All I Want for Christmas - Blog Caroling

In honour of the season, once again Footnote Maven is sponsoring Blog Caroling for the geneabloggers. I'm a bit late singing along, but here goes.







All I want for Christmas is - SAGGERS

All I want for Christmas is lots of Saggers,

lots of Saggers,

many Saggers!

They can be from anywhere, I don't care,

outer space,

Anyplace!

No matter spelt Sigger, Sogger,

Saggars, or Laggers, or the research muddy.

Just send me LOTS of SAGGERS for my study!

Hear someone else sing the original song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" which is only a bit older than I am. (We're now classics.)

Warning - TOO CUTE! Click here to smile.

As some will realize this song brazenly promotes my 'new' Saggers One-Name Study or Surname Study.

Happy Christmas, Grandma Sarah!
(No, sorry, there's none of your Dandelion wine left for the toast. But I have some Islay whiskey for your pudding, Can't leave out other grandma's side of the family.)

BC Genealogical Society Library Week - Geneabloggers visiting and volunteering in Surrey, BC

In case anyone's wondering where I am, I've been busy volunteering for the British Columbia Genealogical Society's annual Library Week. Still two days left to visit !

BCGS Walter Draycott Library   shelf, 2013

This is our free Library Week - anyone can come and see what BCGS has at its Walter Draycott Library in Surrey, BC, get some help if they are starting out with genealogy or have hit an obstacle in their research. Many stay all day and attend the classes we offer each day to learn something new. It's always great to meet and talk to both the newbies and others who've been doing genealogy a while. We all can learn so much from each other.

This week there have been two Canadian Geneabloggers here besides myself, Celia Lewis and Yvonne Demoskoff.

Celia blogs at Twigs and Trees. She has some great surnames in her family! (I'm a bit jealous.)  Her last post is about her GILLESPIE-ARMSTRONG families though. Do have a look in case you have a connection there.

And Yvonne, who writes Yvonne's Genealogy Blog, has just started Doukhobor Photos, featuring photographs from the Demoskoff family albums. She's hoping to identify some of the people and places in the photos which are from Saskatchewan and British Columbia, Canada. Drop by, have a good look and let Yvonne know if you can help.

2011 Predictions for the Genealogy Industry

Posted by CanadaGenealogy's special guest, Wilhemina Catrina McQueen.

Genea Dixon at GeneaBloggers posted a long list of predictions for 2011. A few look very similar to things that happened (or were rumoured to have happened) in 2010 – eerie, eh?

Anyway, the amazing Thomas MacEntee then proposed this as a topic for Open Thread Thursday.

So CanadaGenealogy has conjured up the famous and somewhat opinionated Canadian psychic, Wilhemina Catrina McQueen, who has agreed to give just a few predictions of her own for 2011.

Her predictions seem a bit tongue in cheek (or wishful thinking?), but no disrespect is meant to any organizations, companies or bloggers or politicians, living or dead, and, no betting is allowed!

First off, some background predictions:

1. Canadians will continue to be concerned about their own personal economies despite encouraging words from the Bank of Canada, etc. etc. This will affect at least some of the decisions Canadians make about their own genealogy research and their projects in 2011.
   Subscriptions to the more expensive databases and long distance travel may be replaced with trips to local genealogical libraries, archives and Family History Centers. Access to these will be enhanced by better hours and better on-line catalogues and ordering systems for films, etc. encouraging a significant number of genealogists to take advantage of these free or low cost facilities.
   FamilySearch, after a few fits and starts, will return to its former premier place in on-line genealogy.
   In turn, a small, but significant percentage of genealogists will volunteer at facilities near their home, or on-line, if opportunities are readily available.

2. Immigration patterns to Canada have changed greatly over the last 144+ years. Immigrants are more likely now to be well educated, to settle in urban areas, to be from Asian countries, and, if of wage earning age, perhaps to be younger than in previous decades.

   These and other recent changes in Canada's demography may mean genealogical societies will be expected to widen their perspectives and to sharpen their genealogical skills and tools to assist newer Canadians to research more current Canadian records and records overseas.

   Ancestry will advertise its digitised Chinese jiapu collection widely in Canada in both English and Chinese and will propose other Asian record source projects late in 2011.

3. Young Canadian families have apparently almost wholeheartedly taken to the Internet and to mobile phones to keep connected (according to an Ipsos Reid poll for Telus in 2009). Some 75% of women have Facebook accounts (61% for men) while in British Columbia, Canada, 65% of women used social networking sites to keep in touch with family (no matter what Canada's Privacy Commissioner thinks). A more recent survey in 2010 found Canadian women were among the most likely in the world to share their children's lives on-line, starting with sonograms before birth.
   

   In 2011 familiarity with social networking sites and with mobile phones will be expected by young and old Canadians in any group or organization they commit to.

4. Canadians are crazy for Canada – no matter who they are and no matter what complaints they have about this and that. Witness all those official and un-official red mittens last February and March and ever since! These will continue to be seen at outdoor genealogy events in Canada when it's at all chilly.

