Tag Archives: Yakima Valley Genealogical Society

Meet the Board: Sue Ericksen

by Roxanne Lowe

Do you know who’s running the show at the Washington State Genealogical Society? Did you know we have an Executive Committee, six standing committee chairs and three appointed non-elected officers? Who are all these people? In the coming months, we’ll introduce them to you, so you can say “hi” the next time you see them.

Sue Ericksen

Sue Ericksen

In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Sue Ericksen from Zillah in Yakima County. Sue is WSGS’s Treasurer, but her involvement has been longstanding: WSGS’s President from 2009 – 2012, membership chair, web manager and Region 5 representative.

In addition to her WSGS dedication, Sue is an active member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, currently serving as its vice president and web manager. She was also a major player in YVGS’s recent acquisition of the massive Yakima Family History library collection that used to be housed in the LDS Yakima Family History library (approximately 6,000 microfilm and 6,000 microfiche). You can also add presenter to Sue’s long list of credentials. She will be presenting a talk on “Copyright vs. Plagiarism” at the February 4, 2017 YVGS meeting.

Susan Bernice Semenza was born to Norman and Sallie (Gallupe) Semenza in National City, California, not far from San Diego. Sue has researched her family lines for many, many years, following their migrations and journeys through Germany, Italy, England and Canada. When she does find time to do her research, she often uses Ancestry.com.

Sue married William Leroy Ericksen on 18 Sept 1965 in Wapato (Yakima County). They celebrated 50 years of marriage before his passing earlier this year. Together, they were successful orchardists in the fertile Zillah area, growing apples, peaches and pears. They are the parents of three children and grandparents of five.

A few other tidbits about Sue:
• Hobbies besides genealogy – reading, bird watching
• Favorite color – yellow
• Favorite dessert – cherry pie
• Word that best describes her – busy!

Now you know a little more about one of the WSGS Board members. The next time you see Sue, say hello and thank her for her service to the WSGS.

YAKIMA VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Fall Workshop

by Charles Hansen

yvgslogo

Take a road trip to Yakima on Friday, the last day of September and enjoy the Union Gap Agricultural Museum tram tours on a beautiful fall day.  Then, Saturday October 1 attend the Yakima Genealogy Society fall workshop 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Mt. Olive Church 7809 Tieton Drive.  12 separate genealogical classes.

YAKIMA VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Fall Workshop:  Saturday, October 1, 2016
Mt Olive Lutheran Church 7809 Tieton Dr
Registration: 8:15-8:45am; Announcements 8:45-9:00am
Morning Classes 9:00 -12:00; Lunch 12-1; Afternoon Classes 1:00-3:45
Session 1: 9-10:15
  1. Genealogy Photo Preservation
  2. Military Pension Acts
  3. Windows 10 Basics
Session 2: 10:30-11:45
  1. River Migrations
  2. Immigrant Labor: Treatment & Records
  3. Washington State Central Archives
Session 3: 1-2:15
  1. Online Foreign Newspapers
  2. Quaker Records
  3. Adoption Family Research & DNA
Session 4: 2:30-3:45
  1. Using Biographical Sketches in Genealogy Research
  2. Catholic Records
  3. Life Aboard Ship: The Immigrant Experience
Workshop Fee $20, includes Handouts & Hot Dog Lunch                                          $_________
Lunch can’t be guaranteed with registration after Sept 29 & at the door.
Make check payable to YVGS
Send to YVGS 1901 S 12th Ave Union Gap, WA  98903
—————————————————Cut Line———————————————————–
NAME_________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS______________________________________________________________
CITY__________________________________________STATE__________ZIP:______
PHONE:_________________________EMAIL:_________________________________
Circle Letter of Class You Want to Attend (1 per session):   A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L

New WSGS Treasurer Named

by Roxanne Lowe

Sue Semenza Ericksen has been appointed by WSGS President Mikal McKinnon to take over the state society’s treasurer’s duties. Sue replaces Kathy Bowen who moved out of the state to be closer to family.

Sue’s presence in WSGS is long-standing. She is Immediate Past President and previously served as membership chair, web manager and Region 5 representative. In addition to her WSGS dedication, Sue is an active member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, currently serving as its vice president and web manager.

A routine audit was conducted on the WSGS finances and all was in order. A big thank-you to Sue for stepping into this important position.

 

Susan Boatright Named Outstanding Volunteer in 2015

by Roxanne Lowe

Since 2003, the Washington State Genealogical Society has recognized more than 450 outstanding volunteers and teams, nominated by their local society or genealogical organization for their service and dedication. These volunteers are the backbone of their local society, giving their time and expertise, to the organization and the field of genealogy. In the coming months, you will be introduced to each of the 2015 award recipients and learn why they received the 2015 WSGS Outstanding Volunteer and Team Award.

