2026 will be here before we know it and I am getting my thoughts together on what I hope to accomplish as far as my family tree is concerned in this upcoming year. I find that doing this really seems to help. I don’t recall making this list last year, so here goes.
1. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
I’ve already signed up for Amy Johnson Crow’s weekly series of prompts to help me write about my ancestors. I’m heeding her words of wisdom, which are you don’t have to write about every prompt, just the ones that speak to you. So that is just what I am going to attempt to do this year. I figure this is something I can work on during my lunch hours each day at work instead of always just reading. I’ll be productive (when I’m not sleepy and going out to take a snooze in my car – or going to a local park and getting my exercise in).
If you are interested in signing up for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, click here: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-new/
2. Utilizing My Local Library
Presently when I go to my local library for the meetings of our county chapter of OGS, I always see a group of people there diligently going between books and the computers working on their tree. I want to be one of these people. My local library is an amazing resource that I don’t use enough so I am going to begin going every Saturday to utilize the various programs that can be used while in the library. The websites include Ancestry Library Edition, FindMyPast, they are a FamilySearch affiliate, American Ancestors, Fold3, and MyHeritage.
I look forward to being able to utilize these different programs along with the many books they have in their stacks of shelves to assist me in finding out more about my ancestors. Especially since this year I forgot to renew my membership around Thanksgiving when Ancestry has good deals on gift memberships (or in my case, a gift from me, to me). I think my only subscription presently is Newspapers.com and even it expires in mid-February.
Check out your library, they may have Library Edition subscriptions for your favorite database as well!
3. Growing My Local Genealogy Chapter
When I first began going to my local chapter of the OGS, there were about 20-30 members coming to our monthly meetings. When Covid hit in 2020 our numbers decreased exponentially. Like it’s basically our few board members coming to the monthly meetings along with my mother-in-law (she is the only non-board member in attendance). I’ve already begun searching for speakers and have a theme for the meeting set-up for this years programming.
My hope is that with advance notice of a speaker or the topic that maybe we will be lucky enough to get a larger attendance. As the programming chair I’d been fearful of spending money on speakers when it was just about 7 people attending the meetings. But this year I’m throwing caution to the wind. I’m hopeful between filling in the schedule for the entire year along with more social media content I will be able to grow our chapter once again. If you belong to a genealogical society, feel free to share any tips you used to help grow your group.
A Successful 2026
I’m hoping all of the above will allow me to have a good year of expanding my tree and hopefully breaking down some brick walls. If you have any goals for this year, feel free to share in the comments below.
In the meantime, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Helping History Come Alive 