JIMMY B. PARKER SCHOLARSHIP FOR SLIG

Utah Genealogical Association: WINNER OF THE JIMMY B. PARKER SCHOLARSHIP FOR SLIG...: The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy is pleased to announce Susan LeBlanc as the winner of the Jimmy B. Parker Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy...

When the call came on Monday it was thrilling to learn that I was awarded the Jimmy B. Parker SLIG scholarship for 2013. My husband could hear my exclamation of joy in another room of the house. It was all I could do to keep from emailing or phoning all of my friends. There were a few trusted souls that helped me wait until now to proclaim the great joy this has added to my life. Just the honor of being recognized by fellow esteemed genealogists is such a wonderful surprise.


When I first read about the scholarship through an online email post, it intrigued me. Printing out the instructions, they lay on my desk for almost a month, at times falling below other printed items. Finally I awoke during the night of Thursday, October 12, and wrote a page for the essay. After re-reading the instructions I felt that my focus was not really accurate and left it for the next day. Then on Friday I re-wrote the entire essay incorporating a few of the previous ideas.

That day I also contacted one of my good friends, who I have helped with her genealogy work for over twenty years, and asked her to write the letter of recommendation. JoAnne wrote a very gracious letter and I am indebted to her for sharing her reflections on my life. We shared our writings and both felt what we had written was good for sending.

Including my short biography, which I use for conferences and posting online (with information about my blog), a list of my volunteer work over the years, the name of the course I plan to attend, my contact information and a picture, the email was sent. The first email contained the submission in an attachment and I requested confirmation of receipt. When no receipt came, I resent it with the submission within the body of the email. This time confirmation was prompt and this enabled me to move forward on other things. The first confirmation must have been lost in cyberspace.

After sending in the essay and application I told only a couple of people about the submission. Not knowing the competition, and knowing how many qualified fellow genealogists there are, I never really dreamed the scholarship would be awarded to me. Way back in June when Judi and I registered for SLIG it was so exciting to think that my turn to attend an institute was going to happen this coming year. I registered for course #1 with Paula Stuart-Warren, D. Joshua Taylor and Debra Mieszala. They are excellent instructors and the course, American Research and Records: Focus on Families, has a wonderful list of topics.

After submitting the material on October 13, I proceeded to book my flight on October 14. I want to thank my friend Judi Scott, who I will be attending with, for alerting me to the post by Thomas MacEntee about an hour ago. According to the information provided I did not expect it to be posted until this coming Wednesday. And, yes Judi, it is going to be fun. The blog post by the Utah Genealogical Association is at: http://ugagenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/10/winner-of-jimmy-b-parker-scholarship.html

The information on their web page includes:

SLIG Quick Facts

When: January 13-17, 2014
Where: Salt Lake City
Tuition: $375 for members / $425 for non-members
Early Bird registration ends October 31, 2012

www.slig.ugagenealogy.org