Society Master Template

Society Membership
Memberships are open to anyone with an interest in genealogy!And, who is willing to share with the other members.
Membership dues are $20.00 a year for an indivdual (January to December each year) and includes the quarterly newsletter, Delta Pedigree Press, with free queries. You are encouraged to submit a surname list with your membership.

To become a Society Member, scroll down to the membership form below, copy, paste into an open blank document, print, fill in and mail it to: Delta County Genealogical Society, Box 442, Escanaba, MI 49829-0442

Society Meetings - The public is always welcome!
An annual meeting is held on the fourth Monday of September with regular monthly meetings held on the fourth Monday of each month, except for November and December. Special meetings are called as needed by the President. Programs are designed to assist in genealogical research.

Society Meeting Minutes
Minutes of the most recent meetings of the Society can be found on this page, just scroll down.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Bay College - August 26, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman

1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Reiffers at 4:58 PM. A research discussion ensued pertaining to the history of the local railroads, especially in the Ford River/Hyde areas. It was felt that the Delta County Historical Society would have more information as there is a local expert there that can help. It was also suggested that this person might be a good speaker to have at a future meeting. Fr. Pepin mentioned that all Catholic Parishes in the U.P. are no longer the property of the Diocese, they are each a separate entity. D. Mohler wondered if there was a listing of all who are buried at the Rapid River Township Cemetery on Co. Rd. 509; the DCGS does have an extensive listing on its website. There was a short discussion about the process to become a member of the DAR or Mayflower Society, but no one in attendance has had any experience with this or even felt they would qualify.

3. President’s report: The agenda was approved with no additions. Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the Daily Press. He has been hoping for more interest in members joining the society, but so far this has not happened.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Absent, no report.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: Minutes from the June and July meetings were reviewed and approved with no changes. The current bank balance for the Society is $113.25 and this will not be enough money to cover the November bills for both the post office and the website page/service. It’s concerning that there have been no new memberships for quite some time, and our memberships are down from last year. It was again suggested a donation drive towards the end of the year would be a good idea. There may potentially be the availability of a grant if researched. Some in attendance were willing to make donations to get us through the end of the year for now.

6. 2024 Activities & Annual Meeting: Other than the Delta County Clerk, we have no other speakers at this time for the Annual Meeting. Pres. Reiffers said he would contact the local railroad history expert and see if he would like to present, if available. It was felt there is no reason to have an ‘open house’ since we have had to change our meeting to the College and we have no resources here. A few offered to bring/donate baked goods, water, etc. for refreshments. There were concerns that not many people would show since we no longer have the backing/support of the Family Search Center.

7. Newsletter Development: S. Whitman state she had started the newsletter but did not receive any submissions from others as yet. These need to be to her in the next 2 weeks so the newsletter can go out by the end of September, right after the Annual Meeting. Fr. Pepin stated he would work on the article about Birdseye Veneer Plant, and D. Mohler stated she may work on an article as well.. October is Family History Month and Sec. Whitman is writing an article about that.

8. Other Business: It was mentioned that the DCGS brochure really needs to be updated and corrected by the Annual Meeting, as this has not been done in over a year; Fr. Pepin said he would work on if the logo could be sent to him – Sec. Whitman will send it to him ASAP via email.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35PM (Fr. Pepin motioned, D. Mohler 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, October 28, at 6:30 PM (winter hours) at Rm. 961, JHUC at Bay College.

Officers in attendance: Richard Reiffers and Karin L. Freward
Others in attendance: Fr. Pepin and Don Cayen

2. Research Discussion; Dilemmas and Problem Solving-Don Cayen was looking for house information on old Oak Street and his grandfather arriving in 1890. Old oak street is now named 16^th Street. The Sawmill area of Ford River was discussed as well as the Hyde Switch railroad and the railroads presence in Ford River. There was discussion on charcoal kilns and their use in Schaffer.

