Old World village.  They’ll discuss what they did, where they went and what they found.  Strategies and tips offered here can be modified to apply to any immigrant ancestor.

 

Speaker: Janet O’Conor Camarata, a member of Eastside Genealogical Society and South King County Genealogical Society, has over 25 years of experience in genealogy. She is an instructor in genealogy at Pierce College, a seminar presenter and trainer in genealogy societies across Washington, who takes advantage of the latest technology and staying mobile with the latest computing tools.

 

Speaker: Dorothy Pretare started collecting family history in 1995 and is active in 2 local genealogical societies, leader of the EGS German Interest Group and a member of 2 societies in Minnesota.  In 2008, she visited her ancestral villages in old East Germany and present day Poland.

 

Speaker: Melanie Matway was fortunate to have learned her immigrant ancestors’ villages first-hand with one exception.  The quest for a great-grandmother’s village of origin has taken her to Ohio and Pennsylvania and has been a learning experience utilizing a variety of records and non-familial sources of information.

 

For more information, kindly visit our website at https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/  .

Chinese Exclusion Act Files

by Charles Hansen

The Chinese Exclusion Act files.

The files are located on the National Archives at Seattle. They covered the Chinese who came into the ports of Seattle, Port Townsend, Sumas, WA; and Portland, OR. The act was in effect from 1882 to 1943 and there are over 50,000 files at the Seattle branch of the National Archives.

The files contain a variety of genealogical information on the subject of the file and their family, documents and most include photos. Sometimes there are affidavits by Caucasians in the files.

I highlight a different file every week. The final destination of the Chinese coming into the PNW ports may have been anywhere in the U.S. but most of the files on the blog are for people who lived in Washington or the PNW.

The blog is located at www.ChineseExclusionFiles.com.

Trish Hackett Nicola
www.ChineseExclusionFiles.com

GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News

by Charles Hansen
GFO Logo Halo 2 Large

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Wednesday Evening

E-News, Early Edition

6 December 2017

For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. We love hearing from you!

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for November 2017, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
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‘Tis the Season for Family, Friends, and Holiday Cheer!
a-christmas-carol-1475230558BDe

We wanted to say thank you again for helping us get ALL CAUGHT UP on our labeling project this last week.

This project’s success couldn’t have come at a better time, with the holidays around the corner!

We’re happy to announce we have reached our labeling goals for this year.

Now it’s time to go out and play and rest with all our friends and family. We hope you all have a very very merry holiday season!!

Many hands have sure made the recataloging and relabeling much much lighter! Thank you again everyone!
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Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) December Meeting

by Charles Hansen

  The Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) will meet Friday, Dec. 15, 2017, at the LDS church (gym) on Bainbridge Island, 8677 Madison Ave, from 10:00a.m. – 12 noon. Join us for the BIGS Holiday Genealogy Fest: Family Treasures “Show and Tell”, Door Prizes, Research Resources Swap, and Refreshments”. Free to members, a $5.00 donation is suggested for nonmembers. For more information go to http://www.bigenealogy.org or call 206-780-8009. BIGS is a 501c(3) non-profit organization.
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Thank you!
Sue Elfving
Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society
Director of Publicity and Public Relations