What You Missed: The June 2009 Computer Class

If you missed today's computer class, "Honoring Your Ancestors and Loved Ones at the National World War II Memorial," presented by EWGS member Carol West Nettles, then you certainly missed out! Carol started out with an interesting and factual slide show on the purpose of the memorial, when, where and how it was created, and photos highlighting its details and symbols. She went on to give us a tour of the National World War II Memorial website (http://www.wwiimemorial.com), guiding us through the searches and then giving us a tutorial on how to register to be a contributor to the site.

This website is free to use and you can honor your relatives or friends who either a) died serving their country during the war; b) are/were a veteran of the war; or c) were a civilian during the war but contributed in some manner, either as a spouse of a veteran, a civilian worker, or someone who was a member of the Greatest Generation and did their everyday part to win the war. I love that you can honor ordinary citizens as well as veterans and I've already decided to add my maternal grandmother, who worked in a factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan where airplane wings were manufactured. Of course, I'll add my three veteran grandfathers (two biological and one step), their combined seven brothers who served, and my paternal grandmother's brother who was in the Navy. I'm sure I'll find a few veteran brothers-in-law to add. I'll also add the women of that generation. Adding loved ones is free; contributing a photo to their memorial page costs $10.

If you're a member of EWGS and would like a syllabus of today's class, please contact me.

Also, members can contact me to sign up for the July 2009 computer class, "Using FamilySearchIndexing.org to Find Your Ancestors & Help Other Researchers," presented by Donna Potter Phillips. This class will be held July 18th in the Gates Computer Lab on the second floor of the downtown public library during two sessions: 10:15 to 11:15 AM and 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Computer classes are free and are open to EWGS members only. If you are not a member and would like to become one, you can see information on our website here and download a form. Membership is normally $25 a year; however, if you join after July 1st, you need only pay $15.