Civil War Conference - Alliance, Nebraska - July 8-9, 2011

If you love genealogy and history, this is one conference you won't want to miss! The Heritage Seekers Society and the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center in Alliance, Nebraska are hosting a two day Civil War Conference on July 8th and 9th. Coming up soon!

Both of the You Go Genealogy Girls will be attending this one and we both will be presenting programs and classes! This should be an awesome conference and we hope to see all our friends there. We are excited to be part of this great Civil War Conference as we support our home town and it's great new museum. Come join us!!!

Titled "Remembering the Civil War...150 Years Later", this will be a premium offer for anyone interested in this part of history. We have been planning this conference for many months and it will be a first for our brand new museum facility. We have one of the finest new museums in the midwest and again, we invite all to join in our conference as we honor the Civil War Sesquicentennial and the memories of those who fought.

We are offering seventeen (17) educational, genealogical and historical presentations over the two days (lunch included both days) and you can attend all classes and presentations, no need to choose only a few. We will have many great prize drawings for attendees throughout the conference as well as huge bags of "goodies" for those attending. (Our first bag has filled all the way up with great giveaways and we are now filling bag two for each attendee--so it's an added free bonus! )  Everyone attending will get great handouts of the classes from several of our speakers so they can study again at home...as the learning never ends with a genealogist or historian! Our 11 speakers are all professionals and well qualified  in their field of study and will offer classes on genealogy researching as well as historical presentations for your enjoyment. This is a top quality conference and we invite everyone to contact us for more information.

To our local residents, your new museum is hosting this awesome event and we encourage you to support the facility and come see what is new!

Here is a sample of what we are offering along with even more...

Civil War research classes

History of the Kansas/Missouri Border Wars

Historical programs on Civil War quilts, along with a quilt show and a local quilt shop will display their wares.

Civil War character portrayals

Classes on the GAR and Lincoln's war time rule

Program featuring firearms of the Civil War........

plus much more! 

We hope to see you all there on July 8th and 9th for a great learning experience.
----------------------------------------------------------------

For a 4 page copy of our brochure in PDF format, click on the word Brochure below. You can save and print it if you like. It takes a minute to load so be patient!

If the link fails, email me!
Brochure

Email me:   clchopkins@gmail.com  I will email you a copy of the brochure in PDF

Contact for more info:
Knight Museum and Sandhills Center
Alliance, Nebraska
308-762-2384
museum@cityofalliance.net

Arlene Eakle's Southern Research Classes

Arlene Eakle was one of the premier speakers at the Kansas City Family History Expo recently. This lady is such a joy to know and any time that you can sit and visit with her, you go away feeling as though your knowledge base has just widened, even if "learning" was not the original subject of the conversation! She is more than willing to answer direct questions to help anyone further your quest for more records or ancestors.

At Kansas City, she offered a fantastic array of classes which centered around researching in the Southern States including:

"What is the South?..and Why is it Different"
"Birth, Marriage and Death Records in the Southern States"
"Migrations of the Southern Church Groups to the Midwest: Routes and Sources"
"Want Land, Will Travel. Southern Land Records: State by State".

I was particularly interested in all her classes as I do research in NC, MS, TN and VA; her areas of expertise. Even someone who does not research those areas could have gleaned at the very least- a good history lesson! The Family History Expos always have a great selection of speakers including Gina Philibert Ortega, Leland Meitzler, Ron Arons, Lisa Alzo and many others but if you are lucky enough to attend one which features Arlene as a speaker, you will not go home without new ideas and great directions to further your research.

She always has a booth on site too and offers a very good selection of her own published books as well as some good books by other authors in the genealogy field. Some of her newest titles are "Genealogy in Land Records" and "Tennessee Research" and I was lucky to have purchased several of her titles as well as other great books at the Expo.Winter needs to hurry and come so I have more of those quiet evenings of reading!

Look for Arlene Eakle at the California Family History Expo in October where she will again present some very informative classes. Dr. Eakle also writes several blogs and started the Genealogical Institute Inc., in Tremonton, Utah.You can reach her or get links to her blogs HERE. The Family History Expo Channel offers several interviews with Dr. Eakle as well as with several of their other presenters.

by: You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

Arlene talks about Virginia research:

Vacation Is Over--For Now!

