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Hats off to Colorado

Ho hum, ho hum, genealogical societies are in trouble.

How many times do we hear this?

“Societies are dying, societies can’t attract members, societies don’t do anything.”

Except that they’re not, they can, and they do.

logoCase in point: the Colorado Genealogical Society.

Which, as of May 2014, has been going strong for ninety years.

You read that correctly: the Colorado Genealogical Society was founded in 1924.

And it still meets, every month except July, August and December, on the third Friday of the month at 7:00 PM, at the Christ the King Lutheran Church in Denver, and every meeting offers some meaty program for members. Upcoming sessions planned include:

• May 16: The Birthday Bash! 90th Anniversary of CGS and 75th Anniversary of the Colorado Genealogist, the CGS journal.

• June 20: Twentieth Century Military Records, presented by Sandy Ronayne, CGS President.

And there are all kinds of regularly-scheduled classes:

• For beginners, the second Saturday of every month except July and August, from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm, in the Gates Conference Room on the 5th Floor of the Denver Public Library.

• For more advanced researchers, from 10:00 am – 12:00 or 1:00 pm (depending on the topic and the presenter) on the third Saturday of the month (except June, July, August, and December) in the Gates Conference Room on the 5th Floor of the Denver Public Library, focusing on research skills and methodology necessary for a successful family history project.

The Society has a Computer Interest Group, that focuses on the use of technology, especially software computer programs and emerging resources, in genealogical research — and its programs are also stellar. It meets on the second Monday of the month (except July, August and December) at the Christ the King Lutheran Church, in Denver, and on May 12th the program is “Pitfalls of the Internet” by Scott Henke. Its spring seminar is scheduled for May 17th, and features Richard G. “Rick” Sayre and Pamela Boyer Sayre in a terrific set of lectures on mapping and on researching in Washington, D.C. without ever leaving home.

Membership benefits include subscriptions to the Colorado Genealogist and the Colorado Genealogical Society Newsletter, both published quarterly, and topics covered are wide-ranging. The Colorado Genealogist‘s most recent table of contents is online, and its articles included one on Colorado’s new Confidential Intermediary program and another on a successful adoption search. And past issues of the newsletter can be found online too.

The membership fee is only $25 for an individual or $30 for a family.

There may be societies out there that aren’t doing well.

There surely are some that could do better.

But you can’t help but think there are societies that are doing just fine thank you very much when you see a group like the Colorado Genealogical Society, and you see everything it does, the attendance its meetings have, and the enthusiasm of its members.

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