Hi Mike, I feel bad about calling those people in the Historical Society old phogies when I wrote my reply on Saturday night, but my reason for saying that is not to cause conflict but rather to point out their lack of forward positive thinking. Sandy Hornung who is still on the board, is one of my favorite Ladies and helped me get started in genealogy by searching for my first grandfather for me from the files of the Society which she still has that are inaccessable to others except through her.....now that I come to think of it I paid her to look up that information! Several times over the years I suggested to her that wouldn't it really be nice if the Society had a place where people could search those microfilms themselves. She alway responded that there was no place available that the board of the Society would consider to trust people in to do their own searches. Basically saying that they wouldn't trust anyone to have the access to them and because they were stored in her upstairs room no one could access them there, although I think she did tell Don one time that he could look at them. They never in all those years tried to find a place to put them to be accessable to the public. Why not the local library? Maybe in a separate room. That has been since 1995 when I started searching. No efforts made. And now this Geleski guy who has already cast his vote........... I would never ay that they were not nice people but they are being overly protective of public informatiom. I just wonder if the wording in their charter mentions public protection of information or public access in any way? So much for old history about an old Historical Society.... Pete Send ALL mail to: [email protected] Visit my "All American" Home Page at: http://members.fortunecity.com/petee77/ Chat with me I'm "Petee" on Microsoft Messenger From: "Pete Bennett" <[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PA-CAMERON] Genealogy Club/Historical Society update Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 04:08:48 +0000 Mike, I think your response to Mr. Geleskie's three "strikes against the merger"says way more to address any issue what might be good or adverse reasons to facilitate a merger of the Genealogy Club with the Historical Society then the whole group of them might come up with all together. They've been looked on as "old phogies" for so long and your suggestions frightens them because you are bringing in new blood to a stale, dying organization. I say, keep up the good work Mike, keep your course straight as you have been and there little innuendos will not hurt you or you good intensions. You are a more legitimate then that ever were or will be. Amen, keep up the good work! Pete Bennett Send ALL mail to: [email protected] Visit my "All American" Home Page at: http://members.fortunecity.com/petee77/ Chat with me I'm "Petee" on Microsoft Messenger From: "Mike" <[email protected]> Reply-To: "Mike" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: [PA-CAMERON] Genealogy Club/Historical Society update Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 01:19:08 -0500 Hi! I want to bring you up to speed with regards to "merging" the Genealogy Club with the Historical Society. At the recent Board Meeting a concern was raised regarding a letter dated Oct. 18 from a member of the Society warning against such a merger. I received a copy of the letter today and have written the following response. It is still unclear to me the concerns that this person wrote about. He presented 3 "strikes" against the merger. Strike 1 was regarding the Website providing free genealogy information. In my mind the Website has nothing to do with the Club merging with the Society. Strike 2 was the website posting of Beer's History which, in this person's mind, is total fiction. Strike 3 was something about some former member of the Society writing a book about Cameron County History using Beer's as a source. I still cannot not figure out what these 2 had to do with anything. There was also a fear of putting the total inventory of the museum on the internet which I sure do not have the time or interest to do. While I do not think that anyone on the Board will be swayed by this letter, I felt it necessary to respond as I have heard other "rumblings" regarding this issue. People resist change...even good change! Here is my response. We are meeting again in a couple of weeks and I will let you know what happens! November 7, 2003 John Kautz, President Cameron County Historical Society PO Box 433 Emporium, PA 15834 Dear John: I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some of the misconceptions in Paul Geleskie's letter of October 18th and to clear up any confusion and uneasiness that Members of the Society may have regarding this issue. First, there are two separate and distinct entities being confused as one- The Cameron County Genealogy Project and the Cameron County Genealogy Club. The Cameron County Genealogy Project is a website (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero) devoted to Cameron County History and Genealogy. It is one of several thousand such websites hosted by Rootsweb.com. These county websites are devoted to free access to public information and are designed to help genealogy researchers access information they normally would not have access to because many of them do not live in the areas they are researching. It is a tool in a very unique phenomena of people freely sharing information; volunteering to search courthouses, cemeteries and libraries for strangers; and offering suggestions and direction in other people's research. There is no other place where such camaraderie exists amongst complete strangers involving millions of people. It is about people helping people in its purist form. It is a good thing. The Cameron County Genealogy Project attracts over 1000 visits a month, some 41,000 visits since January, 2000. The Project contains over 450 pages of Cameron County historical and