   And by summer 2011, most Canadian genealogists will have caught a Canadian history fever – some will be cramming for the War of 1812 anniversary or the 95^th anniversary of Vimy Ridge in 2012, others will be preparing for Canada's 150^th anniversary in 2017.

And some Technological Predictions:

1. Copyright,and digital rights, especially to do with digisation, will continue to be a thorny issue in Canada in 2011.

   A decision about the Google Book Settlement case will leave some genealogists unhappy – depending on whether they are authors, publishers, Canadian readers or Google share owners.

   Faced with unhappy genealogists when a commercial database listing Canadian voters from 1935 to the 1980s is released, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will post copies of its agreements with all commercial and non-profit groups and individuals.
   A 1916 Prairie Census index will be made available free on-line at LAC, but not till late in 2011.
   And public consultations and the Services Advisory Board will be revived. Genealogists from across Canada, as the major users of LAC, will be proportionately the largest group involved.

2. (This one is for Diane R – WCMcQ)

   Real books will NOT die in 2011 or anytime thereafter.

   But as Canadian universities and school move more and more into e-books and open access publications to avoid Access Copyright fees, the use and acceptance of e-book formats for manuals, guides, current newsletters, and for airplane reading while on research trips will increase exponentially as will digital archivists' headaches. (Does loving paper books make Diane R a bookie? Oops, no, that would be to do with betting.)

3. As Canadian universities and governments move towards using and developing more open source software, so will home and other users test it out. One USian genealogist will move straight from using ancient transparencies to using Open Office's Impress.
   

4. The price of projectors, tablets and digital frames will continue to drop. These will become a popular means of displaying photographs temporarily to family just before or after the December holidays in 2011.

5. As CanadaGenealogy predicted long ago, mobile phones will become increasingly more and more useful to genealogists who will be looking first for reliable basic information on current genealogical events and activities (genealogical societies and speakers, take note) and for better and better programmes for their family files, but soon, the cry will be for 'more apps, please. More apps!'
   And, by the close of 2011, only a tiny percentage of Canadians (none under 25) will remember PDAs, once the 'bee's knees' of portable devices, and Canadians will still be divided about the usefulness of netbooks versus tablets.

6. A significant proportion of Canadian scrapbookers who travel less in 2011, will also decide to spend less on embellishments and will happily turn to family history to fill their pages. Genealogical societies and on-line genealogy communities should both take note.

7. Genealogists will continue to embrace on-line and off-line opportunities for learning whether in formal courses, netcasts or seminars and the like. Since many newer genealogists will be working and juggling young families, or working part-time to pad their pensions, the intensive short term and non-credit courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies will be very successful. And several well known Canadian geneabloggers will offer classes in community educational facilities. Genealogical societies take note.

8. Genealogical DNA test prices will be lower again by the end of 2011, but the value of DNA testing, including autosomal DNA, will continue to be debated by many until the price is greatly reduced (under $50US) and the raw results available to individuals, and there are free comparative databases on-line open to all. Then genealogists will make the leap to have themselves and any appropriate (and willing) relatives tested and their results compared with others. This is unlikely to happen in 2011.

   
   
9. Geneablogging, geneabloggers and the GeneaBloggers site will thrive in 2011. Although a few, of course, will see ups and downs, the geneablogger community will continue to support its members as always. Thousands of ancestors will be found, cited and filed; thousands of photographs and documents will be scanned, cited and filed, and with a few small exceptions, all the genealogy research/writing plans made and posted for 2011 will be fulfilled.
   

All the best for 2011,

WCMcQ

Third Annual iGene Awards - Academy of Genealogy and Family History

It's time for the 90th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

The Third Annual iGene Awards, The Best of The Best!

It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog posts of 2009 in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2009. Tell us which you liked best and why.

The best family photograph of 2009 is the IRWIN family reunion group portrait that appeared in the Carnival of Genealogy - IRWIN Family Reunites - Manitoba Canada. Although it is a nice photograph of a handsome family, you will have to see the photograph to see why it deserves special recognition!

Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2009 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?

Remembrance Day 2009 - Muriel Scott - George Rogers, Vancouver BC Canada was 'almost' a movie. It's a slide show about my parents and their service in the Canadian Army during World War II. I'd certainly like to do more with the information I have.

Maybe a movie would be good... let's see, I have to be historical, of course, perhaps Norma Shearer could play Mum as the young 'Scottie', and who as Dad? Well, I know who Mum would want playing opposite herself, Ramón Novarro!

Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2009?

The Vancouver Exhibition, 1927 - Carnival of Genealogy, written for the 80th Carnival of Genealogy, is the winner here. Although I have no specific details about the Rogers family's experience at the 1927 Fair, I researched in historical newspapers and in publications to see what their Fair visits might have been like. Sometimes we need to do this, to flesh out the few details we have left to us.

Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2009?

The winner in this category is They Worked - Smile For The Camera - Beekeeping in Ontario Canada, a short piece about Samuel Wood of Nottawa. Ontario, Canada.

Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2009?

No question - the funniest thing I shared in 2009 was Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Famous (?) Look-alikes. Wow! Me and Burt Reynolds together, well, sort of. (Thank you, Randy Seaver!)

The IGene Award spotlights all Geneabloggers' efforts at recording their genealogy and family history in 2009. For a look at all those recognized by the AGFH for 2009, go to Creative Gene where the winners will be seen very soon.

Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I'm participating in the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games which began Friday, 12 February 2010 and go right through Saturday, 27 February 2010.

The Summer 2008 GeneaBloggers Games were a great success in attracting both new and experienced genealogists to blogging and gave established bloggers a chance to meet others and to promote their research and writing. Here is a link to my own 2008 Summer Sports posts.

These Winter 2010 GeneaBlogger Games will be the same - and they will be a neat spectator sport! There is no pressure on participants or viewers to participate in all the games, but I hope many will and look forward to seeing the results and cheering all the medal winners.

Opening Ceremonies, including a parade of heritage flags, is already up at Geneabloggers and the Closing ceremonies will be there too. And, once again this year footnoteMaven has designed the badges and medals. Thank you footnoteMaven! And thanks to Thomas MacEntee for all his organizing work behind the scenes.

My own 'Current Genealogy Research' heritage banner which you see displayed here includes the flag of Scotland, for my maternal DNA line back to Islay, Scotland (and beyond), the flag of Sweden for my research on my husband's family, and the flag of my own country, Canada, where I'm always researching someone.

I've qualified to participate in these three Competition Categories this year:

#3. Organize Your Research
#4. Expand Your Knowledge
#6. Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness

For my first run down the slope this week, I'll be re-organizing my scanned photographs into a new computer and tagging a certain percentage of these as well. I have been practicing for some time for this event, and I got a good workout at the January Scanfest too, so I hope to make good time in this run. No more bunny hills for me! (The Apres-ski part is always fun though.)

For the Winter Game details, please see the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Game page at GeneaBloggers.

Na's Butterscotch Crisps - Geneabloggers Holiday Recipes

Mum and Na on a chilly day in Newdale, Manitoba, Canada, c. 1919. Looks like a great day for making cookies together. (Love those muffs! Warm hands! )

Geneabloggers is sponsoring a Holiday 2009 Recipe Contest and Cookbook. The deadline is Friday, December 4, 2009 at 11 pm and there's a special form to fill out here.

My Na, I'm sure, never missed a chance to pass on a recipe she liked, so here is one of my childhood favourites - a cookie recipe that easily makes enough for a party.

BUTTERSCOTCH CRISPS (Ice Box)
6 dozen

1 cup shortening
2 cups Brown sugar
2 eggs, unbeaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 ¾ cups A.P. (all purpose) flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts

Cream shortening (part butter) and sugar until light. Add unbeaten egg and vanilla.

Beat well. Sift flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Blend well. Add nuts.

Shape into rolls, wrap in waxed paper. Chill until very firm. Slice thin and bake on ungreased sheet 375° - 8-10 minutes.


When I was little, ice box cookies were a real ‘convenience’ to busy mums and grandmas. Before a party, this recipe would be made up and left rolled in the ‘fridge till time to get ready. No, I’m not old enough to remember ice boxes, although we did have a cool cupboard, but still we always called them 'ice box cookies'.

This is one of a number of recipes I have written out by my Na, my maternal grandmother. I sure remember these cookies. I love butterscotch and Na always used at least some real butter in her baking. (Notice she doesn’t say how much? Might depend on the budget!) But so good!

Na was Amy Estella (IRWIN) SCOTT, born in 1884 in Newdale, Manitoba, Canada; she died in 1983 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Blog Action Day 2009 - For Climate Change

Bloggers around the world wrote about climate change yesterday for Blog Action Day 2009 - 27,000 posts worth!

See all the identified Canadian blog participants here on the official Blog Action Day - BAD - website.

And here are the genea-bloggers as posted by Thomas MacEntee at the GeneaBloggers website. Thank you, Thomas!

There might be a few more listed as genealogy blogs on the BAD weblist too.

Now - here are just a few of the non-genealogy Canadian blog posts I liked - in no particular order, (Yes, I liked ALL of the genealogy posts!)

Social History Timelines "Action Day: Mapping Ice Melt", Maureen Flynn-Burhoe.

Knitting Is My Boyfriend, "Five Things (that I don’t like to do) to Help the Environment" by Em. Warning - a bit of bad (pun?) language.

Cap Bridge Views, "45 Things You Can Do to Stop Global Warming", from the Capilano Suspension Bridge, North Vancouver.

Dave Ingram's Natural History Blog, "Blog Action Day: At the Edge of the Sea" by Dave Ingram.

Ms Writer: More Musings from Meaford, "Blog Action Day - Climate Change" by Natalie Meaford.

Bird Canada, "Blog for the Boreal", posted by PAT (Patricia Bumstead).