Classes Available For Seniors, Beginners

Get ready, set, go, you genealogists out there!

September is the traditional month to regroup your troops, and genealogy-minded organizations are no different.

Genealogists have begun to blow summer’s dust off their family history notebooks and trek regularly to the library to roll microfilms, wander about censuses, pore through books - and consider enrolling in a class or program to hone their genealogy skills.

(For those just beginning to hone, experienced genealogists are on hand every Thursday to help beginners however they can in the downtown Spokane Public Library’s genealogy section.)

Ann Hemmert, a member of the Eastern Washington Genealogy Society, will teach beginner classes this fall for senior citizens and at the Institute of Extended Learning (IEL).

The eight-week sessions at the Corbin Senior Activity Center, 827 W. Cleveland, begin Sept. 17, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. She will teach the same class on the same days, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the South Hill Senior Center, 2727 S. Mount Vernon, in the Lincoln Heights Shopping Center.

To register for these seniors classes, call 533-3769 or 533-3393.

Ann will teach another beginner’s class, beginning Sept. 17, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at North Central High School. To register for this class, call 533-3770.

I will teach an eight-week advanced workshop for the IEL, Tuesdays, beginning Sept. 16, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at West Valley High School; and Wednesdays, beginning Sept. 17, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at North Central.

Call 533-3770 to register for either class.

The advanced workshops will also be offered through the seniors program at the Corbin Center, beginning Wednesday, Sept. 17, from 1 to 3 p.m. Call 533-3769 or 533-3393 to register.

A word of advice regarding the advanced classes: They are focused to help genealogists solve a tough genealogy problem. Students will identify an ancestor they wish to find, one they have not yet been able to document, and will apply my suggestions towards finding him or her. This means students must come prepared to work! Success depends on each student doing the homework assignments and then sharing success stories (hopefully) at the next session.

If this sounds like fun to you, let’s go!

I will also offer a four-week session, “Locating Your Civil War Ancestor.”

The seniors session begins Monday, Sept. 15, 1 to 3 p.m. at the Corbin Center. The IEL classes begin Monday, Sept. 15, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at NC; and Thursday, Sept. 18, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at West Valley. Call 533-3770 to register.

All of this genealogy learning will point you towards a research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

I’ll take a group there from Jan. 11 to 18, and I’d love to have you join my group. Cost is $395 per person, which includes a double room (add $175 for a single room). Above that, there is air fare for about $100. Drop me a note in care of the newspaper if you’d like to join the Salt Lake City research trip. Please include your phone number. I promise you a wonderful and productive time.

Today’s Laugh: An entry from the 1880 census for Marion County, Ark., lists Robert and Emily Cypert with their daughters, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri, and their year-old son, Northwest Territory.

, DataTimes MEMO: Donna Potter Phillips welcomes letters from readers. Write to her at The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. For a response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Donna Potter Phillips The Spokesman-Review