ISGS 2014 Youth Award

The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) had their Fall Conference October 24-25, 2014 in O'Fallen, Illinois. The theme was Illinois: Land of Opportunity. I would like to thank all of the ISGS officers and workers who coordinated and created this "opportunity" for the attendees! Great conference!

Interesting Session Topics

This was my first year attending the ISGS fall conference, and I found the sessions very informative. We learned about research strategies for using migration patterns on rivers and railroads, African American genealogy research, pioneer cemeteries and little-known records. Other topics included the Illinois Regional Archives Depository system and southern Illinois research facilities. There were also sessions on the ISGS Prairie Pioneer certificates, Military certificates and volunteer opportunities in ISGS. I was even lucky enough to win a door prize (The Adaptable Journal from Per Annum, Inc.), and I LOVE winning prizes! Thanks, Roots2Leaves for your contribution to the prizes!

I'll share some details of what I learned in upcoming posts, but first...

A Proud Moment for our Society

Ashley Burns, a young volunteer in our society was this year's recipient of the ISGS Youth Award. Ashley has volunteered at ICGS for the past eight summers, indexing, organizing, and helping patrons with research. She has written several articles for The Stalker, our quarterly publication. Our booth at the Iroquois County Fair is organized by Ashley, and she spends most of the fair in our booth. She created our "Pick a Duck" game, which has become a treat for young and old alike. (See this earlier post.)

Ashley is pretty skilled at family history research also, as she has traced her fiance’s family back to 1368. Ashley was nominated by Mary Buhr, Iroquois County Genealogical Society President, who has experienced first-hand the dedication Ashley has. Ashley will soon be graduating from college with a degree in Journalism.

Congratulations, Ashley! We hope you can continue to come visit us following your graduation from college.

Mary Buhr, ICGS President, Ashley, Jane Haldeman, ISGS President 

Looking Forward to Future Conferences

All in all, the conference was definitely something I will continue to attend. The 2015 conference will be in Oak Lawn, Illinois. For its 2016 Fall Conference, ISGS will join with FGS in Springfield, Illinois, August 31-September 3. It already sounds like a great time!