Sunday, August 31, 2014

Happy Labor Day - a Day of Rest or More Work Than you Have Done in the Past Six Months on the Honey Do's List

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward




    

How do you celebrate your Labor Day OR your Labor Day Weekend?

In years past Labor Day signals the end of summer and the beginning of fall and the beginning of school. Fall is still coming soon but now schools start and end at many different times (starting in July or August & some September / ending in May or June)  Labor Day for the most part is just another holiday. It signifies the end of summer but does it.......  white was put on the shelves and back to fall colors, but that is starting to change and some wear white year around.  (goody!!)

                        

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States, It gives workers a day of rest and celebrates their contributions to the American economy, It us annually held on the first Monday of September. As I've already said, many people mark Labor Day as the end of the summer and a last chance to make trips or hold outdoor events,

The first Labor Day was held in 1882 Its origins stem from the desire of the Central Labor Union to create a holiday for workers, It became a federal holiday in 1894. It was originally intended that the day would be filled with a street parade followed by a festival - all to amuse, celebrate & appreciate the work of the trade and labor organizations, the workers and their families, This is less common now but it is a day of rest for most.

One of the reasons for choosing to celebrate this on the first Monday in September was to add a holiday in the long gap between Independence Day and Thanksgiving............    information from 

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Wild and Wooly "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference -- Final Day

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


It is hard to believe that I have been here 5 days already..............  conference is coming to an end today and time to repack and come home. (coming home is always a good thing). I have had an absolutely great time- lots of excellent classes, lots of great extra activities, lots of HEAT & HUMIDITY, lots of super people to share with....... I am very glad I came.

This was another busy, but rewarding day............ 

"Methods for Identifying the German Origins of American Immigrants" with Michael Lacopo -I certainly have enjoyed the German track with Lacopo (who, btw, is Italian with German lines) good sense of humor, easy delivery and good information.  


'Timelines: The Swiss Army Knife of Genealogical Tools" with Amy Johnson Crow - this analogy is so true - completing a time line on ancestors and descendants too can be extremely useful in your research - you can really see what you have and what you don't have and what you still need to research and source. 

LUNCHEON: Genealogical Speakers Guild and International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (GSG/ISFHWE) - "From Texas with Love: Six Points for Spicing Up Your Family Stories"  1)Be a Storyteller; 2) Build the Stories from the Records; 3) Every Record Tells a Story; 4) Set the Stage;  5) Illustrate It; 6) Preserve it Now-  easy steps to follow 


I went to the Exhibit Hall right after lunch and took a demo class from Lisa Louise Cooke  "Tech Tools for Newspapers - full length one hour session..........  very good. She just makes it all come alive and so much easier ..........  OK OK I will try again using her hints and strategies. 







"Tap Your Inner Private Eye: Eight Strategies You Need to Find Living Relatives" Lisa Louise Cooke. A lot of fun and very interesting. I really need to find living cousins and now I have a guide to help me. 

"Social  History and Genealogy: Writing Family Narrative" with Diane VanSkiver Gagel- Diane ran through the steps to help write those stories down. 

This was an excellent conference and one that I have enjoyed thoroughly except for the weather and they do not have control over that. 


Reminder that registration is open for the 2015 RootsTech/FGS Conference in Salt Lake City February 11-14, 2015. Contact:  FGS Conference  The earliest bird special is $139- this will only last for about 10 days and then will go up to $159 and then to $189 and finally to $239. 

You can register with RootsTech or with FGS and if you want to take classes with the other conference you can purchase a 3 day pass (Thu-Sun) and take classes at both conference. Yes both conferences are being held together but separate at the same time. They will be sharing some things- keynote speakers, registration, exhibit hall-  but the classes will totally be separate. AND of course the added benefit and big draw is being able to research at the Salt Lake City Family History Center. I am sure that those hours will be extended like last year. 

Go early for the research and stay for the classes. 


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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Wild and Wooly "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference - Tribute to Chuck Knuthson

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


For those of you that didn't know Chuck Knuthson, well you missed quite a man, friend, member and researcher.  He was a very long time active member of Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society and held many positions on the board of directors. His last office was Programs and was also our delegate to the National Genealogical Conferences. (FGS & NGS)

Federation of Genealogical Societies writes: 




The Chuck Knuthson Memorial Lecture honors Chuck Knuthson who served the FGS Board of Trustees as a member, Vice President of Administration, and Treasurer. He was a friend to everyone he met in the genealogical community. A police captain by profession, Chuck also was a professional genealogist who researched for more than thirty years. Chuck's primary genealogical interests included German research and involving young people in family history.