3. President’s Report; Inc. approval/additions to agenda-The ad was in the Daily Press and was also dropped off for the Action.

4. Vice-President/Corresponding Sec. Report-No new memberships received by mail.

6. 2024 Activities-Updating Indexes and Annual Meeting-Our main speaker is from the Delta County records department. (I didn’t catch the name so this needs to be amended.)

7. Newsletter-Fall articles need to be in ASAP-Richard and Father Pepin would like to do the history of the Birdseye Plant. We should also do an article on the logging and lumber industry. We can also write and article on the local railroads in the area.

9. Adjournment-Karin made the motion to adjourn the meeting, Father Pepin seconded, the motion passed.

Next meeting scheduled for August 26, 2024 at Bay College in room 961, JHUC 5:00 pm

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Bay COllege - June 24, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman

1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 5:01 PM. A few research issues were discussed by those in attendance. The agenda was approved with no additions.

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. Has contacted the County Clerk in regards to updating our DCGS vital statistics indexes, and she has agreed to come to the DCGS annual meeting and talk about all the records that are now digitized. Will talk for about 15 minutes.Continued the discussion of updating the cemetery listings and that working with the local sextons is a good starting point. However, we needs more people willing to help as there are many cemeteries to cover throughout Delta County.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Absent, no report. Did send a message that the newsletter, agenda and minutes went to all members yesterday.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: Minutes from the April meeting were reviewed and one change to the time started was corrected. Fr. Pepin made a motion to accept the minutes as corrected; D. Mohler 2nd, all in favor. Passed. At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $148.25, as the bill for the post office box was recently paid. This bill continues to creep up every time its paid and we may need to look at alternatives as our funds are quickly dwindling. A bill for the web domain name was also received – this is $35 per year and will be paid soon Discussed how we could potentially cut some costs or raise money. Costs are already pretty low, but the Post Office box may be one place we can cut. It was suggested a donation drive towards the end of the year might be a good idea. Writing a grant was also suggested, but typically you need a project to fund, cannot just ask for operating costs. Additionally, no one knew of funders who are willing to provide grants to genealogical endeavors/societies. A donation drive may be the best bet.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: See President’s report. Fr. Pepin stated he has not had a chance to call Richard Anzalone to present a slide show presentation on Delta County History. He also wants to talk to K. Lindquist from the Historical Society, but has not been able to do that either. Reminder that we only have 2 more months/meetings to complete planning of the annual meeting and that time will go fast, so we need to be diligent.

7. Newsletter Development: S. Whitman thanked everyone who contributed to the summer newsletter. Now we need to start thinking about the Fall edition. Suggestions for topics were to focus on U.P. hunting, or perhaps an article about logging. As for a business/business owner angle, how about the Birdseye Veneer Plant? It was one of the bigger employers in Delta County for many years; what happened to it? R. Reiffers said he would look into it, his grandfather worked there.

8. Other Business: Treasurer of the Marquette County GS was here to donate books he had on Delta County Veterans. It was thought our library already had several of them, but not all. He was thanked for his donation. He then discussed the struggles they have with their library; they’ve had to remove their whole collection of MCGS books from the library and now meet at the Family Search Center in Harvey. They are currently looking for a new place to house their library as the FSC doesn’t have room.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 6:12PM (S. Whitman motioned, D. Mohler 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, July 22nd, 5:00 PM at Rm. 961, JHUC at Bay College.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Bay College - May 20, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman
1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 5:04 PM. There were no research questions or issues. The agenda was approved with no additions

