Monday Genea-pourri, Week of Nov 13–19, 2023

I have completed one hundred ninety-three (193) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. Outside activities involved volunteering at the History Center, working at the Oakland FamilySearch Center, and going on a weekend genealogy retreat.

Genealogy

 

Genealogy Meetings
The Kinseekers Military SIG met this week and KB answered a WWI and WWII question. It is always a great refresher and sometimes I learn of a new resource. Jacqueline and I met later and I heard the update on her new house. On Tuesday, the Sonoma County Genealogical Society board of directors met and I took minutes. We still have no president or vice president for programs.

Genealogy Writing/Research
Four of us met for our yearly genealogy retreat and discovered it was our fifth anniversary of doing this. We meet in one member’s cabin in Truckee. We each have our own bedroom and we set up our laptops and spare monitors in the dining-living room area. We spend most of the day working on our projects and take turns preparing the meals. Saturday night we went out to dinner to celebrate our progress. I spent the long weekend working on my BCG renewal portfolio and nearly have it completed.

Earlier in the week, I did some newspaper research on the Hork family in Montana and entered the information into my RootsMagic program. I have many articles of family members attending parties, etc., that I’m not sure what to do with. Being a guest at a birthday party or playing cards with other couples doesn’t seem that newsworthy, except to say they were well-liked.

Blog Posts:

Going Shopping. For week 46, I wrote about memories of going into the city to shop. I have a photo of my mother and her mother shopping in downtown Oakland, California. This post was highlighted in the 52 Ancestors weekly email.

SNGF: Have You Written-Made Genealogy Books? I wrote about the Gleeson and Nilsen books I created.

Last week’s post about Cyril W. Hork signed up to Play Baseball at the Naval Training Station in San Diego, was highlighted in Randy Seaver’s Best of the Genea-Blogs.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work
I worked a half day on Tuesday afternoon and finished sorting the extra books in the library. Next is to make an inventory and then price the books. I hope to offer them first to members. Leftover books will be put in the bookstore.

At the Oakland FamilySearch Center, I helped a woman who wanted to learn how to get deed records in Georgia. After my dinner, I presented a talk on How to Leave Your Genealogy for the Oakland FamilySearch Center’s Wednesday Tips and Talks.

My fourth session in the AppGen land course went well on Thursday. Most of the students presented their land projects and did a great job. AppGen founders met on Monday and we have a great lineup for our Spring session. I will be taking a break. The announcement for the courses went out this week.

Webinars/Courses Viewed:

• Reporting on Research: Applying Standards Improves Written Communications (Part 2) by Nancy A Peters (BCG Education Fund)
• Empowering Genealogists with Artificial Intelligence (part III - Generation) by Steve Little (NGS)
• A Client’s Family Brought to Life: Incorporating Social History by Gena Philibert-Ortega (APG Writers SIG)

Other: No hike this week due to possible rain, which didn’t happen.

I am reading:

• Lincoln & California by Brian McGinty
• Skirts by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell
• The Shooting at Château Rock by Martin Walker—FINISHED

Photos for this week. No hike, but here are three shots from our weekend retreat in Truckee. A pleasant surprise Sunday morning of a dusting of snow after an evening of heavy rain. Luckily the roads were clear to get home.

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great at documenting our own. I will write about what I have been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme.

Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.