Merry Christmas
Bell
Althea
Pixie Betty

TCGS celebrated our 40th Anniversary at the November 13th meeting. A great powerpoint presentation was given by Kristine Childres with the support and help of Brenda Hix, Betty Sparagna and Judy Herring!


The Past Presidents who were present received token appreciation gifts.

A little technical assistance
from Judy Herring

Kristine giving presentation

Pixie gathering pics for the next
great newsletter

Best cake ever!!!


Our 2019 Salt Lake City Group


Our 2019 Group photo being photo-bombed by our dear Rolene Kiesling!


Pixie at one of the new large-screen computers at the FHL in Salt Lake.


Another tribute to Rolene ~ we all wore outrageous socks to dinner at her favorite P J Changs in Salt Lake City.


The Tuttle's Tour

At our general meeting on Monday, the 11th, we were treated to a wonderful powerpoint presentation. Inspired by her great-grandmother's story Mike and Michelle Tuttle began a journey taking them through cornfields in Iowa to the green fields of Ireland.

This writer was impressed with their research and preparation that they did prior to even their first trip. Maps and county title companies were essential to their discoveries. Their trip to Iowa exhausted all information available for their ancestors here in the states. They determined a trip to Ireland was their next step. Again, much pre-trip research, finding maps, contacting agencies , and planning was done even before booking their trip.

They launched their trip to Ireland with a tour of the country where they could "get the lay of the land". At the end of the tour, they focused on the county where their ancestors immigrated from. With delightful humor and pictures we were enchanted even more with the lure of Ireland. Michelle described the discovery of relatives and their warm welcome. They regaled our large audience with a compelling story of discovery! It was every genealogist's dream! The entire presentation was especially appreciated by Michelle's parents who were there to see the story unveiled. After all, it was her father's grandmother that started the whole adventure. Here are some of pictures of their presentation. Click on the small images for a larger view.


Family Treasure pictures from our January, 2019 meeting:

Click on the thumbnail picture to enlarge.


Another Success Story!

From Brenda Hix I received this good news:

"I have been looking for my father's WWII Draft Registration for 20 years and finally found it. I received an email from Ancestry that they had updated their records so naturally I had to check them out. I went to the WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, Ancestry.com, and I was able to print out their record but not the image. To get the image I had to go to Fold3, which I do not have a subscription to, so I went down to our wonderful TCGS library on Bradford Street and was able to access it and here is the image that I needed.
wwII_reg_p1 and wwII_reg_p2
SO, please don't forget that you, too can do this."


She Beat Down the Bricks!

In 2017 our Theresa Dyer journeyed with her sisters and father to their Motherland of Poland. Following is a blog that Theresa kindly shared with us.

"Again in September 2017 my two sisters, my father, and I visited Poland to continue the research. Here is an excerpt from the blog I wrote. …but first we stopped in Lobzenica at the church where some of the ancestors were baptized and some married. sign at entrance to Lobzinica

I have been waiting for this day . . .

. . . for awhile. When we arrived I was thrilled-my heart content even though we had just stopped for a few minutes. The bright full sun shone in the distance and the half moon glowed on the other side of the sky. A moment of beauty and satisfaction. We finally made it-one of the most important places of the trip! Tomorrow we meet up with Lukasz to do some research.

To say the least I am very excited to roam around and check out the land where it all started. Already we have driven through the countryside of narrow roads, saw decorated memorials of holy people on the roadside and even saw a family digging for potatoes. This place is beautiful and . . .

. . . reminds me of home . . .

. . . on the farm. Here the soil is being churned and ready for winter. cross

The weather is very warm for this time of the year. Yesterday a woman told us that it is usually raining in September but warm in August. However, this year has been the opposite. Thank goodness someone is looking out for us.

We are traveling to Pila's archive to meet up with Lukasz. cows He will escort us the town again of Lobzenica for a stroll around the small square and we look forward to speaking (via his translation) to some of the townspeople.

Oh my gosh, today was the day full of glory. In Pila we joined the archives as very exclusive members. Lukasz had requested books that were within our time period. Stacks and stacks filled the table nearby. As my sister and I scanned the pages, me eyeing the left side and her the right, we were disappointed and weary when we found nothing. Last stack was carried out to us, books overflowing the table. Lukasz helped us with a few but was eagerly looking for useful “family" material.

theresa, sister, father It was the last book when we almost yelled out loud in this “no talking” room. There on the last page of the last book was the entry of our relative! Overjoyed and almost in tears we found a name I had been looking for in Salt Lake. My sister took the illegal pictures with her iPad as I quietly leaped up and down.

Eureka!

We toured the small square and the church again but this time with an explanation of its history from the parish priest. Lukasz asked our questions and translated the priest's answers about the church and its rich history. We were fascinated by the Lobzenica history and could only image how my ancestors spend their daily routines. Our day ended with great satisfaction and contentment. Tired but ready altar of the Holy Trinity Church to go again the next morning with yet another researcher, Sebastian. My head is swimming. What a couple of days. I have heard so many Polish names and places it is absolutely exhilarating!

Today was another day of research. We met up with our researcher in Gniezno. He was a younger man than yesterday full of energy and humor. We drove out to meet him at the cathedral about 1 1/2 hours away from our hotel. It was a huge place that was decorated with magnificent statues, gigantic altars, higher than high decorated ceilings, and an amazing acoustic surrounding sound. The steps up to the church are three flights up and when you reach the top you can see the town of Gniezno. I could tell right from the beginning that we had a good researcher. He was prepared and took the time to talk and listen to my wishes for finding family members of the Czajkowski and Bibola families. He guided us to the archives. We actually joined the Gniezno archives too, costing a whole 15 Zlotes and our membership is good until 2018. My sister and I scrolled through computer pages of information and to our surprise found Adam Czajkowski baptism. She spotted his name and I spotted his parents’s name. We hit the jackpot even though it was only one record we were thrilled….

We are still overwhelmed that we were able to travel twice to Poland to find some of our family history. people crossing rr tracksBut more important, to see where my relatives lived, travel down some of the same paths they may have traveled, and to be able to sit in the town square and imagine what life was like so many years ago.

I guess my point is….don’t be held back if you don’t know the language-learn a few words, if you can’t travel-gather some books or relive memories through movies, do learn about the past and cherish today or tomorrow will be gone and not recorded.

I was introduced to Lukasz and Sebastian via email back in Salt Lake City on one of the annual geneology trips. Maria, one of the sisters who has a wealth of knowledge, did some research for me to make sure that my two researchers were legitimate. Those people at the temple are so helpful and have tons of resources that lead you to your findings. I am very excited to be attend the trip to Salt Lake again this year."

from Theresa Dyer's blog.


Marcia VanSwoll submitted this prize from her family history. "My grandmother's uncles John and Henry Schneider, in front of their Adrian, Michigan shop." --> The not-so-smart web administrator just lost all the pictures that were here! Stay tuned . . . patiently please. :)

TC Genealogical Library: 158 Bradford St., Sonora, California 95370 ~ 209.532.1317 ~ Email: info@tcgen.org