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Lots To Love On Saturday

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By SHARON TATE MOODY

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 8, 2009

Saturday may be celebrated as Valentine's Day, but local genealogists may remember it more for all the training opportunities it offers.

The whole month is ripe with workshops and programs, but you'll have to make a tough choice for Valentine's weekend.

Here's a look at what the month offers: I kick things off Wednesday with a presentation in Ruskin:

2 p.m. Wednesday: My two-hour presentation, "Counting Ancestors: The Federal Census," will be at SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin. There's no preregistration but you should arrive an hour early and get a no-charge ticket at the front desk. The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday: If you love the Internet and want to learn more about researching there, it's worth the drive to Port Charlotte to hear Stephen P. Morse.

Although he calls himself an amateur genealogist, he has received worldwide acclaim for his Web-based search aids. The International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies tapped him for its Outstanding Contribution and Lifetime Achievement awards. The National Genealogical Society gave him its Award of Merit and the Association of Professional Genealogists presented him with its Excellence Award.

Before all that, Morse was best known as the architect of the Intel 8086, great-great-granddaddy of the Pentium microprocessor.

His lectures will include "A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools," "One-Step Webpages: A Hodgepodge of Lesser-Known Gems," "Playing Hide and Seek in the U.S. Census," and "What Color Ellis Island Search Form Should I Use."

The event is presented by the Charlotte County Genealogical Society at the Lutheran Church of the Cross, 2300 Luther Road. Cost is $30 for society members, $35 for nonmembers. Materials and lunch will be provided only to those who registered before Feb. 6, but you still can attend and brown-bag it. For a registration form, call (941) 629-2344 or email bepowell 2001@yahoo.com.

10 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Feb. 18: It's easy to lose focus as your family tree grows. If you're in that situation, visit the Pasco County Genealogical Society meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday and attend any of three focus groups for help with basic genealogy, Internet research and German genealogy. A fourth session will be open to those interested in learning more about society leadership and activity.

At 2 p.m. Feb. 18, society member Tom Santa Cruz will present a program on using old newspapers as resources.

There's no charge for either program and both will be at the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, 9016 Fort King Road, Dade City. For details, visit www.rootsweb.com/ ~flpcgs.

1 p.m. Saturday: Manatee professional Donna Moughty will focus on the Latter-day Saints church Web site in her lecture on "Getting the Most Out of FamilySearch." This free session is hosted by the Imperial Polk Genealogical Society in Lakeland, and will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 3140 Troy Ave., Lakeland.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday: If you have German ancestry, check out the Pinellas County Genealogical Society's seminar featuring Hank Jones. His topics for the daylong program include "Tracing the Origins of Early 18th Century Palatine & Other Emigrants," "Family Tradition: How to Separate Fact from Fiction in Genealogical Research," "Saints, Sinners & an Occasional Horse Thief: Some Emigrant Stories," and "Genealogy in the New Millennium."'

Jones is a well-respected professional genealogist, evidenced by his status as a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. He is best known for his Palatine research, but his roots as a screen actor (he appeared in four roles on seven episodes of the television series, "My Three Sons") are evident in his entertaining presentations.

The seminar will be held in the Jenkins Conference Room at the Largo Public Library, 120 Central Park Drive, Largo. Registration begins at 8 a.m. A deluxe box lunch will be available for $5. Get parking and driving instructions at the society's Web site - go to www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flpgs/pgs-spe cial_events.htm and click on the seminar link.

Noon Feb. 20: If you haven't jumped into genealogy because you don't know where to begin, Hillsborough presenter Becky Bandy's lecture "Help, I Don't Know Where to Begin? Genealogy 101!" may be for you. She'll introduce tools, provide forms for use in daily research, and show how the Internet can help.

The presentation is hosted by South Bay Genealogical Society, which meets for lunch at 12 p.m. at the SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin. Make reservations by sending a check for $13 at least seven days prior to the meeting to the society at P.O. Box 5202, Sun City Center FL 33571. If you have questions, call Rose Huggard at (813) 633-0868.

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 21: It'll take a road trip to make it to this one, but it's well-worth the ride for fans of Dick Eastman, known for his Online Genealogy Newsletter, a daily publication read by more than 25,000 genealogists around the world.

His topics will include "Photographing Old or Delicate Documents and Photography," "Genealogy Searches on Google," "Tombstone Photography" and "Where is Genealogy Software Headed."

The program is hosted by the Tallahassee Genealogical Society at St. John's Episcopal Church in Tallahassee. It's $50 for society members and $60 for nonmembers. Print your registration form and find more information at www.talgen.org.

Sharon Tate Moody is past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. Send your genealogy questions and event announcements to her in care of Getaway, The Tampa Tribune, 200 S. Parker St., Tampa, FL 33606 or stmoody0720@mac.com. She regrets

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