November 18, 2023: In November, guest speaker Walter Bowman of the Department of Military Affairs, shared his knowledge of the French and Indian War (1754-1759). His extensive grasp of many of the battles during the campaign helped us understand the locations, timelines, and tactics of the many conflicts that occurred during this violent time in history. Walter then spent time answering questions about resources for locating our ancestors' military service records.

October 21, 2023: At our October meeting, SCGS President Sarah Baston, displayed her collection of art done by some local artists. Sarah shared her extensive knowledge of local families and their homes and farms, and using local maps we were able to see where the farms were in the earlier days of Scott County, and how the terrain has changed hands over the years. We were also able to spot the locations of several family burial grounds lost, unfortunately, to overgrowth and neglect, and the location of the famous Choctaw Indian Academy.

September 16, 2023: Vice-President Johnna Waldon again took to the podium to discuss FamilySeach.org and a way to search their catalog. The catalog contains various genealogical materials including books, microforms, online materials, and other publications. Johnna showed several examples of how to search and ways to narrow down exhaustive lists to the information that could be more useful to us. SCGS members who attended the meeting also shared family history stories. Seven members attended our hybrid meeting that was held in person and virtually on Zoom.

July 15, 2023: Vice-President Johnna Waldon presented an overview of the Family History Guide, a website which describes itself as a free learning, research, and activities center for family history. Johnna focused on the various parts of the website and how they can benefit genealogists, from seasoned experts to those just getting started in their research. The step by step path to accomplishing your research goals is particularly helpful. She then turned her attention to Genealogy Trails History Group website, a crowd-sourced initiative that allows groups and individuals to post genealogical and historical data that all researchers can access free of charge. There's a webpage devoted to Scott County (https://genealogytrails.com/ken/scott/) that has some information posted, and Johnna encouraged us to consider adding to it, either individually or as a group. Johnna's program introduced us to two websites that many of us had never explored.

June 17, 2023: Chuck Welsko, Civil War Governors of Kentucky (CWGK) Project Manager, joined us in June and discussed the work he has done in bringing the CWGK database online. His focus was not on the governors themselves, but in his words, on "reconstructing the lost lives and voices of tens of thousands of Kentuckians-white or Black; free and enslaved; Unionist or Confederate-who interacted with the office of the governor between 1860 and 1865." By studying the digitized papers of the Civil War-era governors, we can find important information about the people who corresponded with them. Chuck's project represents a milestone in historical archives that can benefit countless researchers with ties to Kentucky.

May 20, 2023: Author and historian David Kirkpatrick visited our May meeting and discussed the challenges that genealogists face in adding substance to the names that appear in their family trees. By using case studies of three signers of the Kentucky Constitution, Kirkpatrick explained how to find information that adds personality to our ancestors. David's program was as interesting as it was unique to the field of family history.

April 15, 2023: At our April meeting we welcomed Judith Beaman Scott who discussed Colonial Migration Routes. She explained that the availability of land, predominately from military service grants, led to increases in migration out of Virginia. She discussed how and why various routes developed, and that knowledge of migration helps us to understand more about our ancestors' settlements and lives. Our sincere thanks to Judith for sharing information on this important aspect of genealogical research.

March 18, 2023: Our March meeting was a hybrid event held at the Scott County Public Library and available on Zoom. It was our annual Show-and-Tell meeting with members displaying their family heirlooms and telling the stories that brought them to life. It was an entertaining and informative meeting. Among the family treasures we saw or heard about were an old proprietary glass from a local tavern in deep Eastern Kentucky; a set of World War II glider pilot wings from the mid-1940s; the story of a mysterious book that has a Revolutionary War connection; a most interesting tiger claw brooch with an Asian connection; and an Irish china collection that held many memories. It was a great meeting with lots of personal anecdotes shared among our members.

February 18, 2023: In our February meeting, six anxious members tuned in to hear Dave Schroeder of the Kenton County Public Library talk about a family story that became a brick wall. Unfortunately, due to a major technology glitch, we were never able to connect with Dave. We hope to reschedule his program later this year.

January 21, 2023: We had a great meeting in January and it was good to see everyone again after the holiday break. Vice-President and Program Chair Johnna Waldon arranged for us to view a webinar previously offered by nationally-known genealogist J. Mark Lowe. The program titled A Death in the Family presented the myriad of documents created by the death of an individual. Using actual case studies, Mark explained what those documents were, defined each of them, and uncovered their place in the legal system. His in-depth handout was a valuable aid in understanding the need for, and the value of, each document. We offer our sincere thanks to Mark for allowing us to view this informative webinar.