Join Us at Our Next Zoom Meeting

 We will start out with a special presentation from Fritz Juenling of the Family Search Library,

Please be prompt as we are only allowed 40 minutes. 

April 15, 2023, at 10:00 AM Mountain Standard Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/89768479924?pwd=TmhFZ2ZZOU8xbWEwbmtuSVNva2V6UT09

February Zoom Meeting

Join us this next Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 10 a.m. for our chapter meeting "Understanding DNA."  Watch for the zoom link Shari Stone will send out later this week, and join us!

German Proverbs

• Every lie needs to be fed ten more.

• It's not healthy to swallow books without chewing. 

• An uneducated person is like an unpolished mirror. 

• The tree must be bent while it is young.

• Truth is medicine that needs to be given at the right time. 

Looking Ahead

On February 11, 2023, we will have a presentation, Understanding DNA, via Zoom. I look forward to learning about this fascinating topic. Please join us!

Thank You

A heartfelt thank you to the Intermountain Chapter members for your support in a difficult time for the Reynolds family. We recently lost our precious granddaughter in a car accident during a snowstorm. The personal cards, texts, and emails were greatly appreciated. The flowers sent to the funeral were beautiful. At a time like this, you really felt like family.

Request for Support

The Wacker family in Billings would appreciate any support in identifying the individuals in this photo. The original was not labeled so the surviving family is asking for assistance. The family is known to have lived in the village of Hussenbach, Russia. If you have any information regarding the identification please contact Dee Hert: deeehert@gmail.com. One of the individuals may be Katherine Wacker-Roth; another name suggested was Charlotte. Many members of this family are thought to have died in Russia and or Siberia.

Christmas Social

Our Christmas Social is on Saturday, December 10th, at 10:00 a.m. Address: Springville Community Presbyterian Church, 245 South 200 East, Springville, Utah. We will have lunch and a short business meeting. Then we will hear from Vira Bahr who was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and emigrated to the United States. Several years ago the chapter helped her adopt a young orphan from Ukraine and bring her to the U.S. to live. For those who are unable to attend, you will be receiving a zoom link next week from Shari Stone so watch your email.

Seeking Marie Kathryn Schmidt

The family of Marie K. Schmidt and her husband Frederich Benzel are seeking conclusive information about Marie. Marie was born on 2 August 1889 in the Volga area of Russia. Her family members have been located in the Volga villages of Kolb and possibly Messer. Her name is common among the Germans from Russia, and it has proven difficult to precisely identify her and her parents. The family of Marie and her descendants were most likely early settlers in the Volga area. Marie married into the Benzel family, and they are among the earliest of German settlers. The village of Kautz was the first family village, and individuals relocated to daughter colonies from there. My goal is to identify Marie K. Schmidt's parents prior to an upcoming family reunion. Thank you in advance for assistance in solving this challenge. Dee Hert

Meeting Reminder

Our chapter meeting is tomorrow, Saturday, August 13th, from 10 am to noon. Children are welcome and encouraged to attend as there is a playground at the Buttercup Park in Sandy. For those of you who are unable to attend in person, Shari sent out the zoom link this morning. If it doesn't show up in your inbox, please take a minute to check your junk mail.

volgaparishes.com

For any of you who don't know about this site, it is fabulous! I use it regularly. It shares parish records from the Volga region for free, and new records are added constantly. Many people have shared their expertise in translating the records and coordinating the efforts. Some rules for you: No commercial use of these records without express written permission. Unless otherwise indicated, you may view, download, and print materials from this site only for your personal, noncommercial use. You may not download the entire site.

SHOW/TELL/SHARE MEETING

June 11, 2022, at 11 am to 1 pm. Buttercup Park at 1501 Buttercup Dr., Sandy, UT, 84092. It will also be on Zoom. Family and kids are encouraged (playground available). This is an opportunity for you to share stories, artifacts, and recipes about your ancestry with the rest of the chapter. Bring an ancestral recipe potluck to share. Chapter will furnish cups, plates, utensils and water. Looking forward to actually seeing you!

FEEFHS 2022 Virtual Conference

Registration Opening Soon We are putting the finishing touches on the program for the 2022 FEEFHS Virtual Conference, to be held July 25-29, 2022. Learn from the experts in Slavic, Germanic, Jewish, and other aspects of East European Genealogy. Live virtual workshops will be offered July 25th and 26th on reading German, Hebrew, Latin, and Russian.The main conference July 27-29 will include tracks for the former Austro-Hungarian Empire (including Czech, Slovak, etc.), German Empire, Poland, and the Russian Empire/USSR (including Ukraine, Belarus, and Baltic Countries) as well as a Jewish Research track, a Germans in Eastern Europe track, and classes on DNA Research, research tools, methods, and more. The conference will again be fully virtual this year, with live and pre-recorded sessions which will be also be available to view on demand following the conference. We will send an announcement when registration opens. The registration and additionaol information will be provided soon on the FEEFHS.org website.

Concordia University Collection

Phase II Progress continues towards preparing the various donated items for patron use. The team, consists of Dee Hert, Bud and Viki Strong, Mike Beier, Shari Stone, and Tyler and Patricia Bond. The first phase was to itemize the entire collection, which required several months. We counted 400 surname charts which will eventually benefit countless researchers. Also of equal value are the hundreds of books and miscellaneous items. The books represent various geographic areas, US, Germany, South America and France, Caucasus, etc. The second phase is to prepare the material for eventual patron use. Presently we are working on the collection of donated family histories. We remove pages from plastic sleeves, and address individual issues. Material is then prepared to ensure required format. Several of us are working projects from home. Mike, being a retired librarian has gone to the extra effort of restoring pictures. Material is then given to the library experts to bind, enter into the catalog and place on the shelves. In addition to these steps the material will also be noted on the library wiki page. I am hearing from family and friends who live on the west coast. They admitted being uncomfortable loosing the library and not being able to find a location on the west coast. Then after further consideration they came to the conclusion that the FHL is the ideal location. Sincere appreciation for understanding the worldwide value of the Family History Library and to Dr. Fritz Juengling for his superior negotiation skills and interest in the Germans from Russia culture. If Fritz was not interested the library would not have this material to share. The library staff have recently informed me that surname charts will be available to the public soon. The library acquired so many charts that additional storage space is needed. These materials are Volga, Bessarabia, Caucasus and surrounding areas. There are many additional records needing attention before they can be placed on the shelves. The chapter team is donating many hours to bring this material to the public. Check the library catalog often for items that will support your research. Watch for updates. Dee Hert Intermountain Chapter

Happy Spring

Our next chapter meeting will be held April 9, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. It will be a ZOOM MEETING, hopefully for the last time. Ellie Christensen will be doing a presentation on Customs and Traditions of the "old country." To be certain everyone can see and hear properly, a zoom seems more appropriate. We will be sending out zoom information as the date gets closer. This should be a fun, exciting, and informative presentation.

SCAM

I just want to let you all know that there is a scam email going around saying that the Intermountain Chapter of AHSGR is soliciting the purchase of gift cards for some organizations. THIS IS A SCAM. WE WILL NEVER PARTICIPATE IN SOMETHING LIKE THAT! Please do not believe it or fall for it. Contact information with the national AHSGR organization has been changed, so hopefully it will stop. Please do not participate in it. Viki Strong