Cath Madden Trindle, Speaker at Family History Day 2011

It is a pleasure to welcome Cath Madden Trindle as a speaker at Family History Day 2011 at the California State Archives.

Cath Madden Trindle is a certified genealogist (CG), earned a Certificate of British Research from BYU and a Certificate in Genealogical Studies-Librarianship from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. A retired financial system consultant, she is currently Treasurer of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). Cath, as Projects Chair for the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA), has helped design and implement the online California Research Aid, has coordinated projects with FamilySearch.com and Ancestry.com, and writes regular copyright and society strategy columns for the CSGA newsletter. As Publications Chair for the San Mateo County Genealogical Society, she has edited the San Mateo County Naturalization Index Series, the Schellens indexing project, and has coordinated the series of indexes that are online at http://www.smcgs.org/. A first generation Californian, Cath has limited her client research to Northern California, however, speaking engagements also focus on the records of Ireland and Scotland, Canada, probate and land records, house histories and genealogical storytelling. Speaking engagements include societies throughout Northern California, the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, the Salt Lake Institute and FGS. She will be a speaker at the FGS Conference in Springfield, Il on September 7-10, 2011.  Cath can be reached by email at Catht@aol.com.

Cath Madden Trindle will be presenting two classes at Family History Day:

Google Your Ancestors: A quick look at the many Google Tools, from Google Search to Google Earth that aid in gathering and compiling our genealogies.

CSGA Presents California Online: Start your California Research with the CSGA California Research Guide online.  Links to the FamilySearch California Wiki and other major online resources will also be explored.

North Highlands-Antelope Public Library Display

Family History Day is the theme of the display case at the North Highlands-Antelope Public Library for the month of August.  It's just inside the main entrance to the library.  When you are in the neighborhood, stop by and take a look.  The library is located at 4235 Antelope Road, Antelope, CA.  If you can't get there, enjoy the movie of the display - click on the right arrow below the photo.  The display was created by Marilyn Ulbricht, Diane Maltase and Nancy Fiorini with contributions from Charlene Eberwine, Suzanne Latimer and Denise Richmond.

Sacramento German Genealogical Society - Exhibitor

Please welcome the Sacramento German Genealogy Society (SGGS) as an exhibitor at Family History Day 2011 at the California State Archives.  The SGGS was founded in 1983 to promote the search for family histories of those who have a German heritage.  It provides educational resources for those seeking to learn how to research their German ancestry and seeks to increase the public’s understanding of the cultural history of life in the German-speaking areas of Europe and the United States. 

Stop by the SGGS table and receive “Bring a little German to your holidays”.

Benefits: SGGS holds week-day monthly lectures featuring local and out-of-town German genealogy experts. At those meetings attendees can purchase German genealogy research books, maps and tools. Attendees can also browse member pedigree charts, use the books in the SGGS library, discuss research problems with volunteers at the help desk and engage in a question/answer discussion with local experts or the featured speaker.

SGGS also runs a monthly workshop, weekly mentor sessions, an annual seminar and occasional special events. The monthly workshop is a small-group meeting where you can discuss your research problems with the experts leading the meeting and the other attendees. The mentor sessions occur every Thursday afternoon at the Sacramento Regional Family History Center where volunteer mentors will provide personal assistance in the use that research facility.

The annual seminar is an all-day Saturday event with lectures from one or two out-of-the-area speakers. SGGS occasionally hosts special events such as its 25th anniversary which local featured German folk dancers and singers. The monthly meetings are free and open to the public. The annual seminar and special events are fee-based.

In addition to meetings, SGGS also provides a number of services such as an informational website, a list of approved German translators (fee), surname queries and customized handshake packets. SGGS volunteers create useful publications that are subsequently sold to meeting attendees. These include a reference catalog to the German resources available at the Sacramento Regional Family History Center and a comprehensive index for all of the Der Blumenbaum journals (since 1984).

