Members of the PebbleCreek Genealogy Club visited the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors’ Center to do individual family research.
Vicky Ferraresi
There is no meeting of the PebbleCreek Genealogy Club (PCGC) in August, as we go on vacation, or stay out of the heat to individually work on our family trees or other projects and hobbies.
PCGC general meetings will resume after Labor Day with a revised format. Meetings will start at 9 a.m. with a short business meeting, followed by Tips and Tricks and the Speaker. Meetings are held on the second Monday of each month in the Palm Room in the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse. Guests are always welcome!
On Monday, Sept. 9, we will hear from Janna Larson on “Evaluation of Evidence” on how to avoid pitfalls and develop a genealogy you can trust. Ms. Larson is a professional genealogist and the owner of Janna’s Genealogy Services. She has been an avid genealogist since 1981 and holds a B.A. degree from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ms. Larson has been a member of the Family History Society of Arizona since 1982 and has held many offices in the Society. She has taught genealogy classes at Phoenix College and many locations in the Phoenix area and is a frequent and well-known genealogical lecturer in the state.
On July 8, members of the PebbleCreek Genealogy Club (PCGC) traveled to the Mesa Arizona Temple Visitors’ Center, which houses their FamilySearch Center for a tour with time to do individual research.
The day started with a tour of the facility. The facility is modern and very well maintained. Lockers are available to hold your valuables. A spacious kitchen where you can eat lunch has a large refrigerator to hold your food and beverages. There are banks of computers (fast and free to use—be sure to bring a USB drive to download documents you find) to access genealogy sites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast, and Fold3. Volunteers are available to help you with your research. The facility has a nice collection of scanners to digitize photographs, negatives, slides, books, documents, VCR tapes, 8mm/Super 8 film, CDs, DVDs, even floppy discs (!). These are available for use at no charge. Classes are held frequently.
Club members had the following comments: “Loved it!”, “Useful resources, especially the scanning equipment”, “Will definitely check out the classes”, “Learned a lot about how to effectively use FamilySearch”, “Volunteers were so helpful and kind”, “Their large scanners can help me a lot”, and “That book scanner looks amazing—can’t wait to try it out.”
We all agreed we will be back for another group visit, and I’m sure for individual research trips.
The center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Hours are abbreviated on Thanksgiving and Christmas.) Underground parking is free. To learn more about the center, see mesatemple.org/family-search-library.
Hope to see you on Sept. 9 for our next meeting! Contact President Marsha Wallick at [email protected] for more information about the PCGC. See us on Facebook: facebook.com/groups/595320584600008.