September 2, 2022
It’s hard to believe that it’s September already. Fall is just around the corner. Although Fall marks the end of the carefree days of summer, it is also often a season of new beginnings.
For children, Fall means the beginning of a new school year. New teachers, new subjects, new back-to-school clothes all signs that almost anything might be possible.
For adults, the change of seasons doesn’t bring such obvious changes, but it does mean that the days are growing shorter and cooler. Outdoor activities give way to more indoor time. For those of us who’ve let our genealogy slide in favor of barbeques, flower gardens and pool parties, it’s time to get back to our neglected research.
As part of our indoor-centered switch of seasons, now is a good time to join or re-join a local, regional or national genealogical society. If your enthusiasm has waned a bit over the summer, genealogical society events are a great way to re-connect with other genealogists and brush up on new skills.
If you’re in Larimer County, or even if you’re not, the Larimer County Genealogical Society is well worth checking out. Some activities took a hiatus during the summer, but they’re all now back in full swing. Just check out the LCGS website at https://lcgsco.org/ .
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned genealogist, there’s something for everyone coming up this Fall at LCGS. Over the course of the next couple of months, intermediate genealogists can attend a two-part series on genealogy research. In addition, there will be a class on using the internet for genealogy research in October as well as a primer on using My Heritage. These classes are all free and will be held in various local libraries.
This is in addition to the regular monthly meetings which are held on the third Thursday of each month at the Fort Collins Senior Center at 6:30 pm. The meetings feature a guest speaker. September’s speaker will be Diane Barbour who will speak on “Using Often Overlooked Repositories.” Monthly meetings are currently being held in a hybrid format so that members can attend either in person or virtually via Zoom. If neither of these formats work for you, the meetings are also recorded and available for later viewing.
For those who want even more genealogy, LCGS hosts several special interest study groups. These groups focus on a variety of topics ranging from German Research to Genealogical Technology. Most of them are held monthly either in person or via Zoom or in a hybrid format. Check the LCGS website for a listing of various groups and when they meet.
Finally, LCGS also holds weekly one-on-one walk-in genealogy help sessions at the Poudre River Library District’s Old Town location. These sessions, which are open to anyone, are held every Thursday afternoon (except holidays) from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Thanks to new technology, genealogists from almost anywhere can join in LCGS activities. With such a variety of ways to attend and topics to learn about, it’s easy to see why it’s a good idea to check out https://lcgsco.org/ to see exactly what’s available.
Carol Stetser
Researcher