The Port Alberni Genealogy Club is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
The club was formed in 1986 as a small group who met monthly in each others’ homes to discuss their respective genealogical “brick walls” and to help beginners in tracing their own family history.
Over the years, members have travelled to many countries in search of their own roots and come home to share their successes at one of our meetings. A few members have written and published family histories; others have organized large family reunions after sorting out all the branches of their families.
The club’s largest project over the years has been the recording and indexing of all gravestone inscriptions in the Greenwood Cemetery, St. Peter’s R.C. Cemetery and the Alberni Valley Memorial Gardens.
The club is currently in the process of recording and updating Greenwood Cemetery inscriptions for the third time. According to the owners of these cemeteries, the printouts of the monumental inscriptions we have donated to them have been very helpful to visitors looking for information on a deceased relative.
An anniversary open house is being held Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in Yates Funeral Service’s reception hall at the corner of Southgate Road and Gertrude Street.
All past members and individuals interested in beginning to trace their ancestors are invited.