Salem stakes hosting Family Day of Discovery

The Family Day of Discovery, jointly hosted by Salem West Stake Family History and the Salem Stake, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15. With the theme “Like Branches on a Tree, We All Grow in Different Directions, but Out Roots Keep Us Together,” the Family Day of Discovery will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Salem West Stake Center, 695 S. 300 West, Salem. The Family Day of Discovery event is free to the public and a light snack will be provided.

Opening remarks will be made by the presidencies of the two stakes and the keynote speaker will be Ron Tanner, product manager for Family Tree at Family Search. These will be held in the cultural hall beginning at 9 a.m. After the opening and keynote speaker, the classes will begin at 9:40 a.m.

There are 20 classes scheduled that are perfect for all abilities - from beginners to intermediate and advanced researchers - and they will cover a wide variety of topics including: Fast Accurate Research with Family Search, Affiliate and Other Genealogy Websites, Fast Accurate Research with Google, Utah Research Beyond LDS Records, U.S. Vital Records on the Internet-Lesser Known Sources, Family History While You Sleep, How to Find Out More About Your LDS Ancestors, Planning Your Heritage or Roots Travel, U.S.-Mid West Research, How to Identify People in Old Photographs, Merging Duplicate Records, Finding “Cousins” Using Descendency Research, Mobile Apps – Tree & Memories, Maintaining and Protecting Your Computer, U.S. Census: How to Use and Mine It for Family History Clues, Deciphering Handwriting, Scandinavian Research, and The Value of the Family Search Wiki.

There will also be a youth track with classes aimed at involving youth in family history and its technology.

The presenters are experts in their fields. They are: Van Celaya, Laurie Castillo, Deborah Glenn, Paula Jewett, Todd Powell, Jerry Castillo and Colleen Stutz. Their bios will be in the syllabus handout. There will be free hardcopies of the presenters syllabuses available on the day of the event.

Mark your calendar and plan to spend the day learning and enjoying the company of others involved in doing genealogy and family history. It will be time well spent and an opportunity to learn and become involved in finding your ancestors.