What a busy last two weeks! I have been on the road again but this trip was not with the company of You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in the drivers seat. On July 25th I headed east towards the Family History Expo in Kansas City. First stop was an overnight at the home of Girl #1 in North Platte, Nebraska. We shared some notes, updated our I-Touch family apps and visited about the upcoming Expo. Tuesday morning I headed to Hastings, Nebraska to visit with my cousin, Joy, for a day. She and I do not get many chances to be together so it was a really fun visit for me. We went out to eat, toured Hastings and took some photos of the old historical buildings in downtown. She showed me the way to the highway that I would leave on the next day before we returned to her house. We played on her new piece of body inversion equipment and then had some wonderful berry pie. Hanging upside down definitely gives one a new look at the world. We thankfully saved the pie until after play time! The evening went by fast while we played on the computer, looking up some of her ancestors on various sites. She wants to start doing some genealogy and she enjoyed finding some of her unknown great grandparents--a good start for her future research. She has a large garden which can be seen from her kitchen table window and the morning I left there we had pie for breakfast(acting like we were kids again!) I loved watching the birds and seeing her beautiful garden flowers. Wish we lived closer as our short visit brought back many of the fun times we had growing up together.

Wednesday, July 28th I arrived in Topeka, Kansas at the home of our son and his family. There I got to spend time with the grandchildren and do a little research at the small library of the Topeka Genealogy Society. It was a really nice facility and jammed full of good books and held a large variety of genealogy periodicals. I was quite surprised at their holdings given a fairly small building that houses the collection. My son accompanied me there and we even found some good family info which I did not have! On Thursday, son Jason, and I packed up and left for Kansas City to attend the Family History Expo on the 30th and 31st.

Bright and early on Friday, we checked in and prepared for the full day at the Expo. Our first stop was setting up in the Blogger area. I was an "honor blogger" for the expo and we handed out bags of jelly beans and business cards for the You Go Genealogy Girls while we blogged and twittered during the day. It was a very busy day indeed. Meeting all the other wonderful bloggers, attending classes, buying books, and getting acquainted with many of the people from the world of genealogy. It was such a fun day and the lectures were packed with awesome research aids and helpful information. Saturday brought another busy day too. We both attended some different lectures and a couple classes together. We came home with pages of notes to be organized and put in our syllabus for future reference. Jason is a history major and really enjoyed the two days. He was surprised at what Mom really did with my researching as he thought it was just gathering names and vital records. Genealogy took on a whole new aspect with him and he picked up some very useful information for his field of study. With respect to the study of history, he was thrilled to have a different perspective on researching other than the common college classes offer. He is ready to attend another Family History Expo. We had a wonderful time together, the first real Mother and son outing for the past several years!

As the Expo ended we again packed and headed back to Topeka, Kansas. I spent a couple more days with family there. We did a bit of shopping but mostly stayed in where it was cool with temps of 106° and heat index of 115°. I had planned on some time at the public library but stayed home with the kids due to the devastating heat! Tuesday, Aug 3rd was the day that all the family packed up to head to my home in Alliance, Nebraska. Everyone was meeting again at my house to gather up some of their kids who had been visiting family in Wyoming and Alliance. My grand daughter, Katelynn who is 10 rode back home with me. We drove 7 hours back to North Platte, Ne., where we spent the night again with You Go Girl #1. She was anxious to see all my new books and get copies of my notes from all the Expo lectures. She and I spent a fun evening discussing genealogy while Katelynn played with her cousin, Tyrah who was staying over with her Grandma. The girls had great fun and it was nice because they do not get to see each other very often either. (The You Go girls really are "grannies"!)

