Maureen Taylor (left) and Celia McNay, Eastside Genealogical Society President

The Eastside Genealogical Society threw itself a 40th birthday party on Saturday, 15 Sep 2018. The society has been celebrating every month this year in a small way, but really hit the big time hosting Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, in an all-day workshop in Bellevue. The workshop was free to EGS members as a thank you for 40 years of support, while others paid a small fee. Ms. Taylor presented Photo Detecting 101, Google Images and Beyond and Discovering Genealogical Clues in Photographs. Well done, value-added presentations all around.

EGS used its 2018 WSGS Innovative Grant to help fund the workshop — an excellent use of the grant. Besides the Eastside Genealogical Society, the four other successful 2018 grant winners were:

• Lower Columbia Genealogical Society to purchase genealogical books to donate to the Longview Public Library for public use. Lower Columbia has generously donated books for a number of years, using money from membership dues and their coffee stops.
• Okanogan Genealogical Society to help purchase supplies to repair and preserve books holding the “Tonasket Times” newspaper from 1913 – 1952.
• Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society to help publish a book on “Early Stillaguamish Valley Schools” in the Arlington Area.
• Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society for digital preservation of family records, library holdings and archival documents.

More information about the deadlines for the 2019 Innovative Grants will be publicized in the coming months.