Family Search is back working, I wrote it was a scheduled maintenance that would take Family Search offline for up to 24 hours, but I guess it went better than planned. James Turner wrote a great article on the change.
Great that it is back sooner than expected and that the changes will help all of us with our family trees.
Margie Wilson was announced as the recipient of the WSGS President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement at the WSGS Conference in Tacoma on June 18, 2016. The announcement was made by WSGS President Mikal McKinnon. Margie was nominated by the Skagit Valley Genealogical Society (SVGS) where she has been an active member since at least 2008 and has held various offices.
Margie Wilson in an historical portrayal of Anne Justis Morton, wife of John Morton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence
It’s easy to see why Margie earned the coveted award. She was the driving force to secure and implement a $23,000 Paul Allen grant for “Making Connections Through ROOTS – Researching Our Origins for Teens and Seniors,” a 20-week credit-bearing course for high school seniors who were at risk of not graduating. The innovative program taught them research skills, how to use library services and resources, citations, family history, interviewing skills and more. Margie worked two years to get the project off the ground, guiding the program from beginning to end, including securing the grant, getting local school board approval, writing the curriculum and arranging for field trips. The program is now being implemented elsewhere around the country.
Margie is active in the City of Burlington walking tours and cemetery historical tours. She was asked by the Skagit County Historical Museum to teach 120 7th grade students about the early history of Burlington. She has also been a member of the local Rotary, Toastmasters and United Way.
Created in 2015, the WSGS President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement was designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization who has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations. Last year’s recipient was Fred Pflugrath from the Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society. Continue reading
There’ve been lots of announcements, but we want to make sure you know:
FamilySearch has been working on an upgrade to their website to accommodate the ongoing growth of new features, such as hinting in the Family Tree. As a part of this process, FamilySearch.org will undergo a technical upgrade on Monday, June 27, starting at 12:00 a.m. MDT (6:00 a.m. UTC). The site may be unavailable for up to 24 hours as they test the system improvements.
For more information, visit FamilySearch.org.
To all HQRL Members and friends
THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s Wednesday Evening E-News 22 June 2016
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 go to www.gfo.org/calendar.htm.
Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy at http://www.gfo.org/insider/16-May.pdf.
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Be sure to join us on July 31st at the GFO Library!
The GFO proudly presents…
Digital Photos: Scanning, Preparing, Organizing, and Sharing & Legacy Family Tree Software
Come join us for this amazing workshop opportunity with Geoffrey Rasmussen on Sunday, July 31, 2016, from 9:30am to 2:00pm.
Learn from the best to organize and share your digital photos by using Google’s new Google Photos! Geoffrey Rasmussen will teach you the best practices for digitizing, preserving and enhancing your photograph collections. He will also give tips on how you can readily access your collections on your computer, smartphone, or tablet.
Click HERE to register before obsolescence takes over the world as we know it.
FamilySearch Will Be Down This Monday
The FamilySearch website will be undergoing a technical upgrade Monday, June 27th starting at 12 midnight MDT (6am UTC), and may be down for up to 24 hours as they test the system.
The entire FamilySearch system will be down, including the API that RootsMagic uses to interface with it, so during that time you will be unable to:
This is a major upgrade to the FamilySearch back end, but once complete you should not experience any adverse effects in RootsMagic from the change. We will, however, be closely monitoring the interaction between RootsMagic and FamilySearch once they have completed the upgrade to make sure there are no issues that creep in.
If you do encounter problems with FamilySearch after they have completed the upgrade, give it a couple of days to “shake out”. If the issues continue after that please let us know the specific details at support@rootsmagic.com.
Thorp Grist Mill, Ellensburg
Shadow Box Memorial
Old B&W Unknown Photo Wants a Home
Mary Ellen’s Story
Thomas MacEntee’s Fairy Grants
We zoom east to west and back again on I-90 and sometimes we stop at “Thorpe.” That be the antique/fruit stand just west of Ellensburg. It is, admittedly, a super rest stop. But have you ever taken time to drive the 1.8 miles down the road to see the Thorpe Mill??
Built between 1880 and 1883, the Thorp Grist Mill “is the only remaining mill in Washington state that made the transition from stone buhr to modern rollers. The mill has been lovingly restored and maintained so that visitors can catch a glimpse of history back to the early days of settlement in the state.” (Quote from their website.) It’s free to go inside and take the guided tour (Wednesday through Friday, 12:00-4:00 and Saturday/Sunday, 11:00-4:00.) Tiz a fascinating historical stop. The website is www.thorp.org.
Kittitas Co Genealogical Soc events:
June 25 Meeting is a field trip 8:50 AM (we depart at 9AM) Sat June 25 from parking lot on Water St in Ellensburg WA, behind our KCGS library. We’re visiting Wanapum Heritage Center, whose prime-mover, for years, has been our KCGS-member Angela Neller. Their phone is 509-766-3461, if you want to meet us there at Priest Rapids Dam & website
http://www.grantpud.org/community/the-wanapum/wanapum-heritage-center
for directions and explanations. Bring a brown bag lunch to eat there
The society will furnish beverages for lunch—bottled water, lemonade, ice tea. Hope to see you on Saturday.
Cyndi Ingle, Paula Stuart-Warren, Warren Fisk & D Becker
Paula played to a roomful of enthusiastic genealogists, ready to learn, apply and discover
Lots of networking and new resources to check out for more than 150 attendees
Can’t express enough superlatives about the 2016 WSGS Conference hosted by the Tacoma-Pierce County GS! Kudos to Chair Warren Fisk, Moderator Cyndi Ingle, TPCGS President D Becker and the rest of the Planning Team — you really outdid yourselves!
And what about Paula Stuart Warren??!! She was professional, engaging, funny, informative…everything you’d wish for in a keynote speaker. At the end of the day, everyone left armed with inspiration and excitement to find that long-lost ancestor or explore a new resource. If you get another chance to hear Paula at a conference or workshop, don’t miss it — she doesn’t disappoint!