Are you of Scottish or Irish descent or interested in Scotland and Ireland?
If so we have a program for you on Saturday, March 14, 2020. Come hear Dr. Loarn Robertson, a native of Scotland, give a program entitled “Scottish Clans and Castles." He will discuss histories, families, castles and genealogical information. Dr. Robertson came to attend the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana. He now lives in Savoy, Illinois.
This program will be at the Crescent City Community Center, 103 Main St, Crescent City, Illinois. Coffee at 8:30 a.m. Program begins promptly at 9:00 a.m. A light lunch is included, and the day ends at 3:00 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The cost includes a light lunch. Seating is limited so reservations are suggested.
Payment can be made by PayPal on our website https://iroquoiscountygenealogy.org/ or by sending a check to 103 W. Cherry St., Watseka 60970. If you are sending a check, please call ahead so we can add you to our guest list.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Friday, March 6, 2020
Naming Patterns, not what you thought
When I saw the title of this Vita Brevis blog post--
Naming patterns by Zachary Garceau,
it brought to mind the naming patterns Irish, Scottish and Scots-Irish parents used for their descendants in my family lines. Yours, too? It is a tradition that sometimes makes it difficult to determine which Samuel McCullough belongs to the record I found, or if he is even one of the Samuel McCulloughs in my tree.
However, this informative article explains how our ancestors named their new settlements as they moved around from state to state. Maybe because they weren't creative, or because they wanted to pay homage to the place they just left, or they wanted to make a better "Albany" than the one they left behind.
It's not that I don't know there are towns/cities with the same names. I had family who lived in Nashville, Illinois. Now I'm supposing did this little town have early settlers who hailed from Nashville, Tennessee?
It's just that I have never thought of checking to see if this tradition would help follow someone around as the country grew.
Maybe some of you have a brick wall that needs a new strategy. Give this one a try.
Vita Brevis is a blog of the New England Historic Genealogical Society from AmericanAncestors.org.
Naming patterns by Zachary Garceau,
it brought to mind the naming patterns Irish, Scottish and Scots-Irish parents used for their descendants in my family lines. Yours, too? It is a tradition that sometimes makes it difficult to determine which Samuel McCullough belongs to the record I found, or if he is even one of the Samuel McCulloughs in my tree.
However, this informative article explains how our ancestors named their new settlements as they moved around from state to state. Maybe because they weren't creative, or because they wanted to pay homage to the place they just left, or they wanted to make a better "Albany" than the one they left behind.
It's not that I don't know there are towns/cities with the same names. I had family who lived in Nashville, Illinois. Now I'm supposing did this little town have early settlers who hailed from Nashville, Tennessee?
It's just that I have never thought of checking to see if this tradition would help follow someone around as the country grew.
Maybe some of you have a brick wall that needs a new strategy. Give this one a try.
Vita Brevis is a blog of the New England Historic Genealogical Society from AmericanAncestors.org.
Monday, October 14, 2019
Fly Me to the Moon! Pumpkin Contest 2019
"FLY ME TO THE MOON" PUMPKIN CONTEST
The 2019 Harvest Daze Pumpkin Contest theme of "Fly Me
to the Moon" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first steps
on the moon, July 20, 1969. We received 17 entries from very creative
decorators, including a green alien, moon landings, representations of the
cosmos and even all the characters from “Hey! Diddle, Diddle.” Jessica Runner,
a genealogy volunteer helped us man the tent both days.
Beautiful weather made the weekend very enjoyable for our
enthusiastic visitors. We had over 400 voters deciding the contest winners.
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| VOTING JARS |
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| PRESIDENT'S CHOICE |
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| PICK OF THE PATCH |
Visitors voted for a favorite pumpkin in each of four
categories, then cast a vote for the best pumpkin overall.
Pictured on the left, the President's Choice, honoring the pumpkin showing the best use of the theme went to Addyson Chandler, Onarga with her Big Dipper and cosmos pumpkin #403. Her prize was two movie tickets to the Onarga Theater.
Winning the "Pick of the Patch" this year was Clara Runner, Milford with her big green alien at the right.
Category 100 was Youth Carved, for those 12 years old and younger. Winner was Callen with his pumpkin, #101.
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| 1ST YOUTH, CARVED |
Category 200 was Youth Painted/Decorated, for those 12 years old and younger.
1st place – Makennah with her beautiful “Fly Me to the Moon” #204.
2nd place – Clara with the big green alien #201.
3rd place – Nathan with his white rocket ship #209.
4th place – Kinley painting Earth and rocket ship #208.
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| FIRST, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| SECOND, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| THIRD, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| FOURTH, YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
Category 300 was Carved for those 13 and older.
1st place – Alyssa Alvarez with surprise witch on the moon
#301.
2nd place – Aubrey Wagner with carved rocket ship #302.
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| FIRST ADULT, CARVED FRONT |
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| FIRST ADULT, CARVED BACK |
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| 2ND ADULT, CARVED |
Category 400 was Adult Painted/Decorated for those 13 and
older.
1st place – Addyson Chandler with Big Dipper and cosmos
pumpkin #403.
2nd place – Ginny Lee with “Hey! Diddle, Diddle” nursery
rhyme #401.
3rd place – Aubrey Wagner with black rocket and moon #402.
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| FIRST, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| SECOND, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| THIRD, ADULT PAINTED/DECORATED |
Category 600 was Organization or Group Painted/Decorated.
1st place – Iroquois Federal with romantic touch #601.
