In a typical year, the St. Louis Genealogical Society office in Maplewood hums with activity three mornings a week as volunteers work together to process thousands of genealogical records, answer research questions, plan programs and events, prepare publications, maintain the website, and keep the day-to-day activities of the society flowing smoothly. Although the office is "officially" only open from 9 a.m. until noon, there are usually volunteers arriving early and almost always people are staying late. In addition, many work from home on "off days" or come into the office whenever they have something to do. In a typical year, we thank our volunteers with a brunch or small party and then with recognition at our annual Family History Conference in the spring. But this year has not been typical!
As we all know, 2020 has been unique and challenging! Our party plans were "postponed" from March and our Family History Conference in April became a virtual event. Although we kept hoping we could meet in person, it soon became obvious that wasn't happening any time soon. As the year is drawing to an end and we still are unable to gather together, StLGS president Kay Weber announced the 2020 award winners at our November virtual monthly meeting so that word of their contributions to the success of StLGS could be publicly acknowledged.
Certificate of Appreciation
This first level of awards goes to three individuals who have given hours of time to processing genealogical records in readiness to upload to our website. In addition, Angelynn Gross also worked many extra hours in helping to ensure the success of our 2019 Trivia Night.
Dave Carr
Cindy Finnegan
Angelynn Gross
Certificate of Achievement
The second level of StLGS awards goes to two women who have worked tirelessly in the past year on scanning and processing genealogical records for the website and one, Cherl Wheaton, who assists in our office family history research room.
Claire Arnold
Janet Powell
Cherl Wheaton
Special Recognition
As StLGS president, Kay Weber, mentioned when she announced these winners, members of the StLGS board of directors are not eligible to receive most awards. However, as president, she has the discretion to honor individuals she feels are worthy of special recognition. Kay made the following comments about the two volunteers she chose.
Karen Goode
As vice-president for programs, Karen "has coordinated the educational activities of the society for the past four years and this year, she was the driving force to bring our meetings, classes, Speaker Series, and Family History Conference to a virtual reality!"
Ilene's job as publications director has expanded with the growth of our website. She "literally has her hands on all of the publications for the society as well as many, many of the pages you will find on our website. In addition, she teaches classes for the society in our office and in the community."
Many thanks to all of this year's award winners! St. Louis Genealogical Society is so lucky to have loyal members and hard-working volunteers to continue to move us forward. We are all hoping to say thank you in person to next year's winners!
And, from all of us to all of you, a very Happy Thanksgiving!
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