How time flies when you’re having fun! The last day of the Northwest Genealogy Conference was again filled with classes, networking, book sales, vendors and amazing discoveries.

Our keynote speaker for the day was Beth Foulk, whose energetic style entertained us with tales from colonial immigration to the importance of the crossroads state of Missouri to the battle for bounty lands. My “extra” class was Rich Venezia‘s “Emerald Isle Express: Researching Irish Ancestors.” He gave me some new resources and encouragement in finding my Irish ancestors. My hopes spring eternal that I’ll find ol’ Patrick Murphy (no middle name) and Lawrence Ryan (also no middle name and the son of a string of like-named men).

Stilly President Ruth Caesar with conference co-chairs Phil and Lisa Bartlow

I can’t heap enough praise on the amazing volunteers from conference hosts Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society. Did you know it takes approximately 2,500 hours to ensure the success of this conference — and it shows! I look forward to it every year. In fact, I’ve already marked my calendar for next year’s conference: August 14 – 17, 2019. Michael Strauss and Thomas MacEntee have already jumped on board to headline two of the days.