THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –TSGS News

TSGS members should have gotten your copy of the March issue, by now, of our quarterly - The Tri-State Packet. Brenda Legate is doing an excellent job getting out a nicely done journal and ensuring that we get it on time. Send her a note of encouragement; but, even better, send her something to publish in the next issue and some encouragement. The deadline for material for the June Packet is April 15. As President, I wish to publically congratulate Brenda on getting the Packet out early and for doing a great job of typing and editing these last three issues!

Last Wednesday we posted a 1994 TSGS Seminar Photo from the First Mate's Photo Album and asked everyone how many people could they identify in that photo. I have not got any responses. Brenda Jerome, Mary Lou Bevers and I have tried to identify all of them, but we are still not sure who the man is in the last chair on the left by the wall and the lady seated across from him. Of course, one person is almost completely blocked by another, I sure recognize the hairdo, but can not remember who she is. We know the identity of the rest. This coming Wednesday, we will reveal the names of all the known ones... please let me know the names of the ones not yet identified, let me know if you know the others, too! Here is my email: John G. West (click on my name or copy & paste the following) jgw.mylines@gmail.com .

A follow-up on the ice storm at the West home. Last Friday, I took a vacation day and with a lot of great help from Chris Myers, we cut up and dragged the limbs to the sidewalk for later pick-up by the city trash contractors. The company sent out a special yard waste pick-up service this Friday to get bagged yard waste, plus limbs & sticks in barrels/trash containers. They picked up the 12 – 55 gallon trash bags and four containers of sticky pine limbs. Then in the afternoon the special crew came through and picked up the fifty feet of limbs we had stacked about 3.5 feet high and about 100 four foot long limbs about 2-4 inches in diameter. The 12 to 15 foot logs were cut up into about 4 cords of firewood that I am taking a pick-up load to work every day or so. Where I work, they have a fireplace in the main office and they are taking advantage of all of this firewood to heat up the office and reduce the fuel bills! It is so nice to look at our front & back yards and not see all of those limbs and plastic bags!!!

The regular TSGS Web Site is nearing 1000 unique hits according to our ClustrMaps Counter with visits from 23 countries including the USA. Ireland has 15 hits with the United Kingdom at 9 hits. We have 8 countries besides the USA with 2 or more hits. In the U.S., we still have not had any visitors from Hawaii, North Dakota, West Virginia, Maine & Vermont. If you know someone from one of these states, especially a genealogy friend, ask them to visit our web site! Our TSGS Web Site went over 56,000 hits a couple days ago! The TSGS Cruiser Blog just registered this morning 2,600 hits since 27 Dec 2008!

Karin Kirsch & Brenda Jerome have been working hard on the SIG's Committee (that is the possible formation of TSGS Special Interest Groups). We have had a Computer Interest Group for a long time and a Celtic group was being suggested by some members. The Long Range Planning Committee is hoping that SIG's might be of value to our members. Karin is preparing a simple, brief survey to pass out at this month's meeting (March 10). If you can not make it to the meeting and would like to fill out the survey let me know at the email addy I have listed earlier in this article. By the way, if anyone has any ideas that might improve TSGS' services to you and other members, please suggest it.

John G. West, TSGS President

PS: I am proud to say that today is my 62nd. Birthday & tomorrow Becky & I will celebrate our 40th. Wedding Anniversary!

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

TSGS Seminar 1994

(Click to enlarge)How many in the photo can you name? There are 12 people sitting at this table, next Wednesday we will reveal the names (or as many as we can identify!).

This photo was taken and submitted by Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG.

THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –TSGS News

Last night's TSGS meeting at Willard Library was actually well attended for a very cold January night. Becky West had a group of 7 set in on her HELP Session & Connie Conrad gave her power point presentation for a group of 17. We normally have between 30 & 50 people to make our monthly meetings, but January & Febuary are lucky to get 10 to 15. The above photo was taken by me as I was explaining this blog. I told them that if they hung their heads or tried to otherwise hide themselves that I would single them out - everyone is looking at the camera! Three individuals are along my right side and the Secretary is to my left and were not included in this photo. BTW, that is not my teleprompter, but rather Connie's laptop for her upcoming power point program.

The Society voted last night to authorize the Book Acquisition Committee to purchase up to $2,000 of research materials for the library... this is the standard amount allocated to this committee.

It was announced that the Board voted to postpone our annual seminar for 2009 until 2010. This move was made to decide if we should continue having seminars or try to attempt another method of providing genealogy related programs. It was noted that the economy would likely have an adverse effect on this year's attendance.

The ClustrMaps Counter shows that we just got a hit yesterday from the ninth country outside of the USA on our regular TSGS Web Site! See our site at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~intsgs/index.html

John G. West, TSGS President

RACING DOWN the RIVER -Brief Genealogical Notes

We have added a few pictures of our 2008 Christmas Social to the TSGS Web Site (see link below the next photo or you can click on our TSGS Cruiser graphic in the right-hand column). Larry Goss, look at that spread! Everyone had a good time talking and snacking. Former TSGS President Don Counts almost ate as much as I did.




We have added several photos of the 2008 TSGS Seminar presented by Pat Gooldy of Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe on the TSGS Web Site: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~intsgs/index.html
- notes from TSGS Webmaster John G. West


We got a couple great hints for "The Daniel Hicks Mystery" from a few days ago (see comments for that article).


In yesterday's article, I forgot to include the Surname Group Rates for Genetic DNA Testing for the Family Tree DNA company. I corrected it later in the day, if you read the article early go back and check the reduced prices.