Scots-Irish Seminar - March 7, 2009

Saturday, March 7, 2009, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Oakland Airport Holiday Inn and Suites

The California Genealogical Society and Library and the Ulster Historical Foundation will present a full day Scots-Irish Family History Research Seminar on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the new Oakland Airport Holiday Inn, 77 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, California.

Fintan Mullan, Executive Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation and Dr. Brian Trainor, former Director of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and former Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation will present several lectures, including: Emigration from the North of Ireland to North America in the 18th Century, Records Relating to the Different Churches in Ireland, Irish and Scots-Irish Research: 'Not Always at the Bottom of the Pile' and The Ulster Plantation: Sources for 17th Century Families.

Full details and registration information are available in the program flier which was mailed to members in the January 2009 CGS Newsletter.

Please note the special "early bird" registration price - $10 off if you register before January 15, 2009. Lunch is included in the price.

Our speakers will come to us from Belfast, Northern Ireland and will bring several books for sale at the event, including their title Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800 by William Roulston. Their complete catalog is available at the bookstore website. The UHF is a fantastic resource – I had the pleasure to visit their offices during my recent trip to Ireland and had a one-on-one consultation. Details are being worked out for a limited number of consultations for attendees. I'll have more on this in a future post.

After the successful Day of Irish Information last July, the society received many requests for a Scots-Irish Research Seminar. CGS President Jane Lindsey aims to please so I hope that members will spread the word about this wonderful program.

Photograph of the High Cross at Drumcliff by Kathryn Doyle, 10/5/2008, Co. Sligo, Ireland.

Wordless Wednesday

CGS Board of Directors

Pot Luck Lunch Before the December Meeting
Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

CGS News - The Last Issue!

The January 2009 issue of the CGS News, Volume XL, No. 1, was mailed to members last week. It's eight pages are packed with important information:

• Annual Membership Meeting Announcement- page 1
• Allen County Public Library Trip Registration- page 2
• Salt Lake City research Trip Registration Form- page 3
• Notes from the President- page 4
• CGS 2009 Calendar of Events- page 5-6
• Genealogy: Intermediate Series Classes- page 7

The most significant news in the page one article by Editor Jane Hufft announcing that this is the last newsletter:

This issue is the last official issue of the CGS Newsletter which has been sent to CGS members for many years. New ways of keeping in touch are in the works, and we want to hear from you as we make this historic transition. My editorial duties will be transferred to the launch of the former “Nugget,” which begins its new life as The California Nugget, to be published twice a year beginning with the spring 2009 issue. Lois Elling, who has been my newsletter partner for the four years that I have been editor, will now take her design and layout talents to the new California Nugget.

I'll have more to say about this new society publication in some upcoming posts.

CGS Mailing Committee

Six times a year a small committee at CGS meets to put the finishing touches on the CGS Newsletter and to insure its delivery to the mailboxes of almost 1000 members and libraries around the world. The Mailing Committee, chaired by Nancy Hart Servin, is a group of nimble-fingered volunteers who attach the mailing labels to the newsletters (which come folded from the printer) and add seals to keep them closed. Oh, and they are FAST! The committee meets at 9:30 a.m. and gets started with their work at 10:00 a.m. I almost missed getting these photos because I didn't show up until noon.

The proverb states "Many hands make light work" – in this case there are a dozen hands belonging to Mary Beth Frederick, Pat Gallagher, Mary Limosner, Nancy Servin and Bob Sweeney. Anne Cyr prints the mailing labels but does not attend the mailing session. Nancy cautioned me that the work of the committee is not a slap-dash process and that there is more to the process than one might think. "It's not the sexiest job at the library but it is an essential one, requiring speedy but accurate hands. The post office is very specific about bulk mail and requires that the newsletters are kept in order by zip code."

Bob Sweeney and Mary Limosner

All the members agree that the best part of belonging to the Mailing Committee is the camaraderie that has developed among them. Pat Gallagher offered this: "As we fold, peel and stick we fall into conversation about our own work and discoveries, ask questions, offer recommendations, tell stories – a little like the quilting circles of yore. We've been helped along by Nancy's provision of coffee and Bakesale Betty's fabulous scones."

Each of the members expressed appreciation of Nancy's contributions to the committee. Mary Beth Frederick noted "Nancy's the one who does the real work, keeping us on track and making sure that we don't scramble the zip codes."

Pat Gallagher and Nancy Hart Servin

Most of the members of the Mailing Committee have other jobs that they do for the society. Mary Limosner is part of the Desk Duty team and does some shelf reading. Mary Beth Frederick is part of the French-Canadian group and she recently taught one of the First Free Saturday beginning genealogy classes. It's not part of the usual service, but she's continued "tutoring" two of the attendees since the class. Nancy Servin serves on the Membership Committee – sending out renewal forms and emails and tracking membership records.

Bob Sweeney likes the fact that the committee's work keeps him coming to the library on a regular basis. A member of CGS since 1980, Sweeney was very involved with producing the two-day CGS family history fairs that were held annually for about fifteen years. Besides creating signs, setting up, tearing down and doing other logistical work for the two-day events, Bob would telephone literally every member of the society to enlist the army of volunteers needed.

Bob Sweeney, Mary Limosner, Mary Beth Frederick and Pat Gallagher.

When the committee finishes the labeling and sorting process, CGS Newletter Editor Jane Hufft picks up the loaded trays and she and Nancy transport them to the post office.

Jane sent this description: "It takes two of us to get the mail to the post office, because together we can remember the route. Nancy is a good story teller, and she sometimes has me listening so intently I run red lights, but so far the newsletters have arrived at the post office intact. Nancy has incredible patience for the bureacracy at the post office – all I have to do is sign my name once, hang on to my car keys, and drive, and I don't always do that very well. And Bob Sweeney always helps us load my car."

Photographs by Kathryn Doyle, 12/15/2008.

Wordless Wednesday

Desk Duty Committee Meetings
Thursday, December 11, 2008 and
Saturday, December 13, 2008

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.