POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Chapter # 10 Central Texas/Austin
Submitted by Sherry PACELLI Haddox (4883)
Lin ONOFRIO Brinkman (#1388) opened the monthly meeting with 12 present. There was a discussion of nearby Italian restaurants, markets and wineries that members have tried and enjoyed. Photographs were shown of St. William Catholic Church in Round Rock, Texas which was built in the Italianate manner. The group also talked about the Hotel Granduca in Houston, Texas which was designed to resemble an 18th century duke's palace in Italy. Photos of Spode Blue Italian dinnerware were also shown.
Don and Shirley VILLONI told the group about their wonderful trip to Italy, Germany and Holland. He also mentioned that they were in the process of renting a cottage at Lake Como for two weeks. The website is: http://www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals By Owner). Don explained that the website contains rental listings of properties world-wide. They also have house swapping. The place that he is renting is owned by an Italian woman that lives in San Francisco so he can pay in U.S. dollars.
Joe MASTRANGELO (#2614) is continuing to extract death records from 1809 on. He is currently viewing 1871 records. His current record count is at just over 1200 death records extracted and recorded in the access data base. The data recorded in the birth and marriage data bases are becoming useful in clarifying information observed in the death records. In addition, some marriage information is showing up that was not available before due to gaps in the filmed records.
Jeanie MARSALIA (#4251) went to the website www.FamilySearchWiKi.org and found a list of surnames for her ancestral town of MONASTERO di LANZO. She found her family names of MARSAGLIA and BENEDETTO. Jeanie found an article that described how German experts believe they have solved the identity of Mona Lisa in Leonardo da Vinci's famous portrait. They believe her to be Lisa del Giocondo from dated notes scribbled in the margins of a book by its owner in October 1503.
The next meeting will be February 27th at Merrill Gardens, 8005 Cornerwood Drive in Round Rock. Yearly dues will be collected.