Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, Genealogy Education - Enhance Your Research

Genealogy education is one of my past blog topics and in it I refer to the three nationally respected institutes. The opportunity to enter a contest for a free tuition to the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in 2012 is a perfect opportunity for anyone wanting to attend one of the tracks. This is a very popular Institute and usually there is a race for a spot in the tracks. Several of the current tracks are filled and others have limited spots available. For further information visit their website at: www.slig.ugagenealogy.org

Genealogy Serendipity Moments - Columbus Day Storm 1962

Friday, October 12, 1962 was an event that will long be remembered by those who were living in Portland, Oregon. Being only eight years old, my perspective of the event is still very clear, but limited. So, I called my mother to ask her a few questions. For her the event was more traumatic, being a young mother of four children ages 8,7,5 and 1. We lived in a small two-story house, with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms and a garage downstairs. Upstairs there were two dormer type rooms, where we children usually slept. We lived in a neighborhood of similar type homes, built as though from the same cookie cutter.

Genealogy Serendipity Moments - What a Genealogy Week

Yesterday my blog reached the 4,000 mark in views. On October 21, I will have been blogging for six months. Now this might not seem like much to some of you, but for me it is wonderful. This will be my 53rd  post and I have 52 followers. Many of you have commented and shared your enjoyment of reading the posts. Thank you for taking the time to comment. For me the greatest benefit is that I am writing, on a consistent basis, about what I love doing most. Sharing stories that are stored in my memories is as important as any of the research that I do. So, for this week I am going to share some of my highlights, as I have finally been spending time with others.

Genealogy - Supporting Your Local Society

We are blessed to have a wonderful local genealogy research facility named the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, which was established in 1946. The change of membership is ongoing and this past month we experienced a unique opportunity for growth. When the local transit authority decided to demolish the building we were using, they assisted our group in locating a new facility and then provided some financial assistance in making the move. The old building was a wood structure and I always had a fear the place would go up in flames and we would loose a very valuable collection. With the move to the old Ford Building, a concrete structure built to withstand any natural disaster, our collection is better protected. It is located at S.E. 11th and Division in Portland, Oregon.

Genealogy - My Son's Story About Grandma Helen

In the collection found within the tub of Grandma Helen was a story written by my son Daniel for his high school history class December 7, 1998 entitled, "My Great Grandmother's Life During the Depression, Helen Haynes." In preparing to write the story he conferred with me for information and then interviewed Grandma Helen. Today I am retyping the story, as it is no longer found in my computer files. Somewhere in the change over of one of our early computers some things mysteriously disappeared. Just as mysteriously they sometimes show up, as I freely shared copies at the time of the things that were written.

Genealogy Serendipity Moments - Grandma Helen's Personal Papers

I was blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers. They were two very different people who highly influenced my life in many ways. Helen Eloise Anderson Cole Haynes lived to age 95 and Zella Alice Straw Olsen lived to age 92. For this post I will focus on Grandma Helen as I have been sorting through a large plastic tub of her paper files. She passed away on 6 December 2005. My mother was her caretaker for the last years of her life, after her second husband died. I was her tax preparer, listed second on her power of attorney and second in her will as an administrator. Not long ago in writing a post for this blog I realized I did not have a copy of her death certificate. So, I asked my mother if she had an extra copy, realizing she probably ordered several at the time of her death.

Genealogy - When the Times Get Tough Push Through Them

This is going to be more of a personal blog post about the past two weeks of my life. On my way to a genealogy group meeting, at a local genealogy facility, I missed a step and that could dramatically alter my plans for the near future. As much as I wanted to attend the meeting the pain in my shoulder indicated that I needed to see a doctor. My wonderful friend, who was with me, helped me to get up off the concrete which had intensified my landing blow. Another wonderful friend happened by and helped me to my car. As my first friend drove me home, I called my family to alert them to the plan-changing situation.