You will note that there are five topical tracks each having five classes for a total of twenty-five classes during the day. The tracks are displayed across the top of the schedule under the classroom assignments. The names of each class and presenter are below the tracks. All of the classes for any given track are held in the same classroom for the entire day. Look down the left side of the schedule and you will find the time the class starts. All classes are 50 minutes long to allow a 10 minute break between classes.

Please note that fifteen of our classes are brand new and another eight have been updated from previous conferences. Refer to the Legend at the bottom of the schedule to determine New, Updated, or Repeated from earlier conference. This year we also have eight new presenters from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. We appreciate all for their volunteering to make this a special, meaningful expereince for all. The theme track “Your Life Story Is Your Legacy” is suitable for teens to our older participants.

We have also added another class telling you again about FamilySearchIndexing and the more than 100,000 volunteers around the world who are working on this incredible project. This class will be offered twice (10am and 1pm). After each class there will be a demonstration where you will be able to view one of these volunteers entering live data into FamilySearchIndexing. This volunteer, Jacquelyn Davidson of Harrisonburg, will complete her 100,000th record on the day of the conference. You are encouraged to come to the demonstration and see if it is something you might want to become involved in.

Finally, do not forget to register online and pass this information on to family, friends, and neighbors who may be interested in attending.

Almost all closings are tied to the Albemarle County school system. If the schools are closed or delayed, the Family History Center will be closed. A delay is usually called when icing conditions make early-morning travel unsafe until some melting occurs. By that time, most of the morning shift would have expired. And the refreezing that occurs at the end of the day could make travel for the evening shift risky.

An unusual situation arose when the water line broke. The Center was closed at that time mostly due to the plumbing’s being compromised, plus some concern about the purity of the water coming to the drinking fountains.

Learn more about the conference on our 2010 Conference page.

Learn more about the conference on our 2010 Conference page.

Mrs. Andrews Bedford’s skill in making her personal memories come alive makes her an ideal keynote speaker for this year’s conference, whose theme is “Your Life Story Is Your Legacy.” Conference attendees will be encouraged to create their legacies both for their own posterity and also for friends, family, and future generations.

Mrs. Andrews Bedford is a resident of Albemarle County. For years, the readers of Country Living have treasured her beloved bi-monthly column, “Kids in the Country.”  Her two most recent books, Barefoot Summers and Little Girls in Matching  Dresses, are collections of her stories.  She also teaches a class on writing memoirs for the University of Virginia’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute entitled from “Memories to Memoirs.”

Conference Director Bob Roberts says,”Faith offers an interesting perspective in helping you to examine your memories and find those stories and thoughts that create contemporary life history.  This is the goal of our conference – to inspire people to write it down while it is fresh in your minds so that future generations will not have to  dig it up through years of research and then still not have you remembered they way you wanted!”

Mrs. Andrews Bedford  is also a noted authority on the American painter, Frank W. Benson. She has written and lectured extensively on the artist and has contributed the lead essays for a number of catalogues including: the Benson retrospective at the Berry-Hill Gallery in New York City in l989, the exhibition of Benson’s sporting art at the Ward Museum in Salisbury, MD in 1996, and the Peabody Essex Museum’s show “Frank W. Benson: American Impressionist” in 2000 for which she was the guest curator.

She has written Frank W. Benson American Impressionist (Rizzoli) and The Sporting Art of Frank W. Benson (David R. Godine) as well as many articles on the artist. She supplies appraisals, essay entries and authentications to the major the auction houses as well as for many private galleries and is the advisor to the Benson catalogue raisonné.  Frank W. Benson was her great grandfather.

To learn more about Frank W. Benson or Mrs. Andrews Bedford’s writing please  click on www.frankwbenson.com or www.faithandrewsbedford.com. To see a description of her course for OLLI go to  http://www.virginia.edu/olliuva/descriptions.html#b34.

Learn more about the conference on our 2010 Conference page.

The Family History Conference is sponsored by the Waynesboro Virginia Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Charlottesville LDS Family History Center located on Airport Road, and the Central Virginia Genealogy Association.

Last year’s conference drew 354 attendees from as far away as Pennsylvannia, North and South Carolina, and throughout Virginia.  Conference attendance for 2010 is expected to approach 500.  More information will be provided by mid-January, but please place this date on your calendar.  Also, let your friends know about the conference.

Best wishes for the New Year.

Learn more about the conference on our 2010 Conference page.

Dr. Scot French of UVa’s Virginia Center for Digital History gave an informative presentation about the great potential of using technology to bring new life and methods to family, neighborhood, and community research.  He demonstrated some of these capabilities from the VCDH website and presented a class as well. 

Five classrooms were used to teach 25 classes and workshops beginning each hour ending at 4:00pm.  The topics, descriptions, and presenters’ biographies can been seen on the conference program.  A complete conference resource will be available online by April 3rd.  CD-ROMs of these materials will be available at the Charlottesville Family History Center on Tuesday, April 7th.

Conference attendees provided insightful comments and suggestions on how to improve future conferences.  The overwelming response was an “excellent” rating to all facets of the event.  When one class of approximately 70 attendees was asked to comment on the timing of the conference and competition from other area activities, an attendee suggested it be held twice a year which drew applause from the group. 

There are still lessons to be learned to make presentations to such large groups using internet, video projection, and audio interaction.   Next year’s conference will make better use of these facilities and this website to disseminate more information faster.  On-line registration was used by two-thirds of the attendees.  While there were a few problems, three hundred+ attendees where processed in less than 40 minutes. 

Conference organizers express great appreciation to Dr. French, all presenters, and others who made this event a success.  The date for next year’s conference will be announced in the near future.

Twenty-five classes will be taught during the day on a wide range of topics and there should be something of interest for everyone during the 5 one-hour class periods which start at 10am.  Registration begins at 8;30am and the keynote address featuring Dr. Scot French of UVa will start at 9am.  Classes will last 50 minutes allowing 10 minutes to move between classes at the Charlottesville Airport Road LDS Chapel.

While still subject to minor changes, this schedule represents the input of many people working to provide a well rounded curriculum.  Class descriptions and presenter’s biographies will be posted later this week.  The conference program will be printed and presented to attendees on conference day.