Photo by Roxanne Lowe

Here are some of the people from TCGS that attended the Washington State Genealogical Society conference in Ellensberg with speaker David Rencher.   L to R – a friend, Renee Petersen, Veronica Anguiano, Hank Jackel (standing), Margie Belden and Mary Ann Orton.

At this conference Veronica Anguiano and Margie Belden were awarded WSGS Recognition awards for which TCGS had nominated them.

Veronica Anguiano 

Veronica was recognized for her outstanding efforts in the cataloging of historical documents of importance and value to researchers interested in Benton and Franklin Counties.

Veronica Anguaimo has been selected by the Tri-City Genealogical Society (TCGS) as their recipient of the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award. She was selected for her commitment to researching and sharing information, even outside her local Society.

Ms. Anguiano has distinguished herself in untiring support of the TCGS as its Research Chair and helping research Benton and Franklin county histories. Ms. Anguiano has responded willingly and efficiently to numerous requests for information from outside her local society.

Ms. Anguiano has become heavily involved in re-cataloging the TCGS library holdings so the holdings can be searched from the FamilySearch Library Catalog. As the holdings are re-cataloged, the new numbers are uploaded to the FamilySearch system, making them searchable from FamilySearch’s online site.

Ms. Anguaimo is a respected and diligent member of the TCGS, and richly deserves this recognition.

Margie Belden

 Margie was recognized for exceptional and consistent support of the goals and operation of the Tri-City Genealogical Society.

Margie Beldin has been selected by the Tri-City Genealogical Society (TCGS) as their recipient of the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award. She was selected for her dedicated, enthusiastic efforts to educate members of her local Society.

Ms. Beldin has distinguished herself in untiring support of the TCGS as its Education Chair for many years.  In that position, Ms. Beldin has made many classes on a wide variety of subjects available to the membership. Ms. Beldin has not only coordinated setting up classes and programs, she has taught numerous classes herself, as she actively increases her knowledge and capability through attendance at genealogical conferences and classes outside the TCGS. She is always willing to share the knowledge that she gets from these events.

Ms. Beldin is a valued and hard-working member of the TCGS, and richly deserves this recognition.

In March 2015 We Met The Archivist

Brigid Clift, Central Region Archivist for the Washington State Archives, provided a transparent view of her activities and responsibilities as the Archivist of government records last night to the TriCity Genealogical Society.

There are various reasons why government agency records need to be retained. Some retention schedules require that the records be held for 99 years or permanently! As the Archivist, Brigid answers many questions on how long records need to be kept. She also collects records from various agencies and takes them to the Central Region Branch of the Washington State Archives for storage. The Central Region Archives provides archival and records management services for Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, and Yakima county government agencies. The facility is state-of-the-art and Brigid encouraged those planning on attending the 2015 Washington State Genealogical Society conference to tour the Archives while in Ellensburg.

Brigid shared copies of various types of records to provide an idea of what is available at the Archives. She encouraged genealogists to interact with her. A major function of her job is obtaining material. She does this with the desire to share what she has collected. She explained three ways that she shares information from the Archives; requests, visits, and volunteer interaction.

Look-ups and research requests can be sent to CEBranchArchives@sos.wa.gov. Brigid explained that she enjoys providing this type of service but encouraged some work on the part of the researcher before sending a request. Record groups descriptions, including date range and volume size, is available at www.sos.wa.gov/archives/archives_central.aspx. The most productive requests fit within the description of the record group. If a date in not known, a date range should be provided in the request.

Due to budget cuts the Central Region Archives has limited hours for visits. It is important to call or email before visiting to ensure that the archives are open and that someone is available to pull requested records. Brigid encouraged a review of the holdings before a visit. A review of the volume size gives the researcher information to plan how long their research efforts may take. Some record groups are indexed and some are not. This information is also available in the holdings list.

The Genealogical Society of Utah has recently scanned a large amount of images for the Central Region Archives. Volunteers can help with indexing these scanned images which is necessary before they become searchable online through the Digital Archives. To set up an account to help with this project go to scribe.digitalarchives.wa.gov or contact the Historical Records Project at hrp@sos.wa.gov for more information.

It was a treat to have Brigid speak at the TriCity Genealogical Society March meeting. We got to learn that Archivists are real people who love the records that they take care of and that they want to share these records. She represented the role of Archivist, of which there are many. Brigid reminded us that each state government and archive has its own way of conducting business.

March General Meeting

Just a reminder that our general TCGS meeting is this Wednesday, 7pm, at Parkview Estates.

Our own Sandra Floberg will be the presenter. She has conducted her own survey of the 10 most popular reference books we should all consider having in our homes.

Her intention is to help us decide which books we would like Barnes and Noble to stock prior to our fund-raiser in May.

If you like what you hear and decide there are some books you would like to consider buying, be sure to get your requests to Susan Faulkner right away. She will have Barnes and Noble order in the books for you to review. No pressure to buy (although your purchases on that day will benefit TCGS and help fund our Washington State Genealogical Society Annual meeting in September.)

After Sandra's presentation, we will provide more information so that you can prepare for our next big event, the Barnes and Noble TCGS Fundraiser, May 21st.

Stay tuned for more details.