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. Did not yet attempt to get a PSA on local radio stations as yet, but will do so in the near future. Has been trying to contact the County Clerk in regards to updating our DCGS vital statistics indexes, but she has been elusive. Most of these records are now all computerized and it should be fairly easy to obtain the updates we need. He will keep trying. Discussed the older Probate records and others that are now only available through the Michigan Archives in Lansing. Also discussed the cemetery listings and that some are very outdated as well. Even Find a Grave is missing a lot of memorials for folks in local cemeteries, but it’s not easy fulfilling some of the memorial requests in larger cemeteries because they don’t have offices that are staffed and some gravesites are very hard to find, or the stones are so worn they are unreadable.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Absent, no report.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: Minutes from the April meeting were reviewed and no changes were suggested. Fr. Pepin made a motion to accept the Sec/Treasurer’s report and minutes as written; R. Reiffers 2nd, all in favor. Passed. At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $256.25, as the bill for UP Logon (web host) was recently paid. Shared concern that membership needs to increase or we may not be able to pay our bills; the USPS bill for the P.O. Box keeps going up and will be due again soon. We need to continue to encourage more new members, or seriously consider becoming a part of or collaborating with the Delta County Historical Society if possible. Our society is really struggling and it makes more sense for us to collaborate (become a subsidiary or perhaps a committee) with them to continue. Discussion followed about that, no consensus was reached.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: See President’s report. Also, we need to start thinking and planning the September Annual Meeting as it will be here quickly. Fr. Pepin stated he would attempt to contact Richard Anzalone as he does wonderful slide show presentations on Delta County History. Also discussed the current venue at Bay College – the room we use now is small; would a supper meeting be more attractive? No consensus reached, felt it was a nice idea but we would need to ensure a minimum number of participants for it to work, and that may not be possible.

7. Newsletter Development: Discussed the topics previously mentioned for this next newsletter: immigration stories and family reunions could be good topics. R. Reiffers, Fr. Pepin and D. Mohler are all working on articles for the next edition.. Reminder to get these articles in quickly because June will be here soon and S. Whitman will be gone a lot then & needs time to format and edit everything.

8. Other Business: None.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 6PM (F. Pepin motioned, S. Whitman 2nd, all approved).

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Bay College - April 22, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman, K. Freward
1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 6:30 PM. There were no research questions or issues. The agenda was approved with no additions.

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. A suggestion was made that maybe a PSA on the radio would attract more folks. Reminded everyone that our next meeting in May will start at 5:00 PM due to Bay College’s summer hours; it’s in Rm. 961 in the Heirmann Center. Also, we will meet on the 3rd Monday instead of the 4th because of Memorial Day.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Received a new membership and a request for research assistance. Discussed the research issues, S. Whitman will follow up on this request. Also brought forth mail/newsletters received in the past 2 months for all to review.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $295.95. A bill for UP Logon (web host) will be paid in the next week. We need to encourage more new members as our membership is down from last year so far, otherwise we won’t have enough money to operate for the full year. Minutes from the March meeting were reviewed and no changes were suggested. K. Freward made a motion to accept the Sec/Treasurer’s report and minutes as written; Fr. Pepin 2nd, all in favor. Passed. Reminded folks that if you said you will do something and it’s in the minutes to please follow through and do it.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: continued discussion of how to go about updating all the DCGS indexes. Pres. Reiffers has not had a chance to talk to the County Clerk about this yet. Fr. Pepin did try to contact the Bay Sages to do a presentation to their group, but they didn’t call back. S. Whitman said she saw their yearly schedule in the paper and all months for this year are taken, so we will have to wait again until next year. Discussion ensued about collaborating with the Delta Historical Society; Fr. Pepin did talk to Charles Lindquist about this but he stated we needed to talk to his wife, Karen. Our society is really struggling and it makes more sense for us to collaborate (become a subsidiary or perhaps a committee) with them to continue.

7. Newsletter Development: Discussed the topics previously mentioned for this next newsletter: immigration stories and family reunions could be good topics. R. Reiffers is working on info to use from an article published in 1899 in the Daily Press about local businesses. Fr. Pepin saw an article that could be adapted on the French in the U.P. Reminder to get these articles in quickly because June will be here soon and S. Whitman needs time to format and edit everything.

