written by Kathleen Beitiks
Years ago, when I thought about the word “addiction,” I never even
considered pairing it up with the word “genealogy.” However, since I became a
volunteer at CGS, I find that I want to introduce myself by saying, “Hello, my
name is Kathleen Beitiks and I am a genealogy addict.”
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| Photo courtesy of Ron Madson |
The California Genealogy Society is staffed
with volunteers who would probably freely admit that they, too, are hooked on
genealogy. And it’s those volunteers who have kept our organization chugging
along since 1898.
Volunteers are the heart of CGS – and we
always need more. Our loyal volunteers bring with them a variety of skills and
interests that keep CGS alive and thriving. Sometimes they teach us and other
times we teach them.
Life moves on, however – some volunteers
“retire,” or they pass away or other commitments take them away from CGS.
When that happens, we need to “fill the
gaps” with another generation of genealogy “addicts” who want to donate their
time and talents to the organization that has provided them with the tools to
dig up the stories and lives of their own ancestors.
Currently, we are looking for members who
can donate a few hours a month to help us with some of the following volunteer positions:
Website Development – If you love working on websites
and have some experience, then we need you to update content and oversee the
maintenance and development of our website.
Computer Maintenance – Join our team of volunteers who
spend a few hours, once a month, keeping our computer systems up and running.
Tech Steering Committee – Help create a
vision of how we integrate and leverage technology to strengthen our brand and keep
us on the cutting edge in the world of genealogy.
Desk Duty – One of the best ways to learn
about us is to volunteer for Desk Duty once a month. Basically, volunteers
staff the reception desk to answer questions from library patrons and answer
the phone.
Events Committee (Marketing, Eventbrite Manager,
Offsite Events Assistant) – The Events Committee is looking for several
volunteers: Marketing - Help us put
out the word about our events and classes; Eventbrite.com
Manager - Work remotely as the manager of our online sign-up site for
classes and events; Offsite Events
Assistant - Help us with special offsite events, held 2-3 times a year.
Digital Historian – We could use a generous volunteer
to spend some time digitally scanning our historical records and preserve them
for our archives.
120th CGS Anniversary Historian – In 2018, CGS
will be 120-years-old! Champagne, party hats and noisemakers will be in good
supply, but we also need a volunteer now to help us compile the glorious
history of the organization that has helped thousands of people compile their
own family histories!
Remember - all of these volunteer jobs come
with training. If you are a current member, please don’t be shy about asking
for details.
Contact me (kbeitiks@californiaancestors.org) for more
information. I look forward to meeting more of you
genealogy “addicts!”
Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society
