Three Lakes Genealogical Society Minutes
October 23, 2017

Members present: Irene Farkas, Charlene Roberts, Marge Behling, Maureen Brand, Debby Selman, Roger Blocks, Les Anderson, Robert Bailey, Nancy Bailey, Marie Byatt, Joyce Mogytych, Donna Mather, June McDuffie.
Guest: Barbie McReely 

1:03p.m. The meeting was called to order by President Debby Selman.

The minutes from August 2017 meeting were accepted. 
( Note: No meeting was held in September 2017. An Open House was held in lieu of a meeting.)

Treasurers Report:
Treasurer Joyce Mogytych read the Treasurers report:
The Treasurers Report was accepted as presented.

Old Business:
Open House:
Debby Selman asked the membership for their thoughts on the Open House held in September. Was it worth it?  Should it be continued?  
Members who helped and were in attendance felt we have gotten something out of it. We were able to help 5 people who attended. 
Charlene Roberts said she was a bit disappointed at the turn out given the extensive effort made in promoting the event.  Some put blame on the weather. It was a rainy day in the fall. Remember: {in February we had a blizzard } 
Members present concluded that maybe it would help our membership grow.
Debby Selman asked Ō Do you want to do this once or twice a year?Ķ Consensus was two times a year.
Debby Selman asked members to think about February and suggested that Summer would be better than Fall. Perhaps a work day rather than a weekend in August. She asked if someone would Chair the next Open House. Maureen Brand agreed to be the Chairperson. 

WomenÕs Club Presentation:
Charlene Roberts and Nancy Brewster gave a wonderful presentation to the WomenÕs Club in October 2017, which not only was very informative but included maps of the Cemetery. They promoted TLGS very well also, for which we thank them. We received a stipend of $25 from the WomenÕs Club for this effort. 

New Business:
Charlene Roberts brought up the topic of creating new Cemetery Walk booklets. Was it worth it at the cost of $13 per booklet? Everyone seemed to think so.
Joyce Mogytych suggested that we could also make them available through our website. Perhaps Les Anderson could put that up on the website asking for a donation of $15. 
Debby Selman asked for a motion. Marie Byatt moved, Joyce Mogytych second, all members agreed. It was determined that we would check our inventory to see what we have on hand. We would print enough so that we would have 20 booklets available. This booklet - If Tombstones Could Talk contains all three of the cemetery walks presented by TLGS. 

Roger Blocks introduced his friend Barbie from Indiana. Welcome to the group Barbie. 

Request for Speakers:
A request was made by Marie Byatt to perhaps find a speaker on German research that may include location of towns in Germany. She agreed to try to locate a speaker who would do the presentation. 
June McDuffie suggested a speaker on Ireland. Joyce Mogytych said she heard someone at a Minocqua Genealogy meeting speak on Irish Genealogy and she would check into it. 
Expenses for any speakers need to be checked out and approved by the membership. 

Debby Selman asked if the group would be interested in taking a day trip to the Wausau LDS center, overnight to Madison Library or 2 nights to Allen County in Indiana.
Discussion about Wausau LDS: We would need to call ahead and set up a appointment to have someone meet us. This way they might be able to have someone there who could address our specific questions or topics.

Someone mentioned some microfilm is still listed online. Marie asked what is our status with LDS. Are we still a partner library with LDS?  She said that she could not sign in and we should have access. We will have to ask Nancy Brewster. 

Madison and Allen County sign up sheets were passed around for those interested to sign up.  ( Debby Selman has the sheet ) We will need further discussion at later date. 

Northern Waters sent a thank you note for the $50 check we gave them for Carol Williams presentation in August. 

CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON
Our Christmas Luncheon will be December 11, 2017 .
Dinner will be at Noon. Donna Mather and Maureen Brand agreed to chair the event. 

Queries and Successes
Debby Selman traveled to Connecticut and Mass. for her genealogical research, locating land records and cemeteries. She found her g.g.grandfatherÕs grave in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. She had a wonderful trip accompanied by a couple of nieces. She saw interesting tombstones. 

Show and Tell:  Irene Farkas shared a calendar from Croatia given to her by Noreen Rossa who traveled to Croatia recently for her genealogy research. The Ultimate Research Book was also shared. 

OBIT PROJECT
The decade of the 1970Õs was presented to Bob Bailey and Les Anderson for completion. Also brought to their attention was Craig MooreÕs Index of the microfilm we have in house. 

The November 2017 meeting is canceled due to Thanksgiving. The next get together is December 11, 2017 for the Christmas Luncheon at Noon. 

Debby Selman adjourned the meeting at 1:53p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Irene Farkas, Secretary 


Program 
Questions and Brickwalls 


ADDENDUM 
Program: Questions & Brickwalls 

A sample of some questions asked 
Donna Mather asked: How do you discipline yourself to find time to do genealogy? Maureen Brand suggested stay home and work. Debbie Selman said you just have to start.  

Joyce Mogytych asked if we had a contact person on our website, a live human being who someone could speak with. Charlene Roberts said no, we just have an email contact on our website.

Irene Farkas wanted to know whether Newspapers.com come with Ancestry membership and how to use it. Les Anderson said that with his version of Ancestry he had Newspapers.com and Fold3.
 I believe I have Worldwide Explorer with an AARP discount. It does not come with Newspapers.com and Fold3. After checking I discovered that the upgraded version would cost around $300, which is almost double what my membership is now. I may upgrade when it is time to renew my subscription. Nancy Bailey suggested checking into Genealogy Bank. The cost is much more reasonable.

Nancy Bailey also asked about Find A Grave and unmarked occupied graves. A discussion ensued about empty graves and wrong burials. In past years keepers of cemetery records were not necessarily diligent in their record keeping, but they cannot sell the graves even if all the heirs have passed on. This is due to federal regulations. But cemeteries cannot resell any graves whether they are occupied or not. 

Charlene Roberts asked if anyone had any new research sites they felt are good. Members said they had some but have not had time to try them out. No time.