Keeping Up with Salt Lake City Changes

If you would like to keep up with what is happening with the former Crossroads Plaza mall and ZCMI Center in Salt Lake City, check out Downtown Rising. The new complex is called City Creek Center and is scheduled for completion in mid-2011. The site includes details such as overview maps, FAQs, press releases, retail info (grocery, restaurants, food court +), and planned residential space. If you are traveling to SLC, don't forget that the Gateway shopping complex just a few blocks from the library is open as are the shopping areas on 400 South (University Line) that can be reached by Trax Light Rail or bus. Restaurants abound in both places.

Check out Downtown Salt Lake City for info on downtown restaurants and other helpful details.

Holiday Travel

Not me. Last year I spent Christmas in northern Minnesota with my daughter, her husband, and their three grandchildren. This year it is their turn to come to the Twin Cities.

Our family began our holiday season today with a birthday dinner for my oldest granddaughter, Kaylene, who turned 14. As if having a granddaughter who is already 14 wasn't traumatic enough, she has now surpassed me in height. Not by much, but she is elated.

For many years, an extended business trip has kept me away on her birthday. We began a tradition of what she calls her "fake birthday." It is celebrated either before or after my business trip. I recently told her I would be in town on her birthday so we could celebrate on time. She said she still wanted the "fake birthday." It is special Granddaughter and Grandma time, and I was thrilled that she wanted our tradition to continue. This year we are going out to dinner and then jewelry shopping for her gift.

Page 161, 6th Sentence

For some time now, bloggers with a connection to genealogy have been "tagging" each other. This is tagging as in tag, you're it! Challenges are made, information is requested, and so on. Some is very serious, other tags are just interesting and some are humorous. Randy Seaver issued a tag to me yesterday, November 17th in his blog. I don't always have time to accept the challenge, but I did today. The tag this time around is to open the book you are currently reading to page 161 and post the book title, author, and the 6th sentence on that page. Yes, Randy, I do read your blog, Genea-Musings. Reading the blogs of others is something that I do when I am trying to avoid other work that is calling to me. After all, keeping up on the genealogy world in general is important!

The first book I am reading is really going to tell you something about me. Actually, I can blame Eileen Polakoff, another professional genealogist for this one. A few years ago when I was going through one of those trying times in life, she sent me a big box of romance novels. I became hooked on this mindless fluff. I can find the best romance novel sections in used books stores everywhere. The current trashy novel is Daring by Jillian Hunter. Why did I pick this book -- it was on sale at Wal-Mart and had Scottish plaid on the cover. After all, my maiden name is Stuart. I was hoping that page 161, 6th sentence would be one I could post! The sentence is "She jumped, putting her hand to her heart." No, I will not tell you the rest of the story!

The second book on my nightstand is Nathan Philbrick's Mayflower. The 6th sentence on page 161 is "But for William Bradford, who had come to American to recreate the community of fellow worshippers he had known in Scrooby and in Leiden, there would always be something missing." I can blame this gift book on another professional genealogist, Josh Taylor.

I no longer have genealogy periodicals on my nightstand. A break from genealogy is important now and then. As someone who works full time and then some in this field, those breaks are great therapy.

List of Newspaper Indexes and Images Online

The Library of Congress website includes a section "Newspaper Archives/Indexes/Morgues." This page includes links to sites with newspaper indexes, images, directories, and other links for finding newspapers online. In this case it is largely directed at historical newspapers which are what genealogists generally seek. One section of the page tells which newspaper related sites have a fee involved. Be sure to check on some of the links to other general sites for more lists. Check back occasionally for updates to the lists. Now, if miraculously the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and other Twin Cities newspapers were only indexed online before the late 1980s, I would be a totally happy camper.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

During World Wars I & II, 1.7 million men and women died during their service to the Commonwealth. The London Times recently carried an article that listed databases, collections, and hints to use in tracing the war graves. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission alone covers cemeteries found in 150 countries that represent those 1.7 million war casualty burials from World Wars I and II. The easily searchable database results give the service person's name, rank, service #, date of death, age, regiment, nationality, and the name & place of the cemetery or memorial. The nationality column includes Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand, South African and United Kingdom. I checked the database for one of my English surnames and 70 names popped up, including one Canadian.

The register can also be searched for the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action in World War II. The CWGC website is a treasure trove of information.

My October Arkansas Trip

Though the trip was a business one, I did save a couple days for personal genealogy and visiting friends. I stopped in Clarksville and Ozone, Arkansas for a short while. My late father-in-law was born a bit south of Clarksville, in Jamestown.

Things have changed, but I still recognized important places. Being there always reminds me of the summer we tent camped on the Arkansas River and the humidity and the cicadas kept us awake. Lesson learned: do not go camping in a nylon tent in Arkansas in August. When the relatives in Fort Smith offered a couple of air conditioned rooms we jumped at the opportunity. LOL.

The drive north through the town of Ozone was quite different. A lot of home have been built along the road. I drove north to Branson but driving through the Ozarks did not bring the oohs and ahs of beautiful fall colors -- the leaves were just beginning to turn. Still, the awesome beauty and fresh air of the Ozarks was there on a sunny day as I drove with my windows open.

Baseball History

An October 31st article in the online Globe & Mail out of Toronto told the story of a woman who brought some exciting photographs to a meeting of baseball researchers. These photos included teams from the U.S. and some are rare images.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071031.BCHAWTHORN31/TPStory/National%3E