EWGS member, Patricia Flint, shared with me that there is a YouTube channel titled The Pulse of Spokane. In these YouTube videos ("News, Views & Conversations") items of current or historic interest pertaining to Spokane are presented. Ask Google for that title and go learn and enjoy!
This is asparagus season here in Washington! Yummy, yum, yum. So here's a question for you: Is this the world's biggest asparagus spear? What do you think? Let me know...........
Some genealogy problems are, indeed, tougher than others. Case in point: Cuban genealogy.
Helping a friend of a friend (wondering how I got roped into it!) living in Miami, Florida, with his Spanish-Cuban genealogy. Created a tree for him in Ancestry (always a good way to start in my opinion) and entered what he'd given me...... into four generations on his maternal side. And there are no "green leaves," NO hints. Nary a one. Nada.
The surnames are: Lujan, Lecuona, Valle, Rabitel and Muro. Anybody know anything?
Will I give up? Heck no. Are there other records to search..... like records created by the immigrant family in Florida? Heck yes. So I am proceeding onward............
Not too long ago at the TAG meeting (The Ancestry Group; open to all), there was a presentation about some of the lesser-used and perhaps little-known resources available at Ancestry. Old Postcards were one biggee!
How many of you can identify this scene? It is taken from the top of the Spokesman Review building, looking north along Monroe. The building is the Spokane Club. See the old railroad bridge?
There are thousands of old postcards available to us! Click to Ancestry, then Card Catalog, and search for Postcards. Their collection of U.S. historic postcards numbers nearly 116,000!
Do a Google search for old postcards or historic postcards and you'll be delighted at the results. Some you can copy for free; others are for sale. But how fun it would be to have a photo of that tiny town where Grandma went to school? Or the church where they were married. Go looking!
In way long ago days past, men who fought and died for their country were often never identified. Then along came dog tags. Now-a-days, every man or woman who joins the military has a sample of their DNA taken. America wants no more "Unknowns." This action came about in 1991 after the Gulf War. So if you've been in the military, your DNA is already a drop in the vast ocean of humanity.
Wanting to really dig in and better understand DNA? Particularly YOUR DNA test results and matches? If you are willing to work, there is hope on the horizon.
EWGS member, Lynda Keenan, and soon-to-be a certified DNA instructor, is planning to offer a series of DNA classes. These classes will be taught based upon a series of books, one or all of which must be purchased for the class. The place for the classes is not finalized but Lynda plans a day/evening (repeated) session on the same day and says the class size is a firm 10 people each.
Lynda explained to me that these classes will unfold to you what you want to know but only if you're a serious student and do the reading and do the homework. (And it stands to reason, after you've taken the DNA test.) You may come and participate only up to the level you desire. Once committed, if you miss two classes, you're out for "you will have missed too much," Lynda quipped.
If you're interested, contact Lynda at llkeenan62@gmail.com
I do thank Lynda for tackling this complicated subject and then offering to tutor us. Think about it and if you're serious, then give her a holler.
On the drive out to the Fort Spokane boat launch on the place where the Spokane River empties into the Columbia River, we passed acres of YELLOW blooming sagebrush. Yellow? I thought sage bloomed purple? Riders of the purple sage and all that?
What do you know about our beloved Spokane River? It's 111 miles long going from Lake Coeur d'Alene to the mighty Columbia. Long considered sacred to local Native Americans, the river drains an area of 6240 acres. Four dams on the river provide local electricity. West of Spokane, the Nine Mile Falls Dam creates Long Lake where the fishing, boating, water sports and swimming abound. We are lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful river. Yes, "a river runs through it," through Spokane.
P.S. Three days later: Sharon, sweet friend in Wenatchee, said that the plant is probably Yellow Bitterbrush. Thanks!