Wednesday when Katelynn and I got home, the rest of the family was already there and packed-ready to leave for several days of camping. We got out of one vehicle, hugged the dogs, changed luggage, unloaded most of the books, and piled into another vehicle for the trip to the lake. Are you tired yet?--I was! Off to the lake we went, boat and camper in tow. Son, daughter-in-law, seven grandchildren, two Grandfathers, other in-laws and more kids! Needless to say, the few new books that I took along to read while I was relaxing never saw the light of day. Fun in the lake for the kids, cooking out, fishing for the guys and sitting around camp took up the last four days of my vacation. It was fun having family here as we do not get together very often. However--

This You Go Girl missed having a constant internet connection while traveling. At my son's house where there was a 3G connection, I had to share with others and sometimes could not get online and I had no internet while at the lake. I was having serious genealogy withdrawal, new books were waiting at home, and the heat was not helping my mood.

Today, life is getting back to normal, family all headed home to Topeka yesterday and we got the camper home and stowed until next time. All my great Expo notes need to be organized and pictures need to scanned for Girl #1 who is working on an exciting new project. Salt Lake FHL findings are ready to be entered in Legacy, books need to be read, and papers need to be sorted--again. Starting tomorrow I will share some pics and findings from the Kansas City Family History Expo. Thankfully, vacation is over--for now!

You Go Genealogy Girl #2- Cheri

How To Dress For Conferences

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 in her finest! She was prepared for the recent Family History Expo in Loveland, Colorado. Gadget bag, I-touch, blogger beads and computer. Maxine would have been jealous.

Cheri, You Go Genealogy Girl #2, is preparing this week to attend the Midwest Family History Expo in Kansas City on July 30-31st. You never know what "characters" YOU might meet at a conference or Expo. Ron Arons will present "Researching Your Criminal Ancestors". Be sure to check out the full two day agenda online and make your plans to join us in Kansas City. Only 10 days before the fun and learning begins!

"Maxine" TM Hallmark Cards

-----------------------------

You Go Girl #2, Cheri

A Day At The Museum: Genealogy Style

The past Saturday was our long awaited day to have some fun in the park and tour some great Nebraska museums. The You Go Genealogy Girls were the hosts for "A Day At The Museums" in Alliance Nebraska. Since we both belong to the genealogy society in North Platte, Nebraska and I live in Alliance, Nebraska; we thought it would be a nice field trip to bring the genealogy group to Alliance.

You Go Girl came to visit me and we stayed busy for two days beforehand, getting things ready for our picnic meal and planning the tour for our group. We were anxious to get started and looked forward to seeing our friends on Saturday.

Finally the day arrived. We busily gathered all our supplies with the gracious help of my niece and "Go Hubby". Everyone at my house had to work if they wanted lunch! We arrived at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center at 9 am to set everything up. The museum director was kind enough to let us use the indoor patio facility at the museum when the weather that morning was to exceed 100 degrees! It was very nice and surely did make the long day more bearable. By 10:30 AM our guests had arrived and we were ready to get started. Our group included friends from North Platte and Alliance, with some staff ladies from the museum who very kindly helped out with lunch and our tours.

First stop was a walking tour of the basement, kitchen, storage, and archiving area of the Knight Museum/Sandhills Center. We got a behind-the-scenes tour of their great system for storing all the collectibles and archiving the thousands of family history documents that are housed there. The museum director, Becci Thomas, was very thorough and our group got to see the unique movable shelving systems and see how they integrate into the new museum. The basement tour concluded with a look at the facility's full service kitchen that is used for meetings, weddings, and city celebration parties: all these gatherings can be held on the beautiful indoor patio area that we were using for our gathering that day. Our museum is a complete community facility.

Lunch was next on the agenda! Everything was served buffet style and while the group ate and visited we held our door prize drawings. Several guests went home with small mementos of the day. Immediately after our lunch, the group gathered and split into vehicles for the short drive to the nearby Sallows Military Museum which is part of our overall museum system but housed separately. A few of the genealogists elected to walk the three blocks, passing by our historic city fountain. Once again the director filled everyone in on some of the history of the area and told about the displays in the military museum. That building also houses a small but impressive indoor botanic garden which was an added bonus.

Back to the main museum at 1 PM. There we were introduced to the impressive holdings of genealogical,family history,county histories and vital records which are housed in the gorgeous "Heritage Room" of the Knight Museum/Sandhills Center. The research room was designed and built into our new museum for the purpose of housing those records and anyone is welcome to come and research there. Staff is always on duty to assist patrons and welcomes all visitors to the new facility. From there we journeyed into the new little theater to view a Nebraska Sandhills film which introduced everyone to the main museum. Western Nebraska history from the age of the dinosaur through prairie pioneers, native Americans, soldiers, railroaders and agricultural families is all beautifully represented in the museum. It had been a busy day for everyone but we were not quite finished yet!

