My first visit to SLC, Rootstech and the Family History
Library! All on my to-do list for more than ten years. The best genea-trip I’ve
taken. Instead of a daily blog, below are my observations by day.
Wednesday
1)
Traveling from Chicago, my husband and I arrived
around noon. Used the easy light train, Trax green line to downtown, and as a
senior citizen, $1.25 a ride. The stop was a block from our hotel – great!
2)
Rootstech check in at 1:30 PM was a snap. No
line! However, there was a mix-up with my registration, making it look like I’d
only registered for Saturday! Yikes! My observant husband noticed this, and
with my paid receipt in hand, this was quickly fixed. Got my cool tote bag,
name tag and on to my first presentation ever.
3)
Arrived thirty minutes early for my first-choice,
but it was filled. On to my next choice, also filled. Luckily my third choice was
excellent. (Not Rootstech’s fault, but the room designations, numbers or
letters are terribly confusing which added to my inability to get my first two
choices. For example the Ballrooms are in this order: J-F-B on the left, and
I-G-E-A on the right. Why not A-B-C?) However, the presentation, on Find A
Grave was excellent and I was happy.
4)
My husband, who is very encouraging and helpful
with my genea-obsession, came on the trip, but not to Rootstech. We spent the
rest of the evening touring the Temple Square. Young missionaries guided us
through: 1. Assembly Hall built in 1877, 2. North Visitor’s center, Thorvaldsen's
Christus, an inspiring statue of Jesus with a magnificent background
of the world, 3. Tabernacle, the dome shaped home to the famous choir and huge
organ, and 4. Beehive, home of Brigham Young built 1855, with many original
features.
5)
Birds – In SLC, at street corners you hear birds
to warn you and those with sight issues about crossing. Great idea!
6)
We finished out the day with a lovely meal at
Squatters and went to bed early. Exhausted.
Thursday
1)
My
husband was an excellent scout and found a Starbucks where we picked up
breakfast for under $10.
2)
We arose early to go to the Family History
Library, arriving as soon as it opened at 8 AM. Good timing, few people. Greeted
at the door. I was pleasantly surprised at the ease of finding films etc. Similar
to my local FHC, but much larger. Headed to the International floor in the
basement where we researched until about 10 AM. Easy to find help at that time
of day too. No lines.
3)
My husband, again, excellent scout, went up to
the third floor to learn how to locate books and gave me a list of all my
favorite counties, aisle, shelf number and call number. (Isn’t he wonderful?)
4)
Attended an excellent 11 AM class, then met Fred
for lunch at a LDS diner. Large portions of home-made food. Yum!
5)
Back to two more classes. Learned to arrive at
least 30 minutes early. Now the number of people in the hallways had grown. In
one of the classes, although knowledgeable, the presenter interrupted his own
speech every time a hand went up to answer the question. Very annoying. Otherwise
loved the classes.
6)
Bananas! Every vendor has bananas and by the end
of the day there are few left. Excellent snack.
7)
Back to the room. Picked up my research and
spent the early evening at the library, which was full, but comfortable. I over-heard
the volunteers that this was the most people ever. They did an admirable job of
taking care of everyone with kindness and friendliness. Men wear freshly
pressed suits and ties. Women wear dresses. Gives such a wonderful warm
impression of the members of this church. We must be so thankful to all the
hours they devote to our mission of finding family.
8)
Attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice at
8:00-9:30. Free and open to the public.
Wonderful!
Friday
1) Even though I arrived 40 minutes early, my
first-choice class was full. I’m SO glad. I attended my next choice on U.S.
Church Records, by Sunny Morton. It was probably my favorite class of the
entire conference.
2) Again,
the room numbers. This was held in room 155E. On the first floor right? I
followed the signs to the second floor and across through a long
hallway, then downstairs, where (thank goodness) I was met by volunteers who
steered me to the right room. (Without them, I would have never found it.) I
learned later, that it was much easier and shorter to walk through the expo to
get to these rooms.
3) The
expo hall – unbelievable. Between sessions, I roamed and roamed and yes, bought
and bought. DNA kits were cheap. So were many books and other related items. I
snagged a free green ancestry.com pen too.
4) I
returned many times to the media center. I saw many of our famous genealogists,
Curtis Witchner, Kenyatta Berry (I think), Dick Eastman, Jill Ball, Louise
Cook, Stephan Harms (Family Book Creator) and one of my favorites, Randy Seaver
to name a few. I also saw Scott Hamilton being interviewed.
5) Attended
the class on Newspapers.com by Peter Drinkwater. Excellent!
6) Dinner
with friends from our local genealogy society, CAGGNI. We had a great time,
talking about the trip and what we learned.
Saturday
Henry Louis Gates!!!!! Admire
him! Adore him from afar! I arrived at the Convention center at 7:15 AM for his
9:00 AM keynote presentation, met by hundreds of people with the same idea. I snagged
a great seat four rows behind the reserved seating. There was a wonderful
emcee, and a lovely singer, but the star of the show, Skip, was fantastic. If
you didn’t see his presentation, be sure to watch it online! An outstanding way
to end my first Rootstech.
Fred and I rode the Trax back to the airport for an early
afternoon flight to Chicago. We travelled like we’re pros but we are newbies. TSA
precheck is wonderful. Carry-on bags only – great idea. We packed light and had
room to bring things back. Luckily we had early reservations! Storm warning of
possibly 12 inches of snow later that day. But we were back at home, by 6:00 PM
with wonderful memories of Rootstech and SLC.
