Volume 6, issue 9 may 2015 Past Times A Publication of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. President’s Message Dear Members, To say NERGC* was a success would be putting it mildly. About 960 attendees enjoyed the conference. Everywhere I turned, there was a MSOG member. Thank you so very much to all of you who volunteered your time, knowledge, and experience to help make the NERGC 2015 conference a success. I want to say a special thank you to Charlene Sokal, who chaired the MSOG booth, and to the following members who volunteered their time at the booth: Marge Armstrong, Donna Benoit, Marcelle Boulé, Diane BrooksSherry, June Butka, Sharon Casimiro, Cathy Cooper, Denise Driscoll, Margaret Fortier, Carol Gafford, Pat Gailes, Liz Grube, Pam Holland, Walt Howe, Diane Laferriere, Karen McCann, Paula Muggleton, Jan Murphy, Kathleen Rubano, Deborah Stewart, Hope Tillman, Karen Trearchis LR: Pat Gailes, Kathleen Rubano LR: Charlene Sokal, Pat Gailes, Seema Kenney, Denise Driscoll It was a fun place to meet and greet attendees. Our own members received special treatment with raffles, a MSOG Member ribbon, recognition, and camaraderie. Bristol Chapter members were lucky winners of the MSOG member raffles. Kathleen Rubano won an Ancestry.com World subscription, and Paula Muggleton won a subscription to Newspapers.org. Also, there was a special MSOG booth raffle for those who volunteered their time at the booth. The prizes were Family Tree Maker for the PC and the Mac. I want to extend a very special thank you on behalf of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc., to Ancestry.com for their generosity. Winners of these prizes are very happy people.
Transcript
Volume 6, issue 9 may 2015
Past Times
A Publication of the
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc.
President’s Message Dear Members, To say NERGC* was a success would be putting it mildly. About 960 attendees enjoyed the conference. Everywhere I turned, there was a MSOG member. Thank you so very much to all of you who volunteered your time, knowledge, and experience to help make the NERGC 2015 conference a success. I want to say a special thank you to Charlene Sokal, who chaired the MSOG booth, and to the following members who volunteered their time at the booth:
Marge Armstrong, Donna Benoit, Marcelle Boulé, Diane Brooks-‐Sherry, June Butka, Sharon Casimiro, Cathy Cooper, Denise Driscoll, Margaret Fortier, Carol Gafford, Pat Gailes, Liz Grube, Pam Holland, Walt Howe, Diane Laferriere, Karen McCann, Paula Muggleton, Jan Murphy, Kathleen Rubano, Deborah Stewart, Hope Tillman, Karen Trearchis
L-‐R: Pat Gailes, Kathleen Rubano L-‐R: Charlene Sokal, Pat Gailes, Seema Kenney, Denise Driscoll It was a fun place to meet and greet attendees. Our own members received special treatment with raffles, a MSOG Member ribbon, recognition, and camaraderie. Bristol Chapter members were lucky winners of the MSOG member raffles. Kathleen Rubano won an Ancestry.com World subscription, and Paula Muggleton won a subscription to Newspapers.org. Also, there was a special MSOG booth raffle for those who volunteered their time at the booth. The prizes were Family Tree Maker for the PC and the Mac. I want to extend a very special thank you on behalf of the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc., to Ancestry.com for their generosity. Winners of these prizes are very happy people.
Page 2 Past Times In addition to the MSOG booth, I want to thank the many MSOG members who volunteered their time to do those jobs that needed to be done before, during, and after the conference. Our MSOG NERGC delegates—Sharon Christenson, Margaret Fortier, and Seema-‐Jayne Kenney—were our ambassadors at NERGC Delegate meetings these past two years as we prepared for NERGC 2015. They kept us on track with the paperwork and commitments we needed to fulfill. In addition, they volunteered many hours prior to the conference chairing the preparations for various conference events, which they then saw through to a successful finish. Sharon chaired Librarians and Teachers Day. Seema chaired Technology Day and served as Chair of Evaluations. Margaret Fortier participated with Publicity and the Ancestors Road Show. There is no value that can be put on their commitment. It is with extreme pleasure that I learned that Seema, President of our Worcester Chapter, is going to serve as one of the Tri-‐Chairs for the 2017 NERGC Conference. She is serving with Dave Robison, a member of MSOG’s Worcester chapter and Vice President of Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society (WMGS), and Mary Ellen Grogan, President of Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC). I know that you join me in wishing Seema and her fellow chairs every success and that you will volunteer to help her when asked. To all of you who volunteered your time at NERGC, a thank you just doesn’t seem enough for all you did to help MSOG fulfill its participation agreement, especially since those hours helped to make the NERGC conference a success. At present, I’m waiting for a list of participants’ names from the NERGC Volunteer Committee that will be published in the next Past Times. We can all thank Seema-‐Jayne Kenney, Kathleen Rubano and the Bristol Chapter, and Karen Trearchis for all the wonderful prizes they donated for the MSOG raffles and the NERGC volunteer raffles. Our members are the best. Patricia Stano-‐Carpenter President *NERGC, New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Inc.