The Rev. Dr. David McDonald, CG, will present the Chuck Knuthson Memorial Lecture at this year's FGS Conference. Rev. McDonald discusses why settlers came from Germanic Europe to Texas in "Germans to Texas".   

"I am honored to be presenting the Knuthson Memorial Lecture at FGS in San Antonio," said McDonald.  "Chuck's interest in Germanic genealogy is shared by so many researchers, and I am pleased to be able to extend Chuck's commitment to the field in this manner."



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Friday, August 29, 2014

Society Saturday -September Happenings at Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


What's happening for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Societies Members in September?
 The answer is PLENTY....  so get your calendar out and mark down the dates. Don't want you to miss anything....... Guests are always welcome.



4 September / Thursday 
Board Meeting
10am to noon
Sylvan Community Center
7521 Community Drive, Citrus Heights, California

4 September/ Thursday
Legacy Family Tree SIG
Family History Center
2745 Eastern Ave Sacramento, California
contact Center for details

5 September/ Friday
RC Extraction Meet UP
9am to noon
Center for Sacramento History
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento California
Contact Marilyn Ulbricht 
This is a busy group of members. Nothing difficult, handwriting may be a challenge but there is lots of help available. The more the better......... and lots more gets transcribed/extracted

11 September / Thursday
September General Meeting
6:15pm Backblaze downloading time
7pm General Meeting - Backblaze- online backup
Christ Community Church
5025 Manzanita Ave, Carmichael, California
Any member bringing their laptop to the meeting (6:15pm) will be able to have the Backblaze online backup program downloaded to their laptop. It is free for 3 months. Try it you might like it. Check it out ahead of time and come with your questions and comments.

12 September / Friday
RC Extraction Meet UP
9am to noon
Center for Sacramento History
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento California
Contact Marilyn Ulbricht 
This is a busy group of members. Nothing difficult, handwriting may be a challenge but there is lots of help available. The more the better......... and lots more gets transcribed/

17 September/ Wednesday
Root Cellar SGS's Daytime Workshop
1pm to 3pm
Sylvan Community Center
7521 Community Ave ,  Citrus Heights, California
Bring your finds and your brickwalls.........  let's see what you have doing allllll summer. 

17 September/ Wednesday
Roots Magic SIG  12:30p - 2pm
Family History Center
2745 Eastern Ave, Sacramento, California

19 September/ Friday 

RC Extraction Meet UP
9am to noon
Center for Sacramento History
551 Pacific Blvd, Sacramento California
Contact Marilyn Ulbricht 
This is a busy group of members. Nothing difficult, handwriting may be a challenge but there is lots of help available. The more the better......... and lots more gets transcribed/

24 September/ Wednesday (4th Wednesday)
Reunion for MAC SIG- 10:30am - 12:30pm
Family History Center
2745 Eastern Ave, Sacramento, California

Mark your calendar, We hope that we see you during the month.


26 September/ Friday 
RC Extraction Meet UP
9am to noon
Center for Sacramento History
551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento California
Contact Marilyn Ulbricht 
This is a busy group of members. Nothing difficult, handwriting may be a challenge but there is lots of help available. The more the better......... and lots more gets transcribed



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Wild and Wooly "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference - Day 2

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


These are the classes I attended today......  wow what a long day but very rewarding......        the evening program was the best! 

"How to Overcome Brickwalls in German American Research" with Michael Lacopo

"The Structure of Organized Genealogy in Germany" with Dirk Weissleder


LUNCHEON:: International Society fro British Genealogy and Family History - "The Messages our Ancestors Leave Behind" with Paul Milner- the end tale is don't forget to tell the family stories because if you don't, your stories will disappear.


