January 3rd:  
Meeting 1:30 p.m.
"What to do with your Genealogy Stuff"
 Panel discussion and audience participation event.
 

February 7th:
Meeting 1:30 p.m. 
"Sharing Keepsake Postcards"
everyone is invited to bring old postcards and share the stories behind them. These post cards may give you bits and pieces of obscure family facts. Sometimes just the postmark and address will give you a research clue.
 

March 6th:
Meeting 1:30 p.m.
"Tombstone Restoration"
presented by Jim Kramer of Orchard, Iowa. Jim has restored hundreds of tombstones and will tell us about general mapping, probing, and remounting, including the preparation for gluing.
 

April 3rd:
Meeting 1:30 p.m.
"How to Compose Your Heritage Scrapbook"
presented by Pat Fairbanks. Pat will speak about creating an heirloom album for future generations. She will include restoration, easy set-up, appropriate colors, preservation of photographs, and use of historical documents and memorabilia. Come and learn some new techniques to make your albums more personal and interesting. Use some creativity to enhance the presentation of your family history.
 

May 1st:
Meeting 1:30 p.m.
"Naming Patterns"
presented by Joan Sawyer. Joan will discuss the naming patterns for areas of Germany and the Scandinavian Countries. Her presentation will include patronymics and other customs used in giving names to children in the family.
 

The Underground Railroad, historians agree, is shrouded in myth and legend. Did it really exist in Iowa, and if so, when and how? Was it highly organized or did its "conductors" and "station agents" mostly improvise? Were fugitive slaves usually hidden beneath trap doors in cellars or were they more likely to be concealed in attics and garrets or outdoors in heavy brush and timber? What part did African Americans themselves play in helping fugitive slaves find their way to freedom? How many fugitives are likely to have passed through Iowa and how do we know if reputed "safe houses" actually existed in our own communities? These are some of the questions addressed in this inquiry into a sometimes controversial but always fascinating episode in Iowa's history.
 

July 3rd:
No meeting - have a safe 4th!