FGS Meeting - Saturday, April 3, 2010

The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) is pleased to announce its program for Saturday, April 3, 2010, at 10:30 AM in the auditorium of the John F. Germany Library at 900 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa, Florida.

Terry and Jim Willard will present a program titled “Beginner's Genealogy” that serves as a great introduction to tracing your family tree and is a terrific refresher for those who have been working on their family history for some time.

Terry and Jim have pursued active careers in education, teaching since 1969 and teaching students from the ages of 5 to 95. Terry holds a B.A., M.A., and C.A.S. in French from the University of Maine. Jim has a B.S. In History, M.Ed., and C.A.S. in Secondary Counseling from the University of Maine. Terry taught French language and culture classes at the high school level (26 years) and to adults (since 1995) at the Sarasota County Adult and Community Education Program. Jim has 26 years of service at the middle and high school level and since 1995 at the Sarasota County Adult and Community Education Program. In Sarasota, Terry taught French language and culture classes as well as team-taught with Jim various genealogy, computer, and eBay classes. Jim taught many levels of computer literacy classes, digital camera classes, and scanner classes. They continue to do workshops for Adult Education in Sarasota. Since 2004 they have also been teaching the same variety of classes for The Villages Lifelong Learning College in The Villages, Florida.

From 1995-2000, Terry and Jim served as co-hosts for the popular PBS Television series Ancestors, traveling around the country conducting workshops and promoting the series from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, CA, and from Dallas, TX, to Portland, ME. They co-authored (along with Jane Wilson) the book, ANCESTORS: A Beginner’s Guide to Family History and Genealogy, which accompanied the series. They also wrote the teacher’s guide that helped teachers and students benefit from viewing the series.

Since then they have conducted workshops and spoken at genealogy conferences throughout Florida, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, and each of the New England states. They have published over 40 articles in Ancestry Magazine, are beta testers for Family Tree Maker, write reviews of the recent publications at Ancestry.com, and write a monthly genealogy column for The Villages Daily Sun. They accompany a group of adult students to Salt Lake City for a research trip annually.

Yetive Brooks Olson Passes Away

The Florida Genealogical Society extends its sincere condolences on the passing of Yetive Brooks Olson, a former member of our society. She passed away on March 12th after a brief illness. You may read her obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/tbo/obituary.aspx?n=yetive-brooks-olson&pid=140689952.

State Funding Aid to Libraries Is Threatened - Action Needed Before Friday, March 19th

The Florida Legislature is once again threatening to eliminate state funding to our state’s libraries. The attached press release from the Florida Library Association summarizes the crisis at hand.

We have seen in the past two years how funding cuts have severely damaged our public libraries and the services they provide to communities. Staff have been fired or not replaced. Branches have been closed. Hours of operation have been cut back. Collection development dollars have been slashed. That was only Round One! If this latest attempt to eliminate all of the $21.2 million of state aid to libraries is successful, our libraries will be decimated.

You can help stop or significantly reduce the funding cuts. Please visit the Florida Library Association’s Advocacy Action Alert site at the web address below.

http://capwiz.com/ala/fl/issues/alert/?alertid=14792616

Here you can compose an email message to the leaders in Tallahassee. However, action is needed before Friday, March 19th. The committees are nearing the end of their work to report their bills out of committee and introduce action on the floors of the legislative chambers.

If you value our libraries and the work they do for our communities, it is essential that you participate in this communications action. If your genealogical research benefits from our libraries’ genealogy collections, databases, meeting room space, and knowledgeable staff members, you have to help protect them. Their existence and continued operations depends on each and every one of us.

Please visit the website now, complete the online form to generate emails, and pass the word to every single person you know who uses libraries for any purpose here in Florida.

This is a huge crisis, and YOU can really help!

Sincerely yours,

George G. Morgan

President, Aha! Seminars, Inc.

Director, Florida Genealogical Society, Inc.

VP of Membership Services, Federation of Genealogical Societies

Very concerned citizen

News from Other Societies - Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay presents:
“Graveyards Tell Genealogical Stories”
Sunday, April 18, 2010


The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay (JGSTB) will meet at Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, Florida on Sunday April 18, 2010, where a team of veteran genealogists of the JGSTB will speak on genealogical clues that can be found on tombstones. A social with refreshments and library access at 1:30 PM will precede the featured program that starts at 2:00 PM.