"Identifying Immigrant Origins" with Karen Matheson

"Doing English Genealogy in an Internet World: A Case Study" with Dean Hunter

 A Night in Old San Antonio........... sponsored by Ancestry in conjunction with Dell and Lexmark. A  festive evening filled with fun, costumed characters, food and music in the historical art village of La Villita on the banks of the San Antonio River. Mariachis on the plaza- traditional music and folkloric dancing. The San Antonio Conservation Society only hosts 10 of these evenings each year, so we were very fortunate. We enjoyed the "Niosita"(this was a scaled down version of their annual fiesta presentation "A Night in Old San Antonio") There was a huge Mexican buffet. HOT and HUMID  -93 degress- even when leaving close to 10pm) We were all very thankful to have air-conditioned motor coach to take us to and from La Villita. I took lots pictures and a couple of videos........ I hope you enjoy them. 


Great handmade Mexican food made right in front of us.......  homemade GREAT!1






Music - lots of  great music of all kinds. Here we have couples two stepping while others are doing a line dance.............  so much fun.




















 Josh Taylor (President of FGS and our Spring Seminar 2015 presenter)  was declared the Mayor of  La Villita.



















Another great gift - I could have used this starting last Tuesday when I arrived.....  a great fan and then it folds up into its own case and fits in your pocket or purse. Thank You. 




Just too much to share with you but you get the idea. This last video is of the dancers and 3 people out of the audience. They had a lot of fun and so did we.  



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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Wild & Wooly "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference -Glance at Exhibit Hall

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


Exhibit Hall opened this morning after the Opening Presentation.......... and they came, pouring in by the hundreds....... I walked around the whole hall first and then went back to certain tables. 

There are always contests and challenges, demo's and specials to think about. Here we go



Large area as you walk in on the right for the FGS area...........  this year they have a couple of large couches and several comfy chairs for people to relax in. 



 .........and here is Root Cellar SGS presentation for our September Meeting. Hope to see you all there.
This is a very good and reliable online backup system. Members who bring their laptops to the September Meeting will be able to upload the program and use it free for 3 months. Great Offer and Great Deal!!



Remember those days last year where a lot of you contributed to this digitizing project. Thank you for your generosity and support. YES they are still collecting .....  it is a large undertaking and one that costs quite a bit. They can always use your help once again. Think about it.  Preserve the Pension


There is a large area on the left as you walk into the Exhibit Hall devoted to FGS Societies. Lots of great material being offered and prizes too. Denise, and I had a table at the Society Day at the Jamboree in Burbank. Maybe we can do it again next year in Salt Lake City.........



A new guy on the block........ JPASS -  you're always at the library. I signed up for a free trial, why not!  So here is a little on this: For nearly two decades, JSTOR has been a trusted digital resource for libraries and institutions of higher learning, worldwide. Now, JPASS allows individual 24/7 access to this expansive collection of global knowledge that was previously only available through institutional memberships .JPASS give you personal access to: 1,700+ journals; 7+ million articles; 900+publishers from 167 countries; 300+ years of content. For more information-  JPASS  $19.50/month or $199/year

FGS and RootsTech Conferences 2015 "Connect Explore, Refresh" announced the dates Feb 11-14, 2015 in Salt Lake City.  Registration is open Friday August 29....... for more information:  FGS Conference  Early bird special for the next 10 days $139 plus a pass to RootsTech for under$40. - almost two for one conference

FGS 2015 Alaskan Cruise  August 28 - September 4, 2015 - 7 nights aboard royal Caribbean's luxurious Jewel of the Seas. Round trip sailing from Seattle, Washington. Featuring Elizabeth Shown Mills, D Joshua Taylor, David Rencher, and Judy G Russell.for more information: FGS    

Find My Past  - save now on 12 month subscriptions......... Visit  Find My Past, register, and follow the subscribe link. Enter the promotional code EXPLORE and click apply to save 10% on any 12 month subscription.

Mocavo, a findmypast company......... 1st month FREE

Have you been using US Gen Web for your research and help? If not you should try it out. Some states and counties have more resource than others -reminder it is run totally by volunteers. The US GenWeb Project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide internet websites for genealogical research in every county and state of the United States. The US GenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level.  Check out US Gen Web Archives building a Digital Library for genealogists. AND US Gen Web Tombstone Transcription Project - preserving a record of today's gravestones,   

See you tomorrow, Nite!