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. is celebrating 40 years as a genealogy society in 2015.
REMINDERS:
v Chapter elections will be held this month for all chapters! Elections are done by electronic ballot; a written ballot is available for those who do not use email.
v Our membership year ends in August. Renew early so you can relax and enjoy the summer weather.
v Don't miss the party! The Society celebrates 40 years at the Annual Meeting on November 7th.
v The Legacy QuickGuide is still available on the Society’s website.
v Download the MSOG logo to your Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
v Share your knowledge with others on the Society’s Facebook page.
v Add NERGC 2017 to your calendar. It will be held in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Volume 6, issue 9 may 2015
MIDDLESEX CHAPTER -- MAY 9 When: Saturday, May 9, 2015, 1:30PM Where: Acton Memorial Library What: Evernote vs. Zotero 486 Main Street Who: Denise Picard Lindgren Acton, MA
For more information, contact: Sharon Christenson, [email protected]
WORCESTER CHAPTER -- MAY 12
When: Tuesday, May 12, 2015, 7:00PM Where: Zion Lutheran Church What: Massachusetts Record Repositories 41 Whitmarsh Avenue Who: Michael Brophy Worcester, MA
For more information, contact: Seema-Jayne Kenney, [email protected]
MARTHA’S VINEYARD CHAPTER -- MAY 13
When: Wednesday, May 13, 2015, 7:00PM Where: Family History Center What: TBA Vineyard Haven Who: TBA
When: Saturday, May 30, 2015, 10:00AM Where: Massachusetts Historical Society What: Tour of the Massachusetts Historical Society 1154 Boylston St. Who: Members only Boston, MA
Do you have a family story you want to share or history that happened in Massachusetts? Contest Rules for the 2016 MASSOG Writing Contest will be in the next issue of MASSOG. All entries should be received no later than August 15, 2016.
A Great Idea Grows and Grows Worcester Chapter members had a great idea to foster collaboration and Pat McGrath created a spreadsheet so that Worcester Chapter members could see who had interest in common areas or ancestors. This effort impressed Hope Tillman, who added a copy of it to the website in 2009, and other chapters’ members began to add some of their research topics. However, members needed to send in their entries and the list had to be updated manually, which was cumbersome. Last fall, Hope transformed the list into an online database to allow members to enter and edit their own information. Anyone viewing the Surname Project can sort the list of entries by geographic area, surname, or chapter. Members’ emails were also included so if your interest overlapped with someone from across the state, you could reach out to them. More members have begun to enter some of their ancestral research and that connection has helped. Hope entered an ancestor from Rowley and another member directed her to a new publication from NEHGS that added details to her research. Most members have not yet created an entry for the Surname Project since it has only been fully functional for a few months. Add an entry or two of your own. With almost four hundred members and new resources being published weekly, a fellow MSOG member may hold the key to knocking down one of your brick walls. The success of any effort is a direct result of the participants. The Society is fortunate to have members who think creatively and are willing to share their ideas and work. If you have an idea for something that would help our members, share it. We never know when the next great idea might arrive.
Volume 6, issue 9 may 2015
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc.
Past Times Information • Past Times is published monthly (except for July & August) by the Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc.
Membership Information • The newsletter, Past Times, is on the MSOG website free to all. If you prefer to have Past Times mailed to you,
there is a $7.95 fee per year for the postal service. Members also receive free issues of MASSOG, free queries, participation in the Member’s Surname Project, and free attendance at the Annual Meeting.
• Membership is from September 1st to August 31st, with membership renewals due by July 1st. INDIVIDUAL dues are $25.00 per year; FAMILY dues are $30.00 per year. Membership applications received July 1st and thereafter will be applied to the following year’s membership.
• Membership choices are BR/Bristol, MVI/Martha’s Vineyard, MV/Merrimack Valley, MX/Middlesex, WR/Worcester.
• Chapter affiliation is at the complete discretion of the member, regardless of residence. (The membership application is on our website at http://www.msoginc.org.) Send your application and check to the treasurer or membership person of the chapter you wish to join. Addresses are below.
Delegates FGS (Federation of Genealogical Societies) Connie Reik [email protected]
MGC (Massachusetts Genealogical Council) Sharon Christenson [email protected] NERGC (New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Inc.)
Sharon Christenson, Seema-Jayne Kenney, Margaret Fortier [email protected]
Page 6 Past Times
Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc. P.O. Box 215 Ashland, MA 01721-0215
Help Needed From MSOG Long Term Members We have a few libraries that are interested in shelving copies of the Society's journal, MASSOG. In attempting to compile complete sets of this publication through 2009, we find that we are missing the issues listed in the table below. If you have any of these issues and are willing to return them to the Society for a library donation, please pass them on to your Chapter President.
YEAR ISSUE YEAR ISSUE
1976 2,3,4 1998 3
1978 1 1999 1, 3
1979 3,4 2001 3
1980 3, 4 2002 all
1982 4 2003 1
1983 2 2006 2
1987 2, 3 2007 2
1994 3 2009 1
1995 2 Your assistance is greatly appreciated and it will help others researching their Massachusetts roots! MSOG State Board
