Tag Archives: Yakima Valley Genealogical Society

Yakima Valley Gen Soc and WSGS Partner for Recognition Awards

by Roxanne Lowe

Featured speaker Jay Fonkert

The WSGS Annual Meeting, which includes the announcement of the Outstanding Volunteers and Teams, Outstanding Communication and Project awards, WSGS President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement and Innovative Grant winners, will be Saturday, April 22, 2017 during the lunch period of Yakima Valley Genealogical Society’s Spring Seminar. The seminar and awards event will be held at the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Yakima. The seminar’s featured speaker will be professional genealogist Jay Fonkert, a renowned authority on 19th Century Midwest research. His presentations will be:

  • Genealogy Detective Skills: Following Clues from the Census
  • Finding Your Pre-1850 American Ancestors
  • Why Were They There?
  • Who’s on First: Merging and Separating Identities in Family History Research

The YVGS Spring Seminar flyer, including a registration form, can be downloaded here: YVGS Spring Seminar flyer or visit the YVGS website.

Society Spotlight: Yakima Valley Genealogical Society

by Roxanne Lowe

We’re always trying to “keep it fresh” here on the WSGS blog. “Keep it fresh, you ask? According to the Urban Dictionary, keeping it fresh is “the art of acting spontaneously resulting in your actions being original and generally awesome.” Okay, so we’re going to be generally awesome here introducing a new blog feature: Society Spotlight.

Local genealogical societies are the backbone of WSGS and we’re proud to introduce our readers to each of the 30+ societies around the state. In your upcoming travels, you might want to stop by their library, meeting, ask for local assistance or visit their website.

Our inaugural article features the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society.

The Yakima Valley Genealogical Society (VYGS) is one of the largest societies in the state with approximately 300 members. That’s a long way from their humble beginnings almost 50 years ago when they started with just 18 members. While most of their members live in the Yakima County area, they attract others from as far away as England.

Under the leadership of President Patrick Bundy and Vice President Sue Ericksen, YVGS is among the most active societies. Besides monthly meetings featuring interesting educational programs, the society sponsors two major seminars each year,  Spring and Fall. This year’s Spring Seminar will be Saturday, April 22 at the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Yakima. The featured speaker will be professional genealogist Jay Fonkert, a renowned authority on 19th Century Midwest research. His presentations will be:

  • Genealogy Detective Skills: Following Clues from the Census
  • Finding Your Pre-1850 American Ancestors
  • Why Were They There?
  • Who’s on First: Merging and Separating Identities in Family History Research

An added bonus to attending YVGS’s Spring Seminar is the WSGS Recognition Awards and Annual Meeting during the lunch hour. Registration is still open. More details, including a registration form, are available here.

Assistant librarian Sue Ericksen (left) explaining some of the YVGS’s vast library holdings to WSGS President Virginia Majewski.

One of the preeminent gems of the YVGS is their genealogical research library. The 7,200 square foot library, considered one of the top genealogical research facilities in the Pacific Northwest, is located at 1901 S 12th Ave in Union Gap. Besides the main floor of the library, there are three archive rooms, a media room for microfilm/fiche research, a work room and a kitchen. Between the bound volumes on the shelf and the massive microfilm/microfiche collection, the library hosts a collection of 35,000 volumes of genealogical research material covering every state and a large number of foreign countries. Holdings also include a large number of published family histories, as well as being the designated official library for the WSGS. Check out their online book catalog here.

The library is open to the public at no charge for genealogical research. It’s definitely worth a stop if you’re in the Yakima area.

And don’t forget to visit the YVGS website. While there, you’ll learn more about YVGS’s commitment to expanding and preserving genealogical and historical research, including their outstanding Cemetery Project and Early Death Notices Index databases.

We hope you’ll visit the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society online or at 1901 S 12th Ave in Union Gap. We’re proud to call them a member of the Washington State Genealogical Society.

(Note: If  you’d like your society to be featured in Society Spotlight, please contact Roxanne Lowe at info@wasgs.org.)

