Uncle Boone

One a more personal note, my Great Uncle, Don "Boone" Brown passed away last week. Here is his obituary from The Orting News.

I do not yet have a paper copy.



The Passing of Don "Boone" Brown
by Terry Brown
May 8, 2013

Long-time resident of Orting, Don Brown, more popularly known as "Boone ", passed away on the morning of May 8,2013. Boone was born in Chehalis on Nov. 17,1927, but his family soon returned to Orting after his birth. Boone was the youngest of seven children in his family. When his health reached the point that he needed to receive more personal care, he really hated giving up POB 4, which had been in the family name for nearly 100 years. If one did not know Boone personally, one was probably aware of his magnificent flower and vegetable garden on Calistoga, which supplied beauty and fresh food to many friends and acquaintances. Orting is now without a Brown of this family in residence which basically has not happened in nearly 100 years.

Interment will be at the Orting cemetery at 11:00AM on Thursday, May 16th. A potluck reception will follow at the Orting Eagles. Bring your memories to share in the celebration of Boone's life.

Boone holding my father as children. They
were not far apart in age.
Personal collection of author.
Circa 1943, Washington.

NGS 2013: The Sessions

Although most of my NGS 2013 Conference blogging is taking place on The In-Depth Genealogist, I thought I would share a bit, here, too.

First, it was amazing. If you ever get the chance to attend a conference like this: do it.

We had wonderful opportunities to meet with other people, network, attend sessions, participate in un-conferencing discussions, and much, much more. My colleague and friend at IDG, Terri O'Connell, even won a registration for next year's conference in Virginia!

Terri O'Connell at Opening Session right after
winning a 2014 registration!

I was able to attend several sessions, some of which held local interest for me, which was great. Here's the list of what I was able to see:

• People, Policy, and Records: The Importance of Historical Background (Opening Session), Marian Smith
• Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Mary Penner
• The Genealogical Proof Standard in Action! Case Building When No Record States An Answer!, Elizabeth Shown Mills
• Birdie Monk Holsclaw Memorial Lecture. Impossible Immigrant! I Know Everything About teh Man Except Where He Came From, F. Warren Bittner
• Maximizing Your Use of Evidence, Thomas W. Jones
• The Civil War in the American West, Rick Sayre
• Borders and Boundaries: Creating Locaility Profiles for Research, D. Joshua Taylor
• ProGen Study Groups Breakfast, Angela Packer McGhie
• To See the Elephant: The Lure of Riches, Jean Wilcox Hibben
• Solving Historical and Family Mysteries with DNA, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
• Baker's Dozen to Writing Research Reports, Elizza Scalise Powell
• Striking it "Rich" with a Great Genealogical Career: A Guide For Professional Researchers, J. Mark Lowe.

I've been asked more than once already which was my favorite, and my answer is... well... I just cannot say. They were all good in their own way, all the speaker's brought something completely different to the podium, and the lessons learned varied with each. 

As an Official Blogger for the conference, I am very grateful to F. Warren Bittner, D. Joshua Taylor, Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and J. Mark Lowe for letting us sit down with them for some one-on-one time. You will be able to read more about those conversations on the IDG site. 

Some truly fantastic ideas came out of the week in Las Vegas, and I'm looking forward to being a part of some new projects and taking advantage of all that networking to move closer to reaching my professional goals. 

I made several new friends in the industry, and we had some very good times, enjoying each other's company and talking about dead people. We raised a glass to Uncle Boone. I have so much more to write about, I really don't expect my "job" as an Official Blogger to be over any time soon. I might be able to get it all done before NGS 2014.... 

A Challenge Awaits

In order to improve my skills, I know I must challenge myself. No one else will do it for me.

For that very reason, I have decided to take on the challenge of the ProGen Study Group, and will be a member of ProGen 20. This is something that I have wanted to do for some time, and finally the pieces have come together and it is my turn.

For those of you unfamiliar, ProGen is a program based on the text Professional Genealogy by Elizabeth Shown Mills, (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2001), a respected leader in the genealogy industry. This work has long been considered the standard for most professionals, and the study group was formed and designed to dig deep into the information provided in the text.

The sixteen month program takes students through a variety of topics, each with their associated assignment. Participants critique each other’s contributions and meet to virtually discuss the monthly chapter.
I have several peers that are either currently participating or have participated, and I know that the program is tough, demanding and incredibly rewarding. I am very much looking forward to learning from those in my group as well as our mentor and coordinator. I do see this as a step towards eventual certification, or at least a much better understanding of that that process may be like. I have not yet decided to pursue the BCG or the AG (both are appealing in their own way), but am fairly certain that one of those two processes lies in my future. Then of course, there is the newly developed study group based on Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones (National Genealogical Society, 2013), which is also a text I intend to absorb as best I can.

One clear benefit is that I get to meet several of my group members as well as the program coordinator, Angela McGhie, at the quickly approaching NGS 2013 Family History Conference in Las Vegas; as most of us will be participating in the ProGen breakfast on Thursday morning. I think it will be great to have a mutual experience in the conference to get some of us going on our learning journey together!

If you are considering making the “transition” or “going pro” anytime in your near future, I strongly recommend you consider the ProGen program. I’ll be honest, I’ve read the entire book already, cover to cover, and I’ve learned a lot. But I know there is so much waiting for me as I turn the corner into ProGen 20.