Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island
old sepia photos

GSSWI Programs for 2023 - 2024

Note that the period 12:30 to 1:00 pm is intended for member interactions and comments.

Monday, March 11, 2024 Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: Cari Taplin

Program:  The Third Coast: How the Great Lakes shaped America.   This program will examine the rich history of the Great Lakes region, particularly its role in U.S. expansion, through transportation, economic growth and defense, and relatable genealogical record sets.  Topics covered are:  Examination of Great Lakes Geography, Native American Influences, Commerce, War and Defense, Ethnic Groups common to the Great Lakes area and where they settled and Records useful for tracing your Great Lakes area ancestor.

Cari is the owner of GenealogyPants.com and a member of "The Genealogy Squad" (a Facebook group), she works for Ancestry ProGenealogists.

Zoom Meeting from 1:00pm to 2:00pm.  (sign in as early as 12:30 p.m.)

Monday, February 12, 2024 Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: Dalva Church, Executive Director of Island County Historical Society and Museum
Program: Where the ICHSandM is going under new management. What we can look forward to in 2024.

Dalva comes to the museum after many years in academia. She has a BA in History, an MA in Humanities, and an MFA. She has a long history of working with nonprofits and volunteering in the community. Though originally coming from Ohio, Dalva loves being a transplant to Washington state, and it has been a ten-year dream to live on Whidbey. Dalva has long been a student of the history of Indigenous peoples and maritime history and is excited to apply those passions to the fascinating story of Whidbey Island.

Zoom Meeting from 1:00pm to 2:00pm.

Monday, January 8, 2024 Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: Maureen MacDonald
Program: Using New England Town Records

Town records have been maintained since early colonial times and hold a wealth of information about the people living there.  If you have ancestors who have been here since early colonial days you need to know about town records along with how and where to find them.

Maureen is a longtime member of GSSWI and has been researching her family for many years.  In addition, she has mentored numerous people with their research.

Zoom Meeting from 1:00pm to 2:00pm.

Monday, December 11, Monthly Program, 12:00 p.m.

Our Annual Holiday Potluck - from noon to 3:00pm

Come enjoy the food and fun as we get-together in-person at the Greenbank Progressive Club. (3090 S. Firehouse Road, Greenbank)

Please contact Laura Roetcisoender (lroetci@aol.com or 360-320-8768) and let her know what you are bringing or for a suggestion about what to bring. There are ovens to warm food at the club.

Please bring your own drinks. GSSWI will provide paper plates, silverware and napkins.

Monday, November 13, Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: Laura Roetcisoender 
Program: Writing Your Family History

In-Person Get-together at Trinity Lutheran Chapel.

Do you want to write some sort of family history but don't know how to get started? Do you have piles of records about your family and want to share them?  Do you know who do you want to share them with?

If you are in a quandary about how to get started or what to put in the book you want to write this is the perfect presentation for you.  Quick disclaimer: this is not an ongoing class nor will it teach you how to add documents or pictures into your text! 

This presentation will help you get started actually writing as well as figure out what to put in your book and what to do with it once it's done.  The possibilities run from publishing it with a self publishing company to just making some copies to hand out to family.

Bring your questions and a tablet and pen and we'll do a little writing to get your brain working in the right direction.  Writing a story isn't as hard as you might think.

You are welcome to bring relatives or friends to this presentation.

Laura has been a member of GSSWI since September 2002 and has held several positions on the board over the years.  In 2012 she published her family history on her father's side going back to 1562 in Switzerland.  She is currently working on her mother's side of the family.  She is also the author of a children's book titled Pricilla Gets Lost.

Monday, October 9, Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: David Richardson 
Program: Book Restoration and Repair

In-Person Get-together at Trinity Lutheran Chapel.

David will share his process and techniques for giving old books new life including repairing damaged pages, bindings and covers.  If you have an old book you treasure that needs some love, bring it and get his personal advice.

David's Bio:
David was born and raised in Washington state.  He has been married for 57 years (and counting) is the father of 3 sons.  He and his wife have 15 grandchildren. After 32 years as an engineer in Aerospace, he retired from Boeing in 1999.  Shortly after he retired he began to indulge in some new hobbies. In 2000 he took a course at Highline Community College on “restoring old books”. Since then he has thoroughly enjoyed giving new life to old “treasures”.

David added another hobby 2011 - tracing his family’s genealogy. He has researched his roots back to 1066 A.D. in England with other branches in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany going back to the 16th century. This pursuit brought him into contact with some local genealogy libraries and some “very old books” … some which he had the opportunity to repair.
 
In 2014 he joined the Seattle Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution which has helped him identify several ancestors who fought in the Revolution as well as in the Civil War.                                                                                                                  

Monday September 11, Monthly Program, 12:30 p.m.

Speaker: In-Person Get-together
Program: Ancestor Treasures Road Show

Please bring an heirloom item or a picture of it if it's too big to carry. You can bring something from your life that brings good memories, or an item passed down from an ancestor.

Tell us what the item is, who it came from and where it is originally from. This is a variation on past September meetings and provides everyone with a chance to get to know fellow members - who they are and where they came from.