A Tale of Ten Computers

Two short months ago the California Genealogical Society learned about an incredible price on computers from Charity Advantage, an association that offers technology solutions at low cost to non-profits. An e-mail plea went out to CGS members and friends asking for donations to purchase replacements for the society's fleet of well-used computers.

Four weeks ago ten refurbished Pentium 4 - 80GB Dell desktop computers were delivered after twenty CGS members came forward to contribute to their purchase. Two additional members pitched in to buy a new laser printer.

This week eight dedicated volunteers spent an exhausting but fruitful thirteen-hour day installing the new hardware.



Steve Harris, Peter Moller, Cathy Paris, Nick Paris and Nancy Servin met Computer Committee members Al Clark, Paul Mayer and Kathy Watson at the library at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 20, 2009. The group started by reviewing an installation plan prepared by Peter Moller.



By 10:30 a.m. sleeves were rolled up and the serious work began. Kathy Watson reported "There were a few glitches, but essentially by 10:00 p.m. the work was finished. Any leftover clean up items were completed on Tuesday."

So far, the reviews are positive. Kathy notes that these computers are a significant improvement over our old hardware, almost doubling the speed (from 1.83 GHz to 3.2 GHz) and doubling the memory available for using the programs loaded on the machines (from 448 mb RAM to 1 GB RAM). She also wanted me to thank everyone who participated to make the computer replacement project a huge success.

CGS President Jane Lindsey echoed her gratitude:

We are so appreciative! These computers will not only help patrons and members in the library but also our volunteer researchers, our indexers and our desk duty personnel. Faster computers will also help the hardworking members of our finance, library and membership committees do a better job for CGS.

So what is the message to other societies? Aim high and don't be afraid to ask. In the midst of a tough economic downturn the members of the California Genealogical Society and Library came together and accomplished something fairly remarkable in a short period of time. It's a testament to our members and our volunteers. Great work, CGS!

Photographs courtesy of Cathy H. Paris, 3/20/2009, Oakland, California.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Intermediate Genealogy Series Graduation
March 21, 2009

Photograph courtesy of Tim Cox.

Tell a Story, Hear a Story, Read a Story

CGS President Jane Lindsey has been a busy lady lately. Besides the time she spends teaching beginning and intermediate genealogy classes and administering society business, Jane's calendar includes representing the California Genealogical Society at speaking engagements and at an upcoming workshop at the Contra Costa Library Reading Festival.

On April 7, 2009, Jane spoke to a group of residents at San Francisco Towers, an independent living retirement home in the city. CGS member Barbara Bentley, who recently served a three-month stint as acting recording secretary for the board (thank you, Barbara!), made the arrangements. They were expecting fifteen to attend but drew an audience of forty-seven residents interested in learning more about genealogy.



The Unitarian Universalist Church on Franklin Street in San Francisco was the venue for an introductory genealogy workshop that Jane presented on Thursday, April 16, 2009, to RSVP of San Francisco and Alameda Counties, a proactive volunteer-placement organization that recruits and connects individuals age 55 and over with a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the community. The audience was smaller but two of the nine attendees signed up to attend the Spring Beginning Genealogy Seminar held at CGS two days later.

Jane will be spreading more genealogy cheer next month when the Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda libraries host the second annual Reading Festival, May 3 – 9, 2009. Jane is presenting Research the Stories of Your Family on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lafayette Library. The program is free and open to the public and is part of a series of events to celebrate reading at the Contra Costa County Library that include the magic of memoir writing, live readings, a puppet show and special story times for children. This year's theme is "Hear a Story, Tell a Story, Write Your Story."

Reunited After Fifty Years!

By now regular readers of the CGSL blog might think you just have to show up at a CGS event to find a cousin. It turns out you can also be reunited with old friends.

One of the attendees sitting across from me during lunch at the recent Scots-Irish Seminar was CGS member Beverly Clark who told me that one of the event organizers was quizzing her about where she attended third grade.

The inquisitive staffer was volunteer Shirley Hoye who stepped up and handled much of the logistics for the seminar with Helmi Waits, including scheduling private consultations with our speakers from Belfast, Brian Trainor and Fintan Mullen.

Shirley was sure that Beverly must be her long-lost little friend from the Castro School in El Cerrito. Beverly Clark had dropped into her third grade class for one short year then disappeared as mysteriously as she had come.

Third graders Beverly Clark (left) and Shirley Howe (right).

Unfortunately, Beverly had moved around quite a bit during her early childhood and she wasn't sure where she had attended third grade. The women exchanged email addresses and Shirley went home and sorted through her childhood photos, scanned them and sent them off to Beverly.

Shirley was right! The two childhood friends have been reunited because of their shared interest in genealogy, their membership in the California Genealogical Society and their desire to hone their skills – the two were classmates again in the recent Intermediate Genealogy Series.

Beverly and Shirley – class photos from Miss Allen's class
at the Castro School in El Cerrito, California, 1954.

Shirley sent this message:

Well, unlike Beverly, my family only moved once and that was just up the hill. I ended up going to school in Berkeley and San Francisco and finally landed in Oakland, where I've lived ever since. I really got into genealogy last year when a third cousin in England "found" me. She's done an incredible amount of research, to which I add bits and pieces. The funny thing about running into Beverly at the conference is that my family is not Scots-Irish, but from County Roscommon, with the name of Haughey. I still can't get over finding Beverly after all these years.

Shirley and Beverly reunited after fifty years.

Photographs courtesy of Shirley Hoye and Tim Cox.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Microsoft Word Skills for Genealogists
Publishing Workshop with Matthew Berry
Saturday, April 11, 2009

Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox.