genealogy-dayDid you know that there was such a thing as an official “Genealogy Day”? No? Well nor did I till I stumbled across it online, and what-do-you-know, it’s tomorrow, 8th March 2014!

Don’t believe me? Well, here you go …

Established in 1997 as part of Celebrate Your Name Week, Genealogy Day was created to inspire an interest on one’s family history.

Activities you could partake in for Genealogy Day range from a simple family tree, which is a great activity for children, to starting your own research for a larger project. A great starting point for genealogy is interviewing family and family friends, and making notes, then going from there. You’ll be amazed how quickly things can start to fall into place. If you want to try an activity with children, draw a tree and have them write the names of their family onto the braches and leaves, along with pictures.

It is no secret that genealogy or family history, is one of the fastest growing hobbies around. Everyone knows someone who’s doing it, if they aren’t themselves. It has finally become an accepted hobby, so it is nice to see it recognised with a Genealogy Day.

But what should one do on Genealogy Day? I know there were a few suggestions in the speil above, but I’ve come up with my own suggestions for you …

1. Enter more names into your family tree. Do you have lots that you’ve found, but just have got around to entering into your genealogy program? Ok, well maybe that’s just me then.

2. If searching is more your thing, why not instead of heading to the usual sites you visit try a different one. MyHeritage and The Genealogist are two that have very different records to the others.

3. If it’s a nice day, take a trip to a cemetery (or two or three), and do the grave walk.

4. Visit a relative, and ask them a few questions about their past, and be sure to take notes, or record it  by audio or video.

5. Start (or continue) scanning your photos and documents. The pile will eventually go down, I promise.

6. Filing. I know it’s not a fun job, but it’s even less fun when you can’t find that record that you know you have … somewhere. So spend an hour and do a little filing. You’ll be thankful for it later.

7. Create a timeline of one of your ancestors, and see where you have gaps. It’s quite fascinating to see.

8. Find a comfy chair and read a genealogy magazine or two.

9. Watch a Google Hangout on Air, or listen to a Podcast.

10. Visit your local genealogy or historical society.

11. Explore the FamilySearch site beyond just the searching.

12. Help someone with a query – RAOGK.

13. Do some transcribing. You might head to the Trove newspapers for that, or the NAA Soda site, FamilySearch Indexing or a number of others.

That’s just a few suggestions, and there’s literally hundred more that I could write, and I’m sure each of you will find your own way to celebrate. So Happy Genealogy Day for tomorrow.