CSAGSI President's Message

 

    The final months of year 2007 are approaching. With Halloween occurring as I write this, we will soon be entwined in Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. Indeed, there is much to be thankful for this past year.
    Soon will be a new year - a new moment to generate interest in discovering and managing information about family history. I never get tired of researching interesting books, articles, or Internet sites dealing with information on life in old immigrant communities, or various immigrant persons.
    Some material I have been reading recently (written in English) is: "The Bohemians: A Study of the Cup and the Book" by Edith Chase, published in 1914; "History of Slovaks in America" by Konstantin Culen, originally published 1942 (translation 2007); and "Czechs in America" by Ivan Dubovicky, published 2003.
    Computer software I have used are the Library Edition of ancestry.com and Heritage Quest available at the local library. Check your public or nearby college library for availability of any free databases. Of course only 1% of all records are online. So the use of library books through inter-library loan is very important.
    At the close of the year our society also pauses to thank the many volunteers performing so many needed tasks keeping the society growing. Friends, we have many dedicated volunteers who perform their society function with enthusiasm, promptness, and thoroughness. To these people I say we appreciate, so very much, your continuing efforts to extend benefits to the entire membership. Each year we honor all our volunteers and present selected members with the Anton J. Cermak Genealogy Builder Award. A special thank you is extended to all the officers, Board, and committee chairs for their attendance, input, expertise, and valuable time attending the four quarterly board meetings held each year. I would be remiss if I didn't extend a special thank you to the entire hospitality committee and to society members who delight us with delectable food donations at quarterly meetings.
    We will soon be off and running for 2008. Two special projects requiring continued efforts are the compiling of all burials (126,000+) at Bohemian National Cemetery (BNC), Chicago, and the translation of Rudolf Bubenicek's book (1939) on the history of Czechs in Chicago. Both these long term projects involve hundreds of pages of material and require intensive efforts. Leading the current BNC project are Judie Mason, Mary Ellen Panoch-Zuro and Dien Zeigler (project started by Louise and George Rokos and Sharon and Ron Davis). Working with passion on the book translation are Bob Baumruk, and George and Louise Rokos. Even a big thank you isn't enough for all your special efforts. We thank, very much, society members who have contributed financially to help bring these projects toward completion.
    Hope to see many of you at the Christmas Party, the CSAGSI library in Cicero, or the CSAGSI meeting in January in LaGrange.

Paul