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Wild & Wooly "GONE TO TEXAS" - FGS Conference - day 1

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


Slept good last night, up early and ready  to go (barely) for Day 1 of FGS Conference........... GOOD GRIEF it is still dark outside with the night lights still on........ when does the sun come up here? AND to top it off it is already in the 90's and very humid.











Attended a Find My Past VIP Society Leadership Breakfast.........  it was very well attended, can't believe that there are that many early birds. YUCK!  












Look at the wonderful thank you gift from Find My Past & Mocavo. It is a cell phone stand and charger.                                  Nice! Really nice! Thank you!


Opening Plenary Session -  "Riders on the Orphan Trains"........... with Phillip Lancaster and Alison Moore. It is all about the largest child migration in history. Between 1854 and 1929 over 250,000 orphans and unwanted children were taken out of New York City and given away at train stations across America. Children were sent to every state in the continental United States; the last train went to Sulphur Springs, Texas in 1929. This was a multi-media program with live music, a video montage with archival photographs and a great reading from the novel, "Riders on the Orphan Train"- EXCELLENT

Exhibit Hall opened this morning and I have sessions but I do have an hour so in I went............ More later


"Don't Call Your Relatives, Let Them Call You",  with Marian Pierre Louis. Mostly Social Media. Getting your surnames out there and seeing who replies back.........  hopefully cousins.

LUNCHEON: " Effective Search Techniques and Sourcing Your Conclusions on FamilySearch,org with Robert Kehrer.  This was a box lunch luncheon and done very well, with fresh tasting good sized sandwiches, chips, cookie and bottle of water ($12)......  can't beat it!  Very interesting presentation, Several good tips for searching through FamilySearch Trees.

"Discovering Female Ancestors" with Melissa Tennant -just reenforced what I already know to do. I guess I need to get back to basics and list out the brickwall women, list out all the titles they have (mother, daughter, sister etc) and list out all the localities that she may have been too, put the two lists together and go from there.

 "Dead Man Talking - Using Probate/ Estates to Solve Problems" with Teri Flack-just interesting and hearing the subject from a totally new person. I understand it a little bit better now.

"Before Crossing the Ocean" with Melissa Tennant- this is really getting back to basics, reviewing all my existing documents, making sure I have gleamed all I can from them. Review what I still need to find before jumping the pond to the British Isles and Germany. Not sure where else to look for my Germany ancestors since you do need to know the exact city/town/village/parish in order to start looking in Germany........  all I have is Bavaria and Hesse Darmstadt. That is it!!

Long day, and it is still HOT and HUMID. I am relaxing in the lounge in the hotel where it is cool.



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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wild & Wooly Wednesday "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference - Society Day

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward






Conference begins for me today.........FGS offers Society Day each year and they do an excellent job, Each year they offer new material. The only other conference that I have attended that offers a similar day is the Southern California Genealogical Society at their. Jamboree-they have done an excellent job also. At both conferences these series of Society classes are offered free. Thank You!!
 it is Society Day.......

You know me, I am a proud Root Cellar SGS member, wearing my Root Cellar SGS t-shirt, my name badge & swingers plus carrying my tote bag.......I am ready for Society Day. Again I had people asking me about the name badge  & swingers. They want to know where to get them, unfortunately I don't remember and I don't think it is on the website, They have always been a great ice breaker.

Opening Remarks, and all sessions including the luncheon is geared towards societies, society leaders, and anyone interested in learning more about society  - lots of ways of helping or getting more involved.

Josh Taylor (Root Cellar SGS 2015 Spring Seminar speaker)  gave the Welcoming remarks on Focus on Societies.

The rest of the morning was Strong Business Strategy= Sound Society Strategy with David Rencher and Ed Donakey. In the half day session we talked about understanding the need to plan sources of income/expenditures, understanding the cost of every great idea, working through social media constructs, forecasting results based on plans, embracing the written plan, supporting your society and leaving it better than you found it,

