WSGS members are encouraged to cast their ballot for Vice President and Treasurer by 11:59 p.m., 15 Dec 2024. An email with a Google Forms link was sent on 08 Dec. to your email of record. If you did not receive the email, please email Info@wasgs.org.
Even though LeAnne Koliha and Frank McLean are running unopposed (Vice President and Treasurer respectively), we view your vote as a vote of support for WSGS. There is also an opportunity in the ballot to make suggestions or ideas to support the society. We are reading every comment.
Tacoma-Pierce County Genealogical Society Genealogy Chat Tuesday, December 17, 2024, starting at 7:00 PM via Zoom
Please join us and let’s chat!
This is a monthly opportunity to connect with others and talk about anything and everything genealogical. The value of this meeting increases with the participation of each person that attends and contributes to the conversations. This is your chance to celebrate the breaking down of a brick wall in your research or ask questions of others that can help you find records or relatives. Everyone, members, and guests are welcome and encouraged to attend and participate.
Join the International German Genealogy Partnership (IGGP) for our premier German genealogy conference to be held on Friday, June 13, Saturday June, 14, and Sunday, June 15, 2025 — with pre-conference events on Thursday, June 12 — at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center in suburban Columbus (100 Green Meadows Drive South, Lewis Center, Ohio).
The in-person only conference is being hosted by the Palatines to America German Genealogy Society (PalAm), an IGGP partner headquartered in Columbus celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025.
The conference theme is Celebrate Your German-Speaking Ancestors and will feature presentations from experts from the U.S., Germany, Austria, Belgium, and Israel. A rich array of programming will allow participants to hone their skills along four tracks:
Resources in the U.S.
Researching Basic German records
General research in German-Speaking Lands
Refining Research Skills
For more information about the conference, and to register, please visit the conference homepage.
What to Expect
25 of the top voices and experts in the field of German genealogy, including Timo Kracke, Michael Lacopo, James Beidler and Katherine Schober, will lead sessions and answer your questions.
In addition to 40 presentations, subject-specific "Connection sessions" will give attendees an opportunity to participate in group discussions devoted to research resources in specific geographic regions related to their own research.
Optional activity: A bus tour Thursday, June 12 of historic German Village, including a German buffet lunch and an opportunity to visit the Palatines to America collection at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
Special celebration events recognizing PalAm's 50th anniversary and IGGP's 10th anniversary.
A sponsor and exhibitor hall featuring top genealogical companies and products will be available during conference.
Lunch on Friday and Saturday is included as part of conference registration. All hotel guests will receive the complimentary breakfast. Non-conference registered guests may purchase one or both buffet lunches on Friday and Saturday. Separate fees apply for the German Village tour, Friday evening PalAm anniversary German dinner,and Saturday evening IGGP celebration.
Where should I stay?
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center at a discounted rate. Reservations in that block are available now. The conference group rate is $145/night (plus taxes). If rooms are not available, the conference center will make a reservation for you at an area hotel. You may, of course, choose to book a reservation at a hotel of your choice. Booking your room.
What is the accessibility like at the Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center?
Nationwide Hotel and Conference Center complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Details available when you read the hotel reservation instructions.
Questions or comments may be sent to info@iggp.org.
Our mailing address is: International German Genealogy Partnership 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Suite 100 c/o Minnesota Genealogy Center Mendota Heights, MN55120-1367Add us to your address book
“Legend has it that coffee was discovered in Ethiopia by a goat herder in the 11th century. He noticed that his goats became energetic and unable to sleep after eating the berries from a certain bush. News of the “magical” plant soon spread and it wasn’t long before Arab traders were bringing the plants hoe and cultivating them, boiling the beans and drinking the resulting liquid. By the mid-15th century, the Ottoman Turks had brought coffee to Constantinople and before long, Italian traders had introduced it to the West. The first European coffee houses appeared around 1650.”
So I read in the Viking river cruises cookbook in spring of 2024.
The article in that big, heavy cookbook which I did not carry home, ran to three pages. Some twenty countries’ coffee culture were stated:
Italians usually drink their coffee standing up. In Portugal, there is a coffee shop on every corner. In Sweden the word coffee is both an adjective and a noun…. it’s a coffee break where you sit down with friends. Coffee is the essentially national drink in Norway. Germany is known for its kaffee und kuchen, or coffee and cake.
Did you know that Starbucks was founded in Seattle…… at the Pike Place Market? How many of us today can say they’ve never had a Starbucks (coffee, tea, chocolate)????
