I just signed up for Ohio’s Vax-A-Million lottery to promote vaccinations in the state. It was really quick and easy. Took about 3 min to fill in the required info. Now I will be eligible for one of five drawings for $1 million each in the coming weeks. If you live in Ohio, are vaccinated,
Read on »Posts By: whuskonen
Vesanto, my grandparents home town in Finland, is 150 today
Vesanto residents celebrated the municipality’s 150th birthday today: May 14, 2021. Vesanto became an independent municipality on May 14, 1871. Due to the corona virus situation, a small group gathered at the municipal marina and beach by Lake Vesantojärvi for speeches, group singing, and a poetry reading by school children. In addition the event was
Read on »Having Fun with Green Screen in Zoom
In a former life, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I operated an audio-visual production company, As a result of that experience, I have been fascinated by the possibilities of using “green screen” technology (sometimes referred to as chroma key compositing) to achieve a composite video or photo. This technology makes it possible to
Read on »World Pandemic Declared 1 Year Ago Today
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared that Covid-19 coronavirus had reached world pandemic levels. Soon every thing in the United States was shut down. Two days before that I drove out to Fairport Harbor in Lake County to give an in-person presentation entitled “Where’s Otto: How the Internet Helped Track Down 10
Read on »What Do Those Numbers Mean in Census Records?
One thing leads to another in genealogy. I was researching an uncle (by marriage), Waino Aleksanteri Seppelin, who came to this country from Finland in 1910 and very shortly got a job as a laborer in a steel mill in Warren, Trumbull, Ohio, USA. Waino eventually worked into the better-paying job of “heater.” His census
Read on »MyHeritage to be Acquired by Private Equity Firm Francisco Partners
I am a subscriber to MyHeritage.com, a genealogical database provider that has helped me connect with cousins in Finland, from which my paternal grandparents emigrated to America in 1902 and 1903. I am a subscriber because MyHeritage, which is based in Israel, has aggressively marketed its services in Europe, including Finland. Yesterday (24 Feb 2021),
Read on »Genealogical Crime Mysteries – A New Genre
I have been involved in genealogical research for about 25 years. For the last half dozen years, I have been using DNA testing to find relatives. I also enjoy reading detective novels. When I set out to write this review of The Chester Creek Murders, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, I discovered that there is a
Read on »My Genealogy Beginnings Happened in Salt Lake City
Nearly 25 years ago, I was on a business trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. At the end of the day’s scheduled activities, my business colleague announced that he wanted to visit the LDS Family History Library (www.familysearch.org/locations/saltlakecity-library) to do some research. Since I had nothing planned for the evening, I decided to tag along.
Read on »Collecting Death Certificates–Payoffs and Pitfalls
Who, what, where and when are key questions that are answered by genealogical records. In the following discussion, we are adding two more questions: why and how. Who to collect death certificates for: ● Direct ancestors are a top priority. ● Ancillary ancestors are a second priority. ● Obtaining death certificates is becoming more costly.
Read on »Did the Pandemic Kill Christmas Cards?
2020 probably was a terrible year for Christmas Card sales. At least my experience would indicate that is was. I received only 1 Christmas letter this year via the U.S. Postal Service. Ordinarily, I would receive a half dozen letters from family and friends. I received only two Christmas cards, and one was hand-delivered to
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