— by Kathi Ciskowski —

Interested in researching your family tree? Come branch out with us!

Do you want to find out if you come from kings or scoundrels? Was your family on the Mayflower? Are you related to the person sitting next to you at the Genealogy Club?

Explore these questions and others without having to leave Orcas.

The Orcas Island Genealogy Club is free and open to anyone who is interested in exploring family genealogy–whether you have years of experience or are just wanting to begin now. The monthly meetings will happen on the third Tuesday of the month in the library Community Meeting Room from 10:30-12:30. The next meeting is on September 18, 2018.  For this meeting it is important to bring a laptop or other device that can connect to the internet. “Back to School-Internet Genealogy 101” featuring the free Orcas Island Library edition of Ancestry.com is the focus for this month’s meeting.

We will go through a step by step process to get everyone online and begin working on their own family tree! The Ancestry.com database provides information ranging from state and federal censuses to immigration and naturalization records. There will be time for searching and asking questions.  Included are organizational and research safety tips. Coordinators, Vicki Leimback, Rebecca Johnson and Kathi Ciskowski are passionate about research and will bring their organizational and genealogical skills and resources to share.

Rebecca Johnson is a professional genealogist with many areas of expertise.  Vicki Leimback has been doing extensive research on her family history and many other topics including the history of houses. Kathi Ciskowski has a Certificate from the University of Washington Genealogy and Family History course and has taught and helped people with genealogy projects for 8 years.

​All three live on Orcas.

Call either Vicki (206-714-3348), Rebecca (360-298-6007) or Kathi (360-376-4186) for more information.