As previously posted, today I'm announcing the winner of the two free Atlanta Family History Expo tickets. First, thanks to the folks running the Expo who allowed me to give the tickets away. I'm very much looking forward to the Expo this November and I hope to have lots of fun and learn a lot.
Now for the winner, which I picked using a random number generator. The winner is actually Comment #1 from Suzanne. Congratulations! I'll be contacting you, but also feel free to send me an email (vrc84@yahoo.com) if you don't receive my communication.
If you didn't win here, there are other bloggers that are also giving away tickets. Check out the contests at Georgia Black Crackers or Tania's Roots.
Again, I'm looking forward to this expo and seeing everyone there! Good luck with your research until then.
I haven't been doing a whole lot of genealogy lately. Rather, I have been trying to help others with their genealogy by photographing headstones and uploading them to findagrave.com. I've been concentrating on two local cemeteries, Old Shadowlawn and East Shadowlawn, which are adjoining cemeteries near downtown Lawrenceville, GA. My Uncle Wayne is buried in East Shadowlawn's veteran section.
Yesterday morning I had just finished photographing one section and was getting in my car to move around to another when I was interrupted by a gaggle of geese. They had decided to leave the pond and walk across the road right in front of my car. Silly geese. I had to wait for them, but at least it gave me a few minutes to sit in the air conditioning before getting back out into the sun.
Today I added my 1,500th memorial to FindAGrave.com. I don't really remember when I joined this amazing website, but apparently it was 5 years, 9 months and 5 days ago.
In that time I've been highly active at some times and inactive at others. I've walked and recorded two entire cemeteries that I have ancestors buried in (Bethel and Bethany). Less ambitiously, I've added random graves from larger cemeteries that I visit during my research.
Whether they've added just one grave or over a hundred thousand like the top rated folks, everyone who adds burial listings to this site is amazing. I'm sure everyone reading this post has used FindAGrave and has been helped by it. If there is anyone reading this who hasn't added their ancestors or burials from their nearby cemetery to this site, I recommend that you do so right now. Who knows who you might end up helping?
On Sunday my sister and I went to Oakland Cemetery and took the guided walking tour. If you live in the Atlanta area and have never been to Oakland before, head over as soon as you can. They offer guided tours at a minimal cost that really covers a lot of Oakland's and Atlanta's history. Or, you can simply walk the cemetery on your own, discovering beautiful architecture and history.
Here are some photos from my visit:
I love the jewish graves:
This building was destroyed by the 2008 tornado:
