~by Valerie Ogren for the Greene County Genealogical Society
Meeting notice: The Greene County Genealogical Society will have its annual “Christmas in July” gathering at noon on Saturday, July 2, at the Uptown Cafe meeting room. Lunch will be Dutch treat from the menu. Guests and other family members are certainly welcome. Please bring items or cash donations for the Greene County Christian Action Resource Center (food pantry).
4th of July: While enjoying your weekend, take a while to ponder what the holiday means and pay homage to our ancestors who fought for our independence.
D.A.R. applications: If you have an ancestor who was in the Revolutionary War, maybe you are interested in joining the Daughters of the Revolution. Requirements are a little more relaxed than they used to be and proof is easier to obtain. They will now accept non-certified vital records, which brings the cost down a bit. Also, if another family member joined years ago, you only need to prove relationship back to that person instead of all the way back to the Revolutionary War veteran. Need help? Contact us. [Hmmmm. I wonder what I did with my application? I have all the information, all I need to do is fill it out. Maybe this will inspire me.]
Save the date: The IGS 2016 fall conference will be Oct. 7-8 at Toad Valley Country Club in Pleasant Hill. Joshua Taylor will be the speaker. For more than 20 years Taylor has been discovering – and sharing – the incredible connections that can be made through genealogy and family history. As host of the popular series “Genealogy Roadshow” (PBS) he crisscrosses the United States solving longstanding family history mysteries and uncovering genealogical treasures at every turn. He is currently president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B), America’s second oldest genealogical organization, headquartered in New York City. To register for the 2016 IGS Fall Conference go to http://iowagenealogy.org/?page_id=5501
Reference library: The reference library will be open again regular hours, Saturday 9 am – noon and Wednesday from 1 – 4 pm. The shelves are full of material from other counties, states, countries, “how-to” books, and one complete section of family histories with Greene County connections which have been donated. They are just sitting there waiting to help you find your roots. Ada and Arlene are waiting for you, too. If you have relatives visiting this summer, contact Arlene Johnson at 515-386-5431 to arrange for an appointment at a different time.
Contact us: Our web page is located at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iagcgs/. Email us at gcgsiowa@hotmail.com or P O Box 133, Jefferson IA 50129-0133. If you have suggestions for this column, call me at 515-386-4784.
Addendum: I am in still in serious need of a volunteer with technical knowledge to help with the Society’s web page. I hate to relinquish control of our local page back to IAGenWeb, but that may be the only option if we can’t find someone. You don’t have to be interested in family history, but you do need to be knowledgeable about building a web page. Let me know if you are interested. vjogren@netins.net
