I'm at the point in my research that I really can't add new information very easily (well except when someone dies). I have 2 very think brick walls that don't want to come down and some family members who aren't too keen on sharing current information.

Going back beyond my g-grandparents is difficult because I would have to make the leap across the Atlantic to Eastern Europe. Most of my relatives came from Russia, Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, etc. Well you get the picture. I neither speak the local language nor Latin in which most of the Catholic church records were kept.

Of course the other stumbling block is even if I could find the correct reels of microfilm at the Family History Center at LDS--I would have to try and find time to examine and try and figure out the records during the local LDS location's hours and my free time. Free time is at a premium now that I'm working as a contractor after being laid off for a year. LOL I guess that's why so many people who do genealogy research are retired. They have more free time to do the research.

I have turned my research outward for that reason and am an active volunteer for both Find A Grave grave photo requests and Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK). If I can't go forward on my research--maybe I can help someone else get on with their's. I volunteer to do obit look ups in the 2 local papers and also take grave marker photos in my local area. To date, I've taken over 120 grave photos and found obits for 87 individuals. Of course, some requestors make multiple requests.....

Hopefully, the information I provided knocked down some brick walls for those I have helped.

One of my fellow RAOGK volunteers sent me a link to this website. Ohio Genweb is sponsoring space to add photos and transcriptions of grave markers to their server. The URL is: http://ohiogravestones.org/

I've added a few of my relatives and will be adding more in the coming weeks. I also want to add a few old cemeteries I've photographed in Summit county. The markers in these older cemeteries are getting very worn--no telling how much longer they will be able to be read. If you have photos of any Ohio gravermarkers--now is your chance to ad them and help fellow genealogists find their family members.

Periodically I go through the surnames in the family on various sites to see if anything new pops in. I've been pleasently surprised more than once by information that has been added to what was claimed to be a "finished" database. 

Yesterday, I put in the surname of a first cousin twice removed in the LDS pilot site for OH death certficates and came up with 2 hits I never noticed before. Low and behold there were 2 children of hers that died in infancy! While trying to figure out why I never noticed them before--it struck me!! They misspelled the father's surname! I had to chuckle at this because HIS was an easy name---Aleman. They misspelled it as Alaman! But for some reason they transcribed the mother's maiden name correctly--Babinski. And that (plus looking through all of the hits) was all it took to find these two babies.

Of course this opened a whole new can of "worms" because the one premature infant (6 1/2 months gestation) died 27 Apr 1930 and according to the citizenship papers for the father---he and his wife were married on 1 Mar 1930.  OOPS!

Since all concerned are now deceased--I guess it's just a matter of record with no one being harmed by the addition of facts to the family tree.

I recently discovered that the local chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society is selling copies of their cemetery transcription books. Since I'm gainfully employed again till at least May; I'm ordering the 3 volume set.  They don't cover all of the cemeteries in the county--but, they do cover my township and the townships closest to me. Having the books on hand will help me with my grave photography look ups and RAOGK requests as I won't have to wait till the weekend to go to the library for the information. Now all I need is some decent weather to be able to get out there and photograph!

One of the things that has always irritated me about genealogical programs is the way it excludes step-children and the other parent when printing out a family tree. Oh, I know I can print them out using family group sheets and other reports, but sometimes I'd like a complete listing of EVERYONE I've researched and see their connection to the other family members.

The way I've gotten around this is to put the other spouse and step-childrens names and some basic information like birth and death dates in the research notes. Thank goodness we haven't had a lot of divorce and remarriage in our family as this causes a lot of extra typing. Most of the blended families in my tree have come from remarriage after a spouse dies; usually at a young age.

Since I've not been able to add a whole lot to my own family tree in recent years because I need to make the jump across the Atlantic to Eastern Europe, I've reached out to help other researchers by becoming a member of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) and Find A Grave. Helping others by photographing a grave marker for them or getting copies of obits from the local library has been very satisfying and fun. I've met some very nice people and made a few long distance genea friends in the process. I'm going to the County library today to fulfill 9 obit requests that I received in the last month. If you can donate an hour or two a month to help a fellow researcher, stop by these wonderful sites and become a volunteer.