Monday, October 25, 2010

And the Winner Is

As stated previously, today is the day that I am announcing the winner of the two free tickets to the Atlanta History Expo. I appreciate the contributions of the four entrants and thoroughly enjoyed reading the reasons you would like to attend the expo.

Without further ado, the winner is George Geder, comment #1 on the reminder post about the contest. The selection was purely random. I placed all entrants names in a box, mixed thoroughly, and pulled a name.

Congratulations George. I'll contact you soon with the details.

Once again, thanks to all the participants and also a big thank you to the organizers of the Family History Expo who provided me with this opportunity to give the tickets.

Oh, I apologize for the lateness of the announcement. I've had a crazy couple of days. 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Two Days Left to Win Tickets to Atlanta Family History Expo

There are only TWO DAYS left for a chance to win TICKETS to the Atlanta Family History Expo, which is being held next month in Duluth, GA. So far, there have been no participants in the give-away contest, so if you enter, there is a good chance that you will win.




As a reminder, all you have to do is look at the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo, and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. The explanation doesn't have to been long or complicated. It can be something as simple as "this session looks interesting to me."

Please post your responses either here or on the original post regarding the contest. The winner will be selected randomly and announced on October 25, 2010.

Once again, best wishes to all who enter.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Who's to Blame

Randy Seavers, Gena-Musings, has posted this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. The subject matter for this week is Who's to Blame.

Instructions are as follows:

Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:


  • Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?
  • Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?
  • Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?
  • If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.

My response to the first question has to be my mother, who passed along all the stories handed down from my maternal grandmother, coupled with my own curiosity.

No, I did not pick up where a relative left off. There were the stories handed down but no one had actually started documenting our family history when I began in the late 1980s to look for my ancestors.

My interest steamed from my own curiosity about my ancestors and also the mini-series, Roots, which aired during my sophomore / junior year (1977) in high school and by Roots: The Next Generations, which aired during my senior year in high school (1979). However, I didn't really get started on actually attempting to research my family until the late 1980s. To this day I still remember the excitement of my first genealogical find, my grandfather's, Oscar Lucillous "LC" Hosch, WWI draft registration card and realizing that although he was reared in Walton County, GA, he was actually born in Jackson County, GA. Back then, I used snail mail to obtain a copy of granddad's registration card. With the exception of taking a 10 year break between 1999 and 2009, I've been researching ever since.

Thank you mom for instilling in me the desire to know our history because as you always told me Everybody has a right to know from whence they came.

And also, once again, thanking Cousin Nicholas, for motivating me to return to my research.



Thursday, October 14, 2010

Psst - Guess What Else Is Going On Next Month

In addition to attending the Atlanta Family History Expo,
I'm doing my first research trip.

Part of me still doesn't feel like I'm ready to do a research trip but I figured that since I will be down in GA anyway for the FHE, I might as well take a couple of extra days and do some on the ground genealogical sleuthing. In fact, realizing that I might hopefully be able to meet some Hosch cousins (descendants of Great Grand Uncle Augustus "Gus" Hosch) who reside in Gwinnett County was the driving force behind me wanting to attend the FHE. Hopefully, the meeting will happen.

In addition to hopefully meeting cousins, I'm also planning to head over to both White Plains, Greene County, GA and Monroe, Walton County, GA in order to hopefully learn more about my Pierce Ancestors. This means, I will finally have an opportunity to take a picture of and transcribe the probate records for my great grandfather, Cornelius Pierce. With each passing day, the excitement about this trip just keeps building and building. So much so that I'm about to explode. But I've got to calm down and make sure that I'm as prepared as can be for this, my first research trip.

In the coming weeks, I'll keep you up to date on my preparations for this part of my trip as well as asking for suggestions, tips, etc.


Count Down To the Atlanta Family History Expo

Well, yesterday or today (depending on when I actually get this posted), marked 1 month and counting until the Atlanta Family History Expo in Duluth, GA. The Expo is being held November 12-13, 2010. I'm only attending the Saturday session, which is why October 13 was 1 month and counting. I'm looking forward to meeting fellow geneabloggers that I've been communicating with for the past year and some change.

Also, don't forget to enter the contest I'm having for a chance to win two tickets to the Expo. The contest ends on October 23, 2010.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Family History Month 2010- Challenge #2

In honor of Family History month, Afrigeneas is conducting a series of Family History Challenges. My entry for Challenge #1 is posted on Conversations With my Ancestors as well as at Afrigeneas.


