Canadian Air and Space Museum / Canada Aviation Museum

In February, the Canadian Air and Space Museum www.casmuseum.org unveiled a new $2-million capital campaign which will see the first full-size model of theAvro Arrow onsite , as well as the addition of new galleries and classrooms to the museum. In addition, a home will be made for the Lancaster X Bomber.

The expansion was announced as we celebrate the Canadian Centennial of Powered Flight on the Bras D'Or Lakes in Nova Scotia, when Alexander Graham Bell oversaw the flying of the Silver Dart.

Many supporters were there to launch the "new" museum, and the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, said, "This launch celebrates the many achievements of the Canadian aerospace industry. I am pleased to be present for this new chapter in the museum's development and to see it supported so enthusiastically be the aerospace, airline and space industries, as well as the military and other proud Canadian supporters."

After visiting the Canadian Air and Space Museum, go and visit the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa www.aviation.technomuses.ca, which is home to over 130 aircraft. It re-opened in November after extensive renovations.

The Canada Aviation Museum has its own library and archives onsite, which you can visit and look at the over 12,000 books they have, as well as over 200 periodicals and the many technical manuals which are there.

They also have photographs and archives from Air Canada, Canadair, and Avro Canada.

The private collections include log books from the aviators of the First and Second world Wars; correspondence from the bush pilot,Stuart Graham; and the collection of Kenneth M. Molson, the first curator of the Canada Aviation Museum.

Ottawa Branch News

A hefty version of the Spring edition of the Ottawa Branch News reached me today.

I say hefty because the last 19 pages of the News is taken up by the listing of surnames in the Index to Names Volume 41 (2008). The list contains the surname, the given name(s), and the page number.

The articles are very included in this edition are "Research at Salt lake City - Preparation", which talks about Elizabeth Kipp's trip to Salt Lake City researching Palatines; "Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood"; "Online Genealogy Dictionaries and Lists"; and "The City of Ottawa Archives - a Wonderful Resource".

An intriguing article is one of changes in format coming to the News.

The format is going to change to a 8.5" x 11" journal style and the name is going to change.

Do you have a name for the new newsletter? They have received some suggestions already. For example: Ottawa/Bytown/Carleton - Roots, Genealogy, Ancestors, Families, Relations, Happenings. Suggestions are welcome!

And the editor is looking for someone to design the cover of the new journal. He is looking for someone with layout experience, and he says that it would only take a few hours to do this in consultation with the editor.

If you can help, please contact Edward Kipp at editor@ogsottawa.on.ca.

My "Genealogical" Schedule - Part II

Saturday, I finished writing my "genealogical" schedule for March, and I posted the frist part for you to read. Now is the second part, and maybe you will be able to join me in some of the events I will attend or read some of the happenings that I will write about.

March 21st - The Beginners Course in Genealogy — held at the Library and Archives Canada and sponsored by BIFHSGO and the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) — will be held from 9:00 a.m. until noon. There are four great speakers -

- John D. Reid (of Anglo-Celtic Connections fame) will talk about the Seven Great Rules

- Glen Wright will talk about Census Records

- Allison Hare will talk about Civil Registrations

- Terry Findley will talk about Local Resources

Afterwards, I plan to go to Lansdowne Park to the Green Conference and do a couple of interviews for magazine articles.

March 27th - The opening night of this year's Gene-O-Rama!

Registration will open at 7:00 p.m., and the official opening will take place at 7:30. Like last year, it will be held at Ben Franklin Place in Nepean.

The speaker at the Pat Horan Memorial Lecture will be Dr. Bruce Curtis, and he will talk about "Locating, Identifying, Knowing: Census Making in Canada to 1871".

March 28th - The second day of Gene-O-Rama, with nine lectures, a banquet, a marketplace, and genealogy computing. Phew!

It sounds like a lot of thing to go to, but Mike More, the Chairperson, has everything under control, and it should go off without a hitch.

I plan to attend a lecture on "The Canadian Genealogy Centre in 2009"; "Getting the Most from City Directories and Their Next of Kin"; and "Cold Cases: Hot Tips".

March 31st - I will send in another article to GenealogyToday.com for my column, "Canadian Connections". I hope you will drop by for a visit, and read some of my past articles.

I'm-a "Twitter"

For those of you on Twitter - I'm on Twitter, too!

I went on last night between periods in the hockey game and came away with a few followers ... but no genealogists.

So I'm asking all those genealogists with Canadian family connections to follow my "comings and goings" on at http://twitter.com/GenealogyCanada, as I intend to use Twitter as a place to post the events I attend and the blogs I write.

So hop on over to Twitter, or to the blog, and get your genealogical fix for the day!