Discovering Family Treasures

NERGC 2009 Manchester, New Hampshire E-ZINE #2

Permission to email, copy, and print this E-zine in part or whole is granted.

WELCOME TO THE MANCHESTER 2009 E-ZINE!
DISCOVERING FAMILY TREASURES
MEET THE CONFERENCE CHAIRS
ABOUT THE DISCOVERING FAMILY TREASURERS LOGO
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
HEADLINE SPEAKER PROFILE: JAMES L. HANSEN
ROAD SHOW SPOTLIGHT: OUR NATIONAL SPEAKERS
MEET THE EXHIBIT HALL CHAIRS
EXHIBIT HALL UPDATE
RESERVE A SPOT AT THE 2009 SOCIETY FAIR
A WORD FROM THE SYLLABUS ADVERTISING CHAIR
WILL ELVIS APPEAR IN MANCHESTER?
A TRANSPORTATION NOTE
ABOUT THIS E-ZINE
 
WELCOME TO THE MANCHESTER 2009 E-ZINE
Welcome to the second New England Regional Genealogical Conference 2009 E-zine! Between now and April 2009, we’ll be providing updates on the Tenth New England Regional Genealogical Conference through periodic E-zines like this one. Please share them with your friends and associates – and anyone else you feel may be interested in attending the Conference.
 
DISCOVERING FAMILY TREASURES
Discovering Family Treasures, to be held April 22-26, 2009 at the Expo Center of New Hampshire and Radisson Hotel in Manchester is the tenth New England Regional Genealogical Conference and will build on NERGC’s tradition of excellence in providing genealogical lectures, seminars and workshops; the Ancestors Road Show; a Society Fair; and banquets and luncheons for new and established genealogists alike at minimal cost. The excitement for Discovering Family Treasures is already building.  Watch our Website: www.NERGC.org for developing information. 
 
MEET THE CONFERENCE CHAIRS

Pauline Cusson
Pauline has been doing French-Canadian genealogy since 1986 and has served on the board of directors for the American-Canadian Genealogical Society since 1988. She was President of ACGS when the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium was first organized. Pauline is also the Director of Member Services at the New England Historic Genealogical Society, one of the NERGC Participating Societies. Pauline is currently serving NERGC as the Assistant Treasurer and Conference Co-chair for 2009.

Allison L. Ryall
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Allison holds a BA degree in history from the University of Southern Maine. In December of 2008 Allison will be completing a second BA degree in Russian Studies and a MA degree in American and New England Studies. Currently Allison serves as a grader for the National Genealogical Society’s Home Study Course and as the incoming coordinator for the APG’s annual Professional Management Conference. Previously she held positions such as Program Chair for NERGC 2007, Ancestors Road Show Co-Chair for FGS 2006 in Boston, and Ancestors Road Show Chair for NERGC 2005. Allison has a strong professional background in events, promotions, and planning and also has experience working in both radio and television marketing and advertising.
 
Melinde Lutz Sanborn
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Melinde holds degrees and certificates from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (BA in liberal arts with focuses in cultural anthropology and invertebrate paleontology) and the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. She is past editor of the quarterlies of four state journals and currently edits the New Hampshire Genealogical Record and co-edits the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. She is the author of over one hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals and popular magazines. She is the author or editor of over thirty books and has spoken at national and regional conferences since 1987 on such subjects as “Tracing Living Persons: Public Records of Private Lives,” and has taught in-house library classes and continuing education classes on internet genealogy.
 
Melinde is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the American Canadian Genealogical Society, the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Massachusetts Genealogical Council, and the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists. She is past president of NHSOG and currently Vice President of the MGC and of the American Society of Genealogists. In 1993 she was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, a scholarly honor society limited to no more than fifty living members, elected for life, based on the quality and quantity of their published works. Also in 1993 she received the Donald Lines Jacobus Award for Genealogical Publishing Excellent for editorial work on The Ancestry of Emily Jane Angell. T! he same book won the Grand Prize in 1994 from the Connecticut Society of Genealogists.
 
Melinde was 2005 Co-Chair of the New England Regional Genealogical Conference held in Portland, Maine, which saw a 25% rise in attendance over the previous year.
 
ABOUT THE DISCOVERING FAMILY TREASURES LOGO
Genealogists cannot resist family heirlooms. Whether they are locks of hair found in a secret panel of an antique desk (as in "The Genetic Strand" by Edward Ball) or an 1880s doll's trunk complete with decorated compartments, they all have intrinsic family value.

