Family Roots Conference 2024
2024-10-05 08:45 - 15:30 (America/Edmonton) | Hotel Blackfoot, 5940 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary, AB, T2H 2B5, Canada
We are excited to announce that OUR CONFERENCE HAS SOLD OUT, and we’re looking forward to a great day of learning am connecting in person!
When: Saturday, October 5, 2024 from 8:45 am to 3:45 pm
Where: Hotel Blackfoot, 5940 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta (see map here)
Why attend? Come learn and connect with other family historians! Find inspiration and learn about new research skills. Expand your knowledge and make new discoveries.
Registration Fee of $70 (AFHS members) or $80 (non-members) includes:

Four sessions
Morning coffee refreshments
Buffet lunch
Digital syllabus

AI in Genealogy: Is it really new? – Gord McBean
Recently AI (Artificial Intelligence) has been all the news with the release of ChatGPT. ChatGPT might be new, but is AI? Genealogists have been benefitting from AI since about 2000. AI can be used to index millions of historical records, such as census and vital records. It can also extract information from these documents and provide insights into family relationships, locations and occupations. AI has been used to transcribe handwritten and difficult-to-read documents because it can learn to recognize different handwriting styles and even decipher old or faded text. When applied to genetic genealogy, AI can analyze DNA data and identify potential matches between individuals. This technology can also be used for facial recognition, identifying individuals in old photographs. This presentation will look at all of the ways we use AI for genealogy purposes, what is currently new and what new applications are coming.
Western Canadian Military Records for Beginners: Honouring our ancestors by exploring their service – Kendra Gaede
Military records are well worth researching as they provide a wide variety of genealogical data for the family historian. From physical descriptions on attestation papers, to personnel selection reports and commendations, it is possible to paint a picture of a family member we may have never met and follow their progress in the theatre of war. Using examples from WWI and WWII, Ms. Gaede will walk family historians through the process of ordering service records from Library and Archives Canada and the United Kingdom’s National Archives, and how to interpret them once acquired. She will also discuss war-related records available from other important archival centres across Canada, which might help amateur genealogists discover details and photographs of loved ones in wartime. Finally, medals, honours and decorations will be discussed, and questions answered.
If It’s Not a Book – Then What? – Gord McBean
At one time the only option, and the ultimate goal, of genealogists was to create and publish a family history book. Printing and publishing costs make it expensive to publish in the traditional way. Most of us will never really finish our research – so will the “book” have to wait until we have finished? How can we document, preserve and share what we currently know? There are many options now available which we can use. We no longer have to wait until we are “finished.” By producing alternate media we might reach a family member that would never read our book. We need to create something different that will draw them into the family story. By starting with smaller projects we gain confidence and skills we can apply to the next more complicated project. The list of possible alternative projects is almost endless. This presentation will inspire you to share your family project in a variety of ways.
Western Canadian Immigration Documents for the Family Historian – Kendra Gaede
Immigration records are well worth researching as they provide a wide variety of genealogical data for the family historian. Using ship’s manifests, land grants and supporting documents like newspaper articles and census data, it is possible to paint a picture of our immigrant ancestors’ journey to North America and how they forged a new life for themselves in Canada. Discussing the principles of Genealogical Proof Standard, Ms. Gaede will walk family historians through the process of locating and identifying key immigration documents from important archival centres and explain how to interpret these records once acquired. She will also discuss specialized collections, which might help amateur genealogists discover further details and even photographs of loved ones and their homesteads in Canada.

8:45 am
Doors open for registration

9:15 am
Welcome

9:30 am
AI in Genealogy: Is It New? – Gord McBean

10:30 am
Morning Refreshment Break

11:00 am
Western Canadian Military Records for Beginners – Kendra Gaede

12:00 noon
Buffet Lunch (included in registration)

1:15 pm
If It’s Not a Book – Then What? – Gord McBean

2:15 pm
Break

2:30 pm
Western Canadian Immigration Records for the Family Historian – Kendra Gaede

3:30 pm
Door Prizes & Closing Remarks

Gord McBean – Gord has been researching his own family for over 50 years in Canada, the USA, and Europe. Road trips to both coasts in Canada and the US have been peppered with research stops. He is a past president of the Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS). He was the architect and project lead for the creation of MANI (the MGS online database that currently has about 1.5 million indexed name references). He has delivered presentations and workshops on technology and genealogical topics from Vancouver Island to the Quebec border, as well as in the United States.

Kendra Gaede – Born in Alberta and educated in Saskatchewan, Kendra Gaede is a genealogist, writer and former journalist who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Kendra is a member of the Manitoba Genealogical Society’s Research Committee, is interested in Western Canadian history and has a passion for archives, databases, historical photographs and oral histories.

