Spotlight on the Kootenai County (Idaho) Genealogical Society

WSGS welcomes the Kootenai County Genealogical Society into membership! KCGS began back in 1979, a spin-off from the Idaho State Genealogical Society. But since geography dictates that KCGS have closer ties to Eastern Washington than to Southern Idaho, KCGS and the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society (in Spokane) share several members. 

This is their website:  www.kcgs.org and they invite you to come learn all about them and their doings. They meet monthly (except July-August and December-January) and many KCGS members are volunteer staffers at the Hayden Family History Center. KCGS has a wonderful partnership with the Hayden Lake Public Library and use the library's meeting room and keep their book collection there. 

Last August 9th, KCGS go-getter-member Kim Morgan arranged a Family History Day at the Hayden Library. There were classes for children and adults such as "Standards for Sound Genealogical Research," and "Help! The Courthouse Burned..Now What?" Pictured below is Kim Morgan with Susan Miner, Billie Jean Grant, Barbara Cole and Bonnie Cook, the arranging committee for this great day. President of KCGS is Jeannie Ventorino with her Board including Donna Schmacker, Louisa Durkin, Carol LaPan and others. 

 Several members of EWGS traveled the short thirty miles east from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene and just north of there to Hayden Lake Public Library to attend the activities on August 9th. EWGS member Janette Birch talks here with Librarian Carol LaPan about KCGS's wonderful British parish records collection. This collection takes up several library shelves and was donated years ago. It includes such gems as the Liverpool Directory for 1766. 

We welcome Kootenai County Genealogical Society into the Washington State Genealogical Society and look forward to some really fun back-and-forth learning and sharing. And who knows how many will travel to use the KCGS British parish records collection, housed in the Hayden  Lake Public Library? 

Societies: Honor Your Volunteers??

Roxanne Lowe, the chair of the WSGS committee to coordinate the awards given at the annual state conference, has asked that this notice be posted...... the conference is only six weeks away!

Societies that have nominated members or teams for a 2014 Outstanding Volunteer Award need to submit their write-ups and digital photographs to Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Committee chair, by Tuesday, July 1. If you’ve got questions or concerns, email Roxanne at roxanne@thekeeffes.com.

I added in this pix of Dottie Braithwaite because it was the one taken for her WSGS award some years back. Dottie, who has been a member of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society forever, is the designer of the EWGS logo. 

Vests........ WSGS & Other Society Vests

Thought you all might like to see a photo of "Gramma Deanie" (Deanie Franz) who runs the little shop up in Colville, Washington, where she does our wonderful society vests. She's done the dark green WSGS vests and the dark purple EWGS vests and would be happy to do vests for your society. It's a great coming-together thing! The good folks of the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society started this ball rolling.

Here's what you do: poll your members, see if they are interested. I can tell you they cost right at $30.00 each with postage.  EWGS decided that we wanted our members to have them so we subsidized them; members paid $15. They come in S-M-L-XL-XXL-XXXL. They are of study poplin with a pocket on each side of the front. You pay a one-time fee of $40 for her to set up your image (which you send to her digitally) and whether you have one or two colors in the printing affects the cost (NeWGS had two colors). The vest itself comes in many colors. You get an order ready, send the money and the list to Deanie and darn soon all your members will be wearing a society vest!

Contact "Gramma Deanie," or Deanie Franz, at 251 N. Main St, Colville, WA  99114,
509-684-3604, or  grammadeanie@msn.com.  

We think the vests are great and I think it's great that we're supporting a local Washington business.

Donna, WSGS Blogger