Troy Irish Genealogy Society - Meeting Minutes-May 2005

Projects

 

TIGS Monthly Meeting Notes
May, 2005

 

The regular monthly meeting of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society was held on Thursday, May 19, 2005, in the Third Floor Conference Room of Troy City Hall. The following individuals were in attendance:

Kristin Ayotte
Kay Brearton
Ed Dyer
MariAlice P. Mangan
Mike McAlonie
Bill McGrath
Mimi Nicotina
Kevin M. Pemrick
Donna K. Vaughn

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. by Donna Vaughn, Chair. She welcomed the new attendees – Mimi Nicotina and Kevin Pemrick. The minutes of the April 21, 2005 meeting have been reviewed by the members, approved and forwarded for posting to the TIGS website.

 

OLD BUSINESS

Bill McGrath reported that the notice announcing the new death record data base was sent to sixteen carefully chosen Rootsweb Mailing Lists where it was felt subscribers to those lists would benefit from the availability of this name searchable resource. One list manager, however, felt differently and bounced Bill from this mailing list for posting “this inappropriate and off topic post”. After posting to the lists, Bill received several messages from individuals who were very grateful when they found helpful information. Bill also reported that there were a few birth and engagement notices among the Burden death notices and these will be added by Jeanne Keefe to the website under a category of Miscellaneous. The members commended Jean Keefe on the wonderful presentation of the Burden information on the website.

Donna Vaughn, current List Master, reported that there are 96 subscribers to the TIGS list. Due to Jeanne Keefe’s absence, there was no Web Master report.

The members discussed the cemetery photo project. Donna Vaughn has been in contact with Pat Connors to obtain more details about the project. A notice will be posted on the list directing anyone with an interest in this project to contact Pat Connors.

Archiving TIGS messages was discussed at length by the members. The consensus was that it would be a good idea; Donna Vaughn will contact Roots Web to facilitate it. Archiving TIGS information would be helpful to new members who join the list and would like to access previous postings.

Recently, Ed Dyer has tried unsuccessfully to contact the Rensselaer County Clerk, Frank Merola; however, he is confident he will be able to speak with him soon. A letter will be sent to the County Clerk after Ed’s initial contact outlining the assistance TIGS would like provide in order to preserve some of the vital records that are currently stored in the County Clerk’s Office. The members discussed how the records are currently stored and accessed.

 

NEW BUSINESS

The members discussed the proposed slate of officers. A motion was made by Ed Dyer and seconded by MariAlice Mangan that the Secretary cast one vote for the proposed candidates; there is only one candidate for each office. The motion was approved. The officers for TIGS beginning in June 2005 through May 2006 are: Donna Vaughn, President; Kris Ayotte, Vice President; Kay Brearton, Secretary; Rick Shea, Treasurer; Jeanne Keefe, Web Master; and Liz Strait, List Administrator.

Annual dues of $5.00 covering the period from June through the end of May will be paid beginning next month. Donna Vaughn will contact the Treasurer, Rick Shea, regarding establishing a checking account.

A brief discussion was held about the work being done by ACGS. Kevin Pemrick noted that their efforts in the past have been very helpful to genealogists. There is a problem recruiting people to assist in transcribing the records because many new computers will not accommodate floppy disks and the MS-DOS program. The members expressed a hope that the organization will consider changing to an updated program such as EXCEL allowing more people to help with their work. MariAlice Mangan reported that the Troy Public Library now has the complete set of ACGS books for St. Patrick’s parish in Troy.

A proposed project for TIGS was explained by Bill McGrath. He suggested extracting death information from Troy city directories and putting them into an EXCEL spreadsheet. He distributed a sample spreadsheet containing some information he had extracted from one city directory. The members agreed that it would be a worthwhile project for TIGS to undertake. Bill agreed to coordinate the program. It will involve reviewing not only the directory in which the death is listed, but the previous year to determine the decedent’s address and occupation. Also, the year following the death must be checked to locate the name of a widow, if any.

The next meeting of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society will be held on Thursday, June 16, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. in Troy City Hall. Those who wish to have dinner prior to the meeting will meet at the Ilium Café across from City Hall at 5:15 p.m.

Mimi Nicotina is searching for information about a relative who was a member of the Noble-Callahan Post in Troy and a veteran of World War I. She is very interested in doing a report about the military members from Troy who served in World War I. Some suggestions were made by the members to assist her in her efforts.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Brearton, Secretary

 

 

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