2022 June-July-August Summer Round-tables
— Notes about the June summer round-tables:
John Gelber’s notes:
Question of software to be used
— Family Search (free)
— Ancestry (popular, not free)
— Family Tree Maker
Resources at
— Southern Arizona Genealogy Society
— LDS Libraries
Talked about DNA
— Matches – Find out interesting matches
— Useful for building Tree
Talked about Military Records
Talked about Birth Records/Adoption
Shared stories
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Pam and Mark’s Notes
Mark Hester and I had the pleasure of visiting with Cloyce and Kaye Miller and Cloyce’s half-sister Janet Shropshire. All three brought material to discuss their family trees. Cloyce was interested in researching his biological father who died in Belgium during WW II when Cloyce was very young. Kaye brought a handwritten family tree that she made in high school. Janet was trying to prove the family legend that she was part Indian. Mark gave each of them suggestions on how to further their research and they were very interested and grateful. We were able to ask some general questions about their genealogical experiences such as a) what kind of software they are using and b) if they had any DNA surprises. But mostly they were interested in getting help and talking about their research. We had a delightful conversation and achieved the goal of getting to know our members better. I am looking forward to July and August’s meetings when we will continue to break into small round-table groups.
UPDATE: from Mark: Janet Shropshire took an Ancestry DNA Kit that I had and will be sending her DNA to be analyzed.
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Margie & Byron’s Notes:
Members seated at our table:
Margie Barber
Byron Bissell
Mary-Lynn Dubray
Terri Gilmore
Norma Schellberg
Topics Discussed:
— What got you interested in researching your family’s history?
— What did your grandfathers do during their lifetimes?
— What one thing did you admire most about your grandmothers?
Method used during the discussions:
— Each of the members at the table were given the opportunity to share their answers to the above questions.
— Everyone at the table had very different stories to share. It was interesting and fun.
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— Notes about the July summer round-tables:
Pam Williams notes:
At the July 27th general meeting, we again split into two small round-table groups and discussed our research, brick walls and generally got to know each other better. I had four people in my group. Two members and two visitors (hopefully they will join soon).
Of the new attendees, one has 100% Swedish ancestry and has been appointed the family historian. She has bins of photos that she is currently scanning and sharing. She is new to Ancestry but has already connected with a previously unknown cousin by posting photos on Ancestry. She has lots of unidentified photos, which is not an uncommon dilemma.
The other new attendee was a very experienced genealogist (Dayna Beckman) who has years of experience and has taken numerous genealogy research trips. She was able to give all of us some suggestions to continue our research. (She’s now a QCGC member.)
One of the current members in the group is waiting for her DNA results to verify the family legend that she has Indian blood (Mark has been helping her). The other member shared a website: genealogytv.org. It has many videos to explore.
Another fun and informative meeting! It was a pleasure to talk to the four attendees
Pam
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— Notes about the August summer round-tables:
Pam Williams notes:
August 31, 2022 was our last summer round-tables meeting. We again broke into small groups and discussed organizing genealogical research, brick wall assistance and/or general genealogical topics.
My group primarily discussed organization. We had beginning, intermediate and advanced genealogists in the group. We discussed the following topics and shared our individual methods and tips:
Researching
— Organizing and identifying family pictures. Will photo identification software be available in the future?
— The benefits of paper vs digital copies. Should documents and pictures be thrown away after scanning and uploading to Ancestry?
— Uploading research on Ancestry vs maintaining family trees on PCs using genealogy software.
Sharing Research
— We cautioned about accepting information from other family trees on Ancestry.
Leaving a Legacy
— How writing narratives about your family will be appreciated by family members, especially those not interested in a collection of names and dates.
— Providing printed family trees for family members.
I provided a resource for printed family trees using Reunion software (Heartland Family Graphics).
I brought my PC to the meeting and showed my genealogy software (Reunion for Macs) and the method I used to identify direct ancestors (in all caps). I also showed the filing structure I use on my PC and how I duplicated the structure for my hard copies.
