Summary of January’s Meeting

Hello Society Members

Hope everyone saw OCGS made the front page in an article about our index records!

We had a very good first meeting to start the year 2021. We all hope this will be a good year for everyone. The meeting was well attended. We missed all those who were unable to make it.

The library still has no word for when it will reopen to the public. Hopefully, with the roll-out of the new vaccine it will be sooner rather than later. Most likely when it does open it will be a “soft opening” where the number of patrons are restricted and the public meeting rooms will probably continue to be restricted for a while.

So, using virtual meetings seems to be the norm for a while. Fortunately, our group seems to be adapting well. There are some members who have not joined us using this technology so we plan to reach out and see if there is anything we can do on our end. We realize there are a number of reasons for people who have not attended but we do not want a lack of knowledge to be one of them. We miss visiting with everyone.

Our new setup will be to have a business meeting from 1:00 to 1:30 for members only, followed by an open meeting at 1:30 which is now open to the public and will be announced in the newspaper each month in the calendar of events section. As always, this meeting is on the 4th Monday of each month.

As to yesterday’s business meeting. Old business had 2 items. First, an update was given on the status of the latest Funeral Home Indexing project. In October it was reported the latest phase was completed but we were holding off placing these records on our website. The free service we use limits our abilities so we have reached out to several sources to obtain help with building a suitable database ourselves but have not been successful. Since our last meeting,  we placed 5,900 more burial records on our index on our site. 

If anyone has any contacts with OSUIT we would like to talk to someone to see if a student could take on creating an in-house database which is compatible with our website. We may need to pay for a student or seek bids to solve this problem. If it is not solved, eventually it will could prevent us from providing index information.  If anyone has a family member involved in computers, especially websites and or databases, please consider reaching out to them for help in this area. I can provide details of exactly what we need. It is not a hard project for someone acquainted in these disciplines.

The 2nd past business item was an update on our website hosting services. It was reported the price had gone up significantly. The use of a private server from a member had been mentioned in previous meetings but had not materialized by the October meeting. Since our site was up for renewal in November a motion was made at that time to renew our website hosting for only 1 year in order to allow us time to seek hosting options. The use of a private server had not been worked out by renewal time in November so we were forced to work out the best deal she could. A reduced package deal for 3 years was negotiated for about 50% off.  Since the group was in hiatus, an emergency meeting was held by the officers and it was agreed to accept the new 3-year price and to be followed by a vote during our January meeting for acceptance. The motion was made to retroactively approve the contract and was passed unanimously. 

New Business discussed.

The President, Barbara, proposed that special recognition and lifetime membership be given to three of our members. Julia and Bill Simms, and Carol Turner whose memberships and services date to the earliest days of our organization. In addition, a special certificate of recognition was approved, posthumously, for Thelma Nolan. This certificate will be sent to her son. Again, Thelma was part of the original group and contributed greatly over the years. These members represent the true spirt of the Okmulgee County Genealogical Society and we thank them all for their time and hard work over the years. Traci has been tasked to obtain suitable certificates, which unfortunately due to the pandemic will have to be mailed and not presented in person. Good job Julia, Bill, and Carol!

Next, it was approved to open a separate checking account in order to setup Paypal on our website. This will facilitate payment for records provided. It is thought this will increase the use of our research services and help even more people in the process.

It was announced that the Tulsa and Muscogee Genealogy Societies are looking  at forming a virtual consortium. This idea was the result of the use of virtual meetings, which became the norm after Covid-19. The group, to be known as the Oklahoma Virtual History & Genealogy Alliance, will consist of genealogy associations invited from throughout northeastern Oklahoma and perhaps the 4 corner states. The idea being to pool resources and utilize video conferencing techniques in order to attract speakers and educators. These individuals could then speak to the members of the Alliance in a group zoom meeting. When this has been fully developed the results will be reported back to our Society to see if we wish to join and partake in this endeavor. Other groups have done this with successful results.

The feedback from other genealogy societies is that the world is changing in how genealogical groups will be helping their members going forward.

The final new business was an announcement by one of our members that Larry Biddle, an amateur local historian, has completed his book detailing the history of St. Anthony’s. For those who don’t remember, St. Anthony’s not only has a church but had a private school for many a year here in Okmulgee. Larry has graciously donated a copy of the book, which covers over 100 years of history, to the Okmulgee Public Library. This was a project of love which he has perused for several years. It should prove to be an interesting read. You may know Larry from his days teaching at OSUIT or his more recent services as President of the Okmulgee Cemetery Association when he spoke to us in early 2020.

The business meeting was closed and the open meeting commenced. There were no guests as this was our first such meeting and the word has not spread. So, be sure and let your friends know.

The open meeting discussed the need for getting additional equipment to add to our TV in order to be ready for virtual attendance when we are able to get back together. A conference speaker/microphone is needed as well as cabling. It was discussed this would need to be in place prior to our being able to meet in person so the out-of-state members, and others, will be able to attend. The use of a camera has been donated for the rest of this year, by a member, until we can make sure everything is working properly. This equipment expenditure will probably last us through 2021 and prove whether or not a virtual element to our meetings should become a permanent part of our format. A permanent camera solution can be discussed at that time.

Speaking of out-of-state members, we now have 4 such members! Three of which were in attendance. We are pleased for these additions to our membership as they give us fresh perspective and much needed feedback to how we can make our club better and provide resources needed by other genealogy researchers.

Discussion turned to the idea of having a once a month informal or “open” meeting in the evenings using the Zoom system. The initial idea is to provide general discussion of genealogy knowledge, personal experiences, discuss specific problems, provide education, and in general provide a social environment to discuss things genealogical or historical in nature. Ideas for topics or the format are needed. Be sure and give us any thoughts you may have. The exact time and day of this evening meeting will be announced in the coming weeks.

Lastly, more than one member expressed having hit brick walls and would appreciate any insights people may have. I know we have several members who find researching enjoyable. For those types, we are coming up with a method whereby we can share details of these brick walls on our website and let other members take a stab at them. Self-satisfaction and gratefulness from those who are stuck can be expected.

Next month we hope to pull together a webinar to share during the open meeting. We hope everyone will be able to attend either one or both portions of next month’s meeting. Stay safe.