SCGS Genealogy Jamboree :: Part Two

It had been a late night on Friday and I skipped the first session on Saturday morning opting to attend the Blogger Summit (part one and two) and then the Live Podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke.

Lisa Louise Cooke and Chris Haley during the live podcast.

I had intended to go to Cath Trindle's presentation on "How Much Proof is Enough?" but didn't make it to the room on time. The next session I went to was "Neglected History" with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak who discussed several people who have been “lost” to history – their important contributions have been pushed to the wayside with the emphasis on the more well-known people.

I was thrilled to meet Megan later and get my picture taken with her – and the photo was taken by Dick Eastman! Thanks, Dick.

At 6:15 there was a “special” session with Geoff Rasmussen titled “Brick Walls be Gone: Using Legacy's Research Guidance and To-Do List Tools” which I attended with Cheryl Palmer and several hundred other people. The Pavilion was packed with few, if any, empty seats. Most people were probably there because Legacy was giving away a netbook! I have been a user of Legacy for several years (since version 3.0) but had never really utilized the features Geoff discussed. I learned a few tips but didn't win the netbook.

Cheryl and I went to the geneablogger lounge and to our surprise found that no one was there! No geneabloggers in the lounge? We walked into the Marriott Grill and the only geneablogger we saw there was Randy Seaver and his lovely wife Linda. They invited us to join them, which we did and we had a very pleasant evening chatting with them. (Thanks, Randy.)

Me and Randy. I didn't get a picture of Randy and his wife Linda together...

On Sunday, I didn't attend any sessions!! But there was a good reason... In April of this year, when I had lunch with Craig Manson and Sheri Fenley, Craig had mentioned that he had never been to his grandmother's gravesite. She was buried in Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, which is not far from Burbank and just happens to be the largest Memorial Park in the World! I told Craig then that if we both made it to Jamboree I'd take him to the cemetery! I made good on that promise Sunday morning.

Craig and I left the Marriott at nine o'clock and breezed through the traffic, which was pretty light even for a Sunday morning. Rose Hills has an online database of interments and we had looked up his grandmother so we knew the section and plot number. Even so, I stopped at the gate, which had an attendant, and was given a drawing of the cemetery and directions to the gravesite.

After one wrong turn we made it to the right section. It was on the side of a hill so I went to locate the grave while Craig waited in the van. But I couldn't find it. I counted off the rows and spaces several times but came up with nothing except a blank space. I really didn't want to tell him that I couldn't find a grave marker but I did. We then returned to the gate attendant and asked if there was a marker for his grandmother. The response was brief and blunt – No. And I wondered why she hadn't mentioned it the first time, but I didn't ask. We returned to the site so Craig could view the area and I took a couple of pictures for him.

More than a little disappointed and with more questions than answers we returned to the Marriott in time for lunch. Craig then had an interview with Lisa Louise Cooke for a future podcast and I skipped the final session for the day.

Craig Manson and me.

To mark the end of Jamboree, a little celebration was held courtesy of Susan Kitchens who surreptitiously provided a bit of bubbly for the occasion. And then I reluctantly departed, happy to have met so many of my online friends but sad that it all had to end and hopeful that we'll meet again someday.

Having some fun! Contrary to appearances, I had only a few small sips of the bubbly... Susan is more than a little crazy – but in a good way! Thanks, Susan.