THE LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY E-MAIL BULLETIN FOR OCTOBER 2008 October 1, 2008 ============================================================= SUMMARY OF EVENTS FOR OCTOBER 2008 (See details on a later screen.) - Family Tree Maker Group: Thursday, October 2 (Tomorrow) - General Meeting: Tuesday, October 14 - The Master Genealogist: Saturday, October 18 - Study Group: Thursday, October 23 - L-AGS Board Meeting: Tuesday, October 28 ============================================================= A N N O U N C E M E N T S NOMINATING COMMITTEE The L-AGS constitution calls for a nominating committee to be formed in October and the slate for the election of officers announced at the November meeting. Please consider serving on the committee this year. I will be calling people to serve on the nominating committee as soon as I return from my trip to Denver on October 6. Members of the nominating committee will meet a few times in October and November, and then their job is done. They may not themselves be nominated for the board. Also, please step forward and volunteer to serve as an officer next year. We need candidates for president, program chair, membership chair and recording secretary. The term is only for two years for each office. There are so many members who do thousands of helpful tasks in our organization--it really is not difficult to serve on the board. Arleen Wood will serve on a program committee and has already arranged for the first three meetings of 2009. So please step up and volunteer to help keep our growing "family" going! Anne Homan - - - - - LOCAL CONFERENCES OF NOTE Monterey County Genealogy Society: October 11, 2008 - Geoff Rasmussen, genealogist, author and educator, will be the keynote speaker for the 2008 Central Coast Genealogy Conference sponsored by MoCoGenSo and the Seaside Family History Center. The keynote presentation will be "Timelines & Chronologies, Secrets of Genealogical Success". A full schedule of classes will be offered at the conference. Details at: http://www.mocogenso.org/conference.htm - - - - - San Mateo County Genealogical Society: November 8, 2008 - "Gathering the Evidence," a Quartet of Genealogy Lectures by Paula Stuart-Warren. Complete details are on a flyer that can be downloaded from: http://www.smcgs.org/flyers/seminarf08a.pdf http://www.smcgs.org/flyers/seminarf08b.pdf ============================================================= O C T O B E R M E E T I N G S Visitors are welcome free of charge at all of our meetings. ------------------------------------------------------------- FAMILY TREE MAKER FOCUS GROUP Co-Leader: Duncan Tanner Date and Time: Thursday, October 2 (Tomorrow), 7:30 p.m. The Subject for the meeting is Family Tree Maker 2009 which was released recently. We will start evaluating this version to see if features we need at there. The meeting is always the first Thursday of the month. Place: Old Almond Ave. School, now called Vineyard Adult Education Facility, at 1401 Almond Avenue, Livermore. Drive into the back parking lot. As you face Almond Ave., we are in the building to the right in the front complex, room 5. Look for the FTM sign. Map to the meeting site: http://www.L-AGS.org/maps/Liv-AlmondSchool.html As always, we will provide a problem-solving atmosphere in which attendees are free to ask questions and offer answers and tips about FTM. We will continue to discuss the question, "Should I or should I not upgrade to FTM 2008?" We are especially interested in comments from those who have upgraded. Most of our group are FTM users (from beginners to experts) who discuss problems and solutions, share successes, answer questions, and in general help each other with the Family Tree Maker genealogical software. All persons interested or potentially interested in Family Tree Maker are invited to attend. For information on our group please call Dick Finn at 925-XXX-XXXX or e-mail him at mailto:XXXX@wecare.net. Visitors are welcome and there is no charge to attend. Bring your questions, comments, and if you have a laptop with FTM loaded (any version) and/or the FTM Handbook, you might bring them. Please avail yourself of the L-AGS FTM e-mail forum at mailto:ftm.group@L-AGS.org to post questions, answers and comments. ------------------------------------------------------------- MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING Arleen Wood, First Vice President, Programs mailto:program.chair@L-AGS.org For a formatted version of this announcement, see: http://www.L-AGS.org/temp/General_Meeting_Oct_08.doc Date: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton Map to the meeting site: http://www.L-AGS.org/maps/Pls-BethEmek.html Visitors are welcome, no charge Topic: "The Five Civilized Tribes of Southeastern United States" Guest Speaker: Taffy Gould Couts Lecturer on Native American Genealogy Find out the best sources to use to prove or disprove a family story of Indian