Please Join Us in 2018

(a little late).

We hope you are sticking to your New Year's Resolutions, and we hope one of them is organizing and working on your family history.

Next thing I need to let you know: Following more than 3 months of Rootsweb problems and no access to our web site, we have moved our web site from Rootsweb to a new domain. You can now find our web site at http://iroquoiscountygenealogy.org. Most of the pages are active, including PayPal pages and resources. We think our new web address will be much easier to remember, too.

We have a busy year planned. Save these dates. Hope you can join us. Remember for more information, you can email us at iroqgene@yahoo.com or call us at 815-432-3730. Watch our Facebook  page or this blog for more details.

February 19 – Our first Kid’s Day – Start your Genealogy on school holiday. Grades 5 and older, with adult or responsible sibling. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

March 10 – Conference: DuPage CountyGenealogical Society in Naperville, IL.

March 24 – Program: DNA presentation, 9:30 a.m. coffee, 10:00 a.m. program. Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

Infamous and Notorious of Iroquois County

  April 15 – Program: Infamous and Notorious of Iroquois County, 2:00 p.m. at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

  May 7-11 – One-on-One Week, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Genealogy Archives at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

May 2-5 – National Genealogical Society Annual Conference, Grand Rapids, MI.

June 24 – Program: Terry Lynch and Histories For Kids “Happy IL Bicentennial Birthday Bash!”, 2:00 p.m. Courthouse grounds and Courtroom at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL. #Illinoisproud

July 13 – Friday the 13^th Superstitions Supper, 4-7 p.m. at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

July 18-22 – Iroquois County Fair, Crescent City, IL. See us in the Commercial Building.

Come see us at the Iroquois County Fair!

August 6-10 – Program: One-on-One Week. 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Genealogy Archives at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

August 11 – Kankakee Valley Genealogical Society 50^th anniversary. 4th floor of Kankakee Public Library, Kankakee, IL.

August 5 – Dog Days of Summer 5K and Dog Run, date tentative, beginning at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

August 22-25 – Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, Fort Wayne, IN.

Cemetery Walk: Sugar Creek Chapel Cemetery

September 9 – Program: Cemetery Walk, location TBD. We will start voting on the cemetery soon from our Facebook page.

Pumpkin Contest 2017

 October 6-7 – Harvest Daze, Ham & Beans Dinner, Pumpkin Contest at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

 November 3 – General Meeting at Old Courthouse Museum in Watseka, IL.

December 19 – Volunteer Luncheon - location TBD.

Looks like lots of FUN! See you in 2018!

Mark your 2015 calendars!

The ICGS Board has set dates for some of our 2015 activities. Expect 2015 to be a great year! Add these to your calendars now, so you don't miss a chance to participate, and check back for more details and reminders in future posts and in our newsletter, The Stalker.

Have you ever wanted to test run an online subscription site without having to sign up for it? Do you wish you knew more about how to get around a site that you are already paying for? Are those free online sites worth your time?

In a new event this year, we are going to try to answer those questions with you. The week of March 9-14, 2015, the Iroquois County Genealogical Society board and volunteers are hosting One-on-One training sessions to help you explore many online genealogy sites. The sessions are free, but registration is required. Sessions will be scheduled in 2-hour blocks of time. We are still working on the specifics, but some sites we are considering include Ancestry, Family Search,  Fold3, GenesReunited, Archives, Newspaper Archive, World Vital Records, Find My Past, Accessible Archives, and OGSA (Ostfriensen) Database.

Our 3rd Annual Cemetery Walk is scheduled for Sunday, September 13, 2015. We are planning to hold this event at the Flesher Cemetery, north of Crescent City, Iroquois County, Illinois. There will be much more to come on this interesting and enjoyable event. See this post about our 2014 Cemetery Walk.

Last October, we had a visit from Lin Strong, President of the Ostfriensen Genealogical Society of America.

Lin Strong (left) and ICGS President, Mary Buhr

At that time, we talked about having Lin come to Watseka to present a seminar. She will be here on Saturday, November 14, 2015. Part of the day will be spent in the ICGS library using the OGSA publications and other resources available here. Her topics are still being decided upon, but this promises to be a fabulous day of learning and fun.







IHSA (Illinois) Class 2A Watseka Regional Girls Basketball tourney runs from February 9-12. Watch for our ad in the printed program.

One last item to note: As you may know, you can purchase our publications from our web site using Paypal. When you visit our office, you now can use Paypal for in-person purchases, copies or donations. Just another reason to stop by to see us!