Alberta Family History Society

There will be a meeting of the Alberta Family History Society at the River Park Church, 3818 - 14A Street SW in Calgary Monday, May 6, 7-9 p.m. at which Frances Swendsen will speak about Family Tree, a new feature at the FamilySearch.org website.

If you would like to view the new website before going to the meeting, you can watch a webinar on the Legacy FamilyTrees website which has given by Devin Ashby at www.familytreewebinars.com/presenter_details.php?presenter_id=39. Although one has to pay to view these webinars, this one will always be FREE because it is sponsored by FamilySearch. (I watched it Wednesday and it is very good.)

Alberta Family History Blog is at http://afhs.ab.ca/blog

Alberta Family History Facebook page is at http://www.facebook.com/AlbertaFHS

And their website is at www.afhs.ab.ca

UPDATE: CanadaGenWeb - Yukon Cemeteries

The following updates have been put online –

Dawson City

Bet Chaim Jewish Cemetery

St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery

Hillside Cemetery (Old Public)

Hillside Cemetery (New Public)

Whitehorse

Grey Mountain Cemetery

Our thanks go to Rod Carty for his volunteer work on the Yukon cemeteries, and for his work at "Find A Grave"!

You can go http://canadacems.blogspot.com/2013/04/yukon-update.html

Saskatchewan Archives Changes Their Hours

On April 1, 2013, Saskatchewan Archives changed its public hours at their reading room locations in both Regina and Saskatoon. The reading rooms will now be open from 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Both the Regina and Saskatoon reading rooms will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

So the hours are –

Monday - CLOSED

Tuesday, CLOSED

Wednesday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

Thursday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, no retrievals from 12-1 pm or after 3:45 pm

If you require clarification about their current hours, please contact either the Saskatoon or Regina reference offices at:

Saskatoon reference office

Phone: (306) 933-5832

Regina reference office

Phone: (306) 787-4068

Email: info@archives.gov.sk.ca

For more information, go to www.saskarchives.com/using-archives

East European Genealogical Society 2013 Seminar

On Saturday, June 1, 2013 (full day and evening), the East European  Genealogical Societies will hold a full-day seminar at Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), 45 Dalhousie Drive, Winnipeg, Manitoba, where the speaker will be Kahlile Mehr, MA, MLS, AG (Salt Lake City).

Kahlile worked thirty-five years at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, most recently as Slavic Collections Manager. He visited archives throughout Eastern Europe on nine separate acquisition trips and has published over twenty articles and books, as well as presented papers at numerous international genealogical conferences.

The East European Genealogical Society includes Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, parts of Poland and Ukraine, and other former Soviet Republics.

The cost is

•Members $60.00 (includes lunch)

•Non-members $65.00 (includes lunch)

•Dinner $28.00 each

For more info, please go to www.mbgenealogy.com/news/56/15/East-European-Genealogical-Society-2013-Seminar

OGS Report 2012

For the first time ever (as far as I can remember), the Ontario Genealogical Society has put its yearly report online at www.ogs.on.ca/home/pdfs/OGS-Annual-Report-2012.pdf

It is a 44-page report which covers, in part, such subjest as Project Reports, Standing Committee Reports, Notes on Financial Statements, Financial Statements, and Where does your money go? It also includes Branch Annual Reports for 2012.

Some of the interesting things I noticed since I received the report this morning are –

An explanation of Where does your money go? The graphics used were confusing, and maybe better graphic could have been chosen. In the written explanation, they said that the operation costs each member $106.00 a year to support. We pay $60.00 per member right now. Is there an increase in dues going to be set for next year?

It looks like we will be changing to e-publication in the future. And it looks like the Publication Committee will be doing something for the First World War Anniversary in 2014, as they did with the War of 1812 Celebrations.

There will be the new website later this year, and many of the local Branches have put on new websites.

I would like to thank all of the people who put this report together, and who have made it available to everyone.

Genealogy “Summer Camp”

The 17th Summer Camp will be held in Toronto from the 16th to the 21st June, 2013. It is being held by the Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society.

In their press release, they say that “Genealogy "Summer Camp" is a unique program that brings out-of-town family historians to Toronto for an intensive week of tutorials and hands-on research, with the guidance of local experts, at the many archives and reference libraries in Toronto. We take full advantage of Toronto’s great public transit system, and we keep the group small to allow lots of help from our local experts.

If you're from out-of-town, we encourage you to stay with the group. We have arranged economical university residence accommodation.

The 2013 Genealogy “Summer Camp” will be number 17! More than 135 participants from England, right across Canada and many US states have attended the 16 previous Summer Camps—some more than once! We’ve also welcomed many local participants as “day campers”. It is an excellent way to get acquainted (or reacquainted) with the libraries and archives in our city. It is also a great excuse for a week of concentrated research.

This year’s Summer Camp is scheduled for June 16 to 21, 2013. The Summer Camp fee for 2013 is $240 (Cdn), which covers approximately 7 hours of lectures and tutorials, 25 hours of hands-on instruction and all worksheets and handouts.

For details as to venues, resources, tutorials and accommodation, and to download an application package, visit www.torontofamilyhistory.org/summercamp.html, or contact Jane MacNamara at info@torontofamilyhistory.org”.

Applications should be received by 16 May 2013.

St. Patrick’s Society of Richmond & Vicinity, Quebec

This year the St. Patrick’s Society of Richmond & Vicinity is celebrating its 135th anniversary with the publication of a book on local Irish history called Irish Settlement and National Identity in the Lower St. Francis Valley. It is written by Peter Southam, a retired history professor from University of Sherbrooke.

The book describes 200 years of Irish presence in the Lower St-Francis Valley, a section of Quebec’s Eastern Townships that surrounds the Town of Richmond. Much of the information for the book was provided by local families. Part I deals with Irish rural settlements and Part II focuses on the Richmond’s St-Patrick’s Society.

Books are available at Townshippers’ Association (819-566-5717), Black Cat Books in Lennoxville, and Papeterie 2000 or Loretta at 819-826-2658 in Richmond.

Visit www.richmondstpats.org for information on the society, and the book.

Canada Book Day

To mark Canada Book Day, the Library and Archives Canada takes a closer look at the collection of early 20th-century Canadian publications available in the Electronic Collection of Library and Archives Canada.

The website address is www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/electroniccollection/index-e.html