8. Other Business: None.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM (F. Pepin motioned, K. Freward 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, May 20th, 5:00PM at Rm. 961, JHUC at Bay College.

Delta County Genealogical Society- Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - March 25, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman
1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 6:30 PM. Introduction of new members were made and genealogy research issues were discussed. The agenda was approved with no additions.

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. The Daily Press ran it 3 times. Also reminded everyone that our next meeting in April will be held in our new location at Bay College; Rm. 961 in the Heirmann Center.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Absent; no report.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $295.95. Reminded all that dues for 2024 are due now and encouraged folks to get those in sooner rather than later. Minutes from the February meeting were reviewed and no changes were suggested. Fr. Pepin made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report and minutes as written; K. Sagataw 2nd, all in favor. Passed. Reported that the minutes from last meeting and the agenda were not forwarded to members prior to this meeting. It was recommended that if people need help with their duties to ask for it so that this doesn’t happen again. K. Sagataw will talk to the Corresponding Secretary tomorrow about this.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: continued discussion of how to go about updating all the DCGS indexes. Pres. Reiffers will be contacting the County Clerk about this soon. Fr. Pepin still plans to contact the Bay Sages to see if they are interested in having our group speak to theirs this year – this needs to be done quickly since their calendar is already filling up. Discussion ensued about other venues we can use to promote the Society, such as with the Bark River Off Road Races, a Night at the Village (in the fairgrounds) and perhaps at the new Northwoods Motor Mayhem being held in September at the Fairgrounds by the Gladstone Lions Club. Members agreed to contact those they know about this prior to the next meeting.

7. Newsletter Development: The newsletter is ready to be distributed as no one suggested any corrections or changes to be made. This should be distributed to all members this week. Sec./Treas. Whitman expressed concern that only one other person contributed to the newsletter this time around, and that it is not her intention to write the bulk of the newsletter by herself as she did this time. She encouraged anyone to send in family stories or other articles to be published at any time. Discussed possible themes or storylines for the summer edition – immigration stories was recommended; also, summer is a time of family reunions and may be a good topic as well. Will put a blurb on the FB page too, to see if anyone is planning on having or attending a family reunion this year.

8. Other Business: None.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM (K. Sagataw motioned, D. Mohler 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, April 22nd, 6:30PM at Rm. 961, JHUC at Bay College.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - February 26, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman, K. Freward

1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 6:30 PM. Introduction of new members were made and genealogy research issues were discussed. The agenda was approved with no additions.

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. For some reason it was not published in the Action Shopper. He stated that he found some old meeting minutes from 2000. Suggestion was to put any older minutes found in the library holdings for DCGS.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Received some memberships in the mail. Also received several requests for assistance in research. These were allocated to those members willing to help. Also, it was noted that the Society’s indexes of all births, deaths, cemeteries, etc. have not been updated since 1998 and probably should be brought to date.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $205.95. Reminded all that dues for 2024 are due now and encouraged folks to get those in sooner rather than later. Minutes from the January 22nd meeting were reviewed and no changes were suggested. K. Freward made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report and minutes as written; Fr. Pepin 2nd, all in favor. Passed.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: continued discussion of how to go about updating all the DCGS indexes. A plan is needed to accomplish this successfully, no one person can do this all and we all have to work together. Everyone needs to think on best ways we can do this together, bring ideas to next meeting so we can start writing a plan for this. Fr. Pepin also reminded the group that the Bay Sages had been interested in having our group speak to theirs this year – he will contact them and see if we can get on their 2024 schedule. A reminder was given to all that RootsTech starts this weekend and is a wonderful free research for family historians.

7. Newsletter Development: Discussed the next issue which should go out by the end of March. This is a good time to highlight women of Delta County (since its Woman’s History Month), Irish immigrants, (St. Patrick’s Day), and other springtime events. A request for stories about women ancestors in Delta County was made on the DCGS FB page, but sadly none have been received as yet. All articles need to be S. Whitman by 3/16 so she can complete the newsletter in time.