What was the colonial schoolroom like? Google gives this answer: “Colonial schoolrooms were single-room buildings where all students were taught together. These sparse rooms utilized shared resources and focused largely on reading, writing and arithmetic, often through religious texts. Most teachers were men and members of the local church.” For children living in the 13 colonies, the availability of schools varied greatly by region and race. Most schools of the day catered to children of European settlers who could afford to contribute a fee to educate their children. Massachusetts towns had “publik” schools in the sense that anyone who could afford the modest fee could attend. Massachusetts passed a law in 1642 that required all children to be educated (either in school or at home). This education included reading, religion and the law. For the Puritans, reading was a religious duty. They believed that the faithful could commune directly with God by reading the Bible. Hence, the building of schools outpaced all other types of buildings. Reading, writing and basic arithmetic teachings were infused with a healthy dose of religious and moral instruction. The textbook of the day was The New England Primer, a pocket-sized volume with drawings and a rhyming alphabet of Puritan couplets: “In Adam’s fall, we sinned all.” “Heaven to find the Bible to mind.”
QUESTION: How many ways were colonial schools like today’s schools and how vastly do they differ???
(Source: www.history.com, “What School Was Like in the 13 Colonies,” by Dave Roos, 3 September 2024)
LeAnne Koliha of Marysville has been nominated to serve as WSGS Vice President for the 2025-2026 term. Additionally, Frank McLean of Yakima has been nominated for another term as Treasurer. The term of offices is 01 Jan 2025 through 31 Dec 2026.
Online voting for the slate will begin 08 Dec 2024 and run through 15 Dec. All WSGS members will receive an email with a Google link to their anonymous ballot. Members are asked to vote for each position. Write-in nominations are allowed. There is also space for suggestions and comments.
LeAnne’s candidate statement:
LeAnne Kohila
I am excited to be nominated as Vice President of the Washington Society Genealogical Society. I look forward to this opportunity to serve as WSGS continues to find ways to support the local societies and individual genealogists.
I was born in Yakima, Washington, and have spent most of my life on оne side of the mountains or the other. After high school I spent a year as an exchange student living in The Netherlands. I graduated from Central Washington University with a major in special education.
After teaching for nine years, I went back to school myself. I received my law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1985. I retired from the law in 1996. Being retired was boring so I went back into education until 2009.
My husband and I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from 2010 until his health required him to take medical retirement and we returned to the Northwest.
I have been interested in genealogy for years. I have had the good fortune to be able to research my father’s family by visiting the areas of France and Germany where his parents were born. I am member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Lady Stirling Chapter in Bothell, and Daughters of the American Colonists, Pilchuck Chapter in Lynnwood, where I am the chapter registrar. I am just finishing a term as vice president of the library for the Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society.
Frank’s candidate statement:
I have been a member of WSGS since 1988 and have served in nearly every office, including President and Treasurer. I am currently WSGS Treasurer, as well as chair of the Pioneer Certificate Program and chief reviewer of the Pioneer Pursuit effort. I am also the Buildings and Grounds supervisor at the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society.
Frank McLean
I have a vested interest in seeing the society become a more useful organization to local societies and individual genealogists. Over the years, I have seen a lot of changes in WSGS, but am hoping for more. I am particularly interested in making WSGS an organization that provides value to societies. WSGS is interested in what services and opportunities it can provide. I also hope we can generate interest in expanding individual participation, maybe serving on the board or helping some other way. I would appreciate your support in moving WSGS in a positive direction.
I was so happy to learn that I was not the only one crazy for Rubber Duckies! I just learned that in Point Roberts, Washington, is the world’s first Rubber Duck History Museum!!!!!! Krystal and Neil King opened the museum in 2024 and have had many visitors so far. Krystal reported that her favorite comment from a visitor so far was “Oh My G(osh). Why?” The Kings say they won’t charge admission; they just want people to come in and leave happier. (This is part of my collection.)
Polish Pickle Soup: Just what you want for dinner! Known as Zupa Ogorkowa, or Sour Cucumber Soup, here’s the recipe:
In large soup pot, add broth, celery, parsley, carrot, onion into 5 cups of water. Add bay leaf, dab of allspice, peppercorns and salt. When boiling, add 3 medium chopped potatoes or pasta or rice, 2 cups of chopped dill pickles and 1/3 cup cream. Simmer 2 hours and enjoy. I’d love to hear from you how you liked it……… IF you make it.
History of Envelopes: In 1952, the Envelope Manufacturers Assn of America published a little 5×8, 80 page book titled The History of Envelopes. The book opens with this quote from the Cosmopolitan Art Journal, 1860: “The little paper enclosure which we term “envelope” sustains such an important relation to our social, commercial political, and moral world as to render it eminently worthy of notice as our hands. It has now become the vade mecum of thought transportation….. crossing seas, threading rivers, chasing up railways, exploring the solitary paths of the forest and plains, pursuing expresses and telegraphic messengers; it is almost everywhere doing, for rich and poor alike, its good offices and trusty services.” I rescued this little book from a Goodwill bin and found it a really fun read. Wanna borrow it? Be happy to loan it. But it is available as a used book on various websites.
You are free to copy articles to any non-commercial web site or message board or printed publication you wish. Don’t bother to ask permission, just do it.
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