Week 5- Collection of new things.

Well it's time for another recap with my new career. Let's just say that this trip has amazed me with the variety of new things that happen every week. It continues to keep me motivated. Here are some of the highlights of my past week.

On Monday I initiated dialogue with the people running the Lifelong Learning Program at Lourdes University concerning trips to Ireland with a genealogy and history twist. They were very interested and have agreed to run information on it in their monthly newsletters. Contacted the Tour company and they are coming up with the release. Spent the rest of the day working on a research plan to Sandusky, Ohio to complete some client research. Preparation is the key to a successful trip. Yes, you can find a lot on the computer, but the majority of records are still offline. First Quick Guide on Migration patterns was approved and published.

Traveled over to Sandusky to do some research for a client at the Erie County Public Library in Sandusky, OH. They have a wonderful collection. My plan was to identify a timeline that would show when this family moved into the area and when they possibly left. The resource that I was using was the city directories. This is a resource that I could only get at the library. Started back in the 1850's and up to today. Used the online census records prior to going so had confirmation that the family was there in the 1870's. Death certificate for the person we are looking for indicated he was born there. I was not able to locate the family through 30 years of city directories. Library had a great collection of birth and obit records. Turned up nothing. Was a very disappointing day, but tells me something must be wrong with the information I had to work off. I have not given up.

Wednesday I had to travel up to Northern Michigan to meet with a client for a wedding genealogy that I am putting together for them. They came up with the idea that a wonderful gift would be the gift of a family genealogy for the new bride and groom. I have completed the pedigree chart portion of both sides of the new family, but now need to fill in the personal stories. This is what really brings a family to life. The client is up in years so by the time I got up there they were ready for naps. Client suggested I spend the day scanning pictures to include in the Genealogy. They have a wonderful summer home on the lake so spent time swimming and boating. The temp that day was up in the 90's. Left the rest of day to prepare for the oral history interviews the next morning.

Thursday was up and ready to go. Completed individual interviews with the client and her husband. There son was there listening and he said they were telling stories that he had never heard them talk about. This is why I do what I do. Prior to everyone waking up I was looking around the house for my laptop. While looking I saw a sword propped up against the wall. Since I am a Civil War nut I was drawn to it like a magnet. From looking at it I could tell that it was a cavalry saber. Showed it to the client. She told me that it was a family heirloom on her family, but did not know where it fit in. Well during the interview and with the miracle we call the internet I was able to identify the ancestor that the saber belong to and the Pennsylvania cavalry unit that he served. Now to order the pension and service records. The interviews were wonderful and the things identified this day were wonderful. Identified a trunk and powder horn as well. This place had lot's of treasure they were not aware of prior to my visit. Later in the day we headed back to Ohio after a short swim in the Lake.

Friday I spent listening to the oral interviews that I had recorded yesterday. Everything turned out well and looking forward to including them in the genealogy. For this project I will have to travel to Cleveland and then back up to the Detroit area for some final interviews. Love working with great clients. Came back to a email box that had a new project. I have managed to get six new clients, plus one large one. Very good stuff.

Saturday I traveled to Bellville, OH for to the Ohio Genealogical Society Trustee meeting. This was a wonderful sharing and networking day. Had some new opportunities pop up during the meeting. I came back to the press release on the Irish tour. Need to work on that in the upcoming week. More on this moving into the future. What a great week.