LUNCHEON: Focus on Societies - The State of Our Societies with Josh Taylor and others. FGS held its Annual Business Meeting - required. Then they held a Society Shout-Out........  Society leaders got up and let others know what their society is up too - the good and bad. The bad thing is only about 10 people got to speak and unfortunately it wasn't me........  I tried but didn't get picked.
Survey was taken and here are some of the results: 48 US states are members of FGS plus Canada, , Virgin Islands, Ireland, & now New Zealand, (Maine and West Virginia are the missing states); the average FGS society has 345 members; 34 % increased their membership over the year; 20%  membership decreased; 35% membership remained the same; 81% renewal rate; 40 new members
per society this year. 20% of the FGS societies have a first family/first settler program; 58% of societies in this program remained the same - 27 applications yearly. Library- 50% of FGS societies with libraries partner with other organizations (other library's, city & county organizations ); 23% rent or own their library building; 26%have NO library , Publications: 88% have a public newsletter; 65% have electronic or postal publication, 20% electronic publications only, 15% paper publications, 64% of growing societies offered only electronic publications. Josh concludes that Societies are stronger than ever but it is just more challenging.
.
Embracing Technology: Tools You Can Use Today to Move Your into the Virtual Space with panelists Jen Baldwin, Josh Taylor, David Rencher, Rory Cathcart,  Cindi E.  These people have created a totally virtual genealogical network called NextGen Genealogical Network. There are over 1500 followers and about 100 paid members but it is growing quickly, They do everything in  virtual world. They use Google+ hangout on air, google drive, dropbox, facebook and others. This seems to be the way of the future........  board meetings could be held in the virtual world. I am finding that a lot of societies large (FGS & IGS) and small hold their board meetings in the virtual world. A lot of committee meetings are being held in the virtual world also. It really is something to think about......  it could be that more members might participate.

"Dinner in a Cemetery or Dinner with the "Dead" with Mark Lowe (remember him from a couple of the Who Do You Think You Are?  shows) ......... all about fun, finding the people and their history and using it to educate the public and maybe a fundraiser. It is different but not totally crazy. I think it would be a fun project and possibly an ongoing project.

"Virtual Presentations for Genealogical Societies" with our friend Thomas MacEntee.......  we learned how we can expand our genealogy speaking opportunities to virtual presentations from the comfort of your home or for your members only- webinar's .........Go to Webinar and Go to Meeting are tied together when you make a purchase.Thomas says that the Illinois Genealogical Society has doubled their membership since they have started their webinar program. Always an interesting idea to keep membership and to increase their membership.


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Wild Wednesday "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

Tuesday continuation...................

Tuesday evening I attended FamilySearch Media Dinner Gathering. FamilySearch has sponsored this blogger/media dinner for a number of years and is held the night before the Conference begins.This gives FamilySearch an opportunity to talk to the media/blogger group one on one, letting them know what is new, what is coming, what is in the works.



David Rencher spoke about FamilySearch Family Tree. Dan Call gave us an a look at last years RootsTech2014 and a look ahead at RootsTech 2015.There were 5250 paid attendees in 2014 and then the count goes way up with all the special events - Kid's Day, LDS Training and others. The dates for 2015 are February 12-14 & the Innovator Summit February 11. 

REGISTRATION OPENS AUGUST 29 @ $139 (lowest price for about two weeks and then it will go up). So if you are considering attending do it on the 29 August or within 2 weeks of that, As you may know or not, 2015 RootsTech and FGS Conference are both being held at the same time, in the same place.They will be sharing the Exhibit Hall, registration and some other things but it will be separate conferences ........one technology for genealogy and one strictly genealogy sessions.You can register for one or the other OR you can register for one and pay a little extra for a 3 day pass to the other.

Bryce Roper  manager for Family Tree spoke about the FamilySearchTree and FamilySearch Memories mobile apps. FSTree is ready and is great for doing research on the go. If you have a family tree on FamilySearch Tree the app allows you to access it, but it does a lot more than that. FS Memories mobile app deals with pictures and other things. The android app will be ready very soon. I have not downloaded either one so I can't tell you much more but it looks very good.

Robert Kehrer went wild and did a live presentation and it worked. Q&A was good and lively.


We sure appreciate their insights and all the behind the scene stories. The evening was very
well attended. Dinner was very good........  thank you for the nice gift
(travel trio- adaptor, charger and case)

My Heritage sponsored the blogging beads for this years conference  colorful beads with larger cowboy boots and cactus, Very appropriate for Texas............  thank you Mark.