Graveyards are not just a resting place for the dead. They have stories to tell. Tombstone inscriptions quite often provide valuable information about the deceased that is not available from other sources. Rita Shapiro and Vicki Adelson, assisted by a team of JGSTB members with experience in cemetery research, will tell how to locate the cemeteries where your ancestors are buried, and they will discuss the types of genealogical clues that can be found on tombstones. Internet resources such as the “JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Register” (JOWBR) will be demonstrated, showing how to locate the cemetery where your ancestor is buried, the location within a cemetery of his or her gravesite, and in some cases how to see an actual photograph of the tombstone of the deceased. Inscriptions on tombstones often identity the name of a parent of the deceased, and that can take your research back another generation. The presenters will give examples of their successful research in cemeteries to show you how graveyards can tell genealogical stories about your own ancestors.

The mission of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay is to assist interested individuals in learning about Jewish genealogy and learning how to research, document and preserve their own family histories. The Society does this by facilitating the exchange of research information, encouraging and facilitating research activities, educating members to help themselves and others, making available research resources and materials, and presenting monthly programs of interest to Jewish genealogical researchers. The Society’s library and research resources include both printed materials and Internet access as well as guided assistance from experienced researchers. Special emphasis is given to helping beginners.

Anyone interested in learning how to do Jewish genealogical research is invited to attend. Beginners as well as experienced researchers are welcome. For information on the organization or directions to the meeting call Sally Israel at 727-343-1652.

News from Other Societies - Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay

“The JGSTB 2010 Guide to Jewish Genealogical Research:
A Foundation for Beginners and an Update for Experienced Researchers”
A two-part Jewish Genealogy Seminar will be presented by
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay (JGSTB)

Part 2 - March 14, 2010

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay will offer the second of the two part seminar entitled: “The JGSTB 2010 Guide to Jewish Genealogy Research: A Foundation for Beginners and an Update for Experienced Researchers” March 14, 2010 (Part 2) at 2:00 PM at Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, Florida. Registration will be held at 1:30 PM on Sunday March 14, 2010. A seminar booklet summarizing all the material to be presented will be provided and will be essential for those able to attend only one of the two sessions.

This seminar will focus on developing the proper approaches and applying the necessary tools, techniques and short cuts to most effectively connect you with your ancestors in the old country. Recently developed Internet resources as well as local non-internet resources will be emphasized to enable the beginner to discover his or her family history as well as facilitate the experienced researcher in resolving “brick wall” problems.

Dr. Emil H. Isaacson will lead the seminar. Dr. Isaacson has 25 years experience in genealogy and has researched his ancestral roots back seven generations to the late 1700’s in Europe. He will share his successful and sometimes unsuccessful techniques.

The course is free to current paid-up members of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay. A one-year family membership will be included in the $25 course fee for non-members. An additional $10.00 fee will be charged for seminar materials to defray printing costs, but only one booklet will be needed per couple or family. Annual membership in the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay is $25 per individual or family.

Anyone interested in learning how to do Jewish genealogical research is invited to attend. Early registration is recommended so that sufficient copies of the printed booklet and handouts will be available.

To pre-register for the class, for further information on the organization, or for directions to the meeting, call Sally Israel at 727-343-1652.

The purpose of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay is to assist interested individuals in learning about Jewish genealogy and how to research and document their own family histories. The Society does this by facilitating the exchange of research information, encouraging and facilitating research activities, educating members to help themselves and others, making available research resources and materials, arranging genealogical research tours and presenting monthly programs of interest to Jewish genealogical researchers.

Anyone interested in learning how to do Jewish genealogical research is invited to attend. Beginners as well as experienced researchers are welcome. For further information on the Jewish Genealogical Society of Tampa Bay or directions to the meeting call Sally Israel at 727-343-1652.
For those who need directions, here is how to find our meeting place:

We meet at Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services, 14041 Icot Blvd., Clearwater, Florida. (the red star on the map below) This is just across the bay from Tampa and just off of Ulmerton Road (SR 688) that exits from I-275. Icot Blvd. intersects with the north side of Ulmerton Road (SR 688) between U.S. 19 and 49th Street. From Ulmerton Road, turn north into the Icot Center entranceway (there is a large Autoway Nissan Dealership on the corner). You will find a left-turn lane on Ulmerton at the Icot entrance if you are coming from the West. If you are coming from the East, just make a right turn into Icot Blvd.

There are "Icot Center" gateposts marking the entranceway onto Icot Blvd. from Ulmerton Road. You will see a Holiday Inn Express Hotel on your right and a Nissan Autoway dealership on your left as you enter Icot Blvd. Proceed about a quarter of a mile on Icot Blvd, and your will see the Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services building on your right. It is identified with a large masonry sign at the entranceway into the parking lot.

Click HERE <http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Clearwater&state=FL&address=14041+Icot+Blvd> for a "MapQuest" link to the map show below. You can use this link to get specific driving directions from wherever you are.