Preserve your family stories by joining a writing group

You won’t regret putting memories, histories on paper.

The holidays are good times to share family stories.

The Mecklenburg Genealogical Society, based in Charlotte, N.C., has created another way for people to do that — a writing group. The group meets once a week for about two hours to share stories they have written on a range of topics, including family, life events, maybe even the tale behind a recipe.

Louise Nottingham is the founder and coordinator of the group, formed to help keep memories alive. One man wrote enough stories about his family to collect them into a small book. He published 25 copies for close kin. Another member wrote biographical sketches of her eight great-grandparents from stories she had heard and records. For some, family recipes prompted them to write about what that food meant to them. Others were motivated by a photograph or other family heirloom. The Writing Group is something that any genealogy or historical society could form or at least try out. For more information, go to oldemeck. org (where some stories are posted) or contact the group at P.O. Box 32453, Charlotte, N.C., 28232-2453.

Christmas traditions

Christmas traditions are the topic of the Georgia Archives’ December 10 Lunch and Learn virtual lecture. The free event starts at noon, via MicroSoftTeams, or go to GeorgiaArchives.org for more information and a link. You can call 678-3643710 as well. Many previous monthly Lunch and Learn programs are available on the Archives’ website or its YouTube site. They are well worth checking out. The Lunch and Learn program is co-sponsored by the Friends of Georgia Archives and History, whose 2021 Christmas ornament is now available at www.fogah.org.

Pedigree collapse

The term “pedigree collapse” is when you have fewer individual ancestors because cousins married cousins along the way. Search online for more explanation.