MEETING OPENED: 10:33 am – President Ed Patton presiding.

Ed announced the recent death of June Zintz, one of the founders of the WNY Genealogical Society. A moment of silence was observed in her memory.

REPORTS:
A. Minutes of last meeting approved without additions or corrections.
B. The Treasurer's Report was submitted and accepted as read.
C. Membership

Anyone wishing to place a query in the next issue of the Times needs to submit the information prior Nov15th

Individual genealogy reports continue to be wanted for inclusion in the binder located in the library. Information may be submitted in any convenient format.

All members are asked to notify John Blest or Margaret Fabinsky whenever they have a change of address and/or email address.

Reminder: Donations to BIGS are tax deductible. Gift subscriptions may be purchased at any time and are a good way to promote membership.

OLD BUSINESS:
A. Events
- The 2007 Irish Festival was held August 24, 25 and 26 at the Hamburg Fairgrounds. BIGS decided against taking a table at this year’s festival as all indoor display space was allocated to vendors.
- The downtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Palm Sunday this year.

B. Projects:
- Cathedral Day Book and Sons ofErin: Volunteers are needed to enter information in an Excel database. Procedures for transcription were discussed. Mary Murphy will provide a sample instruction sheet for transcribers
- The Holy Cross Cemetery indexing project is continuing.
- Displays at the Irish Center: Ed Patton will look for a locked display case assuming the Center approves of the play.
- Meetings/Training Sessions: Members are interested in learning how to do more sophisticated searches in databases like Ancestry, Boolean searches, etc. The number of yearly meetings may be expanded to six to accommodate training and enhance continuity.

C. Library:
- New Acquisition – Excerpts from the Strabane Morning Post 1812-1837. Includes accounts of trials, voters lists, accidents, Epidemics, etc. This is a good resource for people researching Donegal.
- Hours: 1st and 2nd Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm 3rd Tuesday from 6:00 to 9:00 pm

NEW BUSINESS:
2008 Gathering of the Clans: The theme is The Work of the Irish in Buffalo with specific focus on railroading. The event is scheduled for Saturday, 19th January at 7:00 pm. The January meeting will precede it at 6:00 pm in the Library.

CORRESPONDENCE:
We have learned that some of the links on our website are not functioning properly. Jim O’Dea will look into the problem.

BUSINESS MEETING ADJOURNED: 12:07 pm

NEXT MEETING: Saturday, 19 January 200 @ 6:00 pm

M. E. O'Grady-Fabinsky