CHESTERMERE – It was a day for discovering the past at the Chestermere Public Library on Nov. 10, as the community’s first ever genealogy workshop hosted 19 eager participants.
Some attendees showed up with extensive family trees, while others came with only a few names to research, but all were keen to become better researchers.
The workshop was hosted by Jean Tilbert, who has been doing genealogy research for a number of years. She provided information about how to begin researching, where to start, how to cite the information found, and even how to organize everything.
“Everyone benefitted from the information because now some of us know how to start, while others have gained a few resources they might not have known about before,” said organizer Audrey McDonald. “This workshop was basically all about where to get started, but they were all important basics to keep you focused so that you don’t get discouraged.”
McDonald said that the workshop also provided everyone with a chance to establish a connection with other people in the community who wanted to get started on researching. She said that they are now considering getting together casually on a weekly basis for discussions, updates and support.
“Ultimately we hope to form a genealogy club that would meet once a month at the library,” she said. “That’s currently in the making right now, and will likely take off in the new year.”
McDonald said that she thinks that it should be a success, judging by the amount of interest from those who attended the first workshop.
The Library will be hosting an information session on Nov. 30 at 10 a.m. Guest speaker Kay Clarke will be doing a one-hour presentation that she put together for the Marigold Library about genealogy. Again it will be about where to look for information, how to get into genealogy, and the basic steps to researching.
The Nov. 30 session is open to anyone, but attendees are asked to RSVP either to Gemma Noon at the Library at 403-272-9025 or Audrey McDonald at 403-272-9280 or audrey8@telus.net.
Another all-day genealogy workshop with Jean Tilbert will be taking place at the Library on Jan. 7. Anyone interested in attending this workshop must contact Audrey or Gemma, as space is limited to 20 participants.
