"Who Do You Think You Are?" is Back!

Surely all SGS members and other practicing genealogists know about "Who Do You Think You Are?"--the NBC/Ancestry.com TV program that focuses on tracing the ancestry of celebrities. Last year's debut season included some interesting stories. My one complaint was that it made the research process seem ridiculously easy. You show up at an archive or library and they hand you a completed family tree or letter written by or about your ancestor. Don't you wish? It will be interesting to see if this year's series is any more realistic.
Regardless, I'll be watching.
The first program in the new series airs at 8:00 pm on NBC (5/105 in Seattle) this Friday, February 4th. According to an email Ancestry sent out a couple of days ago, the first show will feature Vanessa Williams, former Miss America, and various of her illustrious ancestors. Week two will focus on Tim McGraw. Others in this year's series include Kim Cattrall, Rosie O'Donnell, Lionel Richie, Steve Buscemi, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd (order of programs unknown).
To hype up more interest in their program, Ancestry is offering an opportunity to win a $20,000 trip to you ancestral home land. Follow this link to the contest entry form: http://www.ancestry.com/wdytya2011?o_iid=46903&o_lid=46903 
Good luck!
If any of your friends get interested in genealogy because of this program, please let them know that SGS will be hosting an "open library--getting started" day on Sunday, March 6th, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. We'll be happy to get them hooked on searching for their ancestors!

Are you ready to lead SGS?

SGS elections occur in April. But before elections can occur, we need nominees. We elected a nominating committee last Spring and they are now hard at work trying to find qualified members to serve on next year's Board.
Much as I've enjoyed serving as SGS president the last two years, I am not running for re-election. No previous president has served for more than 2 consecutive years and I don't see any reason to be the first.
There are certainly many things I'd still like to see happen at SGS--like getting more members involved in our activities, starting/finishing indexing some of our records, upgrading our computers, establishing a computer lab area, moving into a larger space with a separate meeting room.... My "wish list" is quite long. But I really need to be more available for travel with my husband, who isn't getting any younger.
Hopefully some of you appreciate the changes at SGS over the last year and a half--increased program offerings, more communication with members, searching for and obtaining grant funding, operating more like a business (adopting policies and procedures to guide our activities). If so, I hope some of you are willing to run for Board positions. SGS doesn't run itself; we need dedicated volunteers to keep the Society functioning. Please take a few minutes to check out the short job descriptions on our website at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waseags/2011SGSElectionInformationPage.pdf and then send an email to Bruce Finlayson, Nominating Committee chair, at sgsnominate@gmail.com with an offer to run. Thank you.