public information with more being added monthly. This information has been freely transcribed and contributed to the Website by volunteers dedicated to preserving and sharing Cameron County History. Less than 20 pages of that information are J. H. Beer's History of Cameron County. We soon will have the entire book reproduced online. After receiving an email from Paul back in May of 2000, the Beer's page has had this disclaimer posted on it : "Disclaimer: It has been brought to our attention that not all of the information in Beer's History is completely accurate. Like all such resources, it is a good starting place, but you might want to double check the information for accuracy. Please let me know of any thing that you know is wrong and I will add notes to the offending section. All in all, the book makes for good reading!" A request to Paul for a list of known errors went unanswered. To date, no one has advised of any misinformation regarding their family history as found in the book. I do not understand how Mimzi Skinner's writings (assuming this is the reference in "Strike 3") fits into this as they are not reproduced or mentioned on the Website. The point to all of this is, there just is no way that the Genealogy Project can be "merged" with the Historical Society. In addition to the Website there is a separate E-mail List ([email protected]) with over 120 subscribers who are interested in Cameron County Genealogy and History. It is a place where people can request and share information and ideas, talk about Cameron County and more. It is from the subscribers of this list that the Cameron County Genealogy Club was born. After my return to Emporium, I was asked by many of these subscribers to please start a Genealogy Club where people could meet and share information on a regular basis. This need is not presently being fulfilled by the Historical Society. In fact a request to start a Club was turned down and we were told, after we started one on our own, that it would never last. To answer a question brought up at the recent Board Meeting, it is this reason that these people did not join the Historical Society on the outset. The Cameron County Genealogy Club was launched on March 1, 2003 with over 50 Charter Members and has met monthly ever since with an average of 20-25 people in attendance- some members travel over 150 miles! Membership has now grown to almost 70 people from all over the country and includes people who do not have access to the Internet. Minutes of each meeting are posted on the Club's Website so that non-local folks can participate in the Club. The Website (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/club.htm) is housed with the Project Website as a matter of convenience. Also posted on the Website is a list of surnames being researched and contact information for the people researching them. The stated purpose of the Club is as follows: 1. Education: To Provide speakers and/or classes to expose people to all of the many sources of information available both online and locally; techniques for recording and storing information; and any other "how to" genealogy topics. Educate the general population about our hobby with a regular article in the Echo(this was written pre-Endeavor). Provide speakers for local organizations and schools. Provide occasional Workshops to help new folks get into the hobby. 2. Exchange of Information: We see this as a way to help internet and non-internet people exchange information on the families they are researching. A monthly article in the Echo would help achieve this along with postings on the website and email list and if the circumstances warrant it- a newsletter. It would also be a great forum for helping each other with brick walls. 3. Sourcing Data: We would like to see as much local data online as possible. We feel that a dedicated group of Club members could accomplish a lot in that area. The Club would also be a place to share little known places to look for data and an opportunity for non-internet folks to share family photos and information on the internet. 4. Socializing: A great opportunity to share our success stories and to pal around with folks with similar interests. 5. Down the road we talked about the possibility of an annual event (picnic?), touring (reading?) cemeteries, visiting area museums, visiting a Family Research Center and more. We also talked about advertising our group in the surrounding counties since, as far as I know, nothing like this exists in the area. It is these folks who now wish to "merge" with the Cameron County Historical Society. They feel it will be a mutually beneficial existence. In actuality, they are asking for the Society to start a Genealogy Club. The Cameron County Genealogy Club would cease to exist. The present members would become Members of the Historical Society and members of the Cameron County Historical Society's Genealogy Club. The Society would benefit greatly from this. It would provide a monthly Historical Society program, increasing and promoting the Society's presence in the Community. It would instantly add a possible 60+ new members to the Society. Many of these new members would be active members and would become valuable assets to the Society as they volunteered to assist in Society projects. It is these people who network out in the world and would help attract new members and promote the Little Museum. The online presence of the Club would attract even more new members; increase attendance to the Little Museum and be an instant market for items the Society will sell in the future. All of this activity will not go unnoticed by the present Society Membership and the Community-at- large and will motivate them into more participation-people want to be a part of something happening! The main benefit for the present Club Members would be belonging to and supporting a prestigious organization with a reputation of preserving Cameron County History for some 80+ years. It will provide