Neepawa Library: Family history series

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Published on Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Submitted

The Neepawa Press

In this year of the nation’s sesquicentennial, many of us are thinking not just of Canada’s history, but of our own family histories in this country and province. To inspire and encourage would-be genealogists, Neepawa Library is pleased to present the following series of events: 

On May 11 at 5:30 pm, Sharron Arksey, of Langruth, will be presenting her new novel, The Waiting Place. This is a book of fiction, but it contains much of what Sharron knows from her life in Manitoba and in her career as an agricultural journalist. In Sharron’s own words, “I had been writing about farm life for a long time, but most of what I had written has been non-fiction. The column I wrote for 25 years could be classified as creative non-fiction. I wanted now to address the same topic in a different genre.” Set against the background of a modern day cattle farm, The Waiting Place chronicles the pregnancy and labour of a young farm wife, drawing also from the experiences of other female family members.

Then on June 1 at 5:30 pm, Dianne Brydon joins us to show how she and her father researched and published The Stalwart Brydons: From Scotland to Galt to Portage la Prairie, A Family History of 100 Years in Canada, the recently released book detailing one of Manitoba’s pioneering families.  Dianne’s father, Jim Brydon, began the project over 30 years ago, before the internet made hunting down documents easy, and when Dianne retired in 2013, she joined her father in completing the book. During her presentation in Neepawa, Dianne will tell us about how finding documentary evidence contradicted many of family stories and fleshed out many others that were previously incomplete.

Now that you’re inspired to do your own research, we’ll follow these author presentations with a Family History Research workshop by Kathy Levandoski of Riding Mountain. Kathy has years of experience doing family history research and will share tips on where to start your genealogy search and an overview of options for organizing and preserving the information you discover. This one-day workshop will be held in the Neepawa Library Multipurpose Room on Saturday, June 17 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Registration is $20 per person and must be made in advance. Participants must also bring a bagged lunch to make the most of the day. Registration will be taken at the Neepawa Library up to the workshop date. 

For more information on any of these events, please call the library at 204-476-5648.