Broussards and Trahans to gather; Harding Field subject of new book •     By DAMON VEACH      •     Published: Mar 23, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m. Two important events are coming up in Acadiana that will interest genealogical researchers. The first one is a special gathering of the Broussard and Trahan Family Associations. They will co-host a gathering in Maurice on April 26 at the Woodmen of World Hall. This gathering will commence at 9:30 a.m. and last until about 1:30 p.m. On the agenda will be a presentation by Donald Arceneaux on Broussard Spanish land grants and locations, a DNA presentation by Loubert Trahan concerning individual DNA Tests for the Acadian Genealogical Database, and a discussion by Gerard-Marc Braud of Nantes, France, on his newest writing on the Acadians who were deported to France, those who stayed in France and those who sailed to Louisiana on the Seven Ships of 1785. There is no admittance charge, and individuals are not required to be members of either family. The only cost will be to those who will eat following the gathering. The cost of that meal will be $10 per person over age 10. Children under 10 will eat free. The second event involves the Confederation of Associations of Families Acadian and is very important. CAFA will give a partial scholarship of $1,000 for a student to attend a five-week French immersion class this summer at St. Ann University in Church Point, Nova Scotia, Canada. This summer session runs July 6-Aug. 9. Each Acadian family that has membership in CAFA is permitted to submit a name to CAFA for consideration. Some of the member families include Thibodeaux, Boudreaux, Landry, Broussard, Trahan, Leger, etc. The student must be between 15 and 25. The student must commit to attend and complete the five-week class and is responsible to pay the difference in tuition, transportation to and from St. Ann, and other incidental expenses. Once all names are submitted to CAFA, the CAFA officers will draw one name out of a hat, and that person will be awarded the scholarship. Failure to comply with the above will mean forfeiture of the scholarship, and the money will have to be returned to CAFA. The deadline to submit your name to CAFA is May 26. The name of the student must be submitted and signed by the family organization officers and submitted to Ray Trahan, CAFA President, 230 Gumbo Road, Lafayette, LA 70508. Call after a few days to make sure it was received. Any names received after May 26 will not be considered. Those phone numbers are (337) 856-1620 or (337) 288-2681. Mitch Conover worked in promoting these events. Harding Field tales “The Heroes of Harding Field, Baton Rouge” talk will provide eyewitness accounts of activities from stories and interviews with the veterans of Harding Field from 1941 to 1945. The talk will be presented at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 19, at Bluebonnet Regional Branch Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd. The talk will be given by William A. Spedale, author and historian. Sponsored by the Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society, more information can be found at http://brghs.blogspot.com/ or call (225) 769-6444. Also taking place at the Bluebonnet Library at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 26, is a session on learning how to use Heritage Quest. This is a free database that can assist in ancestral research. This class will demonstrate how to find genealogy periodicals and how to make the most of them in a genealogical search. Genealogy librarian Cassie Fedrick will also offer quick tips to hone your research for productive results. Registration is required and limited to 25. For more information or to register, call (225) 763-2283. The right form The Family History Research Toolkit contains forms and charts that are essential for genealogical research. Designed to meet the basic needs of the family historian, the forms can be printed as blank forms for onsite research or filled in and printed or saved for permanent storage. Each form has space for full source citations and each has been created as an Adobe PDF form. Below is a list of forms included on this CD. In addition to the standard genealogical forms such as the pedigree chart, family group record, research log, and notes pages, this CD includes a number of charts of the author’s own design, each one formatted for source citations in the style recommended by Elizabeth Shown Mills in her seminal book Evidence!. Basic Genealogy Forms include: Family Group Record, Pedigree Chart, and Research Log. Census Extraction Forms are: 1850 census, 1860 census, 1870 census 1880 census, 1900 census, 1910 census, 1920 census and 1930 census. The Household Tracker Forms include: 1790-1840, 1850-1870, and 1880-1900. The final category of forms are under the miscellaneous category and include: census neighbors, land history, metes and bounds, probate extraction, household estimator, and notes, which includes book, microfilm, and internet references. The compiler of this material, Michael Hait, believes that these forms provide a unique and effective system of research that will be invaluable to genealogists of every experience level. It must be noted, however, that Adobe Acrobat Reader® 8 or higher is needed to access this CD. If your local genealogical library or society does not furnish these forms, this CD is an ideal way to obtain the forms you need for organizing your research material. In fact, there are several forms here that are new and could aid in improving research techniques by recording notes not usually considered important enough to keep. However, in genealogical research, it has long been known that all notes are important, and even the slightest clue may be the one thing to lead to a final conclusion in a family research problem. The CD is available for $ from Genealogical Publishing Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Road, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21211. Contact Damon Veach Correspondence to this column should be sent to Damon Veach, Louisiana Ancestors, Sunday Advocate Magazine, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821 or at ancestorslaveach@cox.net. ************** Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states?ncid=aoltrv00030000000016)