many of them the satisfaction of being directly involved with that preservation and the sharing of that history. Ultimately, they would benefit from access to the Society's holdings that were donated to the Society by past family members to be shared with future generations. They feel this will be a win-win situation. Lastly, there has never been an "intent of placing a catalog and images of the museum's inventory on the "world wide web." However, there is an intent of a presence for the Society and The Little Museum on the Internet. Such a presence will only increase attendance to the Museum and help reach new members. Such a website can be viewed at http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/society.htm. Society and Museum exposure on the Genealogy Project Website and E-mail list this past year was directly responsible for no less than 60 of the people who visited the Museum this year, more than a dozen new members and the sale of about 20 of Ira Collin's books. A Society website could easily increase these figures next year and into the future. I hope that this will clear-up the misconceptions and will satisfy any confusion or uneasiness regarding the Genealogy Club. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to our next meeting. Michael S. Wennin Coordinator Cameron County Genealogy Club County Coordinator - Cameron County Genealogy Project Member- Board of Directors - Cameron County Historical Society cc: Erwin Murray Jr. Pam Kautz Mary Louise Blumle Sandra Hornung Alvin Brown Marilyn Brown Pat Martin Tony Moscato Paul Geleskie Mike Wennin Come Visit the Cameron County Genealogy Project! http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero ==== PACAMERO Mailing List ==== Come Visit The Cameron County Genealogy Project http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero _________________________________________________________________ Great deals on high-speed Internet access as low as $26.95. https://broadband.msn.com (Prices may vary by service area.) ==== PACAMERO Mailing List ==== Celebrating Our 4th Year! Come check us out! http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero _________________________________________________________________ From Beethoven to the Rolling Stones, your favorite music is always playing on MSN Radio Plus. No ads, no talk. 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I know exactly what Pete is talking about. I feel the same way about the Cameron County Historical Society and have had many of the same experiences. I found myself going to other counties to do my Cameron County genealogy research in the past...I love to research so why would I pay someone else to do it for me. Absolutely insane! Wendy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pete Bennett" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 7:37 PM Subject: Re: [PA-CAMERON] Genealogy Club/Historical Society update > Hi Mike, > I feel bad about calling those people in the Historical Society old phogies > when I wrote my reply on Saturday night, but my reason for saying that is > not to cause conflict but rather to point out their lack of forward positive > thinking. Sandy Hornung who is still on the board, is one of my favorite > Ladies and helped me get started in genealogy by searching for my first > grandfather for me from the files of the Society which she still has that > are inaccessable to others except through her.....now that I come to think > of it I paid her to look up that information! > Several times over the years I suggested to her that wouldn't it really be > nice if the Society had a place where people could search those microfilms > themselves. She alway responded that there was no place available that the > board of the Society would consider to trust people in to do their own > searches. Basically saying that they wouldn't trust anyone to have the > access to them > and because they were stored in her upstairs room no one could access them > there, although I think she did tell Don one time that he could look at > them. > > They never in all those years tried to find a place to put them to be > accessable to the public. Why not the local library? Maybe in a separate > room. That has been since 1995 when I started searching. > No efforts made. > And now this Geleski guy who has already cast his vote........... I would > never ay that they were not nice people but they are being overly protective > of public informatiom. I just wonder if the wording in their charter > mentions public protection of information or public access in any way? > So much for old history about an old Historical Society.... > Pete > > > > Send ALL mail to: [email protected] > > Visit my "All American" Home Page at: > http://members.fortunecity.com/petee77/ > > Chat with me I'm "Petee" on Microsoft Messenger > > > > > > > > > > From: "Pete Bennett" <[email protected]> > Reply-To: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [PA-CAMERON] Genealogy Club/Historical Society update > Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2003 04:08:48 +0000 > > Mike, > I think your response to Mr. Geleskie's three "strikes against the > merger"says way more to address any issue what might be good or adverse > reasons to facilitate a merger of the Genealogy Club with the Historical > Society then the whole group of them might come up with all together. > They've been looked on as "old phogies" for so long and your suggestions > frightens them because you are bringing in new blood to a stale, dying > organization. I say, keep up the good work Mike, keep your course straight > as you have been and there little innuendos will not hurt you or you good > intensions. You are a more legitimate then that ever were or will be. Amen, > keep up the good work! > Pete Bennett > > > > Send ALL mail to: [email protected] > > Visit my "All American" Home Page at: > http://members.fortunecity.com/petee77/ > > Chat with me I'm "Petee" on Microsoft Messenger > > > > > > > > > > From: "Mike" <[email protected]> > Reply-To: "Mike" <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Subject: [PA-CAMERON] Genealogy Club/Historical Society update > Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2003 01:19:08 -0500 > > Hi! > > I want to bring you up to speed with regards to "merging" the Genealogy Club > with the Historical Society. At the recent Board Meeting a concern was > raised regarding a letter dated Oct. 18 from a member of the Society warning > against such a merger. I received a copy of the letter today and have > written the following response. It is still unclear to me the concerns that > this person wrote about. He presented 3 "strikes" against the merger. > Strike 1 was regarding the Website providing free genealogy information. In > my mind the Website has nothing to do with the Club merging with the > Society. Strike 2 was the website posting of Beer's History which, in this > person's mind, is total fiction. Strike 3 was something about some former > member of the Society writing a book about Cameron County History using > Beer's as a source. I still cannot not figure out what these 2 had to do > with anything. There was also a fear of putting the total inventory of the > museum on the internet which I sure do not have the time or interest to do. > While I do not think that anyone on the Board will be swayed by this letter, > I felt it necessary to respond as I have heard other "rumblings" regarding > this issue. People resist change...even good change! > > Here is my response. We are meeting again in a couple of weeks and I will > let you know what happens! > > November 7, 2003 > > John Kautz, President > Cameron County Historical Society > PO Box 433 > Emporium, PA 15834 > > Dear John: > > I would like to take this opportunity to clarify some of the misconceptions > in Paul Geleskie's letter of October 18th and to clear up any confusion and > uneasiness that Members of the Society may have regarding this issue. > > First, there are two separate and distinct entities being confused as one- > The Cameron County Genealogy Project and the Cameron County Genealogy Club. > The Cameron County Genealogy Project is a website > (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero) devoted to Cameron County History and > Genealogy. It is one of several thousand such websites hosted by > Rootsweb.com. These county websites are devoted to free access to public > information and are designed to help genealogy researchers access > information they normally would not have access to because many of them do > not live in the areas they are researching. It is a tool in a very unique > phenomena of people freely sharing information; volunteering to search > courthouses, cemeteries and libraries for strangers; and offering > suggestions and direction in other people's research. There is no other > place where such camaraderie exists amongst complete strangers involving > millions of people. It is about people helping people in its purist form. It > is a good thing. > > The Cameron County Genealogy Project attracts over 1000 visits a month, some > 41,000 visits since January, 2000. The Project contains over 450 pages of > Cameron County historical and public information with more being added > monthly. This information has been freely transcribed and contributed to the > Website by volunteers dedicated to preserving and sharing Cameron County > History. Less than 20 pages of that information are J. H. Beer's History > of Cameron County. We soon will have the entire book reproduced online. > After receiving an email from Paul back in May of 2000, the Beer's page has > had this disclaimer posted on it : "Disclaimer: It has been brought to our > attention that not all of the information in Beer's History is completely > accurate. Like all such resources, it is a good starting place, but you > might want to double check the information for accuracy. Please let me know > of any thing that you know is wrong and I will add notes to the offending > section. All in all, the book makes for good reading!" A request to Paul > for a list of known errors went unanswered. To date, no one has advised of > any misinformation regarding their family history as found in the book. I > do not understand how Mimzi Skinner's writings (assuming this is the > reference in "Strike 3") fits into this as they are not reproduced or > mentioned on the Website. The point to all of this is, there just is no > way that the Genealogy Project can be "merged" with the Historical Society. > > In addition to the Website there is a separate E-mail List > ([email protected]) with over 120 subscribers who are interested in > Cameron County Genealogy and History. It is a place where people can request > and share information and ideas, talk about Cameron County and more. It is > from the subscribers of this list that the Cameron County Genealogy Club was > born. After my return to Emporium, I was asked by many of these subscribers > to please start a Genealogy Club where people could meet and share > information on a regular basis. This need is not presently being fulfilled > by the Historical Society. In fact a request to start a Club was turned down > and we were told, after we started one on our own, that it would never last. > To answer a question brought up at the recent Board Meeting, it is this > reason that these people did not join the Historical Society on the outset. > > The Cameron County Genealogy Club was launched on March 1, 2003 with over 50 > Charter Members and has met monthly ever since with an average of 20-25 > people in attendance- some members travel over 150 miles! Membership has now > grown to almost 70 people from all over the country and includes people who > do not have access to the Internet. Minutes of each meeting are posted on > the Club's Website so that non-local folks can participate in the Club. The > Website (http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/club.htm) is