PCGC meets Santa Claus! A good time was had by all at our December meeting.
Vicky Ferraresi
The PebbleCreek Genealogy Club (PCGC) will next meet on Monday, Feb. 10 from 9 a.m. to noon.
PCGC meets the second Monday of each month in the Palm Room in the Eagle’s Nest Clubhouse. Meetings start at 9 a.m. with a short business meeting, followed by Tips and Tricks, and then an invited speaker. Guests are always welcome!
On Feb. 10, David Gaboury will present “Moving South: Canadian Migration to the United States.” Dave is a resident of PebbleCreek and has been researching family history for 30 years. He specializes in French-Canadian ancestry and recently published a book on the 360-year history of all Gabourys who have lived in North America. He’s a past board member of the Heritage Education Commission in Moorhead, Minn., and a co-facilitator of the Canada special interest group at the West Valley Genealogical Society in Youngtown, Ariz.
The Tips & Tricks session is “French Settlement in Canada in the 1600s” with Chris Pelikan. Chris will talk about Samuel de Champlain’s exploration, settlements, the rise of “Mercantilism,” population growth, his ancestors’ role in this early Canadian history, and briefly discuss French migration south in the 1700s.
Looking back, on Jan. 13 the speaker was Sheila Griffin, who presented “Color-Coding your AncestryDNA Matches.” (DNA color coding refers to the practice of assigning different colors to various ancestral lines on a family tree to identify potential common ancestors within your DNA results.) Ms. Griffin is currently the secretary of the Genealogy Club at Trilogy Vistancia. She walked us through simple ways of color-coding our AncestryDNA matches by surname to help filter and organize DNA matches.
Kevin Campbell announced our new members-only mentoring program, Genealogy Detectives. This is specifically intended to help those new to genealogy to receive guidance as they begin researching and building their family tree. Current members can get assistance and ideas on their ongoing research, especially when “stuck”. This is a great reason for you to join PCGC!
Our new website is here! Please visit pebblecreekgenealogy.club. General information will be open to all site visitors with additional content available to members only. This is another member benefit and another great reason to join PCGC.
We continue having monthly luncheons for members and are eagerly waiting to enjoy one at Westwind Tavern. Members should keep an eye out for an email regarding dates and locations.
In the works is a visit to the McClelland Irish Library in Phoenix and a repeat venture to the Family Search Center in Mesa.
We hope to see you on Feb. 10 as we learn more about discovering our families!
Contact President Marsha Wallick at [email protected] for more information about the PCGC.