Genealogical society hosts successful family history conference

LUNENBURG — The study of Lunenburg County genealogy keeps getting more and more popular with the passage of time.

That fact was made abundantly clear when the South Shore Genealogical Society hosted a Celebrating Family History Conference at the Lunenburg community centre June 1 and 2.

“This was the culmination of the Inter-generational Sleuth Project so we had over 50 teams across the county doing family history and community history projects,” explains society spokeswoman Cheryl Lamerson.

She said the conference ran Friday afternoon and all day Saturday with a fundraising silent auction and concert taking place on Friday evening featuring the talents of the Ernst Family, Collage, the Riverport and Area Community Choir and Joanne Jefferson.

Special guest speakers at the conference included historians and genealogists Dr. Terry Punch and Dr. Ken Paulsen, author Joanne Jefferson and Ralph Getson, curator of education at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic.

Presentations on local history and genealogy were also made by some of the teams participating in the sleuth project.

Ms Lamerson says that considerable effort went into making the conference, which drew upwards of 120 participants, a success.

“A lot of the work was encouraging the support of businesses and organizations and individuals across the county … but they came through. It was amazing,” she adds.

Due to that level of support and participation, Ms Lamerson says the society is looking at holding another such conference in the future.

“I think we would do it again, but I think it would be something we’d do every second or third year,” she says.

posted on 6/27/12