For the members of the group who were either new to genealogy or new to Green Valley, I provided information about the Southern Arizona Genealogical Society (SAGS) and the Green Valley Family History Center. I shared that the SAGS library has a large collection especially for the northeast USA.
We discussed the benefit of a premium membership to Newspapers.com. I offered to search on Newspapers.com with my subscription for those who need help.
It was another enjoyable discussion and a format that we should repeat next summer.
Pam Williams
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Margie Barber comments:
I thought it was another great round-tables meeting! So many people seem to really enjoy this kind of interaction. I hope we will do it again next summer!
Margie
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QCGC Founder, Dick Sussman comments:
Great summer round-tables meeting in all respects. The relaxed, closely attentive involvement, animation and laughter palpably showed plenty of enjoyment and the socializing potential of our club.
I can tell you that judging from Oct/Nov 2021 discussions I had with the leaders of more than two dozen planned community genealogy clubs — in AZ, TX, CO, NV, and CA during the QCGC formation process, our lively summer breakout (round-tables) sessions are clearly the very model for a productive and resident-beneficial way to continue with hearty and instructive genealogy interactions during the frequently “abandoned” summer months seen in so many other (actually jaded) years-older (existence-wise) genealogy clubs I’ve spoken to. Good on us!
Dick
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2023 June-July-August Summer Round-tables
— Notes about the June summer round-tables:
The General Meeting moderator, QCGC Founder Dick Sussman, thanked the attendees for participating so contributively and collegially at this June 7 event – the results of which were very consistent with our Summer Workshops during 2022 (in June, July, and August). They all feature — and will continue to feature — quality instruction; interactive socializing; entertaining lineage reports; and — very important: the enabling of a continual year-round monthly presence for the QCGC & its abundance of resources for QC residents.
There were two very active tables (which we arbitrarily designated as Table 1 and Table 2) enjoying the meeting.
Participating at Table 1 were: discussion leader, John Bird – an advanced researcher; club member Lee Parks; club Treasurer Margie Barber; Special Events Director Bobbi Gordon; and a Genealogy-interested QC homeowner, Sara DeRouchey who (along with her husband, Bill) became our newest QCGC members at the meeting.
Sara mentioned that she was seeking (and received) general information to get restarted from a little research she did several years ago. Family Search and Ancestry were recommended as the websites used by most. She learned that La Posada has a wealth of information. Attendees talked about DNA research and the recommendation to send in samples to more than one DNA company. Several people at her table talked about the obstacles to overcome when researching the biological family for someone who is adopted, which was quite interesting. Sara was pleased to be able to take home a schedule of genealogy events for 2023.
Participating at Table 2 were: discussion leader Anita Fisk – an advanced researcher; club members Carol & Wayne Sullivan; and club member Judy Burden. Here are Anita’s excellent details about the discussions at her table:
– We discussed how to keep our genealogical research organized, what software and hard copy documents we used. We also enjoyed learning about each other’s relatives and which family members they were researching. We discussed some of the difficulties in finding information about our ancestors, including photos. It was a great 90 minutes.
— Anita Fisk
And here are comments received from club member, Judy Burden who participated at Table 2 led by Anita:
– I greatly enjoyed this June 7th Summer Round-tables. Anita began by showing us various forms she uses to keep organized in her research which were very helpful. (Click this link to see Anita’s forms): Genealogy forms provided in June 2023 by Anita Fisk There was a lot of discussion about our relatives & how we researched their history. Along the way I learned of various ways to go about finding information which is what I am most interested in learning about. Looking forward to future meetings. — Judy
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— Notes about the July summer round-tables:
(It’s quite pleasurable to affirm here that the A/C in all rooms in the Kino Center is truly *superb* – a very inviting factor during our AZ Summer Round-tables meetings.)
Participating at Table 1 were: QCGC board members Mary-Lynn Dubray; Janice Messer; Margie Barber; Bobbi Gordon; and club members Wayne & Carol Ann Sullivan.