Today we’re introducing Susan Breshears Boatright of Yakima, Washington, who was nominated by the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society. She was recognized for her enthusiastic commitment to educate and share with others.

Since retiring from a gratifying teaching career, Susan has been involved in genealogy. She appreciates the academic research and learning involved, as well as participation with YVGS’s many active volunteers.

Susan Breshears Boatright

Susan Breshears Boatright

Susan served her second term as recording secretary at YVGS in 2015. In addition, she hosted a twice-monthly writing group at the society library where she encouraged members to write about their life experiences or family members with the goal of passing these memories and discoveries on to their families. Nothing gives her more satisfaction than helping a “newbie” make connections with previously unknown family members.

Susan promotes genealogy and YVGS at every turn and is an appreciated volunteer. Those qualities illustrate that she richly deserved being a recipient of a WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award.

For more information on the WSGS Outstanding Volunteer Award program, visit the Recognition page of the WSGS website or contact Roxanne Lowe, Recognition Chair, at Roxanne@thekeeffes.com.

Yakima Valley Gen Society News Flash

by Charles Hansen

If you need yet another good reason to visit the stupendous genealogy library housed in the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society headquarters building, here it is!  Better make travel reservations at a local hotel for one day in this library (just like potato chips) is not nearly enough!

YVGS

Union Gap, WA. – The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society has recently been donated the Vernie Smith Bennett Collection, a major and significant collection of genealogical research material, by a benefactor in Texas. The collection consists of approximately 670 bound volumes of genealogical books and records. The donated material mainly covers the southern states (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas) but does include some books with records from the northern states. This is a major addition to the existing collection which already consists of over 18,000 bound volumes on the shelf, 6,000 microfilm and 6,000 microfiche. The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society operates a library in Union Gap, Washington. It is one of the largest genealogical libraries in the Pacific Northwest and is open to the public free of charge 6 days a week. For the catalogue of the society holdings, the library address and it’s hours of operation you can go to their website at yvgs.net.

Thank-you,
Susan J. Boatright, Publicity Chairperson, YVGS

YVGS Library Has Wonderful Addition of Materials!

by Charles Hansen

At our WSGS Board Retreat, 25 May 2015, I did an interview with Richard Kyle regarding the new additions to the YVGS library. Here are the points of that interview.

 

P1110652 (640x480)

P1110653 (640x480)

Richard was the Resource Specialist for the Yakima Family History Library from 1987 until 2008, when he resigned. A large part of his job was to keep track of and index the massive collection of film and fiche that was housed in the library. In 2012 he joined the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society and currently serves as a librarian several times a week and also co-chairs several workshops every month. He reported this important update to me at the WSGS Board Meeting on Friday, 25 April 2015.

The building that houses the Yakima Family History Library is in the process of being converted to another use. Because of this, the library was given a two week notice that they had to vacate to building. In 2013, due to the efforts of Richard and Pat Bundy (vice-president of the YVGS) the YVGS became an affiliate of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, allowing them to order and keep microfilm and fiche from that library. This, along with the fact that several times over the last few years the YVGS had informed the Family History Library that they had more than enough room to take over the collection for them if necessary, set the stage for the transfer of their film and fiche holdings to the YVGS library.

The LDS church in Yakima will re-open a family history library in one of the church buildings sometime later in the year. However, it will only contain a few computors, the bound books they had and two readers. The bulk of the collection was transferred to the YVGS library.

On Friday, April 25, 2015, a commercial moving company delivered ten microfilm cabinets (with their contents packed into moving boxes) and ten microfiche cabinets to the YVGS library building along with several microfilm and microfiche readers. An inventory is in the process of being completed so a complete list of transferred items can be sent to Salt Lake City. This is a permanent transfer and these new holdings will remain in the YVGS library indefinitely.

Quoting Richard, “This is the equivalent of 18,000 bound volumes on the shelf if the collection were converted to books. A large percentage of these records are original records. To get an idea of the actual size of this collection, when it was housed at the FHL in Yakima the indexes to the collection were on roughly 1,000 type written pages of titles.” The collection that will be retained is in the process of being reduced in size by pulling out all of the microfilms of the United States census and returning them to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This will still leave the Yakima library with all of the fiche and roughly 6,500 rolls of microfilm. The collection should be fully cataloged and the online index atwww.yvgs.net updated by the end of June. The collection will not be co-mingled with already extensive collection of the YVGS library, but will be kept separate and apart.

The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society is proud to now know that their library is one of the largest genealogy libraries (both in physical size and in collection numbers) in the Pacific Northwest and invites you to come for a research visit anytime.

Visit their website for more information:  www.yvgs.net  and then Library.