Cape Breton Post January 08, 2011 Saturday Online contest helps Boston woman trace Nova Scotia roots SYDNEY - A Boston woman with ties to Inverness is the winner of an online contest encouraging people to trace their Nova Scotia roots. Clare Donoghue won the Discover Your Nova Scotia Roots Contest on novascotia.com. The contest promoted Routes to Your Roots, an interactive online tool that helps people trace their history back to the province. More than 1,700 people entered the contest by sharing their personal connection to the province. "Congratulations to Ms. Donoghue on her exciting win," Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage Percy Paris said in a news release. " We are pleased with the strong response to the Routes to Your Roots contest. "Our leading-edge marketing tools are attracting visitors from key markets to ensure our tourism industry continues to create good jobs and grow the economy." Donoghue was chosen by random draw as the winner of a six-day trip for two to Nova Scotia and a personal session with well-known Maritime genealogist Terry Punch. The trip will be a special one for Donoghue, who used to travel to Inverness as a child. In 2008, she returned for the first time in 40 years to begin researching her family history. " Winning this trip means a lot to me. It's an exciting opportunity for my family to learn about our history in more detail," she said. "A lot of people are fascinated by their family history, discovering distant relatives, learning how they lived, and tracing that path back to its origins," said Punch, an author and popular guest on CBC Radio's Maritime Noon. "Roots to Your Routes is an invaluable tool in starting that journey, especially when you consider that 25 million North Americans have connections to this province." The Routes to Your Roots application offers valuable information and tools for anyone starting to research their family tree, including blogs, information on settlement patterns and a forum where visitors can share their experiences and ask questions. It also includes a travel planner and mapping function, allowing visitors to plan a trip around their family history. For more information, visit novascotia.com/genealogy.