By Mary Torres, Special to the Star
The Cameron County Historical Commission meets today at 2:00 p.m. at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, 7200 Paredes Line Rd., Brownsville, TX. The event is free and the public is invited to come to learn about the Commission and its programs. Rolando Garza, Resource Manager, will be talking about Palo Alto and announcing some new developments. For more information call 956-345-4756.
The Harlingen Downtown Art Night is scheduled for August 30, 2019, from 7 – 10 p.m. This wonderful evening event celebrates local art and artists. Merchants open up their businesses showcasing artists and offer refreshments, galleries host artists and exhibitions, and live music is featured at various venues. Stroll down the twinkling lights of historic Downtown Harlingen on Jackson Street and enjoy the murals, original art, live music, shops and restaurants! For more information call the Downtown Harlingen Office at 956-216-4910.
The Center for Creative Retirement, an organization established in Harlingen to develop stimulating programs which offer lifelong learning opportunities for people ages 55 and over, has announced its lecture and tour series for 2019/2020. The season runs from September 16 through May 18 and for a membership fee of $40.00 you can attend six lectures on a variety of topics with interesting speakers, a Christmas Brunch and two bus trips, one to the Butterfly Center in Mission and the other to Hilltop Gardens in Lyford. Lectures are held at Golden Palms, Harlingen. For more information contact Ellie Mosimann at 860-970-8616.
The two genealogical societies based in Harlingen are busy planning September programs and meetings. The Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society will meet at the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 15 for a program by Roberto R. Canales, “Cavazos Family History: Discoveries From 40 Years of Research.” The Tip O’ Texas Genealogical Society will meet at the Harlingen Public Library at 10:15, Thursday, September 19 for a program by Eric Garza, Cameron County District Clerk, “Project to Digitize Historic Civil and Criminal Cases of Cameron County. ” All society meetings are free and open to the public.
The Harlingen Public Library, 410 ’76 Dr. in partnership with the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society and the Tip O’ Texas Genealogical Society is offering research assistance on Saturday, September 7 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Come to the Genealogy Bay on the second floor and take advantage of the many genealogy-related resources available at the library and the personalized assistance. Registration is not required. Feel free to bring your own laptop.
There’s always something new happening in the world of genealogy. In a press release dated August 21, 2019, the National Genealogical Society announced a historic move: the boards of the National Genealogical Society (NGS) and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced today their intent to merge. The two organizations, both non-profit leaders in the dynamic genealogy industry, will form one consolidated group that will continue to operate as the National Genealogical Society. Both boards approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) earlier this week and jointly announced the news at the Opening Session of the FGS Family History Conference in Washington, D.C. Leaders of both organizations believe this merger will serve the genealogy community by improving the support of both individual members and societies in the pursuit of genealogical excellence. The organizational structure of NGS will be modified to increase functions that support genealogical societies and family organizations. Digitization projects of genealogical importance such as the War of 1812 pensions will continue. The two organizations will continue to operate independently while all details of the merger are completed, no later than October 1, 2020.
