HCGS Meeting September 13, 2022 via ZOOM
SEPTEMBER 13, 2022
HONOLULU COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
Present: Janice Choat-Zavaval, Isabelle Rivera, Lenore Hansen-Stafford, Deborah Richards, Ellen Schneider and Donna Wendt
Meeting was begun at 9:00 a.m.
NEW BUSINESS: A request was made to include in the Minutes the Zoom ID information for the Honolulu County Genealogical Society’s meetings. If you did not receive Lenore’s Zoom meeting notice or have a problem connecting onto the link she has attached to her email, go directly onto the Zoom website, Zoom.US. Enter our ID number, 83224651197; and then the password, DNA. If you have problems logging into the meeting, contact Lenore at (808) 341-0766.
CALABASH BOWL: As in August, today’s meeting became an open discussion and sharing session.
Finding Time to Talk with Family (or Friends): Deborah Richards connects with family on their birthdays. Birthdays are a great reason to talk and reminisce. Donna suggested hospital stays, or when someone is home recovering (but not with a contagious illness). A visit and conversation with the patient will lift their spirits and may get some good family data.
Roots Tech: Roots Tech has just begun sending emails announcing their March 2 to 4, 2023 conference. Last year’s conference was all-digital and this year offered a combination in-person and digital. Find information go to their website. Roots Tech is sponsored through FamilySearch.org .
Documentation/Photos: Yesterday, Donna Wendt scanned over 1000 photos on her Epson Fast Photo 680 wireless scanner. The unit comes with 2 software programs, 1 for documents and 1 for photos. The quality of your photo copies are better as scans versus taking a photo of a photo. Be mindful of the page thickness. A note or double paper layer will probably be rejected. If that happens, or if your page is larger than the size limit, you will have to take a photo of the scrapbook page with your cell phone or scan with a flatbed scanner/printer. First check the settings before scanning with Fast Photo... If you plan on enlarging a photo, scan at a higher resolution (600). The 300 resolutions are considered standard. Also in "Settings" under "Enhancements" you have options to auto enhance, to restore faded colors and remove red eye automatically. Once scanned, the photo goes into a file you have named. Any further tweeking of the photo can be done with a photo editing program. Worth repeating, Donna uses a free photo editing program – found at www.getpaint.net. Avoid the ads on the page and find the free app to download .. usually on upper right,
Paint.net does not add color, or "colorize" old black and white photos, MyHeritage.com can do that with their subscription Members of MyHeritage can also use their features to animate a photo, or even add oral narration to an animated photo.
Also, check your cellphones for default photo editor programs. Most phones have the capability to improve a photo when you bring one up on your screen.
Addition advice: digitize originals and store on a hard drive with a large terabyte capacity. Purchase the hard drive from any trusted shopping site or store. Scan by years and store in appropriate designated folders. Keep what you store current, taking the time to review and delete what you do not want.
An inquiry was made asking about venues who still offer prints of photos. Suggestions included Costco, Rainbow Photo Video, Walgreen and Walmart. Some locations have online order sites, with pick up at the stores.
Possible Future Topic: How Does One Downsize? Deborah commented on how hard we work gathering and organizing our family trees and sources. A common concern is that we do not want to see all this work lost, or the possibility of our family history disappearing. Trying to downsize, Donna’s latest project is scanning her 23 binders of Operation Smile missions and then boxing up the binders.
If we are drowning in hard copy material, how do we downsize? What should be our priorities when we evaluate our collections? How do we best store the items we decide to keep? My Heritage. MyHeritage.com bought out Legacy, it is owned by an Israeli company. Their strong focus is European roots. A note of caution regarding the hints on My Heritage - do not add groups of relatives from the site, with the click of a button. It is best to always review each person individually and add on one-at-a-time if the record is correct.
Ancestry: Ancestry has the largest collection of records (20+ billion historical records) and more members. Since 2020 the current owner of Ancestry.com is the Blackstone Group, an equity investment company. Ancestry and FamilySearch.org (LDS church’s non-profit organization) has collaborated throughout the years. In the business world, Ancesty.com is primarily a large tech company, not a genealogy company. [Info from Genealogy Explained article: Who Owns Ancestry.com by Marc McDermott, March 14, 2022]
Ancestry’s latest feature is their improvement of pinpointing DNA areas. As more people submit DNA tests, the data of your family origins become narrower and closer to exact sites.
Family Search: Looking into the records at FamilySearch.org is free. All the microfilm from Salt Lake City is now digitized, but indexing is still ongoing. On their site, go to the catalog so review the records available.
Living DNA: Do you have ancestry from the United Kingdom? Living DNA is a UK based genetic testing company. It is strictly a DNA service searching UK data. In 2018, Living DNA partnered with FindMyPast.com to incorporate British Isles and Irish family history records.
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, October 8, 2022, 9:00 a.m.
Planned presentation: Donna Wendt’s talk on Scotland and the possible continuation of Wesley Stevens’ adventure in California.
Meeting adjourned at 11:42 a.m.
Minutes by Bella Rivera)
ADDENDUM:
We end on a somber note with the announcement shared by Kathy Hudson on the passing of long-time member Trisha Mach Robertson on September 29, 2022. She is remembered as a passionate genealogist who was always willing to share her discoveries of her family history. She always had something to contribute at each meeting she attended. She was a humble, kind, engaging and strong woman. Every member who had the blessing of knowing Trisha will miss her sweet smile and her eager spirit to be with like-minded souls. It was an honor to have her choose to spend her second Saturdays with us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. Funeral at St Johns Vainny on Keola Dr., Kailua Oct 20th at 10:30 am. Burial at Hawaii Memorial Park.
Aloha o’e, dear Trisha, … until we meet again.
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