DECEMBER ORGANIZATION CHECKLIST DearREADERS, Well, we are closing in on our last month of organization activities. (See the <A HREF="aol://4344:167.myrtfina.1412348.529459588">Finally Get Organized !</A> folder in my column area on AOL.) Several of you have written letters detailing your very human shortcomings in this area. But we all have fallen short to some degree or another. However, had we not started to follow any guidelines, we would be even less organized than we are at this point! I consider any forward motion, however slight, to be an improvement over things as they were at the beginning of the year. You will recall last month that I asked you to make a push to computerize the rest of your direct-line ancestry (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.) , filling in the collateral lines (cousins, spouses, children) as you run across the information. For culminating activities, may I suggest that you: 1. Create a GEDCOM file of your genealogy data and send the floppy disk to the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake. Use the following address: Family History Department Ancestral File Submissions 50 East North Temple Salt Lake City, Utah 84150 We want YOUR data to be added to the next edition of the ANCESTRAL FILE (tm) which is the huge CD-ROM pedigree database available at the over 2,000 local Family History Centers that are equipped with Family Search Computers. During the creation of your GEDCOM file you will be asked to include your name/addressand phone number. PLEASE add your e-mail address in the extra address line. (For example, [email protected]) This increases the avenues for communication with your distant and here-to-fore unknown cousins who may find your data in the CD-ROM collection. When you DO get a response, you will be able to exchange photocopies of documents that support your lineage claims and add names the cousin may have traced that you are unaware of at this point. OF COURSE, it will be easy to retrieve the documents, since you have them all neatly filed away in the top-loading archival sheet protectors! 2. Make a genealogy calendar to share with other family members. This can be done using programs like Calendar Creator Plus or certain add-on programs to PAF (Personal Ancestral File Genealogy Management Program). In this way, all family members will be aware of upcoming birthdays and anniversaries, as well as share recollections of such dates for important ancestors. Here are some additional ideas: :: print full page monthly calendars in horizontal page format :: print or photocopy on colored parchment-like paper :: on the back of the previous month copy a page with a decorative border and photos of ancestors or grandchildren :: bind all pages and cover sheet for roughly $1 each at Kinkos or Office Depot. They use the plastic spiral binding method which will work fine for this one-of-a-kind annual family gift. 3. Prepare special notebooks to give to each family member. These can be as simple or as decorative as you desire. They will use the binder to store the weekly e-mail print-outs and letters you are going to send. This idea worked very well for a friend of mine. Each Sunday afternoon he wrote a letter detailing a family story, anecdote, or tradition. Sorta like a Redbook's "Complete on this page" mini-story. In this manner, the gentleman was able to begin his personal and family history by telling stories of the old days on the farm, before radio and television, back in the horse and buggy era. Sometimes he would recall something he had done with his grandfather, sometimes he'd report on a current visit with a grandchild. Sometimes he'd embarrass his children by recalling their mischievous activities, much to the delight of the grandchildren. Other times he pasted up a photocopy of a DearAbby column or comic strip that caught his eye. Whatever struck his fancy that week he wrote about to his children and grandchildren. All he had to do was make one, then photocopy it for all the others. REMEMBER, this was in the days before e-mail, which will make your task even MORE doable! What a WONDERFUL way to begin a NEW YEAR!!!!! And that will be our MONTHLY assignment next year........ideas each month to help you write your PERSONAL HISTORY! Don't you wish you had even a small diary or a few handwritten letters from each of your great-grandparents? Any scrap of paper that they once held, however insignificant! Well, let's think of your descendants, and prepare an interesting personal history! So, there will be NO RESTING ON YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL LAURELS... soon we'll be on to the next year with new and exciting projects to tackle!