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Two short months ago the California Genealogical Society learned about an incredible price on computers from Charity Advantage, an association that offers technology solutions at low cost to non-profits. An e-mail plea went out to CGS members and friends asking for donations to purchase replacements for the society’s fleet of well-used computers.

Four weeks ago ten refurbished Pentium 4 – 80GB Dell desktop computers were delivered after twenty CGS members came forward to contribute to their purchase. Two additional members pitched in to buy a new laser printer.

This week eight dedicated volunteers spent an exhausting but fruitful thirteen-hour day installing the new hardware.

Steve Harris, Peter Moller, Cathy Paris, Nick Paris and Nancy Servin met Computer Committee members Al Clark, Paul Mayer and Kathy Watson at the library at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 20, 2009. The group started by reviewing an installation plan prepared by Peter Moller.

By 10:30 a.m. sleeves were rolled up and the serious work began. Kathy Watson reported “There were a few glitches, but essentially by 10:00 p.m. the work was finished. Any leftover clean up items were completed on Tuesday.”

So far, the reviews are positive. Kathy notes that these computers are a significant improvement over our old hardware, almost doubling the speed (from 1.83 GHz to 3.2 GHz) and doubling the memory available for using the programs loaded on the machines (from 448 mb RAM to 1 GB RAM). She also wanted me to thank everyone who participated to make the computer replacement project a huge success.

CGS President Jane Lindsey echoed her gratitude:

We are so appreciative! These computers will not only help patrons and members in the library but also our volunteer researchers, our indexers and our desk duty personnel. Faster computers will also help the hardworking members of our finance, library and membership committees do a better job for CGS.

So what is the message to other societies? Aim high and don’t be afraid to ask. In the midst of a tough economic downturn the members of the California Genealogical Society and Library came together and accomplished something fairly remarkable in a short period of time. It’s a testament to our members and our volunteers. Great work, CGS!

Photographs courtesy of Cathy H. Paris, 3/20/2009, Oakland, California.

CGS President Jane Lindsey has been a busy lady lately. Besides the time she spends teaching beginning and intermediate genealogy classes and administering society business, Jane’s calendar includes representing the California Genealogical Society at speaking engagements and at an upcoming workshop at the Contra Costa Library Reading Festival.

On April 7, 2009, Jane spoke to a group of residents at San Francisco Towers, an independent living retirement home in the city. CGS member Barbara Bentley, who recently served a three-month stint as acting recording secretary for the board (thank you, Barbara!), made the arrangements. They were expecting fifteen to attend but drew an audience of forty-seven residents interested in learning more about genealogy.

The Unitarian Universalist Church on Franklin Street in San Francisco was the venue for an introductory genealogy workshop that Jane presented on Thursday, April 16, 2009, to RSVP of San Francisco and Alameda Counties, a proactive volunteer-placement organization that recruits and connects individuals age 55 and over with a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the community. The audience was smaller but two of the nine attendees signed up to attend the Spring Beginning Genealogy Seminar held at CGS two days later.

Jane will be spreading more genealogy cheer next month when the Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda libraries host the second annual Reading Festival, May 3 – 9, 2009. Jane is presenting Research the Stories of Your Family on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at the Lafayette Library. The program is free and open to the public and is part of a series of events to celebrate reading at the Contra Costa County Library that include the magic of memoir writing, live readings, a puppet show and special story times for children. This year’s theme is “Hear a Story, Tell a Story, Write Your Story.”