QCGC Education Director, Mary-Lynn comments: We had some general conversation regarding all of our various experiences, Wayne and Margie both shared info on researching one or both birth parents. Janice had uploaded some photos in error to her FamilySearch family tree and couldn’t figure out how to delete them. I logged into her account from my IPad and was able to delete them (using FamilySearch via an app is different than working with it on a laptop). Margie also asked how to add ancestors/relatives with blended families to her Ancestry tree so I showed her how she could add them and then use the “edit relationships” function to individuals by showing her how that was done on my own family tree. Bobbi G brought a copy of the latest Family Tree Magazine. It’s a very valuable publication and this bi-month’s issue has a great pull out for those researching Polish ancestors!
Margie adds: There was a lot of general discussion among us – and we talked and shared among ourselves sometimes, as different people were working on different issues – thus we didn’t go person to person very much. It was a great group, and we continued talking after others in group had finished up. Also, Wayne and I discussed adoption issues with Bobbi, as well.
Dick adds: As is not uncommon during family tree-building, the emotional components of dealing or not dealing with estranged lineage members were briefly touched upon – hugely counterbalanced by the sheer Genealogical joys of discovering and meeting previously unknown, very welcoming relatives.
Participating at Table 2 were: QCGC board members: John Gelber and Byron Bissell, also Dayna Beckman – a very advanced researcher, and our newest club member, Daryl Ragan.
John (QCGC President) comments:
We discussed the different ways to file/record our ancestry records:
Talked about the different on-line applications, focusing primarily on Ancestry.com and FamillySearch.com. We shared some of the things we liked and didn’t like about the sites, including how they attach source documents to a family tree. Also discussed privacy and ownership issues with a tree on these sites.
We told one member at the table, Daryl (who was not familiar it), about the stand-alone program that several of use called Family Tree Maker. We shared some of our thoughts on how this program is a private program/data base that resides entirely on your own computer, so you totally own it. (btw…. Mark Hester – QCGC board member at large – uses a different program for this which I am not familiar with?)
And we talked about ways to organize/file information relative to your family tree.
Byron (QCGC Vice President) comments: Our table’s discussion centered around the multitude of genealogy websites out there, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each depending on what you are seeking, what you want to spend, your computer skills, and what output format is best to achieve your genealogical goals.
What all of our Summer Round-tables and year-round educational workshops – and monthly Speaker presentations – achieve, is a comforting sense that all attendees can readily and beneficially navigate every available genealogical website using a moderate amount of patience, practice and not least — the expert mentoring our experienced leaders freely extend to all QCGC members.
New member, Daryl comments: This was my first QCGC meeting. I went to see what the meetings were like and with several specific questions in mind. The others at my table were very helpful and encouraging.
My first question was about using Ancestry.com versus Family Search. I learned from the others at the table that several use Family Search to do just that – search – but they don’t enter their family information there. One or two enter their family data in Ancestry.com, others use a different downloadable software or create their own PC-based systems for recording family member information.
My second question related to re-entering data already in another family member’s Ancestry.com family tree. I learned that I can request a jed.com file from them and upload it to create my own family tree… keeping in mind that their information’s accuracy will be based on their own research and level of attention to detail.
My third question was about how I can quickly bookmark and/or save pages that I want to come back to or to include in a family member’s profile. I came away with the understanding that Ancestry.com has efficient ways for doing both as well as offering tips for additional items I may want to check out.
My final question was about what tools are available to overlay my family members’ key milestones on a general historical timeline of events. None of the others at the table were aware of such a tool. I can’t imagine I’m the first person to have this question so will keep looking (and will provide the Club’s leadership team with useful descriptions of the relevant tools my quest uncovers).
Other bits of useful information I learned include:
– In addition to the DNA test companies 23&Me and Ancestry.com, I might want to explore My Heritage and Family Tree DNA for DNA testing
– Diahan Southard’s Your DNA site has useful information and personalized tips
– In addition to Daughters of the American Revolution, there is a Sons of the American Revolution group. One does not have to be sponsored to join.
– Family Tree Maker can be downloaded to PC
– Family Tree Magazine is a useful resource
I look forward to beginning my genealogy journey knowing that I have this well organized, ultra-friendly and very experienced QCGC group, and the Southern Arizona Genealogy Society available for local help.
— Daryl
Quail Creek Genealogy Club 