Ancestry. Explore the areas of concern to get the best results from your researching. Use the Findings Aids that already exist to further your research. Find out what resources are the best to use to find primary documents! Taffy will show and explain how to use the tools to success and finding out the tribe possibilities that exist! Taffy Gould Couts, an Arizona native, started working in Genealogy 36 years ago. She attended the Genealogical Institute at the National Archives in 2006. She has taught Native American Genealogical Research for the past 13 years. She has taken classes at UC Davis, in the Native American Studies Major. She also has attended classes at the FHL in Salt Lake City, and has volunteered at the Auburn, FHC. Research has been conducted at California State Library, Sutro, and Sacramento Branches, and she has done major research at the National Archives in San Bruno, Laguna Nigel, Fort Worth and Washington, D.C. She has lectured throughout Arizona and California for various Genealogical Societies. Among the most treasured research she completed was on her GGGrandmother and the Supreme Court Appeal to the Dawes Roll. She has Native American ancestry from Cherokee, Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. One of her Grandfathers was listed on the Henderson Roll, another supplied meat at the Chickasaw Constitutional Convention. The past four years she has donated time and research for the Native Americans being disenfranchised from their tribes. She has recently completed testimony for some southern California documented Indians against the tribes that have tried to unenroll them as members. Those cases now go before the U.S. Supreme Court. ------------------------------------------------------------- Tri-Valley TMG Users Group The Master Genealogist Software Leader: Kay Speaks, mailto:tvtmg.chair@L-AGS.org For a formatted version of this announcement, see: http://www.L-AGS.org/temp/TMG_Oct_08.doc Date: Saturday, October 18, 2008 (Note Rescheduled Date) Time: 9:00 a.m. - Noon Location: 7077 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 110, Pleasanton, CA 94566 Map to the meeting site: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Pls-KollCenter.html Instructors: Kay Speaks and Sue Johnston Future TV-TMG Meeting Dates (note some dates have been rescheduled from our normal 3rd Saturday of the month meeting date.) 2008: 18 Oct, 22 Nov, No December meeting; 2009: 17 Jan, 21 Feb, 28 Mar Meeting dates are subject to change so be sure to check the L-AGS Coming Events calendars each month. Topic: Navigating from Person to Person (Chapter 3 - A Primer for The Master Genealogist by Terry Reigel) This month we discuss the different ways to navigate from person to person. TMG's main screen is made up of a number of individual windows. At any one time all the windows focus on a particular person, called the Focus Person. The Details window displays the events in that person's life, the person's spouse and parents of both, or the person's ancestors. Other windows show the children of the Focus Person, that person's siblings or associates, and Flags set for the Focus Person. Our workshop will talk about ways to navigate between all these windows and provide a list of navigation shortcuts. If possible, please RSVP if you plan to attend: mailto:tvtmg.chair@L-AGS.org. TMG classes use Terry Reigel's new "A Primer for The Master Genealogist" book written for Version 7. Read about the book at: http://reigelridge.com/press/primer.htm. With the aid of a digital projector, Kay and Sue work as an instructional team. We discuss, demonstrate, and brainstorm best practices of the software using a hands-on method. We learn TMG's features by actually entering samples of the lesson into a TV-TMG class practice database. Each monthly session is like a mini three-hour TMG workshop. Guests are always welcome at our meetings. Accommodations for laptops are available. If you have a laptop, bring it with you to the meeting. A copy of the group's practice database will be provided to you. A laptop is not a requirement as the lesson will be digitally projected. If you can't stay for the entire 3 hours, come and leave early. TMG questions not specific to all attendees will be addressed in the later part of our meeting. Please bring samples of your problem if possible. We hope to see you at the next meeting! A free demo version of the software can be downloaded at http://www.whollygenes.com Terry Reigel's book can be purchased from this website. For additional information contact: mailto:tvtmg.chair@l-ags.org. ------------------------------------------------------------- STUDY GROUP MEETING Leader: Kay Speaks Contact: mailto:study.chair@l-ags.org For a formatted version of this announcement, see: http://www.L-AGS.org/temp/Study_Group_Oct_08.doc Date: Thursday, October 23, 2008 (fourth Thursday of the month) Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Location: LDS Church, 950 Mocho Street, Livermore, CA Map: http://www.l-ags.org/maps/Liv-FHC.html Topic: American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) According to the September 29 Dick Eastman online newsletter, the AGBI is a 226-volume every-name index of hundreds of genealogies, including those that were unindexed and partially indexed. The Boston Transcript genealogical column that appeared from 1896 to 1941, the 1790 census, parts of the Pennsylvania Archives and various vital, church and military records are also indexed in the AGBI. Godfrey Memorial Library publishes AGBI, while over 300 large libraries have print copies. According to Dick Eastman, the only online edition of AGBI appears on Ancestry.com. However, this is about to change as Godfrey has announced effective January 2009 the AGBI will no longer be part of Ancestry.com. In the future, this database will be part of Godfrey's paid subscription service, Godfrey Scholar, and will also be part of World Vital Record's database offerings. Family History Centers have access to both of these websites. In October, the Study Group will explore the AGBI database. Don't forget to use our L-AGS Study Group forum for any genealogy topic discussion or computer interest questions. L-AGS is blessed with people willing to share their knowledge and expertise! E-mail the forum at: mailto:study.group@L-AGS.org You can also post suggestions for future Study Group topics. ============================================================= PROGRAMS FOR 2008 GENERAL MEETINGS Arleen Wood, First Vice President, Programs See details of the October program in the full announcement above. We have been fortunate to get a calendar of excellent speakers for 2008. The programs are held at our regular meetings on the second Tuesday of each month. Meetings are open to the public at 7:30 p.m. at the Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. Visitors are welcome, admission free. Date Topic Presenter ------------------------------------------------------------- October 14 The Five Civilized Tribes of Southeastern United States Taffy Couts November 11 An American Story - The History of Abram Bradbury Lowell and His Family David Lowell December 9 Show and Tell: Members Sharing L-AGS Members and Guests ============================================================= Another Reminder: GET READY FOR OUR BIG SHOW-AND-TELL IN DECEMBER Arleen Wood L-AGS First Vice President and Program Chairperson mailto:program.chair@L-AGS.org For a formatted version of this reminder, see: http://www.L-AGS.org/temp/Member_Sharing.doc December 9, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Topic: Show and Tell: Members Sharing Do you have a genealogical story to tell? We encourage you share your story at our December meeting. We really want to hear from you. The presentation should be brief, 5 minutes preferred, 7 minutes maximum. The choice of topic is up to you. Some suggestions or ideas for topics might be to: * Bring a family heirloom and tell the story of how it came into your possession and its significance to you. * Tell about your most interesting ancestor. (*Bring photo if available, see #2 on Guidelines) * Tell about your most famous ancestor. * Tell about an interesting incident you encountered while researching your genealogy. * Tell about an interesting experience or breakthrough made while traveling to the home of your ancestors. * Tell about a break-through you have made in your research and what resource helped you achieve it. * Tell how you are sharing your research with your family and others i.e. gifting with old photos, scrapbooks, ancestral charts, created books, other creative ideas (bring a simple example). Guidelines for your presentation: 1. What is the topic of your talk? Please contact Arleen by December 1 at mailto:program.chair@L-AGS.org We need to know who is planning to participate by December 1 so we can prepare a schedule to fit our one-hour long program. 2. *Will you be using a photo, map or document in your presentation? If you will be using a photo, map or document in your presentation, we request that you send it as a **jpeg file to Dick Finn at mailto:XXXX@wecare.net by December 1. He will place it into PowerPoint in the same order as the presenters. This will enable everyone to see the photo or document while the presenter is talking and eliminate the disruption of passing of photos or documents during subsequent presentations. ** If you need help in scanning your photo or document, please contact Dick Finn before December 1. 3. How much time do you estimate you will need for your presentation? We are recommending that your presentation not exceed 5-7 minutes in length. 4. Please provide your name, telephone number and e-mail address so we may contact you if we have a question. If you have any questions please contact Arleen at: mailto:program.chair@L-AGS.org. ________________________________________________