Welcome one and all to Part 3 of my adventures at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree!
Part 1 is here, and an intro to me, and the Genealogy side of this blog, is here. ;-D
Saturday morning, and once more I'm wandering the exhibit room.
I'm there barely 5 min. when someone who has been reading my blog approaches me!
How cool is that? ;-D
I'd spent the previous day, and would spend this day, and the next, meeting in person people whose work online, and even in print, I've read, and some of whom I've even corresponded with by e-mail, blog comments, message boards Facebook, and Twitter, some as far back as a decade or more.
These are people whose work, opinion, and advice, I admire, respect, and value.
I was, and would be, thrilled, and honored and, at first, a bit nervous to be in their presense, yet would end up being welcomed, and accepted as one of them, a sort of "Comrade in Ahnentafel Tracking", or something , hee, hee! ;-D
Suddenly here was someone treating me with the same respect, and pleasure, of personal meeting, that I was showing others.
Sort of puts things in a different, and humbling, perspective.
After that ego boost I go, and buy 2 books that I passed up Friday, and then on over to the session, by Arlene Eakle, on finding lost records, and sources outside the library.
After that it was back to the exhibit room, where things could get a little surreal, and I don't mean just the way the photo appears. ;-D
You have a room full of people in search of their ancestors, or anything that can help in that quest, and many of them can't get away from the computer.
For those who didn't bring their laptops, cell phones, or huckleberries (Do I have the right berry? I don't use any of these devices!), there was the salvation of internet access in the Tech Zone where you could get online to do a quick blog, or tweet [#genealogy #scgs09 At Jamboree! Just saw (fill in the blank) pick his/her nose! Way cool!], and explore, for free, various subscription genealogy sites, for 30 minutes per person.
I purchased 2 books by the great William Dollarhide, which he autographed as he appeared to be doing for everyone, and which I though was very cool.
I then found a half dozen copies of old KY and IN Genealogical Society magazines for 50 cents ea.
They may, or may not have info I can use as research resources, but they would give me insight into state history, and how others fared in their research.
After a while I went in search of the PA Announcer to try to locate Thomas MacEntee, the GeneaBlogger, maestro of several fine blogger related activities going on over the weekend, who made sure each of his fellow Facebook GeneaBlogger Group members got a nifty Goody Bag.
It turned out that he was standing right next to the people I went to for help!
We chatted a bit, and he gave me a cool red, white, and blue beaded necklace to wear, thus identifying me as a fellow Facebook GeneaBlogger.
I would get my Goody Bag later, and it would have tasty muffins, and fruit, and a copy of the Roots Magic 4 program, which I couldn't eat, um, hee, hee! ;-D
My grateful thanks to all those who contributed to the contents of the bag!
I next headed off to get a seat for the 1st of 2 sessions on Eastern European Genealogy Research.
After sitting thru Dear Myrtles session on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists, and 1 by Bill Dollarhide, it was time to go to the Facebook Friends, and Tweet Meet, a 90 min. opportunity to meet people we may only know online, face to face, and I chatted with several folks, including, Kathryn Doyle, of the Ca. Genealogical and Historical Society Blog, whose husband is Greek.
She looked at the old letters I'd brought and confirmed they were not in Greek.
She advised me to try to contact a priest of a Bulgarian, or Serbian, Orthodox Church, to learn what language they were in, and maybe get a translation.
In a related matter, at some point Saturday, or Sunday, I found myself at Arlene Eakles tables pouring over a couple of books with maps of the Macedonia, and its neighbors, including the regions of my Father, and his parents, and grandparents, showing the ever changing political situation going back from 1930 to 1700.
There it was...set out in vivid detail, the complex nature of the political, cultural, and religious world of my ancestors.
The Greeks, the Serbs, the Croats, the Bulgarians, the Russians, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Turks, especially the Turks, all had their hands in the boiling pot that is Macedonia, and its sister regions that, eventually, would be reluctantly held together, for a few decades, by the iron-fisted rule of Tito, after WW2.
Also, at some point, I encountered author, researcher, Jana Broglin, Vice President for Membership of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, who told me how to contact Pat Gooldy, of Ye Olde Genealogy Shoppe, a person who might be able to help me in my Indiana Research as I search for several important marriage records which would help solve several of my brick walls.
As the gathering wound down someone brought over a bottle of wine and, after a little joking around, I asked to hold the near empty bottle for a picture. ;-D
Soon it was time for the much anticipated GeneaBloggers Group Dinner, at the nearby Daily Grill, but that's a story for next time. ;-D
Kiril,
It was nice to meet you. I'm looking forward to reading more about the letters and learning what you learn about the language in which they were written!
Kathryn Doyle
Posted by: geneaphile | July 03, 2009 at 12:03 PM