I agree Liz! I try to join each county and state society where each of my ancestors (and my husband's) were born, married, died, and/or are buried. I also belong to some national societies and attend as many conferences as I can each year in addition to making out-of-state research trips. It is a great experience to be able to network and brainstorm with other genealogists and by doing so, make some new friends. I enjoy the newsletters from the county societies. Believe it or not, there are actually some people who do not have e-mail so you may find a query posted for your surname in one of the publications and make contact with a "new" cousin. Yolanda Campbell Lifter Malabar, FL ylifter@ohiofamilyresearch.com http://www.ohiofamilyresearch.com My Surnames of Ohio (SE and SW Counties): ALLEN* BEASLEY*BLY* BOLENDER*BOWEN*BULL*BURNSIDE*CAMPBELL* CLARK*DAFT*DIXON* DUNHAM*GROW*HAFER*HARTLEY*HUMBLE*McCORMICK* PETTYJOHN* ROBERTS* SHINKLE* STOOPS* WISBY*ZUCK One Name Study of STOOPS in Ohio ----- Original Message ----- From: <LizStookes@cs.com> To: <OHJEFFER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 1:15 PM Subject: [OHJEFFER] Genealogy Society need you! > Hi, > > I want 'you all' to be aware of a national decline in memberships in local > and state societies. By joining the local, state and national genealogy > organizations, we are surporting the value and creadabilty of this wonderful > hobby/obsession of finding out who we are! > > I have been helped by going to the local Southern California meetings. I > have taken classes and attended seminars where I learned the techniques of > sucessful researching. I have traveled via car or public transport to local > facilities with other researchers and that was so much fun! I have shared books and > resources with others. One time, Roberta Craig and I bought a two-volumne > set of Ohio books. She kept the Harrison County one, and I kept the one of > Carroll County. And by attending the local meetings I have had a large group of > people to problem solve with! And they understand when I mention that I have > books and papers all over the place. > > I also belong to the groups in the areas that I am doing research. For > example: Jefferson Co., Ohio. That way I can keep abreast of what is happening in > the area where several family members have made homes. I learn which records > and data bases are available or not available. > > Being a part of the state or national organizations, I am able to give > support to national issues being discussed or shared. Recent federal and state > legislation has had a direct impact on what records I may be able to access. I > learn about these battles through my volunteer representatives. > > I wrote this in responce to past unsoliced advice that has been given on this > site. I am only ready take advice when I have faced a problem and asked for > help. I have received so, so much help by paying dues and supporting > genealogy assemblies. I urge you to jump in, you will be glad you did! > > Liz Stookesberry Myers > First Family of Ohio > Los Alamitos, CA > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >