News
OCGS Hosts their Genealogy Internet Workshop
On November 12th, (14) members of the Otoe County Genealogical Society met at the Morton-James Public Library in Nebraska City for the quarterly Genealogy Internet Workshop. During this workshop, members were assisted by the Morton-James Public Library staff in utilizing genealogy websites to research their famiily lineages better.
Also during the meeting, Linda Parde briefed the members on the classes she took at the Family History Center (FHC), and explained how these classes benefited her in researching seven of her family lineages. Afterwards, Betty Stukenholtz briefed the group on the trip she and several other OCGS members took on Halloween day to the Midwest Genealogy Center (MGC) in Independence, Missouri. Lastly, Sara Vesely briefed the members on the Otoe County Courthouse Vault Clean-Up Project, in which our members are beginning the process of cleaning, sorting, and organizing all of the numerous unfiled documents within the Otoe County Courthouse vault.
OCGS Participates in Lincoln FHC Workshop
The Lincoln Family History Center (FHC) hosted their 2nd Annual FHC Workshop on Saturday, November 14th, at 3000 Old Cheney Road in Lincoln, Nebraska. Twelve organizations were represented at this annual event, and the Otoe County Genealogical Society was represented by Curtis Wolbert, Linda Worrall, Betty Buchanan, and Cyndi Wolbert at our information table. Throughout this 4-hour event, we had numerous patrons visit our table and inquire about our society, we passed out (23) new membership applications and newsletters, and we also sold several Otoe County cemetery CD-ROMs as well.
Several other OCGS members attended the briefs that were put on by the Family History Center, to include, Kay Busekist, Sherry Votava, Betty Stukenholtz, Denny Norvell, and our society matriarch, Dorothy Miller. All that attended were in agreement that this was a highly-productive event for our society, as we were only one of two county organizations to be represented at this event.
Otoe County Courthouse Vault Clean Up Project
Seven members of the society volunteered to assist the Otoe County Courthouse staff in the cleaning and organizing of their downstairs vault. Over the years, the vault has accumulated volumes of older legal documents that are in dire need of being organized and filed, or destroyed do to their lack of legal value. In our attempt to build relations with the Otoe County Clerk's office, our Activities Coordinator, Sara Vesely, contacted Janene Bennet's office and set up a time and date when our members could go in and assist them in this huge project.
After several hours of sorting, organizing, and purging, our volunteers made a good-sized dent in the huge stack of documents, and were even rewarded with a donation of old Nebraska City school records that the clerk's office elected to purge from their vault. The records were presented to the society and will be taken to the Otoe County Museum of Memories for future reference by all researchers.
This is just the first of many clean-up dates that are being scheduled, so if you'd like to assist in this worthwhile project, please contact Sara Vesely at svesely07@hotmail.com.
OCGS and Nebraska City Nominated to Host the 2011 NSGS State Conference
At our October meeting, OCGS members voted unanimously to have the Nebraska State Genealogical Society conduct a site survey of Nebraska City for potentially hosting the 2011 NSGS State Conference. OCGS president, Curtis Wolbert, then contacted Phyllis Masek, our NSGS Area Representative, about the request and Phyllis presented the request to NSGS Executive Board on September 19th.
The Fort Kearney Genealogical Society was initially slated to host the 2011 conference, but reluctantly declined the offer. The Otoe County Genealogical Society has since been selected by the NSGS Executive Board to host the event in the first weekend of May in 2011. OCGS members will be briefed on December 10th at the Talmage Public Library by Phyllis Masek on OCGS' responsibilities and requirements during this prestigious event. Afterwards, a vote will be taken to determine whether OCGS will accept the nomination to host this event in Nebraska City in 2011.
2010 Executive Board Nominations
Nominations were submitted by our Participating Members (Members residing within 100 miles of Syracuse, Nebraska) throughout the past month for the 2010 Executive Board positions, and the following persons were nominated:
President - Curtis Wolbert
Vice President - Linda Worrall & Duane Arends
Treasurer - Linda Sedlacek & Betty Stukenholtz
Secretary - Kay Busekist
The following persons accepted their nominations:
President - Curtis Wolbert
Vice President - Duane Arends
Treasurer - Linda Sedlacek
Secretary - Kay Busekist
A vote will be taken at our December 10th meeting at the Talmage Public Library. All newly-elected Executive Board members will assume their new billets on January 1st, 2010.
2010 Membership Renewal Reminder
As a reminder, membership renewal is coming up for most members of the society by December 31st of this year. Early renewal of your membership dues is highly encouraged and appreciated, as this will allow the oncoming Executive Board members to have a chance to better plan out their 2010 budget.
Even though membership is based on an annual basis, members that elect to renew early are reminded that their annual renewal anniversary date won't change with an early renewal (i.e. If your renewal anniversary date is in January of 2010, renewing in October of 2009 will mean that you are paid up until January 2011). Membership renewal forms can be found on our Membership/Queries web page.
Thus far, of the (40) members whose renewal date is 1 January 2010, (9) of these members have renewed early. Thanks so much!
Points of Interest
OCGS Meeting Notes
Our regular monthly meeting was held on November 12th, 2009, at the Morton-James Public Library in Nebraska City. There were (14) members present for the quarterly Genealogy Internet Workshop.
There was (1) 'Old Business' topic to discuss.
1. Nebraska City as Host City for the 2011 NSGS State Conference -
At the October 15th meeting, OCGS President, Curtis Wolbert, addressed the society about whether or not OCGS should contact the Nebraska State Genealogical Society and recommend that NSGS conduct a site survey for Nebraska City to be considered as the host city for the 2011 NSGS State Conference. A vote was taken at that time and was unanimously in favor of contacting NSGS.
Curtis Wolbert then contacted NSGS Area Representative, Phyllis Masek, and she presented the request to the NSGS Executive Board for approval. At their last board meeting the NSGS Executive Board selected Nebraska City as the host city for the 2011 NSGS State Conference in lieu of Kearney, Nebraska.
At the November 12th meeting, several OCGS members were concerned over the financial and manpower requirements that were needed to run this type of event, and requested more information before the society voted to host it. The motion was presented to OCGS Vice President, Linda Worrall, who forwarded it onto the OCGS President, Curtis Wolbert, who was not in attendance that evening.
Curtis Wolbert has since contacted Phyllis Masek about the request, and it was decided that Phyllis would be at the December 10th meeting to answer any and all questions that the members might have in regards to hosting this event. A vote will be taken after Phyllis' presentation on December 10th to decide if OCGS will host the 2011 NSGS State Conference, or not.
There were no 'New Business' topics to discuss at this time.
Events
10 Dec 2009: OCGS' December meeting will be held at 7:00pm at the Talmage Public Library, which is located at 405 Main Street in Talmage, Nebraska. During this meeting, members will vote for Executive Board members for the 2010 year, and will also be receiving a brief by NSGS Area Representative, Phyllis Masek, on OCGS' responsibilities concerning the 2011 NSGS State Conference.
A vote will be taken afterwards to determine if OCGS will host this event in 2011. OCGS president, Curtis Wolbert, will also be presenting a class on 'Obtaining Federal Records' if time permits.
