2014 – A Very Busy Year, A Very Good Year, So Far

As you can see from the schedule, my year began at a slow pace. Then it grew faster and faster and finally in April was at a non-stop pace.   Actually, I wondered if I could do it, but I intended to find out.  Now that the last commitment is completed, I know the answer. I could, and I did, do it.

Yesterday, Saturday, April 26, 2014, I was honored to be a part of the First Annual Family History Fair sponsored and hosted by the Loveland Colorado LDS Stake. It was huge, with three hundred people attending.  From 9am to 5pm classes and lunch was provided by these wonderful people.  The subject was of course, family history.       

I presented two program/classes.  They were “Not Your Grandmother’s Genealogy” and “On the Trails of Our Ancestors”.  It was fun and the attendees were terrific.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day of presenting and also of the opportunity to attend other classes.  And mixing and visiting with other genealogists just can’t be beat.

But to recap the year leading up to this day, I would like to share the other programs and lessons I have written, prepared and presented.

January 6 -  At the Fort Collins Civil War Roundtable I presented the program The Boys In Blue – the GAR  It was fun and well received. Jeff and Judy Ryder brought GAR memorabilia they have collected to show the group. The January weather was cold but sunny.

January 9 – The Fort Collins Family History Center Inservice Lesson to staff members is done quarterly and this was the start of 2014.  The subject of my lesson was The Family History Library Online Catalog.  This was the second in my series of lesson about FamilySearch.org. The first lesson was FamilySearch Historical Books and  the FamilySearch Wiki.  This evening was a bitter, cold, snowy and icy January night.  We had a packed room though, so it reached  many people.

February 20 – At the Larimer County Genealogical Society I was happy to present the program to kick off our 2014 year.  It was titled, On The Trails Of Our Ancestors. It was a fun program I prepared about migration trails.  It was fun to present it and it was fun to get comments after the program. This meeting was held at our old favorite place, the Harmony Library at Shields Street and Harmony Road.  It was the first program to be taped for showing after the meeting to our members via a special link to the Internet.

February 22 – Two days later, I taught the class Introduction to Genealogy at the Loveland Public Library.  It was a packed room for sure. Thirty eight  people signed in on that wintery February morning. It was perfect for me because I like a packed house.  Everything worked fine, and that is the biggest anxiety (next to the weather). That all of the equipment will work and run smooth.  My friend at the Library, Bobbi, treated us to nice treats and helped get the room going good.  George Morgan was there to help sign in folks and get them seated.  I stopped at Heartland and ate lunch before I headed home to Fort Collins. A very good day.

March 18 – I was happy to give my DAR chapter the program for this meeting.  It was the same as the CWRT in January, The Boys in Blue .  It was fun and the ladies seemed to enjoy it. 

March 22 – Four days later, I was privileged to teach a class, Land of Plenty, with my good friend, Ceil Damschroder.  We had a good time and things went very well. We had twenty eight people attend the class.  Ceil did her part with an overhead projector and I did mine with Power Point.  I started and Ceil did the middle and I did the ending session.  It was a good exercise in collaborating with another person to prepare.  I am used to doing as I please, so it was interesting.  Ceil is absolutely the land record expert in our Genealogical  Society.  The weather co-operated and the attendees were very interested in the subject.

April 5 – On this Saturday, I taught Intermediate Genealogy in a brand new place.  We have never used the Council Tree Library for any of our classes.  It is a beautiful room and the equipment worked perfectly (always a bonus to me).  There were no tables and chairs set up so everyone, attendees, as well as us from the Society, got busy setting things up. Fortunately, they have light tables on wheels so it isn’t heavy lifting. It was a good class.  Some mis-communication between the Education Committee and the Library caused them to expect us to end and clear out earlier than we thought we had to, but it all worked out.  I talked faster and skipped the 2nd break. I have to say, the Loveland Library has me spoiled.

April 10 - The second of the 4 quarterly lessons at the Fort Collins Family History Center Inservice was held this evening. It was the last of my lessons about FamilySearch.org.  It covered all of the fabulous new features -- but showing how to find some old favorites. As always, it was a good evening with good interaction and questions from the group.  Although, I am begining to wonder if the draw is the lesson or the home made cookies the director always brings. Hmmm so good.  It is always fun though. 

April 19 – Nearing the end of this busiest of all months, I did the Intermediate Genealogy class again at the Clearview Library in Windsor. This was a much smaller class but the best attendees/people in the world.  Sometimes smaller is more fun because we get to know each other and there is a lot of interaction. This Library was superb to teach in.  The room is so very nice and the equipment behaved.  The Library provided snacks and a very comfortable environment.

And this brings me up to April 26 which is where I started.  Need I tell you, I feel life is beautiful – especially when you are enjoying it.

I still have a few things scheduled for 2014, but I feel I can now do some of my personal goals.  Things like getting back to my Ohio Ancestors, taking my trip to Illinois, working on my brick walls, all fun stuff. 

I am sorry to report that I also lost my newest friend yesterday.  Mary Z died early in the morning April 26. We were the same age.  We had not known each other for a year, but the time we did know each other was a deep friendship that I will miss until we meet again.  Bon voyage, Mary Z.