MEETING OPENED: Opened at 10:45 am -Treasurer Donna Shine, presiding.

REPORTS:
A. Minutes of last meeting read and approved.
B. Treasurer's Report:
C. Membership:
Current BIGS membership stands at 125.
Anyone wishing to place articles and/or queries in the next issue of the Buffalo Irish Times needs to submit the information prior November15th.
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.
Reminder: All donations to BIGS are tax deductible.
D. Research:
One request was received this quarter. It came from Thomas S. Burns of Penn Yan.

OLD BUSINESS:
A. Events:
The Buffalo Irish Festival was held in August. Attendees showed a lot of interest and five new members were enrolled.
The Gathering of the Clans is scheduled for January 15th, 2005. The theme will be Firemen/Police in the Irish community.
B. Projects:
Volunteers are indexing the project Holy Cross records in Excel format. We continue to look for someone who can convert the First Ward Nickname information into booklet form.
C. Donations:
Irish Libraries by Robert K. O'Neill - a book containing lists of archives, museums and genealogical centers, was donated by Shane and Jean Devlin. Searching for Your Ancestors in Ireland - a VHS video on Irish research, was donated by James and Donna Shine.
D. Library:
The regular Saturday hours - first and second
Saturday of the month from 10 am to 2 pm are now in effect. The third Tuesday evening from 6 - 9 pm slot has successfully been staffed and will continue. The library may also be accessed by appointment by contacting Mary Murphy, John Blest or Donna Shine. Volunteers are needed to assist patrons. Some revenue is being generated from the $.10 per page copying charge.

NEW BUSINESS:
A. Future Topics:
January Meeting - Police/Fire Department history will be presented as part of the Gathering. NOTE: This meeting has been scheduled for Saturday evening immediately prior to the Gathering.
April Meeting - Irish in the Civil War - Corcoran's Brigade (155th NY) July Meeting - open for suggestions.
B. From the Floor:
Donna Shine distributed the schedule of an upcoming lecture series to be presented by the Ulster Historical Foundation. Unfortunately, none will be held in the WNY area.
There have been requests that some BIGS meetings be scheduled for a weekday evening rather that the current Saturday morning. The July meeting has been recommended for this in order to allow members to take advantage of the good weather. NOTE: It will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 pm.

NEW MEMBERS:
Luanne Patton Roberts - Patton, O'Donnell
Diane McGrath Blaser - Talty, McGrath, Donahue
Anne Ring Lundry - Ring, Rooney, Stanton
Pat Sztaba - Britt, Farrell, Sullivan

BUSINESS MEETING ADJOURNED: 12:40 pm

FEATURED TOPIC:
In the absence of our scheduled speaker, member Ed Patton provided an excellent presentation on little known historical records in Western New York.

NEXT MEETING: Saturday, January 15th, 6:00 pm

M. E. O'Grady-Fabinsky