Celebrating 40 years

The Webster County Genealogical Society received its charter from the Iowa Genealogical Society in April 1977. This year marks 40 years the WCGS has been in existence.

Come celebrate with us from 10 a.m. to noon on April 29 at the Fort Dodge Public Library, 424 Central Ave. We will have a program on Who Am I? Using DNA as an aid to genealogy research.

Refreshments will be served.

Please sign up at our event page on Facebook so we have an idea how many will be there.

January 2016 news

Our January monthly meeting will be at 1 p.m. on Jan. 4 in Room 134 of the Fort Dodge Public Library, 424 Central Ave. We will have a program at 1:30. Donna Larson will talk about her trip to Ellis Island. We expect the program to last about 30 minutes.

On Jan. 6 and 7, we will be closed because the library will be closed for staff training. We will be open regular hours on Jan. 5 and the rest of the month, unless we have really bad weather. Check our Facebook page for updates.

Programs for 2016

We have set up a schedule of programs to coincide with our monthly meetings in 2016. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. and the program will be at 1:30 p.m. and should last about 30 minutes.

January 4 (originally scheduled for Jan. 11, but changed back)
Donna Larson will talk about her trip to Ellis Island.

February 1
Charlene Washington will talk about black history in Fort Dodge.

March 7
Sue Lieske will discuss family surnames.

April 4
Martha Schmidt will talk about her trip to Salt Lake City.

May 2
Diane Esperson will talk about Swedish ancestors.

June 6
Joan Ewing will discuss family surnames.

July 11
Susan M. Olson will talk about Francis Scott Key – a relative.

August 1
We will have a planning meeting for Family History Month (October).

September 12 (special date because of Labor Day)
Carol Foltz will talk about some of the old schools in Fort Dodge/Webster County.

October 3
Family History Month
We will plan our holiday party (December).

November 7
We will plan the programs for 2017.

December (special date: Saturday)
We will hold our holiday party/open house from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the library.

Everyone is welcome to attend any of our meetings and events.

February meeting

Our monthly meetings are usually on the first Monday each month, at 1 p.m. in the society’s room at the Fort Dodge Public Library, 424 Central Ave.

This weekend we are expecting several inches of snow. It will probably be fine by Monday, but just in case, here’s the rule: If the Fort Dodge schools are out because of weather, the Webster County Genealogical Society will be closed. If that is the case on Monday, the meeting would be moved to Feb. 9. We will post a notice on our website and on Facebook if that happens.

Weather closings

The Webster County Genealogical Society was closed due to weather yesterday and today. We generally follow the Fort Dodge Community Schools and close if they have a late start, early release or closing due to weather. Tomorrow, however, we do have a volunteer planning to come in). Please check our Facebook page to see if that changes.