Now it is time to walk back to the hotel, when suddenly thunder, more thunder and then a down pouring of rain...... very unexpected!  It is bad enough that it is still up in the upper nineties- now it is raining and making it so sticky and humid. Oh! a break, so I took off and barely up the street and it continues to rain......
...... I kept going-- rain, humidity and all.........  finally made it to the hotel soaked - my sandals were soggy, shirt is totally wet and hair dripping..... .I am sure I was quite a scary site.

A nice and to bed............  it has been a long day and I need sleep. 7am comes around much too quickly...... nite! ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!


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Travel Tuesday "Gone to Texas" FGS Conference Tuesday August 26, 2014

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

Off to FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) Conference in San Antonio Texas.  Tuesday August 26- Up at O dark hundred this morning and off to Las Vegas first and then onto final destination of San Antonio Texas and the Marriott Riverwalk Hotel.

As I said I am staying at the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk Hotel..... by the way my room is on the 23rd floor  (out of 30 floors) overlooking the riverwalk, the river and foresty area with the city of San Antonio in the background. I can observe all of this from my wicker chair on my huge outside balcony. AND yes it would be very nice if it wasn't sooooooooooo hot and humid, so I watch from the inside of my air conditioned room through the glass, best I can do at the moment. The temperature today is 98 and I believe the humidity level is the same, HOT much too humid or hot for me. I know I know I live in Sacramento and it is hot there too but DRY not humid.



The Henry B Gonzales Convention Center is directly across the street on the other side of the hotel. Beautiful building and very large, We were able to pick up our packets at registration Tuesday evening 3-7p. I had forgotten that Tuesday is Librarian Day so there were a lot of people who already attended a day of conference as the rest of us are just arriving. Lois I thought about you when I was visiting with some of the Library attendees.  

Nice bag sponsored by FIND MY PAST with all sorts of goodies, papers and promises of help & resources. The catch phrase is "Gone to Texas" and you can't get too much further into Texas than here.


So now that I have my bag, name tag & tickets for various events, packet of goodies and now that I feel a little more organized and of course cooled down quite a bit......  I am off to a dinner presentation sponsored by FamilySearch for the blogger and media community. Free food/dinner is always good. 


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Sunday, August 17, 2014

Sunday's Obituary - What Will You Include in Your Obituary?

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

What will you include in your obituary? 
What do you want family and friends to know about you? 
What do you want future family to know about you? 

Have you written a draft of your obituary? 
NO! Why not? 

I have mine written my obituary and update it from time to time and tweek it too..........  what is important today may not be important to me a year or two from now.

I am including my dad's obituary ...... he wrote it, continued to update it and then I finalized it. It is a lengthy obituary and I wanted a picture with it so it became even longer. NOT FREE either like it use to be for a community corner in the newspapers.


In Roseville, CA, Feburary 7, 2006, 9:20pm, born August 17, 1917 in Alliance, Ohio, age 88. Resident of Roseville, CA, and a long time California resident, 1957. Survived by his wife of 63 years, Mary Jane (Little) Gardner. Loving father of Sandra Lee Aberle-Benward & son-in-law Charles David Benward of Citrus Heights, CA and Robert Michael Gardner and daughter-in-law Nancie Grogan of Castro Valley, CA, 3 grandchildren, Michael John Aberle & his wife of Kristi Athena Aberle of Galt, CA, Jason Gardner Aberle of Roseville CA & Kimberly Ann Sheffield of San Lorenzo, CA. One great granddaughter, Ashlyn Makayla Aberle of Galt, CA. Son of John Patterson and Margaret Evelyn (Branfield) Gardner formerly of Alliance, OH, Del Ray Beach, FL and San Carlos, CA; Brother of Lois Ann Seidner and brother-in-law Richard John Seidner of Surprise, AZ and brother of Vancil Roy Gardner (deceased) of Alliance, OH. Graduated from Beaver Senior High School, Beaver, PA in 1935; attended Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh, PA. He served with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 135th Field Artillery Regiment, 37th Division, Ohio National Guard prior to World War II, Attended Officer Candidate School #23 at Ft Benning, Georgia, 1942. Served with the 385th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division during World War II; Army of Occupation in Germany with 33rd Field Artillery Battalion 1st Infantry Division, 867th Field Artillery Battalion (280mm Gun); Korean Military Assistance Group (KMAG) as Artillery Advisor to II Corps Artillery (Korea); attended military schools at Fort Monroe, VA, Fort Lee, VA, Fort Sill, OK, & Fort Bliss, TX. He retired from military service in 1962 at Fort Winfield Scott, Presidio of San Francisco, CA in the grade of Lieutenant Colonel, Artillery, after serving with the San Francisco-Travis Air Defense Command. Awarded the Expert and Combat Infantry Badge, awarded the Bronze Star Medal twice, the Commendation Ribbon with Medal Pendant. Retired from San Mateo County Assessor's Office in 1977 and El Dorado County Assessor's Office in 1983. Life member of the Military Officers Association of America, life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7889, life member of Disabled American Veterans, life member of National Association for Uniformed Services, member of the 76th Infantry Division Association. At Lieutenant Colonel Gardner's request, no services will be held. He was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and a friend to one and all. He will be interned in Arlington Military Cemetery, Wash DC. The family requests that any remembrances be made to the American Cancer Society.

