YouTube: A Resource You Should Use

"YouTube is a free video sharing website on the internet. The website lets people upload, view, and share videos. ... Videos can be rated with likes or dislikes, and viewers can subscribe to channels they like. Videos can be commented on if viewers log into their own accounts."

This is the posted official definition of what YouTube is, but what might it mean to YOU?

To me, YouTube means that FamilySearch offers me 298 videos to watch on my laptop or iPad or phone from the comfort of my chair. YouTube means I'm offered 298 learning opportunities from FamilySearch on YouTube. 

Ancestry offers me 1108 videos!  MyHeritage offers 383 videos. 

These little videos rang from minutes to just over an hour. At Walmart I bought a pair of $12 earphones which I plug into my iPad to hear better what I'm watching. 

And if I get brain-dead from too much genealogy learning I can always see what Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund is up to, or learn that chopped up banana peels soaked in water make a very good fertilizer water for houseplants. :-)

Try it out for yourself. I think you'll enjoy what you find and see. 

EWGS Facebook Group: Did you know?

I'm delighted to help spread the word that EWGS now has an Interactive Facebook Group page.  The moderators (EWGS members) have the say in who joins because we want this to be an EWGS group. Here you can post questions and ask questions.... of a genealogical nature, that is. So click to Facebook, look for the Eastern Washington Facebook GROUP (not just "page") and ask to join. It's fun, it's free and it's easy to do. Come join us.

Interment.net...... What Do You Know About This Resource?

Many EWGS members remember (the late) Maggie Rail and her "energizer-bunny" dedication to photographing tombstones all over the area and uploading them to this website: www.interment.net.

I mistakenly thought this was Maggie's personal project but clearly it is not when it contains "25+million" records! 

As of a blurb posted on 1 Feb 2020, Interment.net has published 176,172 cemetery records covering 41 cemeteries across 12 states, 1 province and 2 countries and these are not available for free viewing to the general public by visiting www.interment.net/new.htm

Those of you who have been in my classes might remember my advice: If it's free, take two. So go take two looks for your ancestors place of rest at Interment.net.

Pompeii: Did You Have An Ancestor There?

Well, whether or not you did have ancestors living in Pompeii, you'll want to see the exhibit on this Italian city destroyed by ash from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Somebody's ancestors perished in that horrific event as evidenced by the body casts left behind. 

This exhibit will only be at the MAC through May 3rd, so better get to going.  Click to www.northwestmuseum.org for all you need to know to plan your visit. 

P.S. If any of you have visited the actual site of Pompeii, I'd love to hear from you and share your reminiscences with others. 

Census 2020: Item 3 -- Please read and heed.

"Is it possible for an adult with naturally blonde hair to have brown eyes?"

This was a question answered in the Ask Marilyn column in Sunday's Parade magazine last December 2019. Her answer?

"Inheritance of eye color is more complicated than we had once thought. So the answer is yes, but the combination is extremely rare."

Humm.   So is our actress above a natural blonde????

Census 2020: Item 2 -- Please read and heed.

What Is the Difference Between Billiongraves and Find-A-Grave?

BillionGraves and Find-A-Grave are two very wonderful, and very useful, websites for finding the final resting place of an ancestor. There are many similarities between the two but BillionGraves does one thing differently that really sets them apart. They feature attaching GPS coordinates. 

Rather than scribe here 1000 words, I encourage you to click to https://blog.billiongraves.com for Parts 1 and 2 of their blog post explaining the differences. 

Another chapter in your Genealogical Learning Book, eh?

Census 2020: Item 1 -- Please read and heed.

Did You Know?

NARA to lose Seattle facility and send Northwest's records to CA and MO

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facility in Seattle has been approved for eventual closure and sale. The facility was recommended for sale by the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB) and approved for sale by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of now, a date has not been set for the closure, and the physical holdings — all of which reflect Pacific Northwest history — are tentatively planned to be shipped to Riverside, CA and Kansas City, MO. The holdings of the State Archives will not be affected, however, we have always worked very closely with the National Archives as they are critical to historical research in the Northwest. Visit this page to find up-to-date information on this issue.

What Are Those EWGS Special Interest Groups?

If you missed the meeting on March 7th, were EWGS members explained our Special Interest Groups and on-going projects, here's a recap for you:

** The Valley Clan Diggers:  "The purpose and goals for the group are sharing current projects, helping each other and carpooling to meetings." Contact Alice Hostetter for info:  509-928-4198.

** RootsMagic Group:  "We study how we can best preserve and organize our genealogy data with the RootsMagic software in a way each of us finds useful."  Contact John Wilson for info: wilsonjb@gmail.com

** Ancestry Users Group;  "TAG members participate in learning how to better utilize Ancestry.com...."  Contact Marge Mero for info:  margemero@yahoo.com

** Genealogy Re-Focus Group:  "GRF members revisit their genealogy files, learn latest technologies and share ideas on Internet tools..."  Contact Lynda Keenan for info: llkeenan62@gmail.com

** Find-A-Grave:  Annually, Patricia Flint coordinates a trip to a local cemetery to fill photo requests for burials in our cemeteries from folks living elsewhere. This is upcoming on June 15th. Contact Patricia at 509-991-7079.

** Obituary Committee:  "Our goal is to create an online inclusive database of obituaries published in local newspapers of the past 100 years..."  Contact Donna Potter Phillips for info:  Donna243@gmail.com

** Facebook:  This is not really a group but EWGS does have an interactive group on Facebook where you can ask and answer genealogy questions of others. Contact Charles Hansen to become a member:  charles_hansen@prodigy.net

EWGS Meeting Upcoming: Don't Miss It!

The upcoming EWGS meeting on Saturday, March 7th offers you not just one pineapple but a whole basket of fruit! Are you intrigued?

Not just a 1-topic meeting, the March 7th meeting will offer explanations and invitations to you from all of our EWGS Special Interest groups and projects. 

As with a delightful, delicious basket of fruit, EWGS offers something for everybody to dig right in. Please do come and help yourself.


P.S. I'm grabbing the kiwis. :-)