General Meeting Minutes
Harmony Library
Harmony and
Community Room
President Ken Goldsberry called the meeting to order at
Genealogy Gems
President Goldsberry called for Genealogy Gems; he described a non-genealogy related “gem” of his own. He was cleaning out a hornets’ nest and got stung several times.
Hap Hazard, Publications Chair, described a Genealogy Gem
performed by one of the Society’s members.
The Society has recently acquired a video called “Cryptic Clues in the
Bone Yard”. Member Carrie Graves
borrowed the video, and while she had it, wrote up a handout to go along with
the video. It should be very helpful to
members; Hap extended the Society’s appreciation to Carrie for her work. He also noted how appropriate it was that the
person who wrote about cemeteries for the Society is named “
Recycle Table
Cathi Smith, Recycle Table Chair, explained to new members and visitors how the Table works. Ken stated that the Recycle Table should be renamed the “5 and 10 cent store” because many items cost that much. Cathi announced that several new items had been donated, including numerous magazines. She stated that all new members and visitors are entitled to a free magazine – this evening only!
At this point a break for refreshments and conversation was taken. Due to the large number of visitors, many introductions and “getting to know you” conversations were instigated.
Featured Speaker
Member Carol Stetser then presented a program entitled “Finding Great Grandpa Online”. This was a program designed to help researchers get the most from their online time. The first portion of the program described steps that should be taken before going online, including choosing a research subject, gathering as much information as possible and deciding which websites to visit.
The second part of the program presented various websites that beginning, and even more advanced, researchers can access. These included Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org and the USgenweb site. Carol discussed these websites using the format of a case study involving her great grandfather. She showed how each of the websites could be accessed to find various types of information about a specific person (see attached handout for more information).
Carol also reminded members that both the
Finally, Carol discussed a handout prepared by Vice President Len Ray (see attached copy). This handout is a listing of essential websites for genealogists. The last section of the handout describes several informative videos, DVDs and CDs that the Society has available for members to borrow. Members may make arrangements to borrow the videos from Hap Hazard, Publications Chair.
Business Meeting
At the end of the presentation, a short business meeting was held.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Mary Joy Hauk reported that the Society bank balance is presently $1752.77. She remarked that the Society receives commissions from purchases made, through the Society website, from Amazon.com and Ancestry.com. She encouraged members who purchase from those sources to go through the Society website. Hap Hazard reported that he recently purchased a lawn mower through Amazon.com; the Society got the commission. Way to go, Hap!
Website
Webmaster Dolores Ray was not present, but President Goldsberry reported that she is presently finishing uploading scanned obituaries to the website. He briefly described the project which involved scanning over 14,000 obituaries from the Coloradoan and then placing them on the Society website, where they will be of value to researchers. It has been a very large project, and those who helped with it are to be congratulated for a job well done.
Education and
Outreach
Several workshops will be coming up in the next month or two, including an Introduction to Genealogy Workshop on October 13 and a workshop on DNA on October 20 (see attached informational sheets on these workshops). In addition, Paul Smith will be presenting a workshop on “Irfanview, a Free Photo Editing Software” on September 29 at the Fort Collins Main Library (see attached handout).
Hospitality
Hospitality Chair Marge Abrames announced that she will be retiring at the end of 2007 as Hospitality Chair. She urged members to consider taking over the position. The Society appreciates Marge’s service; she’s done a good job.
Family Tree Maker
Group
Bob Larson, who runs the Family Tree Maker Group, reported
that there will be a meeting of the group on September 4 from
Genealogy Gem
One last Genealogy Gem was presented by Esther Pressler. She recently cleaned out a closet and found eight Bibles that she had forgotten about and had never looked at. They had been passed down to her years ago. In one of them, she found five or six pages of great genealogical information. She’s thrilled, and the rest of the Society is envious!
The meeting was adjourned at