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Mission and Purpose
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President's Message Spring 2008 It’s hard to believe that it is nearly springtime once again. What happened to our New Year's resolutions to spend more time doing our own family research? I experienced a modicum of success in locating the burial place of one of my great-great-grandfathers in Iowa. I had labored for years seeking him in southern Ohio. Two different Internet sources gave him two similar but different death dates. A good friend was able to find his very brief obituary while in Salt Lake City and that settled the death date. Now I’ll need to make time to visit his burial site in southeastern Iowa and attempt to locate "cousins." The OGS Library continues to grow at the mind-boggling rate of 10% per year. We have run out of space in the Ohio counties section and have been forced to add temporary small shelving units at the ends of some of the permanent bookcases to handle the new additions. All books and magazines are currently available for patron use on an open shelving basis. Rare books and other irreplaceable items are available for research upon request. This rate of growth provides more rationale for the need for a new and expanded library and archival facility to serve you better in the remainder of the 21st century. The Building Fund campaign is now in its final stages. We still need to raise about $250,000 and we are turning to the State of Ohio for assistance in the upcoming Capital Spending Budget appropriations. We need a commitment from the State in order to get the USDA money. As of February, we have paid our architect more than $60,000 for his work on the proposed building. Plans and specifications for the new library have been submitted to USDA for their architect’s review. I had hoped to be able to announce a date for a groundbreaking ceremony in this issue of Ohio Genealogy News but that must await USDA approval of the plans. If we are able to break ground this summer, the date will be announced on the OGS website, in special notices to Chapters and through the news media in Ohio. The Officers and members of the Board are pleased to inform you that Mearl and Scott Guthrie and Karla Guthrie Hall have collectively donated enough money to OGS to honor their wife and mother, Lolita Guthrie, with her name being placed upon the Volunteers Work room in the new library. Lolita was an OGS Board member for nearly 15 years and chairperson of the OGS Cemetery Committee for nearly as long. After leaving the Board, Lolita was elected a Fellow of the Ohio Genealogical Society. She is a regular contributor to Ohio Genealogy News and remains an active Wood County OGS Chapter volunteer as well. If any member is interested in making a donation to honor a family member or oneself, please feel free to contact Tom Neel or me and we will provide you with more details. Several donors have given substantial amounts of money over the past several years but are bit shy of the amount needed for a room. These members will soon be contacted by Tom, Ted Minier or me to discuss a one or two year gift that would earn them the right to a named room. Where do we go from here? As stated above, OGS is approximately $250,000 short of the total we need for the new library. If ever member makes a commitment to donate $50 in 2008 and $50 in our Golden Anniversary year of 2009, we will meet the amount needed for the building and raise another $300,000 for the endowment fund. Think about it! None of the money you donate for the building fund goes to any other purpose. Your dues finance library accessions, utilities, insurance and salaries of our two full time and one part time staff members. What other organization do you support where 100% of your donation goes to the purpose you have chosen without any monies being siphoned off for professional fund raisers? E. Paul Morehouse, |
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