8. Other Business: We will not be able to use the Family Search Center for future meetings after March 2024. Other venues were discussed, and Bay College seemed like a logical place since it is easily accessible and they do not charge for meeting space. We will have to change meeting times in the summer since the college has shorter hours then. Pres. Reiffers will make the arrangements. It was also agreed that the May meeting be changed to the 20th, since the 27th is Memorial Day.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM (K. Freward motioned, Fr. Pepin 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, March 25th, 6:30PM at the Family Search Center.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - January 22, 2024

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, S. Whitman

1,2. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 6:30 PM. Introduction of new members were made and genealogy research issues were discussed. The agenda was approved with no additions.

3. President’s report: Notices about tonight’s meeting were published on the DCGS FaceBook page and in the local newspapers. Discussed a FB contributor who seemed to flood the FB page with memes and it was felt the important items posted on the page tended to get lost because of all of these memes. Pres. Reiffers indicated he would try to address this as tactfully as possible in the coming days.

4. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: No report due to VP Freward’s absence. Fr. Pepin made a move to approve the minutes from the October meeting that she recorded, once a typo was corrected. K. Sagataw seconded – all approved.

5. Secretary/Treasurers Report: At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $105.95. The USPS P.O. box rental was paid on 11/15/23 for 6 months, at a cost of $105. Reminded all that dues for 2024 are due now and encouraged folks to get those in sooner rather than later. Also reminded all that anyone can post genealogical info on the DCGS FB page to help researchers who are following us and to keep interest in the page. At this time, very few people are posting anything and we need to keep interest alive. Those in attendance did have ideas and will post what they can.

6. Potential Programs & Activities: Discussed the upcoming Rootsweb Conference at the end of February, which when attended virtually is free to anyone who registers. Fr. Pepin also mentioned the Genealogy TV YouTube channel which can be very helpful with research. Agreed that those items needed to be shared on the DCGS Facebook page. Also, everyone should think about ways we can do more outreach to the community to promote the society and garner more members.

7. Website Updates: Nothing to report at this time.

8. Newsletter Development: Discussed the next issue which should go out by the end of March. A recommendation was made to refresh and republish articles in older newsletters, but the problem is that the older issues are missing from the library and there are very few available from attending members. K. Sagataw feels there may be some old editions in the files here at the Family Search Center and she will look.

9. Other Business: None at this time – Pres. Reiffers mentioned he has some upcoming procedures that have to be taken care of and he is not sure how available he will be for the next month or so. He’ll keep everyone posted.

10. There being no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM (Fr. Pepin motioned, K. Sagataw 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is Monday, February 26th, 6:30PM at the Family Search Center.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Annual Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - September 25, 2023

1. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 8:05 PM. The agenda was approved with no additions. Discussion was held about the success of the Open House just completed prior to the meeting, with over 20 folks attending. Unfortunately, no new members are attending the business meeting.

2. President’s report: Pres. Reiffers was on the radio the morning of Sep. 14th at 8:30 AM through Radio Results Network to promote the DCGS and our Open House. He stated that information for the meeting was also printed in the Escanaba Daily Press and the Action Shopper. He also displayed posters in a couple of areas and feels that everything everyone did to promote the event made it successful.

3. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: Nothing new to report at this time.

4. Secretary/Treasurers Report: K. Freward made a motion to accept the minutes from August 28th as written, 2nd by K. Sagataw; unanimously approved. Sec. Whitman disseminated a spreadsheet showing receivables and payments made by the society for the past year.At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $210.65. She stated that in order to fulfill the requirements of the annual audit, she would have the bank review the records at the end of the year. There should be no charge for this and should suffice as an accountant would cost a lot of money that the Society just doesn’t have. Also reminded folks that membership dues are due in January.

5. Website Updates: Fr. Pepin is continuing to update the meeting notices/minutes etc. as needed.

6. DCGS By-laws Review/Revisions: After review of the by-laws, it was determined by all that there was no need to revise anything at this time.

