10th New England Regional Genealogical Conference - Saturday

I celebrated a birthday, not mine, by attending two talks by Colleen Fitzpatrick.

The first, Hand in the Snow, was a forensic investigation of the identity of a frozen arm found in a snow bank, thought to be the victim of a 1944 Alaska air-crash. It involved DNA identification, fingerprints, genealogy and a healthy helping of luck.

The second, CSI meets Roots, was an overview of squeezing the juice out of photographs, traditional database records and DNA.

Then there was an hour for the marketplace, which was a bit quieter than the first two days. LAC's Sylvie Tremblay (not her birthday) continued to be busy. I never passed her stand without seeing someone picking Sylvie's brain, usually with someone else waiting in line. It was a surprise to me that so many of the conversations I overheard at the meeting involved Canadian ancestry.

There are three sessions in the afternoon, two of which I may not stay for. I've been very impressed by the organization of the meeting and the general quality of the presentations.