Recap of the Annual CGS Membership Meeting

While it was definitely "different" to hold our annual Membership Meeting via Zoom last weekend (and who doesn't know "different" after the past year?), it was still good to see lots of familiar faces.

CGS Board Members with their different backgrounds,
some more creative then others. Ready for our closeups!
(Click to enlarge)

 

We had about 50 people in attendance on Saturday. This occasion saw the departure of two much-appreciated CGS Board members: Arlene Miles and Stacy Hoover Haines each stepped down at the end of her term. Arlene is well-known to many of our members for her years of service as the CGS Library Manager and as a volunteer in other capacities. Stacy is an invaluable researcher and editor who continues to serve as co-editor of The California Nugget. We are grateful for their service.

 

Two new Board members were voted in at the meeting. Ron Madson is familiar to our members as a teacher, lecturer, and leader of the Family Tree Maker Special Interest Group. Adelle Treakle, who has served on the membership committee and is currently our EventBrite coordinator, has also accepted an invitation to serve on the Board. Welcome, Ron and Adelle! You can find more information on each of our current Board members and Officers at the CGS website.

After general business, we heard from Jane Lindsey, who gave us a preview of the 2022 NGS Family History Conference, to be held in Sacramento in May 2022. CGS is hosting the event, which is now soliciting proposed speakers. Of course, we will need lots of volunteers to help out as the time draws near. More details will be coming your way via the blog and eNews in coming months.

Thanks to all our members, to the Board and Officers, and everyone who helped pull the event together. Here's to good things in 2021!

Copyright © 2021 by California Genealogical Society

Annual Membership Meeting, Saturday, January 9: Live on Zoom

The festive board at a previous Membership Meeting.
This year, BYOB (bring your own brunch) and enjoy
online fellowship with other CGS members

We hope you'll make a virtual appearance at our Annual Membership Meeting this coming Saturday, January 9.  We know it's not the same without the usual potluck and in-person fraternizing, but you can still see your friends online (and message one another via the Chat feature). President James Sorenson will give a recap of the past year and Past President Jane Lindsey will discuss the 2022 National Genealogical Society Conference in Sacramento, which CGS is hosting. We'll also vote on the slate of new nominees to the board and the 2021 budget. 

Still here and fun-loving as ever.

 

Grab your favorite snack and beverage of choice, and join fellow CGS members online - for Auld Lang Syne. Enjoy these photos from past Membership Meetings and remember: we WILL gather again some day. A toast to the new year, and to putting the pandemic behind us!

Register at EventBrite to receive your link to the Zoom meeting.

We'll meet again!

 

Copyright © 2021 by California Genealogical Society

2019 Annual Membership meeting

2019 Annual Meeting - photos by Ron Madson

We had a large and enthusiastic gathering at our annual membership meeting, held Saturday, January 12, at the library. President Vicky Kolakowski welcomed members and gave a brief overview of CGS' many achievements over the past year. Special acknowledgment of and thanks went out to Maureen Hanlon (Events chair) and Kathie Jones (treasurer), who are stepping down from the board after several years of dedicated service. 

Continuing on the board are Nancy Cork, Marisela Meskus, Chris Pattillo, Jim Russell, Vicky Kolakowski, Stewart Blandon Traiman, Felicia Addison, Rich Kehoe, Arlene Miles, and Linda Okazaki. The membership approved a slate of new board members which includes the return of past board members Jeff Vaillant and Jim Sorenson and the appointment of longtime CGS volunteer Matt Berry as treasurer. Other new board members are Stacy Hoover and Jennifer Dix. You can read more about all the board members on our website.

Jane Lindsey and Chris Pattillo were featured speakers.

Membership also approved the proposed 2019 budget, heard about the society's new strategic plan, and got a preview of upcoming classes and events. Following the business meeting, Chris Pattillo and Jane Lindsey gave two short talks. Chris described how research led her to make contact with a distant cousin in Germany, while Jane shared the breakthroughs that can be achieved by making "just one phone call."

We also enjoyed delicious food and drinks - and cake!