The instructions for Challenge #2 were as follows:
Since we're getting ready to enter a long holiday season, it seems a good time to remember holidays past.


How did your family celebrate special occasions and holidays? What are your favorite memories?

Interpret the theme any way you like. Write as long or short as you like. We encourage you to post photos to illustrate the story. Be creative!

Just a couple of rules:

  1. Make our lives easier, please! Post your story as a response to this thread so we can keep track of the stories in each challenge.
  2. Challenge #2 begins today, Oct 7th and ends at 11:59 pm on Oct 11th.
My entry was a few hours late. I had it written but fell asleep before getting it posted. What can I say? I was exhausted.

One of my fondest memories during my childhood days was the sort of mini reunion that my maternal granddad’s branch of the Hosch family held at Christmas each year. We typically gathered at one of the relative’s house, which most years seemed to be Aunt Lucille’s house.

Even though I saw some of my cousins on a daily basis (the bulk of my first cousins lived in my hometown), there was still something special about the descendants of my grandparents getting together at Christmas. After everyone arrived, the occasion always began with us singing Christmas Carols. Aunt Lucille, through the years, had acquired a large stash of FREE Christmas Carol songbooks from one of the local banks. So, my dad, the true musician in the group and who had married into this monstorous Hosch clan, would provide the instrumental accompaniment to our singing. On occasion, after I got older, the instrumental duties fell on my shoulders.




The above pictures, which are part of my mother’s personal collection, show dad at the piano, granddaddy and his children, grands, and great grands all gathered around, singing carols. (Granddaddy is sitting on the sofa next to the lamp.) If you look carefully, you can tell how thrilled all the kids were with the hymn and carol singing. :)

After the completion of the carol singing, we usually ate. Dinner was usually potluck, similar to the annual Hosch family reunion that was held back in those days but on a somewhat smaller scale. But before we ate, there was grace. Uncle Ed, Aunt Lucille’s husband who was also a minister, usually said grace. On the way to the Holiday Feast, Aunt Lucille would have us all speaking into her trusty microphone / cassette tape recorder. I remember we had to say our name, tell our place in the family, and then say something about the holidays or what ever else was on our minds. Just goes to show that daddy’s side of the family wasn’t the only side of my family that relied on tape recordings to communicate / document family events. (Reminds me, I will see auntie some time this week and should ask her if any of those old recordings are still in existence. By chance, maybe they haven’t met the same fate as other family recordings that are now special to me but no longer around.)

After we were through stuffing our faces, we gathered around the Christmas tree doing our usual family socializing until the gifts were handed out. After all the gifts were handed out, we lingered and socialized some more before we slowly started filing out to return to our individual homes. Looking back, it almost feels like that each one of us in our on way tried to make that day last as long as possible. It’s almost like we knew those times wouldn’t last forever and we were trying to make those gatherings last as long as we could.


Sunday, October 10, 2010

Atlanta Family History Expo and A Contest


The Atlanta Family History Expo is the weekend of November 12-13 and is being held in Duluth, GA. Although I won’t be able to make both days, I will be attending. I’m looking forward to getting a chance to meet fellow Geneabloggers. What’s more, I’ve been invited to attend as a Blogger of Honor, which only adds to the excitement.

My invitation also will benefit one lucky reader. You see, thanks to the wonderful folks at Family History Expo (FHE), I have two free tickets to give away for the Atlanta Family History Expo. This would be a great opportunity for anyone who is currently conducting research or thinking about entering the wonderful world of genealogical research to come learn more as well as meet other researchers.

Entering the contest is easy. Simply view the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo then return to this thread and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. That’s it. All entries must be in by October 23, 2010 at 11:59 pm. I will announce the winner on October 25, 2010. You can check back on that day to see if you won or not and to get instructions for claiming your tickets.

Best wishes to all who enter.


Saturday, October 2, 2010

Reveiw of September Goals and Setting October Goals

For as productive as I was the first month that I posted monthly goals, I was equally unproductive during my 2nd month of posting goals. Looks like the only thing I managed to get accomplished was blogging / writing goals. I acutally had 8 posts (doesn't include goal setting and review posts) and half of those were written posts.

September was a more hectic month than usual with dad's continued health issues and me working practically every weekend so I would have time off during the week to ferry him to various doctor appointments. Hopefully, October will return to normal, whatever that is these days.

So, my goals for October 2010 are just going to be a rehash of my September 2010 goals.