2016 Annual TXGenWeb Meeting
Scott Fitzgerald hosted the 2016 meeting with help from the meeting coordinators, Patsy Vinson and Betsy Mills, and Jane Keppler and Shirley Cullum.The meeting was held in Palestine, Anderson County, Texas, on April 2. It was great and the weather was perfect. Twenty-four County Coordinators and special friends attended the meeting.
The weekend began on Friday when everyone gathered for lunch at the Cotton Patch Cafe. After lunch, participants were free to explore the many offerings of the city such as the Old City Cemetery, Davey Dogwood Park, Eilenberger's Bakery, the Public Library for research and the Historic Homes District. Several chose to help preserve old records of the First Christian Church by spending the afternoon scanning old documents, newspaper articles, and photographs. The task will be on-going and volunteers will make day trips back to Palestine to complete the project that will benefit our project as well as the church. Everyone met for dinner at the King Buffet Restaurant where great Chinese and American food was in abundance.
Saturday's meeting was very interesting and informative. Betsy Mills started the presentations off with a "Toolbox For County Coordinators" that was packed to the brim with useful ideas. Paula Perkins spoke on Orphan Trains and how they affect genealogy. David E. Pitts presented a new idea on how to better display information on county websites and explained how to transform the existing material into the new form fairly easily. Patsy Vinson explained graphics software and the basics for making graphics in language beginners could understand. She was joined by Joe Reynolds in showing the function of the different tools. The presentation was a great start for those of us who didn't know the first thing about making graphics (especially me). The final presentation was on Overlooked Resources and where to look for them. In researching for the presentation, I found a couple of very interesting, little known resources available that will definitely help in genealogy research. The day concluded with dinner at the El Toro Mexican Restaurant where everyone enjoyed the food, atmosphere, and the fellowship.
Next year will be the 20th Annual TXGenWeb Meeting and will be in Fort Worth and hosted by Rob Yoder. "We can't wait for 2017!"
Shirley Cullum
Photos by Rob Yoder
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Betsy Mills & David E. Pitts |
Betsy Mills |
Beverly Odom |
Bunny Freeman |
Chris Skelly |
Dixie Flick |
Gordon Bennett |
Jack & Cynthia Buttram |
Jane Keppler |
Joe Reynolds |
John Quigley |
Katy Hestand |
Linda Hughes |
Norman Newton |
Patsy Vinson |
Paula & David E. Pitts |
Paula Perkins |
Scott Fitzgerald |
Shirley Cullum |
Vickie Neisler |
Yvonne & John Quigley |
Cotton Patch Cafe
El Toro Mexican Restaurant
Relaxing in the boardroom at the hotel