7. Nominations of Committee Chairs: Since no new members were present and it was determined after review of the by-laws that any member could chair a committee (including officers), K. Freward offered to chair the Library Committee and S. Whitman offered to chair the Newsletter Committee. All were in favor; it was agreed that we would table the Membership Committee chair until a later date.

8. Newsletter Development: S. Whitman will be writing up a story on the Open House tonight for the Fall edition in the next day or so, so it can go out by the end of the week. The rest of the newsletter is completed. She reminded folks of the holiday-type theme we will have for the next newsletter, which should go out a week or so before Christmas. K. Sagataw had offered to write an article on the importance of journaling, Fr. Pepin was going to contribute one about French Canadian holiday customs, and S. Whitman also wanted to write about family traditions. Articles should be submitted no later than mid-November so as not to interfere with the holidays and everyone’s busy-ness during that time.

9. Other Business: Sec. Whitman thanked everyone for their hard work in promoting, setting up, speaking, and everything done to help make tonight a success.

10. There being no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM (K. Freward motioned, Fr. Pepin 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 23rd, 2023 – 6:30PM at the Family Search Center.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - August 28, 2023

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, K. Freward, S. Whitman

1. The meeeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 7:08 PM. The agenda was approved with no additions. K. Freward made a motion to accept the minutes from July 24th as written, 2nd by R. Reiffers; unanimously approved.

2. President's report: Has scheduled a radio interview for Thursday, Sep. 14th at 8:30 AM through Radio Results Network to promote the DCGS and our upcoming Open House. They will also provide several PSAs on their radio stations about the event. He apologized for not getting the notice of this meeting on social media - he thought he had done so and does not know what happened. It did run in the Escanaba Daily Press twice in the last 2 weeks. He stated that Fr. Pepin has had some medical issues/procedures and has not been able to contact the speaker for the Open House. Pres. Reiffers stated he would be happy to talk to the group about the Society and about its history.

3. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary's report: VP Freward is working on a new brochure for the DCGS and will have it done by the Open House. Is also working on a display board for the event.

4. Secretary/Treasurer's Report: At this time, the current bank balance for the Society is $213.32. Did pay the bill for the website domain name - this is a $35 annual fee. Also brougbt up the importance of having ZOOM meetings (or other platforms that are similar) to make it easier for more people to be involved. Sec. Whitman stated she was not an expert at this, but we need to find someone who is able to do this soon so we can grow our membership and include all current members in our meetings. She also suggested that we change the content of our monthly meetings just a bit, to include time for folks to talk about research issues and family history, since new people come in every so often to the meetings wanting to do this. We all also have our own questions and stories to tell. It was thought by all that this was a good idea - we could start earlier (6:30 PM) and take about 45 minutes to discuss research/family history and about 45 minutes to conduct the buismess side of the meeting. We could begin this in the new year.

5. Website Updates: No report.

6. DCGS Annual Meeting: Discussed all the work and items needed to bring together a successful event: content, refreshment, handouts, displays, etc. Everyone is chipping in to help and we will start set up at the Family Search Center at 5:30 on the night of the event.

7. Newsletter Development: We have quite a bit of content that folks suggested/offered in the past month, so we will use those. K. Freward will write about family surnames members are searching, to see if others may have the same connections and can help/work together. She will get that submitted as soon as she can. S. Whitman enouraged others to submit content as well.

8: Other Business: VP Freward stated that the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians will open enrollment to new tribe members in Feb. 2024, and that many folks want to research their families to see if they can prove their connection to the Tribe in order to be enrolled. This means that the Family Search Center could be very busy, so she will looking into exactly what is needed to prove tribal connections so she is ready for the influx. It was also thought that this effort would be a good news article for the Spring edition of our newsletter, so that folks know what they need and where to go for help.

