Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?We’d love to have you as a GFO Member! |
For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. Be sure to check our complete GFO CALENDAR. |
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October is National Archives Month!Got questions? Well, we’ve got answers! Our Manuscripts Committee will be available all day on Twitter to lend you advice concerning your personal or professional archives. We specialize in digitization of manuscript collections, rehousing tips, and more! Tweet your questions to us at (@GenForumOregon) using the hashtag #AskAnArchivist all day on October 3rd and watch for replies. |
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Oregon’s Archives Crawl theme this year is about how archives are “Changing Attitudes” within societies.Archival representatives from various repositories around Oregon will be at the following locations in downtown Portland, Saturday, October 20th, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Our very own Manuscripts Committee from GFO will be at the Multnomah County Central Library. Come see some of our latest and greatest featured items! This event is totally free and open to the public of all ages. |
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Lessen Your Parking Woes While at GFO |
Did you know GFO has Daily Scratch-Off Zone G Parking Permits available for $1 each at our reception desk? Can you imagine!? All-day parking for less than the cost of a cup of coffee! That’s a pretty sweat deal. So come on down, and don’t let the pressures of paid parking keep you from the biggest genealogical library collection in the Pacific Northwest! |
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Water Leak Spurs Fast Action at GFO Library |
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It’s a good thing we are open until 8pm on Wednesdays. Torrential rains overwhelmed the Ford Building’s pipes after 6pm last night. Water started gushing out of a pipe in the ceiling, hitting the floor, but not our equipment or valuable collection. Fast action by Judith, Laurel, and Barbara helped protect our microfilm scanner from splashing. Special thanks to Jane, our Disaster Preparedness chair, for having plastic sheeting in the emergency supply kit! Planning matters! |
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Board Member Recruitment Committee Needed by October 9th |
GFO’s Board of Directors needs your help!To help us prepare for new terms starting next July, we need to have a dedicated Recruitment Committee to help us find the best candidates for the upcoming available seats. Our bylaws require non-board members to serve in this role. Seats coming available: Vice President, Director-At-Large, and Treasurer. We also have need for one, maybe even two, new Endowment Committee members. Actual board member nominations are due by the March 2019 All Members Meeting. As part of the Recruitment Committee, you’ll help find just the right candidate nominations to fill these positions. Interested? Inspired? Know you can find the absolute greatest people to fill these rolls? Email president@gfo.org today! |
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Publication Printing Cost To Raise Some Membership DuesGFO’s Board of Directors recently learned that we are losing money on members who elect to receive our publications in print. While they pay more for their annual dues, it’s still not enough to cover the cost of publishing and postage. GFO individual digital membership currently costs $45 per year, which includes emailed copies of the GFO’s monthly publications. Until now, print members have paid an additional $12. The Board has voted to increase the extra fee for print members to $20 starting January 1, 2019. This will allow us to break even on those who receive print copies of The Forum Insider and the Bulletin. If you’re a print member and you’d like to avoid that price hike, we encourage you to renew early, before January 1, 2019. After that date, individual print member dues that will rise from $57 per year to $65 per year. In another vote, the Board has decided that all Student Members may now receive all our digital publications with their memberships. |
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FRIDAY, September 14thMexican Ancestry Group 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Find your Hispanic ancestors from Mexico, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California! This Special Interest Group (SIG) pertains specifically to Mexican ancestors from Mexico and the American Southwest (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California). Beginning and intermediate researchers are welcome. Some subjects will include online parish records, Hispanic genealogy societies, Family History Library/FamilySearch.org. Ancestry.com, solving genealogical problems, methodology for organizing your research, etc. Of course this group will also be about sharing our research experiences, and having fun. If you know of any other people interested in Hispanic genealogy, tell them about the group. They don’t have to be a GFO member to participate. For questions or comments, please email Vince at sw@gfo.org. SATURDAY, September 15thAnalyze Your Ancestor’s Handwriting 2 – 3 p.m. What personality traits may your ancestor’s handwriting reveal? Do two signature samples belong to the same person? This presentation will use the handwriting of famous people to illustrate principles of handwriting analysis. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples of their own ancestors’ handwriting for our expert’s opinion. Joyce Brizendine is a professional handwriting analyst, certified by the International Graphoanalysis Society and by the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation. She has taught and lectured about handwriting analysis, and appears periodically on AM Northwest. SUNDAY, September 16thLibrary Work Party 9 a.m. – noon There’s another work party at the GFO library today for those of you who can come. There’s lots to do and we’d love to have your help. We begin work at 9 a.m. If the front door is not unlocked, please come around to the side door and knock. Work usually wraps up around noon. Some people come for just an hour or so; others work the full time. You are welcome to do either. Any time you can share is valuable. Hope to see you there. Family Tree Maker Users’ Group 1 – 3 p.m. This month, Geoff Smith leads our lesson in how to use FTM sources and citations. Join other users who want to work through the 2017 Companion Guide to Family TreeMaker. Bring your laptop with 2017 version of FTM installed or build 1-480 of FTM installed. Questions? Please email Joyce Grant-Worley at FTM@gfo.org. French Canada Group 3:30 – 5 p.m. We will share our major ancestral lines and also play “Saints and Sinners,” discussing some of our more colorful and noteworthy ancestors. If you have French Canadian and/or Acadian roots please join us! You are likely to meet some cousins there. The group leader is Bob LaMarche. WEDNESDAY, September 19thLearn & Chat 10 a.m. – noon Lori Washburn presents: “Know Before You Go: Bring Cash!” Changes in access to public records, the effect of digitalization and budgets. What’s available and where? Are there fees? At Learn & Chat some of the learning comes from speakers with particular expertise, but most of it comes from the sharing of experiences and knowledge of attendees who have developed methods that work for them. And if you have been doing genealogy for any length time you have likely experienced the wonderful moments of exhilaration, the successes that you then share with others and that drive you to continue researching. Unfortunately those times can be few and far between. Join us to talk about your genealogy questions and help provide support to others. Facilitated by Jeanne Quan. DNA Q&A 1 – 3 p.m. Lisa McCullough leads a discussion on various DNA related subjects, with each meeting focused on a particular subject. General questions are welcome at the end of each planned discussion. Send questions or comments to Lisa at dna_lm@gfo.org. |