VGS Reminders: 12 - 16 September 2016

Monday: September 12, 2016

Family Tree Maker Uses SIG Meeting

1:00 PM in the Patriot Room at the Mulberry Grove Recreation Center

Tuesday: September 13, 2016

Genealogy Writers SIG Meeting

2:30 PM in the Churchill Downs Room in the Pimlico Recreation Center
Guest speaker: Phil Goldsmith
Presentation: "The Drugstore Philosopher - Telling My Father's Story."

Thursday: September 15, 2016 Cancelled

New England Genealogy SIG Meeting

Noon in the New Smyrna Room at the Sea Breeze Recreation Center

Friday: September 16, 2016

Scandinavian Genealogy SIG Meeting

10:00 AM in the Clearwater Room Sea Breeze Recreation Center
Topic: "Mining Google+ for Genealogical/Family History Information"

Past President Pat Rand seen with the Ancestry Insider at the FGS Conference

Report from the FGS Conference:
by VP Pat Adams

I came home after attending the FGS 40th Anniversary Conference in Springfield, Illinois both invigorated and exhausted.  The speakers and topics were top notch and I attended as many sessions as possible.  I picked up several pointers from sessions I attended on Society Day and then decided to concentrate my efforts by attending most of my sessions within the ethnic track.  One of my favorite speakers was Chris Paton.  He is from Ireland and this was his first time speaking at a conference in the United States. I hope he returns soon as his talks are high energy and humorous as well as informative.

The opening day of the general sessions saw keynote speakers, Mark Lowe, Mary Tedesco, and Ce Ce Moore in a skit which looked at the past, present and future of genealogical research.  It was the best opening session I have attended as it was entertaining as well as though provoking.  In addition to the regular sessions, I attended a luncheon with Michael Lacopo as the speaker (he will be our November speaker), a meet and greet, as well as the 40th Anniversary Gala.  All these social events afforded me the opportunity to meet new people and in some cases to share ideas for possible new opportunities for our society.

Finally, let us not forget my favorite thing to do, haunt the exhibit hall.

As if there were not enough learning experiences available, the exhibit hall provided many opportunities to attend mini sessions on a variety of topics.

Those vendors offering these opportunities included, Genealogy Gems ( with sessions by Lisa Louise Cook, Diahan Southard and James Biedler), Ancestry, My Heritage, Family Search, Find My Past and others.  I was so grateful to those many vendors who had chocolate to give away as I was often in desperate need of a sugar fix to keep me going.  I spoke with many of the vendors and learned of many research and learning opportunities from libraries I would not have thought about.  I of course took  advantage of freebies and entered everything I could, but this time, no winners for me.

No matter, it was a great experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to attend and represent the VGS and to bring back new possibilities for our society.

Celebrating Mexico’s Independence Day:

FamilySearch
"September 16, 1810, is a special day in Mexican history. It was the day that the Mexican War of Independence began. Millions of Mexicans around the world celebrate each year on the night of September 15th."
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How to Free Over 10GB of Disk Space After Installing Windows 10’s Anniversary Update:

How-to-Geek
"Did you just install the Anniversary update? If so, there’s more than 10 GB of data wasting space on your hard drive. On a laptop or tablet with a limited amount of storage, this can fill up your device quite a bit."
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Editor's Note: If you haven't received the Anniversary Update, not to worry it will be a slow roll-out.

How to Prioritize Notifications in the Windows 10 Action Center:
How-to-Geek
"Windows 10’s Action Center finally brought you a central location for all your notifications to Windows. With the Anniversary Update of Windows 10, you can now set priorities for applications so they are grouped in the Action Center just the way you want."
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This Day In History: 10 September

1846: Elias Howe patents the first practical sewing machine in the United States.
1963: President John F. Kennedy federalizes Alabama’s National Guard to prevent Governor George C. Wallace from using guardsmen to stop public-school desegregation.
1981: Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica is returned to Spain and installed in Madrid’s Prado Museum. Picasso stated in his will that the painting was not to return to Spain until the Fascists lost power and democracy was restored.
1929 Birthday: Arnold Palmer, golfer who won four Masters, two British Opens and one U.S. Open.

State Timelines:
Even though it is hard to tell what made people move or disappear, these are just a few possibilities.
California:
1899/1900: Oil discovered in Bakersfield and Kern River
1902: Telegraph cable linked California and Hawaii
1906: Great San Francisco earthquake. Unknown dead estimated between 475 and 3000 died