9. There being no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM (K. Freward motioned, S. Whitman 2nd, all approved) The next meeting is our DCGS Annual Meeting and is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 25th, 2023 - 6:30 PM at the Family Search Center.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - July 24, 2023

Officers Present: R. Reiffers, K. Freward, S. Whitman

1. The meeting was called to order by President Richard Reiffers at 7:04 PM. The agenda was approved with no additions. He also made a motion to accept the minutes from April 24th as written, 2nd by Fr. Pepin; unanimously approved.

2. President’s report: Has been in contact with the radio stations and they are willing to do PSAs free of charge for our annual meeting – Pres. Reiffers stated he has written up something for them to use for this purpose. He is working on contacting the person he needs to schedule a radio interview with, but felt it would be doable in plenty of time to promote the Annual Meeting.

3. Vice President/Corresponding Secretary’s report: We did receive another membership since last month; she has updated the membership list and emailed it to everyone. No other news to report.

4. Secretary/Treasurers Report: At this time the current bank balance for the Society is $228.32. Did receive the bill for our website domain name so will be paying that soon – it is $35/year. Thanked VP Freward for taking minutes at the last meeting.

5. Website Updates: Fr. Pepin has put the meeting notice at the top of the page so it’s easier for all to see. We also discussed what address to use for the Family Search Center, as it potentially has 2 addresses, and it was determined that the 1021 South 14th St. address is the correct one to use He also mentioned that he is working on removing the broken links he is finding on the site, but this is a very laborious process and will take time to find/delete them all.

6. DCGS Annual Meeting: Fr. Pepin has not had a chance to connect with Mr. Anzalone about speaking about a historical family of Delta County yet, but hopes to very soon. S. Whitman will do a short talk about DNA – It’s Value in Research and K. Sagataw will do a presentation on the Family Search Center. It was reiterated that each presenter would take only about 15-20 minutes for each segment. Discussion ensued about marketing of the meeting, refreshments, and potentially having video access to the meeting. K. Freward will put together display boards and will also update the DCGS brochures. S. Whitman encouraged everyone to stay in touch regarding the progress being made via email and texts so that things keep moving.

7. Newsletter Development: It was mentioned that the numbering of the newsletter editions was off just a bit – R. Reiffers had found the records on this and gave that info to be used starting with the next edition. The group then discussed potential articles for the Fall Edition. We will use Fr. Pepin’s article on the importance of talking to family to aid in genealogical research, he also suggested adding cartoons or short ‘quips’ to lighten it up – he’ll see what he can find. S. Whitman stated she would like to do a write-up on the Annual Meeting, which means the newsletter will probably go out a week later than usual, but feels it’s important to include. Some other suggestions were made for resources to be included and it was also suggested the hours the Family Search Center is open would be helpful to add. K. Freward will write about family surnames members are searching, to see if others may have the same connections and can help/work together. Try to get
articles to S. Whitman as soon as possible because she will be out of town quite a bit in the coming weeks.

The group also started discussing the winter newsletter and how we can tie it in with the holidays. K. Sagataw would like to contribute an article on the importance of writing journals to keep family history alive; Fr. Pepin would like to write about French Canadian holiday traditions since there are so many Delta County folks with that background; S. Whitman will write about Holiday traditions in general and the importance of keeping those alive. She asked that writers remember that the newsletter can only take so many words and that articles should be fairly short and to the point.

8. There being no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 8:04 PM (K. Freward motioned, K. Sagataw 2nd, all approved). The next DCGS meeting is our DCGS Annual Meeting and is scheduled for Monday, August 28, 2023 - 7:00PM - at the Family Search Center.

Delta County Genealogical Society - Meeting Minutes
Family Search Center - June 26, 2023

Members present: R. Reiffers, Fr. Pepin, K. Sagataw, K. Freward

Copy the form below, then paste the Form into an open blank document, print, fill in and mail it to:
Delta County Genealogical Society, Box 442, Escanaba, MI 49829-0442

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