May Program information

From Tony Young:

In May's program Rody Johnson will speak about two of his recent books: Different Battles and The Rise and Fall of Dodgertown. Different Battles is about local residents who rescued some crew from a vessel that was torpedoed by a German U-boat right off our coast! The second book tells of the fate of our baseball lore. This will be chance for folks to learn more of our wonderful and wild community. Here are the covers of the tales.

Upcoming FPAN Event Thurs. 4/22

(Click image to view it in full size)

Richard H Olney, 2000 president of IRGS, passed away April 17, 2010

Richard Henry Olney, President of the IRGS in 2000, passed away on April 17, 2010. He was 87 years old. At the request of the family, services will be at a later date. Click the title of this post to access the funeral home's web site for the most current details and to access the guest book.

Spring training

In honor of spring training and Dodgertown, the March "Society News" item on each web page at IRGS.org features the colors Dodger Blue (1E 90 FF) and Spring Green (00 FF 7F).

your Webmaster

NSDAR Genealogy Workshop

Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Subject: NSDAR Genealogy Workshop

This is a reminder about our Genealogy Workshop this Saturday. We need help to set up for the 10:30 meeting, so if you are able to help, please come at 9:30AM. (Bring extra pencils.)

Genealogy Workshop
Researching Your Revolutionary War Patriot Ancestor



Date: Saturday, March 6, 2010
Time: 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Place: Indian River County Main Library Media Room
Cost: Free
Contact: Joan Mercer 231-3854 or Mary Rogers 231-0713

Debie Duay, Ph.D. has over ten years of experience in genealogy. She is the Lineage Research Chairman for the Florida State Society DAR and the Registrar of the Lighthouse Point Chapter. Debbie has helped over 90 people join the DAR in the last 4 years.

NOTE: Not sponsored by the IRGS. This blog entry is provided as a courtesy to our members. Please check with the sponsoring organization for exact details and the most current information.

Member Share Tip - Feb 2010

Heard during the Member Share segment of the February 2010 meeting:

For someone who wants to preserve those old homemade movies or VHS tapes, you need video capture all-in-one device or a capture device, cable and software. Google: convert vhs to dvd for a variety of solutions.

Several companies package the software and cables: Magix "Rescue Your Videotapes" or Roxio "Easy VHS to DVD" [also does records]. There are also several video tutorials online. Here is one: http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Convert-Old-VHS-Tapes-to-DVD-75782271

submitted by Sandy McKenny

Member Share Tip - Jan 2010

Heard during the Member Share segment of the January 2010 meeting:

Sandy McKenny told us about a Roots Television segment from 2006, entitled "File not Found: Organizing your Computer," with Amy Johnson Crow. Click the link to play the video.

F&CHS march meeting

NOTE: Not sponsored by the IRGS. This blog entry is provided as a courtesy to our members. Please check with the sponsoring organization for exact details and the most current information.

GSSB March 10, 2010 meeting announcement

NOTE: Not sponsored by the IRGS. This blog entry is provided as a courtesy to our members. Please check with the sponsoring organization for exact details and the most current information.

Saving a Life - Your Family's Health History

From IRGS President Tom Garvey's December 2009 newsletter column:

[A] very interesting presentation was given by Donna Moughty at the Nov FSGS conference titled "Saving a Life - Your Family's Health History". If you recall, last month I talked about the emerging importance of Family Health and the natural tie-in with Family Genealogy. My message was to get your information now while older generations are still with us so we have it in the future. Donna showed us a Family Health Pedigree Chart. She pointed out that this was extremely useful in providing your family doctor with a visual snapshot of your medical background which is present in your genes. Granted, not all doctors have the background to understand or appreciate such a chart. BUT, particularly with the younger doctors, doctors with the understanding will be delighted with this information and will be better able to guide you to better health management.

Sounds interesting but how can we do it? The Department of Health and Human Services under the U.S. Surgeon General's History Initiative has a web site http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/ which walks you through creating your own Family Health Pedigree Chart. The information that you provide is not stored on line; it is only stored on your computer. This is a very sensitive issue with many people. You already have your genealogy pedigree chart so you have the people information. The web site has a list of 15 diseases with several sub divisions to help you put in the information. They have a different symbol for each disease which is then used to create your Family Health chart. It does take time but it seems very straight forward. Just go to the web site shown above and click on "My Family Health Portrait".

Let us know if this is of interest to you. If enough interest is shown, we will try to arrange a program with Donna Moughty. Donna is a fine lecturer and we had her last year talking about Irish Research. She has created her own family Health Pedigree Chart and has used it with her own doctor. As many of us are learning, the key to good health is finding the problem early. Many diseases follow family or regional lines.

TCGS Meeting 11/17, Elmer Spear

From TCGS via Suzy Bromwell:

Elmer Spear, founder of Elmer’s Genealogy Library in Madison, Florida, will be the speaker at the Tuesday, November 17, Treasure Coast Genealogical Society meeting at 1:30 PM at the St. Lucie County Main Library in downtown Fort Pierce. Elmer’s Genealogy Library will merge with the Huxford Genealogical Library in Homerville, George in early 2010. It will be named the Folks Huxford and Elmer Spear Genealogical Library, will be managed by the Huxford Genealogical Society and will be located at City Municipal Complex in Homerville, GA. Website address is www.huxford.com and telephone is 912-487-2310. Homerville is in southeast Clinch County, Georgia, between Waycross and Valdosta. After the merger, this new library will be the largest private genealogy library in southeastern United States. Elmer's is located in downtown Madison, FL, website address is www.elmerslibrary.com; email to research@elmerslibrary.com.