Two o'clock brought us all to a museum conference rooms where we were treated to a power point presentation on the new Nebraska Veterans Cemetery at Alliance. The administrator of the facility, Allen Pannell, showed many photos of the project as it has progressed in construction and told about the ways the veterans and their families will be honored. The cemetery is built on part of the land that was once the Alliance Army Air Base. Nearly all the first troops into Normandy during WWII were trained here at this base so it is a special honor for us to have this new facility located here. It is the first Nebraska State Veterans Cemetery. The program was enjoyed by all and we went away with a lot of new knowledge and pride about the cemetery.

A few in attendance took some time to do some research at the days end before the three hour drive back to North Platte. Many said they were surely going to make the trip again and spend more time getting to know the wonderful museum system we have here. The day was long but a lot of fun for all and best of all was that one of the ladies in attendance met a relative that she never knew. Her unknown family had just came to the museum as patrons and in the course of writing a check for a gift shop purchase, our museum director noticed their name as being the same as one of our tour guests. She introduced them and sure enough, they were related and had never met--who knew? That is one of the things that most genealogists dream of! A nice ending to a fun genealogy day in the park.
----------------------------------------------------

My next big outing will be the Family History Expo in Kansas City on July 30-31st. The agenda is available on their website and includes great topics as Southern State researching, Swedish record acquisition, and using Twitter and Facebook. For those who can't attend, we will have daily live updates from the conference--right here!


You Go Genealogy Girl #2, Cheri

The REAL Genealogist

Occasionally I hear people comment on how addictive genealogical research can be. Is it the research or the simple urge to keep looking and collecting names? Maybe the research is addictive, but is it fun and interesting? It can be time consuming and that's where all the problems arise. Genealogy gets put on the back burner for things like children, grandchildren, spouses, vacations (I like mine with genealogy!), activities, jobs ... and then we say that someday when we retire we'll do family history research. Unfortunately, the older family members are gone by then ... or did you realize that when you procrastinated?

A REAL genealogist is one who is dedicated to the research. They will have obstacles and occasionally procrastinate, but overall they continue to study and learn genealogy research methods. When they run into a brickwall (Don't we all?) they don't give up. They keep trying, they look for answers elsewhere and sometimes they ask other genealogists for advise.

This advise can also be in the form of conferences, seminars and workshops. When I am lecturing, whether in a conference setting or in genealogy classes, I tell my students that the word "can't" is not in the genealogist's vocabulary. Maybe you think you can't locate something, but if you get rid of the negative word and negative attitude, you will be surprised at what will happen.

If you spend your money for seminars or conferences, do you put it to use? Or do you come back home and throw the syllabus and notes in the corner to collect dust? If the presenter recommends something, do you try it? How many times do you have to be told about how to locate free genealogical data online, before you decide to try it? A REAL genealogist will try these things, study the notes and syllabus and form their own opinion as to what works. Don't leave your problems in a heap with the notes until next year's conference or seminar.

How much time does it take to do this? It does take time. Why not start a schedule. See how much you can get done in one hour ... explore one Internet web page, such as FamilySearch. Learn all of the features. It won't take that long but you will soon master the skills and be able to search like a pro. The next hour you have available, try out another Internet database, or review your research for ideas on how to progress even further. You don't have to spend an entire day doing it, even though I do find that to be rather exciting!

Have confidence in yourself. Think like a REAL genealogist. Don't give up. Genealogy takes time. You may have to wait for a year before an online query is noticed an answered, or maybe two or more years. Keep telling yourself that you can do it ... and that you will do it.

Next week You Go Genealogy Girl #2 is coming for a visit. With the two of us it's always a genealogy visit! She has asked for a "free" session with me on ways to effectively research Ancestry.com databases. It's free to a point ... she may have to buy us lunch! Girl #2 is a REAL genealogist. I know she'll go back home and put to use what she has learned and keep trying.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby