The Central Texas Genealogical Society
22 Feb 2010
The Central Texas Genealogical Society met Monday night,
February 22, for the regular monthly meeting. The program, entitled
"Who am I and why am I here?" was presented by CTGS member Gene Tidmore, and was entertaining and mind-stretching.
Gene showed that, if we went back to about the year 1000 with ancestors only
belonging to us, we would have more ancestors than there were people alive on
earth at that time - proving that we all have many common ancestors!! You
never know what you might learn at CTGS meetings........
Have you paid your dues for 2010? At $15 a year, it's a great bargain, as
you receive the quarterlies and support the many efforts of the society.
Our current membership is 266, which is 20 members more than we had at this
time last year. You can mail your dues to Peggy Duty, c/o CTGS, 1717
Austin Avenue, Waco, 76701.
Here are some opportunities for CTGS members:
(1) Marylaine
Driese, our editor, is always looking for articles
for our award-winning quarterlies. Send her your stories - short or long,
your pedigree charts, your Bible records, mhdriese@gmail.com.
(2) CTGS is
forming small groups that will meet wherever and whenever they decide to
discuss topics of interest to them, such as research in particular parts of the
US, foreign research, court house research, etc. Currently we have
leaders for 3 groups - Lu Treadwell is willing to meet wht
those interested in the Southeastern US - you may reach her at lusalado@hot.rr.com. Jane Williamson (jwilliamson18@hot.rr.com) will meet to discuss German research. Norma Cannata (ncannata@aol.com) will meet with those interested in research in the New
England states. If you have other interests and would like to have a
small, informal, time to gain or share some help, contact our president, Paula Moerbe, at kpmoerbe@grandecom.net. Our computer interest group meets monthly on the
second Tuesday at 6:30 at the central library to talk about any genealogical
computer issues - join them if you have unanswered questions about this field.
(3) CTGS will host the annual meeting of the
Texas State Genealogical Society in November this year. The general chair
for CTGS for this event is Van Massirer. We
will need many volunteers to help before and
during this meeting. If you would like to be part of this important
project, please contact Van at vmassirer@yahoo.com. This will be a great time to "show off" our new
genealogical library, as well as the other research opportunities in
Waco.
Speaking of the new library - the renovation of the old Dunlap Dept. Store is
well under way and the target date for the move is some time
in July this summer. Our genealogical collection is growing every month,
thanks to the work of librarian Bill Buckner and his staff. CTGS and the
Friends of the Library organization contribute, along with the City of Waco, to
the genealogical collection, and CTGS has an Aquisitions
Committee, chaired by Joyce and Hayden Moody, which meets regularly with Bill
Buckner, to choose materials to order to add to the collection. If you
have interest in a particular area you would like to have them consider, let
the Moodys know at hhmdy@juno.com. CTGS gave approximately $4000 at the end of 2009 to
the library, according to our established policy. By the way - the new
library branch will be named WEST WACO LIBRARY AND GENEALOGY CENTER.
We hope to see you at our next CTGS meeting on Monday, March 22. The
program, presented by Norma Cannata, will be
"Who's your mother's mother? (tips for finding
maiden names).
Happy Hunting!
25 Jan 2010
The Central Texas Genealogical Society had the first meeting
of 2010 on Monday, January 25, with 73 interested folks attending. Bill
Buckner, Genealogy Librarian for the Waco/McLennan County Library, presented
the program on "30 web sites to add to your Genealogy
favorites." He showed many websites from various sources that are
new or not yet listed on familiar sites. They included digital books,
research guides, cemetery and obituary records, death records, and many
others.
The first year of a new decade will be an exciting one for CTGS. Our
officers for the new year are President Paula Moerbe;
Vice-President Carl Cox; Secretary Betty Crook; Editor Marylaine Driese; Librarian Terry
Downes; Treasurer Apala
Wilson. The board members are Peggy Duty, Lu Treadwell, Marge Kultgen, Jane Williamson, Van Massirer,
and Norma Cannata. Several big events will
happen this year, including the move in the summer to the new location for the
Genealogy Library. The former Dunlap building at Bosque and Valley Mills
is being transformed into a new location for the R.B. Hoover branch and the
Genealogy collection and the name for the new library branch will be West Waco
Library and Genealogy Center. The Genealogy collection will have twice as
much space as is currently in the Central Library. Then, in November,
2010, CTGS will host the Texas State Genealogy Society's annual convention at
the Hilton Hotel here in Waco. It will be an exciting time to showcase
our research resources, such as our new library, the Texas Collection,
etc. If you would like to help with the event, please contact Van Massirer, who is coordinating the event, at vmassirer@yahoo.com.
Is
there a particular area of genealogy you would like to discuss with others
interested in that area? We are starting some small groups to bring
together folks with those special interests. It will be up to the groups
where and when and how often and how long they will meet. Leadership is
in place for a group interested in the Southeastern states, led by Lu Treadwell
(lusalado@hot.rr.com),
German research, led by Jane Williamson (jwilliamson18@hot.rr.com),
New England research, led by Norma Cannata (ncannata@aol.com).
Contact one of these if they interest you or, if you'd like to convene a group
with another focus area, let Paula Moerbe know (kpmoerbe@grandecom.net).
Have you renewed your membership for 2010? Some of you reading this are
thinking, "Oh, I meant to do that!!" Well, you can send your
check for $15 for a one-year membership, plus $2.50 for an additional person in
the same household. This entitles you to 4 copies of our award-winning
quarterly, plus you will be supporting the work of CTGS. Your check can
be mailed to CTGS at the Waco/McLennan County Library, 1717 Austin Ave., Waco, 76701. Speaking of work CTGS does, we donated
over $3,000 to the Genealogy Collection of the library, according to our
policy, based on our membership at the end of the year. The support we
receive from the library staff and collection is invaluable and, in return,
CTGS's mission includes our support of the library.
We will co-host with the library the first Beginners' Class for Genealogy on
Saturday, February 20, at 10:30AM in the downstairs meeting room at the Central
Library. The class will include a tour of the Genealogy collection.
It is a free class and is good help for beginners or for those who need a
little boost.
Our next CTGS meeting will be on Monday, February 22 at 7PM at the
library. The program will be presented by CTGS member Dr. Eugene Tidmore and is entitled "Who Am I and How Did I Get Here?" Gene says the answer is Mathematics, not
Biology! Sounds interesting - plan now to join us for that.
Happy Hunting in 2010.