2010 Membership Dues are Due!

Membership dues for the Florida Genealogical Society are due. The membership year runs from January 1st through December 31st, and dues must be received by February 15th. The dues are very reasonable: $20 for individuals and $25 for a family.

Please print a copy of the FGS Membership Application at http://www.rootsweb.com/~flfgs/FGS_Member_Appl%20-%20010109.pdf or at http://tinyurl.com/FGS-Membership and complete it so that we have your most current information. Please make your check payable to the Florida Genealogical Society and mail it and the application form to:

The Florida Genealogical Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 18624
Tampa, FL 33679-8624

Otherwise, you can bring these your check and application form to the January or February meeting.

Your dues pay for the extraordinary speakers and programs that FGS presents each month, including the Fall Seminar. We have some great new things planned for the society in 2010 and you don't want to miss out!

In addition, FGS also has a membership incentive program! If you bring in two new members during 2010, your 2011 membership will be free! Make sure the new member specifies on the membership application form that he or she was referred by you.

FGS (Tampa) Is Highly Honored at FSGS 2008!

The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) was highly honored by the Florida State Genealogical Society (FSGS) at its 32nd annual conference, held at the elegant Sheraton Orlando North Hotel in Maitland, Florida, on 14 & 15 November 2008. This year's conference was outstanding in many ways.

The hotel was perfectly organized, with the lecture rooms and vendor hall very close to the elevators and the restaurant. It was easy to get around!

FGS (Tampa) was honored on many levels for its 50th anniversary celebration. It all began with the traditional banner parade of societies' banners. George G. Morgan carried ours, while Drew Smith carried that of FSGS.

On Friday night, FSGS held its gala Florida Pioneer Descendants Certification Awards Banquet. At that time, awards for pioneer descendants at the state level (descendants of persons who resided in Florida prior to statehood on 3 March 1845), county level (descendants of persons who resided in an area of Florida prior to the establishment of the county), and researchers (persons who successfully researched on behalf of one of the descendants in one or more of the categories before) were presented. This year's earliest pioneer descendants took their documentary research back to the amazing date of 1630 with Spanish colonial records! This just proved, again, that records exist and that the research can be done!

Also at the banquet, there were awards given in several categories. However, our own George G. Morgan won the prestigious "Distinguished Service Award" for service to genealogy.

In addition, FGS (Tampa) had 15 attendees at this conference, and won the attendance award this year. We are extremely pleased with our society members' enthusiasm to attend the conference.

Finally, FSGS awarded FGS (Tampa) with both a certificate honoring its fifty golden years and a special gold pin will be sent to us, and that will be attached to our society's banner.

We have a great deal to celebrate this year. We are the oldest genealogical society in Florida and we have a great pride and enthusiasm on the part of our members. We wish all of you could have been part of the FSGS Conference this year. However, next year isn't that far away, and we can all be there then!

Our society's banner will be placed on permanent display in the Ceta R. Armitage Room in the History and Genealogy Department (2-W) of the John F. Germany Public Library in downtown Tampa, Florida. The gold pin will be attached to the banner when it is received. In addition, the certificate will be framed and placed on permanent display in the Armitage Room, which already displays the proclamations from Governor Charlie Crist and Mayor Pam Iorio commemorating our society's landmark 50th anniversary.

Death of Melvin O. Brown

It is with great sadness that I have to report that our friend and the immediate past president of FGS, Mel Brown, passed away this morning, 6 April 2008. He had recently been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer.

Mel was a longtime employee of Sears, Roebuck & Co. and Sears Communications Company in Chicago. He transitioned to Advantis, a joint venture of IBM and Sears, and relocated to Tampa, and he retired from that organization.

Arrangements are pending.

Drew Smith
President

FGS Meeting - 15 March 2008

The Florida Genealogical Society will hold its monthly meeting on Saturday, March 15, 2008, at 10:30 AM in the Auditorium of the John F. Germany Library at 900 North Ashley Drive in Downtown Tampa.

The presenter is well-known speaker Donna Moughty, who will present a program titled “Getting the Most out of FamilySearch.org,” the LDS’ massive online Website. This program will provide a detailed insight into how to navigate the site, use the Family History Library catalog to order microfilm to your local FHC, and more.

A Special Interest Group (SIG) will also meet at 1:00 PM in the Genealogy & Local History Department. Admission is free.

FGS Membership Dues are Due!

Membership dues for 2008 are due as of January 1, 2008. This year, it is especially important to get your dues in as soon as possible. Early in 2008, we expect to produce a printed membership directory commemorating our society’s 50^th anniversary. The directory will include member names, their chosen contact information, and surnames/areas that they are researching. In order to guarantee your inclusion in the directory, new memberships and renewals must be received by FGS no later than the meeting of February 16. You can mail your membership form and dues to our mailing address (you’ll find the link to the membership form in the menu on the right-hand side of the FGS website screen at http://fgstampa.org), or you can bring your check to either the January or February meetings, where we will have extra membership forms for you to fill out. If you have been thinking about joining FGS in the past, this is definitely the year to do it!

We have lots of activities planned for this, FGS’s Gala Fiftieth Anniversary Year. (There are plenty of volunteer opportunities too!) You don’t want to miss any of the excitement! Please get your membership dues and form in as soon as possible!