MEETING OPENED: 10:30 am Kevin O'Brien, President, presiding.

REPORTS: A. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. B. Treasurer's Report: Quarterly revenue = $ 729.80 Expenses = 528.87 New balance = 1799.66

OLD BUSINESS:
A. Quick Notes:
Anyone wishing to place articles and/or queries in the June issue of the Times needs to submit the information prior May 15th.
We now have a membership of 130. Please encourage people to join and/or give memberships as gifts.
Individual genealogy reports are wanted for inclusion in the binder located in the library. Information may be submitted in any convenient format.
All members are asked to notify Donna Shine whenever they have a change of address and/or email address.
Don�t forget to enter/update your information in the Black Box.
We are still soliciting information to complete our index of the Holy Cross Cemetery.
Any members who need help with family collages/displays is encouraged to attend the October meeting, where this topic will be featured.
B. Research Committee: no report.
C. Events:
Gathering of the Clans took place in January and was well received. Members are encouraged to plan for participation in next year's Gathering.
2003 Buffalo Irish Festival - will be held August 22-24. Members will be needed to provide display materials and man our booth.
St. Patrick's Day Parade - The new sashes, provided by Joan Scahill and Donna Shine, looked very good. Turnout was fair for both the First Ward and downtown parades.
D. Projects:
First Ward Nicknames and Photos - members are asked to contribute any information they may have.
The Seawall Census - Donna and Jim Shine are continuing to extract seawall residents from the 1900/05/10 censuses. Mary Murphy is doing 1915/20/25.
Ruth Ver and Petey Boesl will follow up on Mike Redman's recommendation that Walter Nowadly, retired firefighter, be interviewed and his memories be documented.
E. Purchases:
No new purchases were made in the last quarter. Kevin O'Brien recommends that we include subscriptions to useful periodicals to our purchases. Members with an interest in acquiring materials for the library, books, CDs, etc. please let Donna Shine know.
The catalog of library resources will be made available via the website, www.buffaloirish.com
F. Library:
The summer suspension of library hours will commence in July. There is still a need for additional volunteers.
Library services are generating some revenue through fees for use by non-members and copying charges.

NEW BUSINESS:
A. July Meeting - Donna Shine on organizing/storing information.
B. October Meeting - Kevin O'Brien and Margaret Fabinsky on displaying/presenting information.
C. From the Floor:
Petey Boesl reported that she has discovered that it is possible to check for BMD certificates at City Hall via e-mail. Contact [email protected]. Include all identifying information and be specific about what you are requesting. They will get back to you to let you know if the document is available. You can pay for it on-line as well.

FEATURED TOPIC:
John Blest gave a presentation on 'hitting the brick wall' and the advisability of pursuing collateral family members in order to uncover clues. In addition, he provided the following list of websites that will be of interest to BIGS members;
http://www.otherdays.com/ Provides townland maps on-line,
maps cannot be printed and do not contain the reference numbers to Griffith's Valuation.
http://www.irishorigins.com/
http://www.eneclann.ie/MssLink.htm#ireland
http://www.may.ie/library/ This is the Maynooth College Library. Can access family records of some priests and nuns.
http://www.rootsweb.com/irish/
http://www/irlgov.ie/landreg/ Land registration information
http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ National Genealogical Society of Ireland. John advises clicking on the 'links' indicator at the top right of the home page. The links are quite useful.
http://www.irishgenealogy.ie/frame_800.htm This is the site John mentioned at our last meeting. It contains an index to records in Irish Heritage

NEW MEMBERS:
Lynn Boccolucci - researching Howard, Curran, Linane Tom McGarry - researching McGarry, Hennessey, Carey, Heffernan Kathy Chassin - researching Walsh, Killian, Leahy, Kelly, Sweeney, McDonald, Carroll

BUSINESS MEETING ADJOURNED: 12:20 pm NEXT MEETING: Saturday, July 26th, 10:30 am Please note the July meeting is on the fourth Saturday M. E. O'Grady-Fabinsky