Photo by Kathleen Beitiks

Thanks to all who were able to join us. Stay tuned for more details of coming events!

Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society

January 12, 2019: Annual Meeting & Program

Please join us for the 2019 CGS Annual meeting. Before the meeting, we will share a potluck lunch.

All are welcome--just bring a dish to share with your fellow members. We have potluck at 11:30 a.m. The meeting begins at 12:15 p.m. We will review the past year's activities and discuss plans for 2019, including a report on the Strategic Plan. After business, all are invited to stay and hear stories from two of our members:

1 - Chris Pattillo will share a story about how FamilySearch helped her find a third cousin once removed who lives in the town of Hildesheim, Germany where their shared second great grandparents lived. This new connection led to a treasure trove of information and two more generations of ancestors not previously known to her.

St Goehard's Church in Hildesheim, Germany
where Chris Pattillo's great grandparents were
married. Photo by Thomas Henze, the subject
of Chris's talk

Her presentation will prove the benefits of "talking to strangers" and show how getting a little help from friends can lead to new discoveries. Chris is an entertaining storyteller with useful tips and reminders for family history research.

2- And the Answer is Just a Phone Call Away!

Have you found a family member's phone number but were afraid to call?  Jane Lindsey shares how she got some amazing results by just making ONE phone call.

You can register on Eventbrite for the talks; room limited to 50 people. We hope to see you there! 

Here are the event details:

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Potluck Lunch at 11:30

Membership Meeting at 12:15

Speakers from 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Location: CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Oakland, CA

Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society

2018 Strategic Plan Status Report

Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chair Stewart Traiman
explains the changes to the proposed Member Interest
Database at the board meeting

The draft 2018 Strategic Plan was discussed at the September 8 CGS board meeting. Board members and guests asked questions and offered comments during a vigorous discussion. Comments have been incorporated and an updated draft has been posted on the CGS website. To view the draft, log into the website, and click on the Membership pull-down menu to access the document. Track Changes was used to show all edits in red text.

Board members Felicia Addison and Arlene Miles listen
attentively. Jane Lindsey in the background is a member
of the Strategic Planning Committee. CGS Todd Armstrong
attended the board meeting.

Substantial changes have been introduced to the Assessment of the Society section, the proposal to create a Member Interest Database, and to the proposed Wild Apricot Priority Project. The organization chart has been completed overhauled and the name was changed to Communications Structure Chart.

Next step is to take this draft back to the volunteers who serve on each CGS committee. The board will continue discussion of the plan at the next board meeting on October 13, and will present the Strategic Plan to the membership at the membership meeting later that day.

Communications Structure Chart created by co-chair Stewart Traiman

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

The Great Eight: Celebrating our 2018 Anniversary with Our Members' Genealogy Stories

by Maureen Hanlon

Eight great-grandparents...1898...2018. All these eights! 

Come celebrate the 120th anniversary of The California Genealogical Society (CGS) with some birthday cake and sharing of our members' stories on Saturday, January 13th. After the Annual Member Meeting, all are invited to stay and hear wonderful stories from three of our members. 

*Our Annual Member Meeting and Birthday Party with a delicious cake will take place before the presentation (beginning at noon). All are welcome, just bring a dish to share and enjoy in a wonderful potluck with your fellow members.

Nancy Ukai, Stewart Traiman and Mary Caroline Chunn will tell us about the lives of their great-grandparents which span from Nicaragua to San Francisco, Japan to Ireland, and beyond. Believe it or not, this diverse group has surprising things in common. 

Who knows...the strategies they used to track their ancestors might help your research too. Please register on Eventbrite to save your seat, room limited to 50 people. We hope to see you there! 

Interested? Here are the event details:

Saturday, January 13, 2018 from 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Location: Sherman Room, 2201 Broadway, Oakland, CA

Cost for member: $0

Cost for non-member: $30

About the Presenters

Nancy Ukai is a Berkeley-based writer, researcher and mother of two. She attended UC Santa Cruz where she studied Japanese and anthropology and then lived in Japan for 14 years, working as a Fulbright English Fellow, a weaving apprentice at a Buddhist temple and as a journalist for Newsweek and the Asahi in Tokyo.  Nancy has a master’s degree in the philosophical foundations of education from Rutgers and media anthropology from the University of London. 