The latter is the basis of our 2009 Conference logo - a 130-year-old doll's trunk with family treasures spilling out about it. The "treasures" include an 1840s handmade valentine from Enoch Marsh of Pelham, N.H., to his Phebe, several miniature books, a string of pearls from a long-gone 3xgreat-aunt, a silver necklace chain (flapper length), and rolled printouts of passenger lists from 1906.

In keeping with this theme, the 2009 Conference teams will be working to develop one or more Treasure Hunts during the conference. It is just possible that those who read each E-zine thoroughly (back issues are archived on our website), will have an advantage when it comes time to find treasure!

Melinde Lutz Sanborn
Tri-Chair, 2009 NERGC

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Program Co-Chair Barbara Mathews reports that 209 submissions were received for about 80 session slots. She says, “I was really pleased with the quality of submissions.” Watch for program highlights beginning with the next E-zine.

HEADLINE SPEAKER PROFILE: JAMES L. HANSEN
Among the myriad of professional genealogists who will be making family history presentations at NERGC 2009, there will three national headline speakers, one of whom will be James L. Hansen, a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. As a genealogy reference librarian with the Wisconsin Historical Society, Hansen has a broad range of genealogical experience that comes with serving a diverse clientele.

Among his specialty areas is historical newspapers. His interest stems from a project where he compiled a comprehensive list of early Wisconsin newspapers. His expertise then led to a chapter on newspaper research in The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy published by Ancestry.

When asked about his suggestions for beginning genealogists, Hansen provided these tips: “Write down what you find because you will need to go back to it later. Also, take your time; don’t try to do it all this week.”

Be sure you take the time to catch James Hansen at NERGC 2009!

ROAD SHOW SPOTLIGHT: OUR NATIONAL SPEAKERS
The Ancestors Road Show is one of the many benefits for those attending the NERGC conference. From thorny research problems that refuse to be solved to brick walls that seem insurmountable, this is your opportunity to “hire” a professional to review and give you advice on your problem during a twenty-minute consultation.
 
The Road Show is pleased that NERGC’s three national speakers will each spend an hour at the Road Show offering suggestions and help to conference attendees.
 
James L. Hansen, F.A.S.G, reference librarian and genealogical specialist at the Library of the Wisconsin Historical Society since 1974, assists several thousand researchers a year in their genealogical and historical research. At the Road Show Jim will offer help in Midwestern research, Canadian (especially French-Canadian) research, census research, newspaper research, Medieval genealogical research and "frontier research" which he defines as being any area and time period where the records are particularly sparse and challenging to locate.
 
Megan Smolenyak is Chief Family Historian and North American spokesperson for Ancestry.com and co-founder of Roots Television. She is the author of several books and numerous articles, lectures widely, and conducts research for the U.S. Army and television programs. At the Road Show, Megan will consult on DNA, finding the living, Eastern European immigration, newspapers, African-American research, and Ancestry.com and other online resources.
 
Thomas W. Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, is co- editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. Recently retired from his teaching career at Gallaudet University, Tom is now working full time in genealogy. He is a popular lecturer and teacher at conferences and institutes. Mostly a Southern and Scots-Irish researcher, Tom has done genealogical research in Northern Ireland and all over the U.S., including every New England state. Tom will be available to answer questions on writing, editing and certification as well as tackling "brick-wall" problems.

If one of these consultants can help you in your genealogical quest, get your thoughts on paper and be ready to sign up when email registration begins in March 2009. Check the NERGC website, www.NERGC.org, for additional information as it becomes available.
 
MEET THE EXHIBIT HALL CHAIRS

David Mishkin received a B.S. degree in Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1969 and has graduated from their Photographic Preservation seminar series. He has presented lectures on preserving photographs and documents for over ten years from Boston, MA to San Francisco, CA. Mr. Mishkin recently completed two terms as the President of the New England Regional Genealogical Conference and served as the Conference Chair for the 2003 Cape Cod Conference and the 2005 Portland, Maine Conference. He has also served as the Exhibitor chair for the 1998 conference! in Portland, Maine. In addition, he was LAC Co-Chair for the National Conference in Providence, RI in 2000. Mr. Mishkin was a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild and served as secretary for the organization. Currently, he is Vice President for the South Portland Historical Society. He has written several articles in photographic magazines as well as Genealogical and historical magazines and publications.

