All Smiles - Aunt Della's 100th Birthday Celebration

Aunt Della is all smiles as several party attendees stop by her table to personally wish her a "Happy 100th Birthday.

Happy 100th Birthday Aunt Della

Happy 100th Birthday to my Aunt Della Moore Richardson who turned the big 1-0-0 on Saturday, December 26, 2009. She celebrated her day with a big birthday party and numerous family and friends and some county officials helped her to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Aunt Della was the youngest daughter born on December 26, 1909 in the Liberty area in Greensville County, VA to Robert Moore and Mary Eliza Robinson Moore. She is the youngest sister of my paternal grandmother Hattie Moore Pair and is the last living child of her family.

Until a few years ago, Aunt Della thought she was born in 1910 instead of 1909, but research revealed a birth year of 1909. Read more about this discovery.

Aunt Della is assisted by her oldest grandson in cutting her 100th birthday cake.

What a blessing it was to attend Aunt Della's 100th birthday party.

On December 26, 2009,
Aunt Della was QUEEN FOR A DAY!

More party details and photos to come . . . .

Memory Monday: Passing the Laptop

On Sunday, November 1, 2009, I traveled home from attending the International Black Genealogy Summit in Fort Wayne, IN. This was a bittersweet day which signaled that my good times had come to an end. My travel partner, Selma and I arrived at the airport early to be sure that we didn’t have to rush and arrived at the gate where we would be boarding our airplane with a lot of time to spare and to relax.

“It’s time for the chat…see if you can get online,” Selma told me after we were seated for a few minutes.

This was some time after 11:30 a.m. and Selma was referring to the genealogy chat of Afrigeneas in which we regularly attend on Sunday mornings and other days of the week.

Connection to the airport’s Internet server went smoothly and within a short time I had accessed the chat.

'Selma and I are waiting in the Fort Wayne Airport for to go home,' I typed in the chat window. The group already knee that we were returning from our trip to the International Black Genealogy Summit because this had been a major topic of discussion for several weeks prior to the conference. The few people who were in the chat that morning had not attended this conference. Several of the other regular chatters were also on their way home from the conference and Selma and I were thrilled to have met so many Afrigeneas chatters at the conference.

I typed in a few other things related to the conference and then passed the laptop to Selma. For the remainder of our time waiting to board our flight home, Selma and I took turns participating in the chat and passing the laptop to each other. In the video below, Selma is sitting in the airport on the laptop participating in the Afrigeneas Chat. Notice the big smile on her face. Ahh! the joys of Technology.

Wordless Wednesday: Happy News

Publication by Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux, (1884-1968)

Photo taken at Gospel Spreading Church, Newport News, VA by Professor Dru

Read more about Elder Michaux

Clowning Around in Junior High Orchestra Class

These are photos from my junior high school orchestra days in 9th grade, 1977-1978. As you can see, my orchestra mates are taking a break to clown around. During these days, a junior high was called an Intermediate school in our school system, and consisted of 8th and 9th grades.

The Stringed Quartet

I began playing the Viola in 6th grade and played until my sophomore year in college. My, how I miss those days. I participated in various orchestra activities including several quartets. This is a photo of a quartet comprised of (left to right) Arnaz, who played cello; Mrs. Jeraldine Herbinson, my first string teacher on violin; Me (Drusilla) on Viola; and Cathy, on violin.

Arnaz, Cathy, and I were in high school (between 1978 and 1981) during the time of this quartet. Cathy and I met in 7th grade and after that time attended the same schools; Arnaz attended another school in our city, but we would see him in city wide orchestra activities, or events such as this, when we played as a quartet. Although Mrs. Herbinson was our (Cathy and I) string teacher from elemementary school, we still saw her throughout our school days at orchestra activities and events such as the day we played in this quartet. Mrs. Herbinson was probably Arnaz's string teacher sometime during his school days, but I do not know for sure.

I believe that we played at a local church on the day that this photo was taken.

Kreativ Blog Award

I am honored to be one of the recipients of the another “Kreativ Award.” Earlier this year, I also received this award. Many thanks for my current nomination go to my fellow Bloggers: Cheryl of Heritage Happens, Russ of Heritage Happens, Mavis of Heritage Happens, and Felicia of Our Family As A Whole, and Darlene of My Colored Rootsfor selecting me for this award.

As a recepient of this award, I am required to write seven things about myself.

1. My favorite Microsoft Office software is PowerPoint.
2. I have a weakness for chocolate and other sweetness.
3. I learned to play the Viola (like a violin) in 6th grade, and played though my sophomore year in college. I hope to begin playing again one day.
4. My favorite fruit is banana.
5. My favorite color if Fushia.
6. Besides genealogy, I also like to read, travel, and crochet.
7. I am a Genea-Holic and am proud of it!!!!!!
8. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

I have added the "Kreativ Blogger Award" logo to my blog and have also placed links to the person(s) who gave me this award in this posting.

Additionally, as a recipient of this award, I am required to nominate seven other blogs. Below, is a list of my nominations for the “Kreativ Blogger Award.”

1. Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko
   


2. Life From The Roots by Barbara Poole
   


3. African Roots Podcast by Angela Walton-Raji
   


4. The Blessedness of Believing by Linda Meadows
   


5. Genealogy – Photograph – Restoration by George Geder
   


6. Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill
   


7. The Professional Descendnt by The Professional Descendant

Finally, I will leave comments on each of these blogs.

Thanks again to Cheryl, Russ, Mavis, Felicia, and Darlene for your nominations. I am honored to be included in a group of such Great Bloggers.

Educating Yourself in Genealogy

Educating yourself in genealogy is essential to your success in “Finding Your Folks.” As you progress on your genealogical journey, you will need to continually develop your research and methodology skills. For the past 15 years, I have continually educated myself and developed my genealogy research and methodology skills by doing the following things.

• Reading how-to genealogy books, pamphlets, published and unpublished family histories, magazines, and Internet articles or blogs. Many of these resources were found at my local public library.


• Watching genealogy and historical VHS videos, DVDs, and online videos. I found some genealogy and historical VHS and DVDs at my local public library. I have also discovered genealogy and historical videos on online websites such as YouTube and Roots Television.


• Attending workshops and conferences, both local and national. Workshops and conferences are not only a good source for information, but are also a place to meet and network with other genealogist who share your common interest.


• Taking genealogy classes (online and face-to-face). Some colleges and universities offer face-to-face or online genealogy courses. I haven taken online courses through GenClass. There are also other Online and Home Study Courses offered by various organizations.


• Joining genealogy societies. In my local society, we have monthly speakers whose lectures enhance my knowledge in various historical and genealogical topics. Other societies, whose meetings I am not able to attend because of distance, provide newsletters and journals which further my knowledge in history and genealogy.

Angela Walton-Raji of African Roots Podcast and The Beginning Genealogist website shares her thoughts on “Educating Yourself” in one of her latest videos.

The Beginning Genealogist Website and Videos

In response to a myriad of questions that she has received from persons who are just getting started researching their family history, Angela Walton-Raji of African Roots Podcast has created a new website and videos called The Beginning Genealogist.

Videos created for new genealogists can be viewed either from the The Beginning Genealogist website or from the AYWalton YouTube channel.

Thank you, Angela, for taking the time to create this Beginner Genealogist website and videos.