Program 2011
October 25th -  Michael Mayer-Kielmann  “Liedermatinee.” (The usual terminolgy is “Liederabend,” which means “an evening of songs”.  This is a program of German folk songs and concert pieces, well known and loved in Germany. And it’s not a “just listening” program, but rather one with both video and sound.  You are invited to join us. Guests are always welcome at our meetings. Check out our Website for the 2012 program and our Der Bote (monthly newsletter).

Seminar 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012: SGGS’ annual all-day seminar, featuring Warren Bittner, C.G. as our presenter.  Stop by the SGGS table for a brochure and registration form.

Membership
The membership year is 1 July – 30 June. Dues: Domestic: Individual $30; Couple $35. Foreign: Individual $35; Couple $40.

Contact:
Mail: P.O. Box 660061, Sacramento, CA 95866-0061
Memberships: 210 San Carlos Way, Novato, California 94945-1628
Website: http://www.sacgergensoc.org/

Speakers Directory

The following announcement was received from Gwen Myers of the Genealogical and Historical Council of Sacramento Valley:

The Genealogical and Historical Council of Sacramento Valley (GHCSV) is seeking speakers for their 2011 Speakers Directory.  A number of you have already been contacted; however, we would like to open this to others as well.

The Speakers Directory is used by genealogical and historical societies throughout Northern California. The many societies who use the directory are most appreciative for the ability to contact speakers on a variety of topics for their meetings and seminars.It also provides you, the speaker, the opportunity to promote yourself and your topics, publications, etc.  You can limit the areas where you are willing to speak, can charge what you wish, and can ask the society to provide certain audio-visual equipment, if they have it. There is no charge to be listed in the directory.

We expect to have the directory published by Family History Day, October 15, 2011.  Societies are welcome to purchase a directory (cost of publishing).  To be included in the directory or purchase one or for further questions, send an email to Gwen Myers at gg.myers@pobox.com.

5 Minute Genealogist

Awhile back there was a post requesting readers to submit resources for beginner genealogists.  Here's one: FamilySearch has a video series for beginning genealogy utilizing the records available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT.  One of the new videos is titled "Find a Record in Five Minutes".  Watch the video here.

Please share this post and submit your own beginner resources to fhdmailbox@gmail.com.

Casefile Clues for Beginners

As mentioned before, Family History Day (FHD) at the California State Archives is generally focused on the beginning researcher.  Followers of FHD may be interested in a new how-to genealogical newsletter tentatively titled Casefile Clues for Beginners from Michael John Neill who also writes the weekly newsletter, Casefile Clues.  

His press release states that this "new newsletter will be bi-weekly and feature beginning level material written by a variety of genealogists, not just me. It will have a question and answer section, interpret the handwriting section, one or two articles every issue, and more. This new periodical will be written in a down-to-earth, practical  format. Casefile Clues for Beginners will concentrate on those who are starting or have just started their search for their ancestors."

The new subscription-based newsletter will start 8 June 2011; a trial subscription will be available.  Click on Casefile Clues for Beginners for more details.

Resources Wanted!

Helllooo out there!  The FHDNews Blog has been pretty quiet.  I asked around and found out that the Family History Day (FHD) organizers are still, well, organizing.  So let's do something in the meantime.

Resources.  Genealogists can't have too many.  Lists abound about the top 50, 100, etc.  Let's take it from a different angle, resources by level of researcher.  Since FHD2011 is primarily focused on the novice or beginning genealogist, let's create the FHD2011 list of top resources for beginning genealogists.

HELP!

 What resources would you suggest for

the beginning genealogist? 

Think introductory and basic resources that promote a good foundation for beginners.  Be creative, not all resources are online.  Submit your suggestions by email to fhdmailbox@gmail.com. 

There is no due date for submissions.  Anyone at any level of experience can make suggestions.  The list will only include resources, not the submitter's name.  The initial list will be posted after several submissions are received then updated as other resources are received.  I think the list you help create will make a great handout at FHD2011 also.   Thanks for your participation!