Tom Wilber is President of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society and was Exhibit Co-Chair for the 2003 NERGC Conference in Falmouth, Massachusetts.
 
EXHIBIT HALL UPDATE
The Manchester conference will have a total of 73 booth spaces for exhibitors. As of Saturday, 26 April, 25 booth spaces, just under one-third, have been bought. These spaces will be occupied by:

• New England Historic Genealogical Society
• Godfrey Memorial Library
• Jonathan Sheppard Books
• American French Genealogical Society
• Photo Detective
• Just Black and White
• Massachusetts Genealogical Council
• New Hampshire Society of Genealogists
• New England Chapter of APG
• American-Canadian Genealogical Society
• Board for Certification of Genealogists
• Rhode Island Genealogical Society
• Paul Bunnell
• The Gravestone Girls

If you, or your society, would like to have a booth, contact David Mishkin, photos@maine.com, or Tom Wilber, twilber140@msn.com, for an information package. We would love to have you. Future editions of the E-zine will contain updates to the exhibitors list.

By mid-May, we anticipate that the NERGC website will have a floor plan with associated exhibitor information, name, website URL, products list, etc.

See you in Manchester,
David and Tom

RESERVE A SPOT AT THE 2009 SOCIETY FAIR
Genealogical societies, historical societies and family associations are invited to participate in the 2009 Society Fair on Thursday, April 23, 2009 between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. This is a free opportunity to meet many prospective members and possible users of your services, since we expect hundreds of interested researchers to be in attendance. You’ll get a table, a chair and signage. The only rules that apply are that if you are exhibiting in the trade show (Exhibit Hall), you can’t take part in the Society Fair and that you can’t sell anything at the Society Fair, but you can take orders. At the Hartford Conference, one of the family association participants finally met the genealogist who had been doing association research for many years! So, why not sign up, network and let others know what your group is doing. Register by email with Ralph Wadleigh at whplar@comcast.net.

A WORD FROM THE SYLLABUS ADVERTISING CHAIR
We invite individuals, organizations, and companies dealing with products and/or services of interest to genealogists to place an advertisement in our Conference syllabus. A copy of the syllabus will be given to each of the 800 expected attendees and will be carried back to genealogical societies and libraries all over the country and Canada. This is a great way to get your information directly into the hands of people who are most likely to take advantage of it!
 
The deadline for submitting advertising is January 3, 2009, but don’t delay – space will be selling fast. For a rate schedule, details about payment, and instructions for preparing your camera-ready advertisement, contact Advertising Chair Jan Burkhardt, misskoko@aol.com.

WILL ELVIS APPEAR IN MANCHESTER?
After his brief whimsical appearance during the Hartford Conference, we do not know if Elvis will be able to drop by and visit us in Manchester. However, the "social threesome" (aka the Pink Ladies) who were responsible for his visit have volunteered to co-chair the HOSPITALITY committee for the upcoming Conference.
 
Once again representing the Central Massachusetts Genealogical Society are:

President - Carol McNeil Bosworth, Leominster (nursing coordinator)
Membership & V.P. - Bonnie Phelps Sweatman, Fitchburg (retired teacher)
Secretary-Mary Urquhart Hasselmann, Rindge NH (legal secretary)

They are busy compiling information for places to eat, things to see & do, and whatever else is needed to welcome conference participants to the diverse city of Manchester.
 
Along with attending the Conference and all it will have to offer, they encourage everyone to get to know Manchester and all it has to offer. You might consider making this destination a vacation spot, especially for anyone you would like to bring along—a spouse, a relative, a friend (whether or not they're attending the Conference). There's enough to interest everyone.
 
To check out our host city, www.manchestercvb.com; www.manchester-chamber.org; www.gmdeg.com; www.newhampshire.com; or do a GOOGLE search.

ELVIS may or may not be there to welcome & assist you, but a hospitality table will be set up in the registration area with information, materials, and who knows what else the “social threesome” might have.

A TRANSPORTATION NOTE
The bus terminal of Manchester for Vermont Transit Bus Lines and for Concord Trailways Buses is IMMEDIATELY behind the Radisson Hotel's garage. In fact, you can exit the bus station and walk right through the garage to the hotel (perfect for inclement weather).

ABOUT THIS E-ZINE
This E-zine is sent to you at your request or because of your involvement in NERGC 2007.  We welcome your thoughts and suggestions for items to appear in future issues.  Please send them to Richard Roberts, at Rroberts1861@Charter.net.
 
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