Early Registration Deadline for the 2017 Family History Conference

Have you registered yet for the 2017 StLGS Family History Conference on Saturday, 8 April at Orlando Gardens in Maryland Heights? You can save a bit of money if you get your registration in by midnight, Thursday, 23 March. This year's conference promises to be another excellent one, featuring nationally-known speakers Cyndi Ingle, Jan Alpert, and Bruce Buzbee, joined by local speakers Bob Goode, Ilene Murray, and Carol Whitton. The focus will be on technology and DNA, and, of course, there will be prizes, some fabulous raffle items, and vendors with all kinds of goodies for you to browse and purchase. The StLGS Trading Post is filled with gently used books for reasonable prices, and we have quite a few new titles available in our StLGS store.

Registration is as easy as going to www.stlgs.org and clicking on the Family History Conference button. Don't forget to get your coupon code, if you are a member, so you get member pricing. Instructions and a link to the code are right there.

If you have questions, the office is open on Thursday, the 23rd from 9 a.m. until noon: 314-647-8547. We are looking forward to seeing you at the FHC!

Genealogical Musing with Fran

“No one is beat till he quits. No one is through till he stops. No matter how hard failure hits, no matter how often he drops, a fellow’s not down till he lies in the dust and refuses to rise”––words from the work “Defeat” by Edgar Guest. Harsh and somber you say these words are, but do they apply to the feeling of frustration when that elusive, long sought-after relative remains unfound? Well, what to do but brush yourself off and start all over again with new thoughts and an open mind. Yes, back to a clean slate.

First, I go to the experts. I have found over these many years that there is always someone who has probed and studied most all of the genealogical subjects, and it is my duty to go for HELP!

When St. Louis Genealogical Society was founded fifty years ago, education was put at the top of the list of what the mission of StLGS should be. Have you taken advantage of these opportunities? Well, what are you waiting for?

It is not an afterthought or accident that StLGS offers regular classes free of charge to members, conducts an all-day Speaker Series once or twice a year, multi- day seminars, quarterly Irish and German Special Interest Group programs, a free monthly meeting, and an annual all-day conference. Those are a lot of opportunities to further your skills. We know that the best way to get over a hurdle or through a brick wall is to arm ourselves with knowledge.

The annual Family History Conference for 2017 is coming up Saturday, 8 April 2017 and will feature Cyndi Ingle, creator of Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites; along with Jan Alpert, fngs, expert on DNA and genealogy, and Bruce Buzbee, creator and owner of RootsMagic software. In addition, local speakers Bob Goode, Ilene Murray, and Carol Whitton, cg, are on the program. What a line-up of experts!

This program is designed to wow and thrill the genealogist in each of us. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by attending, so why not sign up NOW? Early registration ends on 23 March. For information on the conference and/or to register, go to www.stlgs.org and click on the "Family History Conference" button. And while you are on the home page, be sure to check out some of the other upcoming events too!

Will look forward to seeing you soon, 

Fran

Genealogical Musing with Fran

Hi, fellow travelers through time,

I am smiling as I write this, and I want to share this with all of you “older” readers. A little girl is turning ten! The thought was that a little girl who loves to play dress-up might like “stuff” from the past. The old portable phonograph with some 45s and 78s seemed just the ticket, as well as the old pink dial phone! You get the thought here, right?

Well, the absolute puzzlement on her face as to “What are these things and why would I want them?” truly stunned me. Even after I put a record on and the music blared, she just looked puzzled. And you try and explain a dial-up phone. Am I that old? Well, I guess when I can remember our beautiful huge floor model of a phonograph player which required that you crank it up and our first phone where you had to go through an operator, then I guess I answer my own question. Yes, I am that old!

When did it happen? Sixty years old? Sixty-five? Older? When do we realize we are the eldest in the family? When we are treated with deference? It happened this past weekend to me and I have given it quite a bit of thought since.

My paternal grandmother was my ideal. I have only perfect memories of her. Walking to Grandma’s house was always filled with a joyful expectation of what would come. She could cook, bake, sew, do needlework, garden, and most of all tell a great story. The times spent with her were precious. Now I am the eldest in the immediate family, and I don’t think I have the depth to do the job that my grandmother did. The only thing I know about all of this is that I have always had an “old” soul and will endeavor to tell the stories of our discoveries.

As we delve into the past for each name, I hope we are also endeavoring to grasp and record the facts of the era that surrounds that person’s life and times. We do not experience life in a vacuum, and genealogy gives us the opportunity to gather the spirit of our relatives' lives and times.

Oh, by the by, there was something monetary with the birthday card, so all was not a puzzlement.

Continue to enjoy this passion and . . . I hope to see you at the StLGS Family History Conference on 8 April 2017. You can register at www.stlgs.org/.

Happy hunting,

Fran