*** Washington State’s Scenic Road Trips
*** World War I Helped Shape Washington
*** Bird’s Eye Panoramic Maps
*** Outhouse Races in Conconully
Washington is blessed to have 29 officially designated National and State Scenic Byways….. perhaps your summer travels should include one of them? You can request a FREE guide and FREE road map by calling 1-877-260-2731. Taking a scenic byway won’t add much time to your journey but will add plenty of memories.
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Did you realize that World War I helped shape Washington into the state it is today? According to Lorraine McConaghy, a historian for this topic, said that “expanding shipyards and factories, mobilizing the timber industry, and giving Boeing its start building airplanes for the Navy came as a bonanza for growth in the Evergreen State. Connections to the war can be found in almost every city and town, from statues, stadiums and parks to street named for President Woodrow Wilson. By war’s end, some 1642 Washingtonians lost their lives in World War I. (Thanks to Jim Camden, Spokesman Review.)
THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News 10 May 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!
Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for May 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 our new website (still gfo.org).
Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!
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GFO’s May 2017 GenTalk Presents “Vanport” with Zita Podany
Saturday, May 20th, at 2 PM at the GFO!
This is a GenTalk you’re not gonna wanna to miss. Author Zita Podany will be presenting her book Vanport which is part of the Images of America series.
Zita is a longtime Portland resident with a wonderful new perspective on the history of this area that was lost so suddenly to raging flood waters on May 30, 1948.
Remember! All the GFO GenTalks are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC so bring your history-lovin’ friends and family.
GETTING STARTED WITH YOUR NORWEGIAN RESEARCH
Tues, May 16, 10am-12 noon
Clark County Genealogical Society Education Center
This class will guide the researcher through the process of searching for key ancestral information in FamilySearch, then locating and interpreting the original Norwegian parish records in Digitalarkivet. While researching her own ancestry, instructor Kathy Solheim has developed disciplines in both search and interpretation of the original Norwegian church parish records.
Classes are $12 for CCGS members and $15 for non-members. Drop-ins welcome on space available basis. To register in advance call the CCGS library, 360-750-5688.
SGS SPRING SEMINAR
20 MAY 2017!
Register online today! ( http://seattlegenealogicalsociety.org/2017-spring-seminar )
Members – $50 Non-members – $60.
Lunch available for $12
A Day with NEHGS: Researching Early New England Ancestors
$ 125.00
Saturday, June 10, 2017 9:00 AM – 6:30 PM
Bellevue Club, 11200 Southeast Sixth Street, Bellevue, WA
Registration includes five lectures, lunch, and an evening reception
From before the end of the Revolutionary War through the 19th century, thousands of New England families moved westward into Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and other areas. Despite the harsh journey across the Rockies, many if their descendants went even farther West seeking new land, industry, gold, and opportunity. Today, many families in the Pacific Northwest can claim New England heritage.
Spend the day with NEHGS and learn how to trace your early New England ancestors. Discover essential resources for 17th-c. New England research, understand early settlement and migration patterns, learn how to research your patriot ancestors, and more.
Know where a statue of the world’s largest egg can be found? Right in our own backyard, in Winlock, Washington (Lewis County). The 12-foot tall, 1200-pound concrete sculpture is not to be missed if you love eggs and enjoy visiting funky sights and places. In June, Winlock holds their annual Winlock Egg Days Festival….. perhaps a good time to go??
Today’s mystery question is this: Where, in Washington, can you take a photograph of Bigfoot in his natural setting????
And a freshly baked WSGS cupcake to Anne Grimn who was the only one to answer last week’s mystery……… The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, aka “Galloping Gertie,” was opened to traffic on 1 Jul 1940 and collapsed in high winds on 7 Nov 1940. This event put egg on many faces and made the national news.
At one time, there must have been a whale of a big shipwreck off the Port Angeles beach. My son and family live there and since I love beaches, I always visit Ediz Hook and other local beaches when I go visit them. About four years ago I found a HUGE HUMUNGOUS rusty old chain. It was easily fifty links long and each link weighed close to 100 pounds! While I would have loved to haul it home for my garden, my son just un-politely laughed when I proposed that he and grandsons might help me.
Fast forward four years. Son Benjamin took his two beagles down to that same beach for a walk and, as he texted me, “Guess what I found!!” There was that chain, peeking out of the sand! Still too heavy to carry home as a treasure unless we wanted to hire a helicopter but still so cool to see it again.
I would love to know what wrecked ship that humungous chain came from. Would it have been an anchor chain??
Those of us who live in a coastal state (like Washington) know that the ocean and the beach both TAKE and GIVE in their own due time. That chain is still there being lost and found forever.
