TROY IRISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY
Troy, New York

Troy Irish Genealogy Meeting Minutes

June 21, 2012

 

Acting president, Tim Stone called the meeting to order and thanked Historic St. Agnes Cemetery’s historian for organizing the volunteer appreciation dinner this evening. New member, Denis Fitzgerald, was introduced and welcomed to the group. Two guests, members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians were introduced – Tim Carey and Tom O’Reilly. Both gentlemen attended a genealogy lecture given by Donna Vaughn at the Albany Ancient Order of Hibernian Hall several months ago.

REPORTS:

Lizette Strait submitted the June 2012 treasurer’s report that reads as follows: Previous balance as of April 2012: $3,165.23. Recent expenses include $100 paid to the Waterford Museum for hosting TIGS in February. No deposits were made. June balance is $3,065.23. Petty cash totals $21.63. Total assets are $3,086.86. Paid members total 66.

Bill McGrath discussed finished and on-going projects. An alphabetized list of church memorials is complete. St. Mary’s Cemetery book 2 with 3,000 plus names is ready to go on-line. Book 4 has been scanned and is ready for transcription. Nail Factory Cemetery records have been completed as have the final piece of the Troy newspaper project dates 1869 – 1878. A total of 16,000 names will be added to the database. The Troy City directory dated 1902 – 1903 including death reports for Troy, Green Island and Watervliet are being transcribed. Records from the Washington Park State Street Cemetery are being compiled and organized including 3,000 plus names and a history of the old cemeteries where the removals came from.

Our webmaster, Jeanne Keefe, needs volunteers to learn photo merge and photo shop in order to expand the transcription base of volunteers. RPI’s library received new, state of the art scanners that have cut scanning time down to 20 seconds per page. TIGS members are encourage to visit Jeanne in the library this summer and check out the new scanners. She may be reached at 276-2727.

 

NW BUSINESS:

Lizette posed an idea that would expand on the concept of a genealogy workshop that was proposed earlier this year. She used the term “Genealogy Expo” and recommended TIGS partner with a variety of local historical societies, museums, etc. to join in a collaborative venture to help researchers and history buffs find information. This is an ambitious idea requiring the formation of a working committee to find a venue and bring in other interested organizations. Donna Vaughn offered to chair the committee and Lizette volunteered to serve on the committee. Anyone else interested in serving should contact Tim Stone.

Kris asked the group if we should consider establishing a PayPal account for the purpose of collecting dues. Membership dues are to be paid in January. They are only $10 and many members do not take the time to write a check and mail it. Dues notices go out on listserve. Not all members are on the listserve. This idea will be further investigated.

Tim noted he has maps of the locations of the Civil War soldiers’ gravesites that were sponsored by TIGS earlier this year. He will put them on the website.

Elections for the new slate of officers is complete and for the first time in several years all positions are filled:

President: Tim Stone
Vice President: Kris Ayotte
Treasurer: Lizette Strait
Secretary: Kelly Grimaldi & Michael Gilligan

NEXT MEETING:

July 19, 2012 at Moscatiello’s Restaurant. Members are encouraged to think of different meetings places. The majority of members prefer dinner meetings.

The meeting in August will be held at Oakwood Cemetery with a tour at 6 PM.

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned and members were invited to have group photos taken outside.

Respectfully submitted, Kelly Grimaldi