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Meetings 2025
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Date: January 28, 2025 – VIRTUAL MEETING
Speaker: Deborah Dudek – Topic – “Tracing Your Bootlegging, Shimmy-Shaking and Repeal-Seeking Ancestors During and After Prohibition” (a follow-up from the July 2024 meeting) – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/LUAIqIE_QEOQlvB2Q3comA
Our ancestor’s need for a good drink can provide new details and narratives for your genealogy research
Debra M. Dudek is Head of Adult and Teen Services at the Fountaindale Public Library District in Bolingbrook, IL. She holds a post graduate certificate in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Ms. Dudek is the Book Review Editor of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, an executive board member of the
Illinois State Historical Society, website coordinator for the Chicago Chapter NSDAR, and is the author of the World War I Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors.
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Date: February11, 2025 -Hope Lodge – VIRTUAL MEETING – Genealogy Escape Room
Leominster Public Library in partnership with CMGS
Speaker: Thomas MacEntee – Topic – “The Case of Lou Little”
Accidentally, you are locked in at the Leominster Public Library after hours. It seems that you fell asleep in a cubicle while researching the history of college football in the United States. Your current research subject is Leominster native Luigi Piccolo – better known as Lou Little – famed college football coach during the 1920s and 1930s. Can you figure out Little’s real birth name and his connection with the Heisman Trophy?
You MUST complete your research on Lou Little by answering a set of questions related to the genealogy and family history of Lou Little. USE THIS FORM AT https://forms.gle/grs3BLrombmexRQH6
Sharpen those research skills by researching NOW and then participate in this unique genealogy education event!
NOTE: You are allowed to use ANY online sites for GENEALOGY research; most clues can be found on Ancestry at https://www.ancestry.com and FamilySearch at https://www.familysearch.com. And if you “cheat” by simply using Google to find information, you are only cheating yourself out of an amazing story of an amazing man!
Register for the Zoom reveal here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/DYdP73wBQuSrtxnS6ugWfQ
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Date: March 25, 2025 -Hope Lodge – ANNUAL DINNER MEETING – HYBRID MEETING
Hope Lodge, 42 Central Street, Gardner, MA – 6:00 pm Dinner – 7:00 pm Presentation
Speaker: Susan Navarre – Fitchburg Historical Society
Meeting Link – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jVoKvrNmTSayiq0nS7p_ZA
Menu: Tossed green salad, Oven roasted BBQ Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Dinner Rolls, Roasted Carrots, Cake, Various beverages – Cost $12. per person
RVSP on or before March 20, 2025 – Send checks to CMGS, PO Box 811, Westminster ,MA 01473 OR PayPal at www.cmgso.org remember to include your names with your reservation on PayPal – Top Right Menu under Membership > Payments
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Date: April 22, 2025 -Hope Lodge – HYBRID MEETING
Hope Lodge, 42 Central Street, Gardner, MA – 7:00 pm Presentation
Speaker: Brian Rhinehart – Topic: I Have a Civil War Ancestor – Now What?
Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6Z7IaWMaSBuBqLKeK5vXRg
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Date: May 27, 2025 -Hope Lodge – HYBRID MEETING
Hope Lodge, 42 Central Street, Gardner, MA – 7:00 pm Presentation
Speaker: Michael Cassara – Topic: Postcards From the Past: Bringing Deltiology to Your Genealogy?
Postcards can be an overlooked and occasionally invaluable means of peering further into the lives of our ancestors, or those of our clients. Not only can they illuminate microhistory (in ways that may otherwise be lost to the ages), but both the front and the back of postcards can contribute mightily to any genealogical study. Images on the front of a card can offer illustrations of long-demolished places of interest, while messages on the back may shed light on an ancestor’s travels, giving the researcher a clearer sense of the writer’s concerns of a long-forgotten moment. These are only a few of the many ways in which genealogy and deltiology (the study and collection of postcards) can intersect.
Michael Cassara is a professional genealogist and lecturer based in New York City, specializing in Italian/Sicilian genealogy, 20th century US immigration, and genealogical technology. He has frequently presented at national conferences, including five years of presentations at RootsTech, a recent talk at the 2018 Association of Professional Genealogists Professional Management Conference, and a popular 2019 APG Webinar on genealogical technology, OGS, FGS, and many more. Additionally, he has given dozens of talks to local and regional societies throughout the United States and worldwide. Michael holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University (OL19) and is a graduate of the ProGen Study Group (ProGen 43).
Michael served three terms as President of the Italian Genealogical Group and continues to serves on its Board. In his “other” life, Michael is a leading casting director for theatre and film, having cast over 700 musicals, plays, and movies – in New York City and worldwide. He blogs about his research at DigiRoots.net and can be found online at @DigiRoots