It is once again the end of the year; a new year begins in a few days.  In the past we asked if you had reflected on the old year.  Had you made goals, genealogy related, for the coming year?  Many of you had clear plans for attending seminars, conferences, and research trips.  Some had specific plans for further education; others planned to learn more about local historic facilities. This year started much the same way but there was a hint of a problem, a virus, half a world away.  By mid-March we were closing down meetings, isolating ourselves and hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer!   And we were changing our plans.  We postponed travel and cancelled meetings.  We were social distancing and loving it--NOT.  We, as individuals, and as society had to make some very quick changes. Online Groups Fortunately, the South King County Genealogical Society was more prepared than we had thought. When the Rootsweb lists died in 2019, ...

Mystery gift from afa r It was an unexpected arrival – and as I strolled back from the mailbox I was full of anticipation at the surprise package from my father. Small, the size of a box full of checks, what on earth could this possibly contain – and why? It was between holidays – right after Thanksgiving and enough “before Christmas” not to be a Christmas gift. I smiled with delight. Packages from home and my parents were always fun. And in this case, somewhat mysterious, given the timing. In the house, I carefully cut through the layers of clear packing tape that encased the box. As I lifted the lid off, there was a note labelled in my father’s unmistakable handwriting: Care Package. Like any kid with a new toy, I laid the note aside (the adult kid did this very carefully) and then I just stared at the contents. I took another look. Jumbled together in the bottom of the box were not quite a dozen crumpled red and silver foil balls, some with narrow wire sticking from them and ...

(Continued from SKCGS Blog, December 7, 2020 ) Then I heard our inadequate anti-aircraft go into action. A figure leaped over the edge of the depression and slid down almost against me. In the split second that I glimpsed him against the sky, I recognized him as one of the kids of our outfit. I called my name and he answered, giving his own. “Listen, Hearn,” I said, “Doctor Land was on that Higgins boat with us coming in. I talked to him a little. You’ve got to get him and bring him here or this person will die.” “The Hell I will,” growled Hearn: “I’m gonna stay right here in this hole.” I was about to curse him but I stopped myself before the words came. I hit him from another angle. “Hearn,” I said, “I have often heard that this business of war was quick to separate the men from the boys. Your mother back in Kansas still thinks of you as her little boy, but deep down inside her heart she knows that she has a man out here fighting for her. If you are not too scar...

  Image from Facebook Last February, what seems like eons ago, a weekly blog started with the following: Year of Anniversaries 2020--Have you noticed that there are some momentous anniversaries this year?  The  Mayflower landed at Plymouth in 1620--400 years ago !  Do you have Mayflower ancestors?  Are you planning to attend any Mayflower celebrations? A bit closer to present day is the  100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment--Women's Suffrage .  Did you have an ancestor involved with that struggle for equality? There are many other anniversaries this year-- 75 years from the end of World War II ,  40 years after the eruption of Mt. St. Helens,   You can probably name many more and please do! Opportunity Knocks There followed a challenge, an opportunity for people to write stories. A few weeks later the world that we knew came to a screeching halt due to Covid 19. Fortunately, we learned how to have virtual meetings and in early April we w...