May Speeches On Sunday - 200 YEAR, HIT BY A TRAIN GENEALOGY

 On May 31, our speaker was Mr. David Birley.

Mr. Birley has been a member of Mensa since 1977, and has served in various offices including Editor, LocSec, and Program Chair. He describes himself as a “long winded talker on genealogy and other boring subjects”.

He demonstrated RootsMagic, which is currently the best selling personal genealogy program in the country. Trial copies were available, along with information on how to get a discount on a purchase.

Here Mr. Birley speaks with Jim Morrison, while packing up his equipment after the speech.

The core of the presentation concerned a new way of looking at genealogy in general. Even though his documentation is important to him, David calls traditional genealogy "digging around in the rotting roots". What he suggests is that those of us involved in genealogy start by leaving a current record of our lives now. Start by thoroughly documenting what is happening in the current generation, and by recording your own impressions of historical events. Where were you, and what were you doing, when the Berlin Wall came down? Do you remember the circumstances when you first heard about the Challenger explosion, or the 9/11 attack?

But still, part of the appeal of the speech was in the collection of personal genealogical documentation that was on display. In too many families, historical records and documentation have been discarded as irrelevant and unimportant. Here we see the Will of one of Mr. Birley's ancestors.

And you can blame the shortage (and poor quality) of pictures on your webmaster.... who got too involved in the presentation and completely forgot the camera hanging on his chair.
 

Treasure Hunt Weekend

As stated in the IdioM, five letterboxes have been planted in Latta Plantation Nature Preserve as a way to introduce C/BR Mensa members to the hobby.

If you want to see the clues online, they are posted HERE on AtlasQuest. Atlasquest is one of two major letterboxing websites, the other being Letterboxing North America. LbNA is the older of the two sites, but Atlasquest is the one most used here in the southeast.

Just a side note.... if you wanted to be the first finder, you're too late!  The first four were found within a week of being planted, and the last one had two finders just a day apart.  Oddly enough, none of the finders so far are Mensans.....

But the Treasure Hunt Weekend was supposed to provide an opportunity to try TWO hobbies, the other being geocaching. The primary website there is geocaching.com. Mecklenburg County has their own geocaches planted for their classes, and they will be providing clues for those. Geocaching.com has three or four others listed in the Nature Preserve.

All three sites provide information for beginners. For 'caching, check out Getting Started with Geocaching. For 'boxing, you can start with About Letterboxing on AQ, or the Getting Started — Index on LbNA.

Whichever hobby you try, enjoy the hunt!

Murder On The (Lynx) Orient Express

Our hostess Regina Thomasson gave us an ejoyable tour of the light rail system, as well as parts of the center city. As she gave us the clues to solve the mystery, we visited locations such as The Green and Reid's Deli.

Thanks to a kind passerby outside of Seventh Street Station, we had a chance to get a picture of the entire group. From left to right, Tara (your webmaster apologizes for not getting the last name), Robert Jones, John McConnell, Bonnie Haskins, Carrie Fiola, Steve "Bo" Milligan, John Barnes, and the organizer, Regina Thomasson.

Part of the group stayed after the event to check out what else was happening in Charlotte.

Steve "Bo" Milligan found the Segway, and took the opportunity to wheel around a bit. It was a mystery weekend, so we can't say for sure where he got it - but the ReMax sign is probably a clue..

And Thank you! to Carrie and Bo for sending in the pictures!

Mensa featured on the CBS Morning News!!

On Sunday, March 22, the CBS Morning News broadcast two segments that were filmed at the Annual Gathering. While both segments were very good, the second segment was particularly powerful - they interviewed the youth members in attendance. You can see video of both segments, at CBS Sunday Morning. Or you can watch the segments separately at The World's Brightest and Mensans Seeking Mensans. The segments are about seven minutes each.

And thank you! to Joe Barrett for sending in the link to the show!  

And a requested advertisement for a Regional Gathering in Alberta, Canada:
Please join us at the Banff Regional Gathering (September 11 through 13, 2009) hosted by Mensa Calgary in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. Combine world-class scenery, a great program and top minds: the result is a memorable experience. Check out our RG web site at www.mensabanffrg.com for more info.
Patricia Almost, Mensa Calgary LocSec, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.