Meet the Board: Virginia Majewski

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.

Virginia Forney Majewski

In today’s “Meet the Board” series, we’re introducing you to Virginia Majewski from Sequim. Virginia, more familiarly known to us as Ginny, is WSGS’s new President, having been elected last month. Her dedication to WSGS is longstanding as she has previously served as WSGS’s Secretary, Region 3 Representative and Vice President.

Virginia Ann was born in Yakima to Wesley Roy and Nancy Jane (Grabill) Forney. She is a proud 4th generation Washingtonian and descendant of a Washington State Pioneer family. Ginny’s name was handed down through her mother’s family – great grandmother, great aunts and aunts – even though Ginny’s dad maintains he picked out her name.

Ginny is a graduate of Quincy High School in Quincy, Washington (Grant County) and Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane. She is married to her husband of 30 years, Moe. She is the mother of four grown children and, most importantly, grandmother of eight, ages 17-1. She retired from her career of 42 years as an Obstetrical Nurse in 2013.

Ginny has been involved in genealogy for more than 20 years. It all started with a couple of boxes of “junk” from her grandparent’s estate. She was bitten by the genealogy bug and it became one of her life’s passions. Her maternal and paternal lines go back to exiled Mennonites in Switzerland. In 2000, she took a three-week genealogical tour of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands – following the path of her exiled ancestors.

Proud 4th generation Washingtonian

Virginia holds a Certification in Advanced Genealogical Studies in both American Records and Methodology from the National Institute of Genealogical Studies in Toronto, Canada. Currently, she is the President of Clallam County Genealogical Society. She is also a member of the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society, Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society, New York Genealogical Society and Polish Genealogical Society.

When asked what she finds most interesting about genealogy, Ginny muses about a bigamist, unknown illegitimate cousins, a civil war hero and many more interesting characters!

A few more interesting tidbits about Ginny:

  • Her favorite color is turquoise.
  • Her favorite dessert is a Cream Puff Cake.
  • She urges anyone searching for their ancestors to use FamilySearch.org – an amazing resource available to everyone.
  • Besides genealogy, Ginny’s other life passions are quilting, reading, gardening and travel – oh, and don’t forget those grandchildren!
  • When asked what word describes her, Ginny laughs and asks if “genie-nut” is a word. We think it is when it pertains to Ginny!

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

Time to Select Outstanding Volunteers and Teams

by Roxanne Lowe

Now is the time for genealogical societies and organizations to select their local outstanding volunteers and teams so they can be honored at the WSGS Annual Meeting on April 22, 2017 in Yakima. The annual meeting will be held in conjunction with the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society’s Spring Seminar.

Each year, the State Society recognizes local volunteers and teams nominated by their society or organization at the annual conference. In 2016, more than 20 local volunteers and four teams from 20 organizations were recognized for their support and dedication to their society and the researching public.

The process for this year’s Outstanding Volunteer Award program is much like last year’s – no significant changes. In addition to the traditional Outstanding Volunteer Award program, there are three other recognition awards: Outstanding Project, Outstanding Communication, and the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement. Information about those awards will be forthcoming, but should not impact organizations’ Outstanding Volunteer Award nominations.

Letters to local societies and organizations, with additional details, have been emailed to society contacts. If you have not received that information, please contact Roxanne Lowe, WSGS Recognition Chair. The milestones for this year’s nomination process are:

• No later than January 15, 2017: Submit the name(s) of your honorees to the Recognition Committee.
• By February 15, 2017: Submit a narrative (approximately 150 words) explaining the accomplishments of your nominee and why you are honoring him/her. Include a good quality digital photograph (at least 300 dpi).
• April 22, 2017: Formal announcement and presentation of certificates at the Annual Meeting in Yakima.

Additional details and deadlines, plus indexes and narratives of accomplishments of past honorees, since 2003, may be found at the WSGS website here.

Please contact Roxanne Lowe at roxanne@thekeeffes.com if you have questions or suggestions.

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.