All TCGS meetings are open to the public. TCGS volunteers are at the St. Lucie County Main Library in downtown Fort Pierce from 9 AM to 3 PM every Tuesday to help patrons with their genealogical research.

For more information, contact tcgsociety@gmail.com or lindahudsonbailey@yahoo.com or 772-467-1246.

NOTE: Not sponsored by the IRGS. This posting is provided as a courtesy to our members. Please check with the sponsoring organization for exact details and current information.

F&CHS October Meeting

GSSB October membership meeting

reCAPTCHA

IRGS is now adding reCAPTCHA code to our Web site as a spam protection measure.

What is reCAPTCHA? You have probably encountered the process while using the Internet and probably didn't know the phrase. In simple terms, a CAPTCHA is a picture with a text box and you are asked to type the word or phrase you see into the text box before you are allowed to proceed. The idea is to add a challenge that a human can solve much better than a machine to stop the "bots" (roBOT code that scans the Internet looking for email addresses, places where spammers can insert a link, etc.)

This process has been around for a while and now someone came up with the great idea of having our interpretation actually accomplish something beyond just filtering man from machine. The reCAPTCHA program is using images from digitizing projects to get us to help with the transcription process. Currently, the project is digitizing old copies of the New York Times and certainly we know what that means to the genealogical community! Keep that in mind the next time you are fussing and fuming about having to decypher a blurry word - you might just be transcribing the key to breaking through one of your brick walls!

Of course that is a very simplified explanation and if you want to learn more, visit http://recaptcha.net/learnmore.html and see what the project is all about.

IRGS Announces its Online Surname Registry

The Indian River Genealogical Society, Inc. announces the availability of its online Surname Registry to the general public. The registry contains over 550 entries of surnames being researched by members of the IRGS and is available to the general public at the Society's Web site: irgs.org

The list may be browsed alphabetically or searched using your browser's search feature. Each entry has an associated link that leads to a query form that will be dispatched in private to the member associated with the entry. The method works for members who have email accounts and for our non-computing members.

With the wonderful facility at the Vero Beach Main Library, you can be sure the IRGS members have some well-researched information to share and we hope this facility will lead to some meaningful data exchanges.

Members of the IRGS may submit an additional 5 surname entries with their 2010 membership application and renewal time is here. New members joining in 2009 will automatically have their membership extended through Dec 2010 so don't delay, join today. See the IRGS Web site for membership information: irgs.org

Number 9, number 9 ...

More fun with dates; numerologists take note:

Coming up in a few short days is 09:09:09 09/09/09

BGS September meeting

BREVARD GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

JOHN WHITNEY, SPEAKER

SEARCHING FOR RECORDS IN THE LDS LIBRARY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

9:30 A. M., Room 1

Central Brevard Library

308 Forrest Avenue

Cocoa, Florida

Visitors are welcome.

IRGS Fall program press release

Indian River Genealogical Society

P.O. Box 1850

Vero Beach, FL 32961

www.irgs.org

PRESS RELEASE

The Board of Directors of the Indian River Genealogical Society is happy to announce its schedule of programs for fall 2009.

September 16 – “How to do German Research”

October 13 – “Using Memorabilia, Artifacts and Heirlooms to Tell Your Family Story”

November 10 – “In Deed”, property records research

December 8 – “Compare Software”, for researching and storing genealogy information

All general meetings of the IRGS are free and open to the public. The society holds its general meetings at 9:30 AM in the large first floor meeting room of the Indian River County Main Library, 1600 21st Street, Vero Beach. With the exception of September’s meeting (that was scheduled to accommodate Labor Day weekend travelers), all general meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month.

Visitors, whether novice or experienced researchers or just inquisitive about genealogy, are encouraged to attend meetings. Membership dues are $25 a year. For more information about IRGS, please check our website: www.irgs.org. It contains newsletters and announcements of upcoming events.

Since its founding in 1983, IRGS members have published two books: one listing the county’s cemeteries and the other, a local best seller, depicting Indian River County in vintage postcards. Each year the society hosts its Valentines Seminar featuring a noted genealogist and, throughout the year, members volunteer to help others with their families’ histories. Plus, the society provides numerous classes for beginning genealogy researchers. Please join us at a meeting soon!

Suzy Bromwell, Public Relations Chair

sbromwell@gmail.com

IRGS Fact Sheet

A one page IRGS Fact Sheet has been added to our new About Us page on the Web site. Download and print a copy or two, keeping them handy for the next time someone asks you about our society. Bring along a membership form too and help us grow!

Nancy Sieck dedication ceremony, 9/13/09

To all,

The dedication ceremony to honor Nancy C. Sieck is scheduled for Sunday, 13 September 2009 at 4:30 P.M. in the Titusville Library. Naming of the Genealogy area as a memorial to Nancy and the display of her plaque will be part of the activities.

Additional information will be provided as obtained.

Patrick Bowers