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| FIRST, ORGANIZATION PAINTED/DECORATED |
Another contest was guessing the weight of the Apollo 11
crew of “pumpki-nauts.” The actual total weight of "pumpki-nauts" Neil Armstrong,
Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins was 72 pounds, 13 ounces. Winning the $10 prize
was Bart Koester, Watseka with a near perfect guess of 72 pounds, 8 ounces!
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| APOLLO 11 PUMPKI-NAUTS |
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| APOLLO 11 -ARMSTRONG, COLLINS, ALDRIN |
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| ROCKET TO THE MOON |
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| MISSION PATCH |
We had one family who dressed for the occasion in NASA t-shirts.
All other entries are shown below. You can understand why
some votes were difficult to make. What were you doing when Neil Armstrong first
stepped on the moon on July 20, 1969?
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| YOUTH, PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH, PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
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| YOUTH PAINTED/DECORATED |
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
"CARTOON PUMPKINS" CELEBRATES THE KID IN ALL OF US!
RESULTS OF 2018 HARVEST DAZE
"CARTOON PUMPKINS" CONTEST
The 2018 Harvest Daze Pumpkin Contest theme of "Cartoon Pumpkins" brought out the creativity in almost 50 participants with 27 pumpkin entries. Thanks to all participants, and special thanks to Mrs. Devine, art teacher from Glenn Raymond Middle School and Watseka Community High School and Mr. Wilkey, WCHS FFA Advisor, who delivered several pumpkins from the students. Jessica Runner, a genealogy volunteer, with her son, Tyler helped us man the tent both days. Iroquois Memorial Hospital sponsored the prizes for 2018.
A little rain now and then did not deter our visitors! The voters had much difficulty casting their votes, but we still had a steady stream of people stop by to view the pumpkins and vote.
The President's Choice, honoring the pumpkin showing the best use of the theme went to a group of students from Glenn Raymond Middle School in Watseka. Natalie, Amelia, Jacob and Camden created the classic "Tom & Jerry" cartoon, #603.
Visitors voted for a favorite pumpkin in each of four categories, then cast a vote for the best pumpkin overall. Winning the "Pick of the Patch" this year were Alyssa, Gabby and Mikey with their "Green Witch" pumpkin, #613.
Category 100 was Youth Carved, for those 12 years old and younger. Winner was Skyler with his "Pacman" pumpkin, #101.
Category 200 was Youth Painted/Decorated, for those 12 years old and younger.
1st place - Makennah with "Olaf" #203.
2nd place - Scarlett with "Pete the Cat" #211.
3rd place - Tyler with "Sylvester" #206.
4th place - Clara with "Tweet Bird" #207.
Category 400 was Adult Painted/Decorated for those 13 and older.
1st place - Salina with "Pumpkin with Sombrero" #403
2nd place - Albert with "Freckled Face and Nose" #401
Category 600 was Organization or Group Painted/Decorated.
1st place - TIE
Alyssa, Gabby and Mikey with "Green Witch" #613
Cody, Zoey and Emily with "Stitch" #614
2nd place - Natalie, Amelia, Jacob and Camden with "Tom & Jerry" #603
3rd place - Amber, Austin, Emma and Ethan with "Mike Wazowski" #610
All other entries are shown below. We were extremely impressed with the creative efforts by all participants. How many of these cartoon characters can you name???
A little rain now and then did not deter our visitors! The voters had much difficulty casting their votes, but we still had a steady stream of people stop by to view the pumpkins and vote.
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| PRESIDENT'S CHOICE |
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| PICK OF THE PATCH |
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| 1ST PLACE - YOUTH CARVED |
Category 100 was Youth Carved, for those 12 years old and younger. Winner was Skyler with his "Pacman" pumpkin, #101.
Category 200 was Youth Painted/Decorated, for those 12 years old and younger.
1st place - Makennah with "Olaf" #203.
2nd place - Scarlett with "Pete the Cat" #211.
3rd place - Tyler with "Sylvester" #206.
4th place - Clara with "Tweet Bird" #207.
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1ST
PLACE - YOUTH PAINTED/DECO
|
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| 2ND PLACE - YOUTH PAINTED/DECO |
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| 3RD PLACE - YOUTH PAINTED/DECO |
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| 4TH PLACE - YOUTH PAINTED/DECO |
Category 400 was Adult Painted/Decorated for those 13 and older.
1st place - Salina with "Pumpkin with Sombrero" #403
2nd place - Albert with "Freckled Face and Nose" #401
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| 1ST PLACE - ADULT PAINTED/DECO |
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| 2ND PLACE - ADULT PAINTED/DECO |
Category 600 was Organization or Group Painted/Decorated.
1st place - TIE
Alyssa, Gabby and Mikey with "Green Witch" #613
Cody, Zoey and Emily with "Stitch" #614
2nd place - Natalie, Amelia, Jacob and Camden with "Tom & Jerry" #603
3rd place - Amber, Austin, Emma and Ethan with "Mike Wazowski" #610
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| 1ST PLACE TIED - GROUP PAINTED |
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| 1ST PLACE TIE - GROUP PAINTED |
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| 3RD PLACE - GROUP PAINTED |
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| 2ND PLACE - GROUP PAINTED |
Another contest was guessing the weight of the "Couch Cartoon" pumpkins. The total weight of "Porky Pig" and "Melissa the Duck" and "Tweety Bird" was 70 pounds, 14 ounces. Sawyer J. was the winner of the $10 prize with his guess of 70 pounds, 7 ounces. Amazing!! (Notice the rain-soaked sign.)
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| GUESS THE WEIGHT! |
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