The regular monthly meeting of the Troy Irish Genealogy
Society was held on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at Moscatiello’s
Restaurant in North Greenbush. The following individuals were in
attendance:
Kris Ayotte Bill McGrath
Kay Brearton Mimi Nicotina
Tom Delaney, guest
Pat Plunkett
Pat Gilmaier
Lori Skiff
Marialice Mangan
Lizette Strait
Cathy McGrath
Donna Vaughn
Kris White
The meeting was called to order at 6:45 p.m. by Donna Vaughn, President.
Donna reminded the members that this meeting marked the third anniversary
of the organization.
A motion was made by Jeanne Keefe and seconded by
Mimi Nicotina to approve the minutes of the August 17, 2006 meeting.
The motion passed. The minutes have been posted to the website.
REPORTS
President, Donna Vaughn, prepared a short quiz about
TIGS and the members enjoyed reminiscing about activities in the
past three years.
Vice President, Kris Ayotte, reported that additional
brochures will be printed to add new projects and to correct some
information. She continues to contact former members inviting them
to return to the meetings.
There was no report from the Secretary.
Cathy McGrath, Treasurer, reported that there is $483
in the treasury and there are sixty-one members including nine who
paid last year but have not yet paid for 2006-2007. It was agreed
that unless dues are paid, the nine should not be considered as
voting members.
Jeanne Keefe, Webmaster, reported that everything
is up to date on the site. Mimi Nicotina has obtained permission
from LaSalle Institute to use some old photos which will be posted
to the website in the future.
List Administrator, Lizette Strait, reported that
there were some minor problems with Rootsweb when they made changes
in their system. There are 173 subscribers and 30% of the list members
are paid members of TIGS.
Project Chairperson, Bill McGrath, reported that the
1903 city directory project is almost complete. Three volunteers
– Kris White, Jan Sullivan and Jack Seppi - have done the
work. There are over 800 new death records as a result of this project;
the information will be added to the website soon.
Donna Vaughn has been looking into purchasing sweatshirts with the
suggested TIGS logo that could be worn at events such as the Albany
St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Irishfest . A sample sweatshirt
was made by the Veterans Industries Program and Donna wore one to
demonstrate. A motion was made by Lizette Strait and seconded by
Jeanne Keefe to accept the logo (Uncle Sam hat and shamrocks) for
TIGS and authorized Donna to obtain cost estimates from the Veterans
group. The motion was approved.
Jeanne Keefe suggested placing the logo on the TIGS
website now that it has been officially approved by the members.
Volume II of the Rensselaer County marriage index
is currently being transcribed. Twenty-six volunteers are currently
working on the project. Volunteers come from Buffalo to New Paltz
in New York as well as the states of Ohio, California, Tennessee,
Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the District
of Columbia. They are working on the grooms section and are currently
up to the letter F. Bill passed around a copy of the materials the
transcribers work with – a copy of the sheet from the index
and the EXCEL spreadsheet the material is transferred to.
OLD BUSINESS
The NYS Library item was tabled. Kris Ayotte has received
several offers from list members to do lookups from their personal
resources.
Jeanne Keefe will make her presentation at Rensselaer
County Historical Society on Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 6:30
PM. The RCHS has offered to conduct a tour of their library following
the program. Lizette Strait prepared flyers advertising Jeanne’s
presentation and members will post them in places in the community.
Donna will contact the Albany Times Union and Troy Record to publicize
the event.
Donna reminded the members that the Aqua Ducks are
still conducting tours in Troy. Jeanne Keefe did not hear back from
WMHT in time for this year’s auction. She will contact them
for next year’s event. In the spring, Jeanne will offer the
Garden Tour of Troy.
The members discussed the feasibility of issuing membership
cards to dues paying members. It was decided that the cost of printing,
envelopes and postage would be expensive. It was suggested that
a membership card be developed that could be personalized and transmitted
via e-mail to members as they pay their dues.
Mimi Nicotina explained that she has three old photos
of LaSalle Institute; they are dated 1910 and 1913 and one is not
dated. Tom Delaney told the members that he has many photos of LSI
graduates and lists of graduates.
Donna Vaughn spoke with a representative of the Irishfest
and they offered a free booth for TIGS at next year’s event.
It will be discussed at a later date. She will check to see who
must be contacted about TIGS participation in the St. Patrick’s
Day parade in Albany.
Donna mentioned a recent article in the Times Union
regarding the Gardner Earl Chapel in Oakwood Cemetery. Bill McGrath
e-mailed the reported who wrote the article suggesting an article
on the Troy Irish Genealogy Society and its numerous transcription
projects listed on the website but has received no reply to date.
The subject of meeting sites was briefly discussed.
Several members offered to check on possible locations and report
to the membership.
A motion was made by Kris Ayotte and seconded by Jeanne Keefe to
authorize the expenditure of funds to purchase doughnuts for the
October 18 presentation at RCHS. The motion was approved.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Donna Vaughn and seconded by
Kris White to adjourn the meeting. The motion was approved and the
meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen Brearton, Secretary
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