housed with the > Project Website as a matter of convenience. Also posted on the Website is a > list of surnames being researched and contact information for the people > researching them. > > The stated purpose of the Club is as follows: > > 1. Education: To Provide speakers and/or classes to expose people to all of > the many sources of information available both online and locally; > techniques for recording and storing information; and any other "how to" > genealogy topics. Educate the general population about our hobby with a > regular article in the Echo(this was written pre-Endeavor). Provide speakers > for local organizations and > schools. Provide occasional Workshops to help new folks get into the hobby. > > 2. Exchange of Information: We see this as a way to help internet and > non-internet people exchange information on the families they are > researching. A monthly article in the Echo would help achieve this along > with postings on the website and email list and if the circumstances warrant > it- a newsletter. It would also be a great forum for helping each other with > brick walls. > > 3. Sourcing Data: We would like to see as much local data online as > possible. We feel that a dedicated group of Club members could accomplish a > lot in that area. The Club would also be a place to share little known > places to look for data and an opportunity for non-internet folks to share > family photos and information on the internet. > > 4. Socializing: A great opportunity to share our success stories and to pal > around with folks with similar interests. > > 5. Down the road we talked about the possibility of an annual event > (picnic?), touring (reading?) cemeteries, visiting area museums, visiting a > Family Research Center and more. We also talked about advertising our group > in the surrounding counties since, as far as I know, nothing like this > exists in the area. > > It is these folks who now wish to "merge" with the Cameron County Historical > Society. They feel it will be a mutually beneficial existence. > In actuality, they are asking for the Society to start a Genealogy Club. > The Cameron County Genealogy Club would cease to exist. The present members > would become Members of the Historical Society and members of the Cameron > County Historical Society's Genealogy Club. The Society would benefit > greatly from this. It would provide a monthly Historical Society program, > increasing and promoting the Society's presence in the Community. It would > instantly add a possible 60+ new members to the Society. Many of these new > members would be active members and would become valuable assets to the > Society as they volunteered to assist in Society projects. It is these > people who network out in the world and would help attract new members and > promote the Little Museum. The online presence of the Club would attract > even more new members; increase attendance to the Little Museum and be an > instant market for items the Society will sell in the future. All of this > activity will not go unnoticed by the present Society Membership and the > Community-at- large and will motivate them into more participation-people > want to be a part of something happening! > > The main benefit for the present Club Members would be belonging to and > supporting a prestigious organization with a reputation of preserving > Cameron County History for some 80+ years. It will provide many of them the > satisfaction of being directly involved with that preservation and the > sharing of that history. Ultimately, they would benefit from access to the > Society's holdings that were donated to the Society by past family members > to be shared with future generations. They feel this will be a win-win > situation. > > Lastly, there has never been an "intent of placing a catalog and images of > the museum's inventory on the "world wide web." However, there is an intent > of a presence for the Society and The Little Museum on the Internet. Such a > presence will only increase attendance to the Museum and help reach new > members. Such a website can be viewed at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero/society.htm. > > Society and Museum exposure on the Genealogy Project Website and E-mail list > this past year was directly responsible for no less than 60 of the people > who visited the Museum this year, more than a dozen new members and the sale > of about 20 of Ira Collin's books. A Society website could easily increase > these figures next year and into the future. > > I hope that this will clear-up the misconceptions and will satisfy any > confusion or uneasiness regarding the Genealogy Club. If you have any > further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking > forward to our next meeting. > > > > Michael S. Wennin > Coordinator Cameron County Genealogy Club > County Coordinator - Cameron County Genealogy Project > Member- Board of Directors - Cameron County Historical Society > > cc: Erwin Murray Jr. > Pam Kautz > Mary Louise Blumle > Sandra Hornung > Alvin Brown > Marilyn Brown > Pat Martin > Tony Moscato > Paul Geleskie > > Mike Wennin > Come Visit the Cameron County Genealogy Project! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero > > > > ==== PACAMERO Mailing List ==== > Come Visit The Cameron County Genealogy Project > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero > > _________________________________________________________________ > Great deals on high-speed Internet access as low as $26.95. > https://broadband.msn.com (Prices may vary by service area.) > > > ==== PACAMERO Mailing List ==== > Celebrating Our 4th Year! Come check us out! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacamero > > _________________________________________________________________ > From Beethoven to the Rolling Stones, your favorite music is always playing > on MSN Radio Plus. No ads, no talk. Trial month FREE! > http://join.msn.com/?page=offers/premiumradio >