Monday, July 27, 2015

Genealogy Fair A Huge Success! Now onto September...

We had an overwhelmingly positive response to our first ever FREE Genealogy Fair in Augusta on July 11th.  We had more than a dozen non-profit groups represented and many of them reported gaining new members as a result of the event. And the Genealogy Brick Wall Busters was well attended.  If you were there, you know what I mean!  The State Library stayed open later than usual and the Museum had well over 200 people take advantage of their free admission throughout the day.

We definitely had some learnings and the Conference Committee will be making notes of what went well and what could use some improving.  If you attended the event and have thoughts on what you liked and what you would like to have seen done differently, or in addition to what was available, please let us know with an email to mainegenealogicalsociety@gmail.com

There have been a lot of requests to do a similar type event in the future, so we'll be discussing the feasibility of that in an upcoming meeting.

Thank you to all those groups who participated and those individuals who came out to see what our Genealogy Fair was all about. We had a great time, and we hope you did too.

Now it's time to wrap up the last minute planning for our Annual September Conference and get people signed up to join us in Brewer, Maine for a day of genealogical lectures and more vendor sales tables.  To learn more about what's happening on Saturday, September 19, 2015 in Brewer, visit our conference web page:  http://conference.maineroots.org

Thursday, July 9, 2015

July 11th Genealogy Fair - Brick Wall Busters

Just 2 days left before our first FREE Genealogy Fair in Augusta, Maine.  We're excited to be offering an informal gathering of experts on Maine history and genealogy from around the State, including our friends at the Maine State Historical Society, among others.  Visitors to this event will be able to get information about the State Archives, The Maine State Library and can enjoy free admission to the Maine State Museum.

MGS will have many of our books available for sale, as will other groups.  The Cross Cafe will be open most of the day and the weather is going to amazing, so you can sit outside and enjoy some beautiful Maine weather, if you're so inclined.

On top of it all, we've assembled some folks who will be available for consultations to help YOU take another chunk out of that brick wall that's been plaguing you for years...  Or maybe you're just getting started in your genealogical journey - or don't even know where to start...  Our volunteers are here to help you get going, no matter what phase of research you are in.

Our current list of volunteers and their areas of expertise are included below. If you would like to reserve some time with one of these volunteers, please email mainegenealogicalsociety@gmail.com and we'll make sure we have some space reserved for you. If possible, please include some specifics about what you would like to talk about and we'll forward it along to the appropriate person.

Don't see what you're looking for in an area of expertise?  Send us your questions and let us know if you'll be attending the fair. We'll do our best to match you up with someone we think may be able to help you.

Our panel of experts:

Jerry Gower - Washington County Research & Maine Families in 1790
Bob Chenard - Franco American Research
Craig Siulinski - Recording Oral Histories & Sharing your Research Online
Helen Shaw - Census and Cemetery Research, Lineage Society Applications & Accessing Maine Vital Records
Nancy Milliken Mason - DNA for Genealogy
BJ Jamieson- Scottish and Irish Research

In addition MGS Officers and members will be available throughout the day to discuss getting started in your family history research and other general research related questions.

Email mainegenealogicalsociety@gmail.com with your Maine family or general genealogical queries and we'll work hard to get you with the right person on Saturday. If you can't make this event, you can still email us your Maine genealogy questions and we'll work to get an answer back to you as soon as possible!