In 2015, Nancy helped lead a grassroots protest against a public auction of Japanese American concentration camp artifacts. In researching their provenance, she became interested in the storytelling power of objects.  She is project director of a 2016 National Park Service grant award to produce a digital display of 50 objects that explore the human stories of the Japanese American wartime incarceration. 

Genealogy has been an obsession for Stewart Blandón Traiman for 30 years. He began by interviewing family about his roots in Nicaragua. He is still hoping to prove the family legend of escaping the Spanish Inquisition. When he married Leland Traiman 27 years ago, he took on the new adventure of researching Ukrainian and Polish Jews. Stewart has researched his children's origins back to the colonial United States. 

Stewart was born in San Francisco, graduated from Stanford Medical School and practiced as an Internal Medicine Physician until 2005 when he saw more interesting opportunities in the world of Electronic Health Records. He now works as a Clinical Informatist at Alameda Health Systems. In January 2014, Stewart became a volunteer with CGS as the editor and publisher of the monthly electronic newsletter (eNews). Stewart serves on the CGS Board as Recording Secretary. 

Mary Caroline Chunn was born in Ventura where all four of her mother’s grandparents were pioneers.  She has lived in Camarillo and Vernais, a small farm town in San Joaquin Valley. Mary Caroline was educated at San Jose State. In 1975, a few years after her daughter was born in Merced the family moved to the Bay Area.  

A few months after her mother died, one of Mary Caroline’s second cousins gave her an 8-page maternal family tree full of strangers to her. In 2009, after a lecture in Los Gatos by Kenyatta Berry, she had Kenyatta do research on her father’s side. Successes included finding two patriots in the American Revolution. Mary Caroline then switched her attention back to the maternal family tree, contacting members one by one, in no particular order. In 2014, she married a third cousin on the last page! 

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

It’s that time of year again: Annual Membership Meeting on Jan 14th

Who:  Members of the California Genealogical Society

What:  Annual Membership and Business Meeting - preceded by social hour and potluck lunch

When:  January 14, 2017 from 11:30-3:00 pm; meeting starts at 1pm

Where:  2nd Floor Conference Room at 2201 Broadway, Oakland

What happens before the meeting?

The meeting will be preceded by a social hour and potluck lunch, so please bring a dish to share. We're providing the dessert and beverages.

Meeting schedule

The meeting will begin promptly at 1:00. The meeting agenda includes brief committee reports, approval of the 2017 budget, presentation of the slate of nominees, and electing the Board of Directors for 2017.

Happy New Year to everyone!  We hope to see you there.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Wordless Wednesday: 2016 Membership & Business Meeting

2016 Board of Directors

Back row (L-R):  Jim Sorenson, Karen Lemelin, Todd Armstrong, Diana Edwards
Therese Hart-Pignotti, Shannon Reese & Stewart Blandon Traiman
Front row (L-R):  Vicky Kolakowski, Lisa Gorrell, Felicia Addison,
Linda Okazaki, Kathie Jones & Maureen Hanlon

Photos courtesy of Ron Madson

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

You're Invited! Annual Membership & Business Meeting: Sat, Jan 23rd

Who:  Members of the California Genealogical Society

What:  Annual Membership and Business Meeting

When:  January 23, 2016 from 1:00-3:00 pm

Where:  2nd Floor Conference Room at 2201 Broadway, Oakland

What happens before the meeting?
The meeting will be preceded by a social hour and potluck lunch, so please bring a dish to share. We're providing the dessert and beverages.

Reminder:  The library will be closed to researchers from 12:00-3:00 pm.

Meeting schedule
The meeting will begin promptly at 1:00. The agenda will include annual reports from the committees, presentation of the 2016 budget, and a member vote on the proposed budget as well as the slate of nominees for the Board of Directors. 

An RSVP is desired, but not required.

                         

                      Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society