Bay County Genealogical Society of Panama City, Florida

Bay County Genealogical Society of Panama City, Florida 

The Bay County Genealogical Society  was organized in 1980; it has been a mover and a shaker ever since!

I personally have enjoyed attending seminars sponsored by their organization.  I don't have a complete list of the speakers over the years, but one of my favorite personalities is John Philip Colletta, Ph.D.  In 2005, he did a seminar "Writing Your Family History--From Dry Facts to Real Life Stories".

This is one of my favorite themes and John covered, step-by-step, in this presentation, those elements of genealogy that are heavy hitters when it comes to writing a readable family history. 

The BCGS, by the way, will never let you go hungry.  Their leaders are real folks who know the art of Southern Hospitality.  In addition, they have been acclaimed as outstanding in the field of Preservation by the Florida State Genealogical Society.  Their website is a treasure chest of information for Bay County researchers and their support of the local Bay County Library has been significant.

The monthly newsletter, The County Line, always chock full of

• Details about meetings and/or seminars--Need to Know stuff, with a reminder to enjoy regular meetings and socials, and of course, a timely reminder to renew your membership dues!  Since 2005, they've been meeting on the third Saturday (which works well for other societies in Northwest Florida).
• Especially helpful, (since it's true that it's "not all on the Internet"), is the publication in the newsletter, of a list of the "new books" in the collection of the Bay County Public Library. 
• The Society has in the past also touted their own publications for sale.  For example the Bay County, Florida Marriages (Five volumes for 1900-1955).
• Genealogy Methodology:  you will find articles in the newsletter that will take some of the guesswork out of searching your ancestors.  Blurbs about genealogy tools also appear in the publication.  For example, Barbara Winge considered the Naming Patterns for IRELAND, in one column.

Since I am in the downsizing period of my life, I thought to pick up some of the many papers I've collected over the years, review them, and then trash them.  This article was based on a December 2004 issue of The County Line, but I've reviewed the newsletter and decided I can't trash it; it will go into the scrapbook!  After all, it has two mentions of seminars or events that I participated in and I want my children to know that I was always associating with good people and learning family history, my passion!  Please refer to the online website for the BCGS for current activities and information.