A New Magazine With A Shady Past

I just love it when I have good news to share. I am delighted to share with you a new online magazine created by my dear friend, footnoteMaven. Her wonderful blog Shades of the Departed has become a magazine... and what a lovely magazine it is! Anyone with an interest in photography and family history will find this magazine helpful and delightful. There's a wonderful collection of articles that will teach you how, amuse you, educate you, and leave you wanting more, more, more!

Click the image to go to the magazine on the Shades blog!

Carnival of Genealogy, 83rd Edition

The 83rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is posted! The topic for this edition is: Musical Instruments. Janet Iles, of Janet the Researcher, is the hostess this time around and she did a super job with this edition (thank you Janet!!!). The topic was very popular and there are many submissions, all heartfelt stories of music, instruments, and family. Pour yourself a mug of hot cider and head on over for a good read. Your toe will be tapping before you're through!

I've made a change in topic for the next edition of the COG over what was listed on my side bar for most of this year, so pay attention ladies and gents!

Call for Submissions!
The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: What the Carnival of Genealogy has meant to you.

The COG has been published twice a month for over three years now, 83 editions thus far! It's covered a wide variety of topics and introduced many, many new bloggers and even a new carnival. Here's an opportunity to look back and reflect on when you first discovered the COG and when you first participated in it.

• What was your favorite topic to write about?
• Have you guest hosted the COG?
• Is there an article you've read in the COG that stands out in your mind?
• What have you learned from reading or writing for the COG?
• Have you ever recommended the COG to anyone?
• If you haven't participated in the COG thus far, why not?
• How has the COG helped your family history research?
• Has it impacted your life in any way?

Share your COG experience with us and please indicate the number of COG editions you've participated in at the end of your article.

The deadline for submissions is November 15th and the next edition (#84) will return home here at the Creative Gene blog.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for the poster, fM!

PBS Documentary on the Polar Bears of WWI

A documentary on the Polar Bears of WWI will air this Sunday, November 8 at 3pm on Detroit's public television station. The "Polar Bears" were a group of Michigan WWI soldiers who fought against the Russians in frigid conditions near the arctic circle. The movie was filmed last January in Michigan's upper peninsula where frigid conditions resembled those experienced in Russia during WWI.

You can read more about the movie making and the actors involved in the project here. The documentary, Voices of a Never Ending Dawn, has it's own web site here.

Wypominki at St. Hedwig Cemetery

Yesterday, Nov. 1, was the Wypominki held at St. Hedwig Cemetery in Dearborn Heights, MI. It was co-sponsored by the WSDPAHS and the PGSM. The prayer service was held at the mausoleum and there were over 70 people in attendance. Among those participating were my friends Valerie, who made the yummy "soul cakes", and Ceil, who gave a very heartfelt plea to those in attendance to record what we know about the Polish immigrants in our families. She reminded us that we need to record what we remember about them so that they will live on not only in our hearts and minds but in the minds of younger family members who never knew them.


Following the prayer service, Ceil took everyone outside to demonstrate the traditional cleaning of a grave.

After the service I visited my parent's graves,


And snapped a few photos of the autumn leaves and candle-topped graves.





It was a lovely service honoring the memory of the deceased members of our families. I'm so glad I was able to attend!