Scheduled Topics:

2007 Topics

• Apr - 11:30 - Volunteer Appreciation
  1:30 - Genealogy Websites that Help You! - Judith Rempel
  Mar - Everyone! Tell us about a Mennonite History book that you have read recently. Bring the book if possible - Dick Klippenstein
• Feb - A story of Mennonite Ancestors who Immigrated to the USA in the 1870s and Subsequently Moved to the West Reserve in Canada - Ron Siemens
• Jan - no meeting

2006 Topics

• Dec 10 - Christmas party! (contact MHSA by e-mail for details)
• Nov 18 - Images of Ukraine - Dick Klippenstein, Gerard Loewen & Judii Rempel
• Oct - Hitting our Heads on the Brick Wall - all
• Sep
• Aug - Trip to Neu - Samara region - Jake
  - Balzer
  - also - Submitting your GEDCOM to GRANDMA & HotLinks - Judii Rempel
• Jul - Helen Friesen and John Neufeld tell about their first-hand experiences in Russia and Germany during WWII (photos from meeting)
• Jun -
• May 20 - Peter Penner will review two new books on Mennonite History MENNONITES, POLITICS and PEOPLEHOOD (James Urry) & DEFENSE of PRIVILEGE: RUSSIAN MENNONITES and the STATE BEFORE and DURING WW I ( Abraham Friesen)- Peter Penner
  
• Apr 22 - Dick's Tour of South America (Brazil, Peru & Paraguay) - Dick Klippenstein
• Mar 18 - Application of DNA analyses in genealogic research - This is a followup from October workshop, includes specific examples from 2 projects (Kauffman and Yoder), and focus on overall Mennonite Group Project - Don Kauffman
• Feb 18 - A review of published family
  histories by a panel of SIG volunteers who will comment analytically on one history they have read. Discussion will follow.

1. Carl Braun: The  Wiens Family Register (1963)
2. Florence Dyck: Jacob Buhr (ca. 1975)
3. Art Siemens: (The Brandt Family Tree Album (2002)
4. Dick Klippenstein: Thicker than Water (2004)
5. Irene Klassen: Not Jacob (ca. 1995)
6. John Dyck on Heinrich Fehr and Sarah Neufeld (2003):
   

2005 Topics:

• Nov 19 - Fun with Mennonite Geography - Judith Rempel & all - bring your examples of geographic mis-adventures
• Oct 15 - in lieu of regular meeting, we're having a full day workshop (10am-4pm), $20 fee, limited to 20 participants; DNA, GRANDMA, Mennonite Genealogy Data Index, & Getting Organized
• Sep 17 - A Siberian Journey - Dave Pankratz discusses his experiences/impressions
• Aug 20 - Discussion: Excluding the Bible, what book(s) has influenced or shaped your world? The “world” can be your Mennonite world or the world in a broader sense.
• Jul 16 - Judii Rempel - Using GRANMDA well
• Jun 18 - Peter Penner on Mennonite History
• May 21 - Dave Pankratz - Discussion of assumptions & accuracy of data being entered into GRANDMA datbabase
• Apr 23 - 4th Saturday of the month - Discussion to determine if the group is
  interested in hosting a Family Roots Day
• Mar 12 - Abe Hamm - The Journey of the Hamm Family Through the Years - Abe Hamm
• Feb 19 - round table discussion
• Jan 15 - Tips on hunting down information on family members from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union - Colin Neufeld, chair of the Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta

2004 Topics:

• 12 Dec - Christmas Drop-In
• 20 Nov - Mennonite Heritage Cruise (S Russia) Difference in Experiences 2000 & 2004 - Harold Friesen & others
• 23 Oct - Follow-up Discussion to July Meeting (What it means to be a Mennonite): What will being a Mennonite mean to our descendants, 50 to 75 years from now?
• 18 Sep - The Sawatzky Reunion, Mitchell, Manitoba) - Dave Hildebrand
• 20 Aug - Thicker than Water - a new Klippenstein family history and the Klippenstein Reunion - Dick Klippenstein
• 17 Jul - Discussion:"What does being Mennonite mean to you?" Is being Mennonite faith based, ethnic or culture based, both, or something else?
• 26 Jun - Discussion: (a) Do you have family in Russia, Europe, the USA, or elsewhere who you lost contact with for a long period of time? (b) What was it like when you met them again? (c) Were they different from how you remembered them and if so in what way?
• 15 May - Experiences in Russia and Germany during World War II - Part II - - Helen Friesen
• 17 Apr - Experiences in Russia and
  Germany during World War II - Helen Friesen
• 20 Mar
  • Tips/Tricks: Searching archival fonds - What do they have to tell us?
  • Feature: Repatriation of Mennonites
    following Yalta - Peter Penner
• 21 Feb - Why I do genealogy and family history - Dave Pankratz
• 17 Jan - Followup to Hoffnungsfeld Village - John R Dyck -
  • merits of the village school
  • Rev. Wiebe's concept of the Mennonite church
  • Urbanization
  • Current Validity of Separation of Vhurch & State

2003 Topics:

• 14 Dec - Potluck Christmas Party!
• 15 Nov - Early Village Life in Southern Manitoba - John R. Dyck
• 18 Oct - A Toews Family Reunion in Gretna, MB - Val Williams
• 20 Sep - Anticipating LaCrete - Dick Neufeld
• 16 Aug - Diaries & Music Resources from the Geddert Famly - Ben Geddert
• 19 July - GRANDMA IV & Brothers Keeper VI - Judith Rempel (see also the MHSA Genealogy Finding Aid distributed)
• 23 June - New Research Resources coming out of Russia - Tim Janzen, Portland, OR