POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Chapter # 10 Central Texas/Austin
Lin ONOFRIO Brinkman (#1388) opened the monthly POINTers in Person meeting at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, 15 November 2000 with 16 members in attendance.
Upcoming meetings: December meeting: Christmas Party, Sunday, 10 December 2000, 1:00 pm, at Casa Brinkman (Pot Luck).
The group approved the continued use of Room D of the Round Rock Public Library for Wednesday evening meetings and Room A for the Saturday afternoon potluck meetings.
The group sent "get well" wishes to Marilyn MANISCALCO Henley.
Jennifer Baker attended her first meeting. She is researching: RICKRILLO from
Corleone, Sicily; NOTO from Noto, Sicily; and CUSMANEO.
Joyce TIANELLO Snodgrass received some results from her cousin in Florida, including the names of two grandparents and four great-grandparents. Her surname list now includes: DeFELICIBUS, GIANZANTO, TIANELLO, and TRAVAGLINI. She thanked Augie TROIANI for his help in translating a letter.
Don VILLONI (#3985) has completed his move to Sun City, Georgetown, Texas.
Laurie GUGINO Riester (#3878) has been working with Cittadinanze records from Valledolmo (1880-1890) describing residents who left Valledolmo to reside in other nearby communi. She also found the Pubblicazione for her great-grandparents marriage.
Sheila BAYHA Dugosh (#4365) wanted to learn more about My Italian Family computer program.
Jeanie MARSALIA (#4251) received Form SS5 for her cousin Lawrence and has a new film in at the FHC.
Joe MASTRANGELO described the new FHC in Round Rock . A small room in the new building contains two microfilm viewers, a microfiche viewer, and two computers -- no reader/copier yet. His extraction of MASTRANGELO and PUGLIESE records from Putignano now totals over 700 births and about 430 marriages; Joe started this project with one ancestral line and has added two collateral lines. With help from his wife, Marie, the hunt for the "missing uncle" in Pennsylvania unfolded; after extended detective work, the MASTRANGELOS were able to contact the uncle's sister and had a two-hour phone conversation. Joe's newest toy is a digital camera, which may be able to capture microfilm images with more practice.
Eugenia ASSAIBENE Luken commented that she was "amazed" by what other group members were doing and wondered if she should start active research. She has always been in touch with cousins in Italy.
Bill BRINKMAN unveiled an easel show an interesting story he found at ancestry.com. For a sample of approximately 1,000 European men, 95% were descended from ten ancestors (two from the Middle East and eight from the Ural Mountains, going back between 6,000 and 40,000 years).
Angelo GATTOZZI called his story "How To Be a Successful Genealogist Without Trying" and described his family's misadventures in acquiring his wife's grandmother's baptismal certificate from a church in Pittsburgh, providing a delightful close to the business of the November meeting.
submitted by Jamie J. Cannone