Published in the Sacramento Bee [Sacramento, California] on 2/12/2006. 


I am impressed about how much information and details are in this obituary. I am grateful for the details and hopefully if someone is searching for information about him in the future they will find his obituary and know a lot more about him.

How about you? Write a draft first and then put it in order. Let someone else know that this is available and where. 


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Saturday, August 9, 2014

Society Saturday - HOT off the Press!!!! Sheriff's Mug Book

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward




Hot off the Press!!!  


Another completed publication for sale  ($25). Root Cellar's extraction committee has another winner. Really interesting extraction , some are lifers, some with multiple offenses, some have been to many jails, notice the hat- we think it is the same hat on each person. If it wasn't so sad it would be funny. 

A very big thank you to Marilyn Ulbricht, our fearless chair. She is very dedicated to getting this type of information out to the public. She has an amazing group of members behind her - you can find them every Friday morning (9-noon) down at the Center for Sacramento History hard at work..........  thank you to all for their dedication. I know Marilyn always welcomes members to come down and experience the excitement of the finds and the completion of another book.  . 








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Friday, August 8, 2014

Follow Friday - AncestryDNA Kits Discounted

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

Yes, it is true, AncestryDNA Kits are discounted 20% ($79) good through August 27th. 

AncestryDNA has launched a new price promotion: $79 AncestryDNA, a 20% discount. The offer will be running until Aug 27, 2014, 9pm PST.    
 
Take advantage of this great offer now.........  and isn't this convenient for our Daytime Workshop DNA Series given by Jim Radar. (next: August 20 Wednesday) Root Cellar Ramblings Blog

Click on the AncestryDNA icon on the right panel.................

 

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Saturday, August 2, 2014

Society Saturday - Reminders! Reminders!






 
Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward





BIG reminder especially for our newer members 

There is NO general meeting in August
.....continue to travel, research and enjoy the summer
See you in September

However............ mark your calendar

and don't forget about the 
Root Cellar SGS's Daytime Workshop

Wednesday  20 August 2014 -part 3 (see below for more)
1pm - 3pm 

Sylvan Community Center
7521 Community Drive, Citrus Heights, California

Special Summer Series (turning into the rest of the year series) continues with Jim Radar and DNA - YEA!!!!

What a great opportunity to learn about this DNA thing. Ask your questions and get answers. Decide whether you want to take the test. And then do it. If you have the results (or are waiting for them) find out what is next? What does it mean?

Jim sent me this schedule for the remainder of the year.......  so I hope that you all will take advantage and come and learn.............

Aug 2014 - What do you get from an Autosomal test at each of the big 3 companies                          Intro to 3rd party tools 23 and Me
Sept 2014 – Advanced SNP Y-DNA tests (Big-Y, Geno 2.0, Chromo2,  Full Genome Y-DNA                        http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Y-DNA_SNP_testing_chart
                  -3rd party tools from GEDmatch  http://www.gedmatch.com

Oct 2014 - Y-STR Y chromosome DNA tests Y-STR testing                                                              http://isogg.org/wiki/Y-DNA_STR_testing_chart
                 – more 3rd party tools 


Nov 2014 - working with a course designed to help people get started using Autosomal DNA results http://moodle.dnagedcom.com/


I will be there hanging on every word, YES, I am a novice when it comes to DNA and what to do with the results and I want to know what I have, and what to do with it. Thanks Jim.


Shop and Support Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society.
Click here for details.