Genealogy Day, sponsored by the Pointe de l'Eglise: Acadia Genealogical and Historical Society  was held on Saturday, September 25th, 2004 at the Civic Center in Rayne, LA.  We had a number of societies, authors/publishers and family groups participate with us and contributed to what seemed to be a successful event.  They included

• Genealogical Societies representing Allen parish, Central Louisiana and Southwest Louisiana
  
• Publishers/Authors from Hebert Publications, Provincial Press, and Plaquemine Brulee Press.
  
• Family Organizations of Benoit, Doucet, Sonnier/Saulnier, and Hoffpauir.
  
  

Also present was Mr. Warren A. Perrin, who honored us by serving as our guest speaker for the event.  For those of us who are unfamiliar, Mr. Perrin's long list of credentials include, founder of Acadiana Heritage & Culture Foundation, Inc., President of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), and author of the book, "Acadian Redemption: From Beausoleil Broussard to the Queen's Royal Proclamation."  He is further credited with filing the petition seeking an apology on behalf of Acadians from Queen Elizabeth II for wrongs of the Acadian deportation.  This effort, begun in 1990, successfully resulted in a Royal Proclamation being signed on December 10, 2003 and decreeing July 28th as the Day of Commemoration of the Deportation.

Since public awareness of available genealogical resources was more the goal than was fundraising, we chose to open our doors and not charge admission for this, our first, event. How do we measure our success?  A few points

• We gave back to the community by providing a venue for like-minded area organizations to present their genealogical and historical material to the public.
  
• We enjoyed the participation of about 200 people in the capacity of either vendors or visitors.  Participants came from as far as Mississippi and Texas, as well as various locations in Louisiana.
  
• We discovered a few more volunteers who brought their skills to the process of organizing and executing the event.
  
• We made a few more businesses and government entities aware of our existence and of our contributions to the community, as we went about the process of collecting goods and services for use as door prizes.
  
• We improved communications and cooperation among a few more of our members who contributed their time and talents toward making the event a success.
  
• We worked hard, met people and had fun in the process. 
  
  

How do we plan to improve for an event next year?  Among other things, we will:

• Build upon lessons learned from CY-2004 event.
  
• Begin planning early.
  
• Reach out early to publishers/authors, family organizations and genealogical/historical societies and ask for their participation.
  
• Push for more media coverage of our meetings and research contributions to our community.
  
• Charge about $5.00 for General Admission and consider use of advance ticket sales to help offset some of the costs of sponsoring the event.
  
  

We welcome any reasonable ideas on how to improve on our events in the future.