Our conference committee is looking for donations for door prizes! If you would like to donate something, we will list your business here, include them in our syllabus and add them to the PowerPoint that will be shown during the lunch hour. Please contact familyroots@afhs.ab.ca
Confirmed door prizes to date are:

My Heritage – Certificate for 1 Year – MyHeritage Complete Plan (Full Access)

My DNA – Coupon for the e-book version of Your DNA Guide: the Book

Legacy Family Tree – Two gift certificates – One Year Memberships to FamilyTreeWebinars

OGIO quality backpack- Donated by Synergy Solutions

Donation of a 12-month Ultimate Subscription

4 Day Passes – Admission to the Park

We hope that you are ready to register! We have great speakers and are looking forward to meeting in person.
Registration will close on September 9 at midnight. There will be no registration at the door of the conference as we have to make seating and catering arrangements in advance.

To register online with credit card payment, go to Eventbrite
If you prefer to pay by cheque, download and print this registration form and mail it with payment to the address on the form. Mail-in registration forms must be received at our office no later than September 9.
We will offer payment by cash, cheque or via Stripe payment machine at the following Society meetings at Bow Cliff Seniors Centre: May 13, June 10 and September 9.

If you have special dietary requests, send an email to familyroots@afhs.ab.ca no later than September 9.
Cancellation Policy – For a full refund, a request to cancel must be received in writing to familyroots@afhs.ab.ca by September 5. Please note that all refunds will be subject to a processing fee. Refunds after this date will not be available as we have to make seating and catering arrangements in advance.
Accommodations: If you would like to stay at the conference hotel, please contact Hotel Blackfoot and reference AFHS Conference 2024 to book your accommodation. Attendees are responsible for making payment directly to the hotel. The rates are as follows: 1 or 2 queen beds – $189.74 (includes all taxes) OR 1 king bed – $223.42 (includes all taxes).
Photography and Filming Disclaimer – Please note that photographs and footage may be taken at this Family Roots event. These may be used for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and on social media. Please contact familyroots@afhs.ab.ca if you have any concerns.

AFHS Board Meeting
2025-07-07 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
Alberta Family Histories Society holds regular Board Meetings, and AFHS members are welcome to attend!
For the 2025-26 year, these meetings will be held via Zoom.
If you are a member and would like to attend, please contact communications@afhs.ab.ca for the Zoom invitation.
Why attend? Board meetings are an opportunity to review progress, present ideas, assess risks and make strategic decisions to keep AFHS on the path to success (source).
For the dates and times of other AFHS Board meetings and events, see our calendar.

AFHS Society Meeting
2025-09-08 19:00 - 21:00 | At AFHS Resource Centre & via Zoom, Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Please note: Due to the passing of her father, Tara Shymanski is not able to do the presentation about Hudson’s Bay records on Monday night. Instead Amber Godfrey has kindly come forward to do the talk.
Topic: The D.R. Eaton Tragedy: Researching Three Nova Scotian Brothers Who Were Lost at Sea
Description: The Shaw brothers had no idea that their routine voyage to Bremen would end in tragedy. In the fall of 1878, they set out from Baltimore, Maryland to Antwerp, Belgium, with a load of grain and timber. Their ship, the D.R. Eaton, had been built in Eatonville, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, by brothers D.R. and C.F. Eaton and was launched in October 1877. She was built by J.G. Olive Jr. of Saint John, New Brunswick, a first-class ship builder. The D.R. Eaton was declared to be a “ship of the first order for strength and durability.” So how did this brand-new vessel disappear completely, never to be heard from again? Captain Harris H. Shaw, his wife and young daughter, two of his brothers and twenty other crew members simply vanished. Follow my journey as I learn more about this seafaring family and the tragedy that befell them. Newspaper articles, probate documents, Seafarer’s of the Atlantic Province records, census returns, birth and marriage records all help me piece together their story.
Our Speaker: Amber Godfrey
Amber Godfrey is an amateur family historian whose love of family history started in childhood, listening to family stories shared by her parents, grandmothers and extended family. She received a Family History kit for Christmas when she was twelve and that started her on a family history research journey that continues to this day.
After finishing college and working in a variety of office jobs, Amber realized that she could combine her love of books and research and her interest in computers by working in libraries. She graduated as a Library Technician and worked in public libraries in BC for nearly twenty years. When she moved to Calgary, she was hired by the Calgary Board of Education to work on-call in school libraires. Now that her family has moved back to BC, she is currently searching for her next job.
Amber plans to remain a member of the Alberta Family Histories Society and will continue her role as editor of the AFHS Chinook Arch newsletter. While she was living in Calgary, she also volunteered at the AFHS library and helped with their Family History Coaching program at Calgary Public Library.
In 2024, she submitted a presentation idea to the Nova Scotia Genealogy Virtual Conference and was chosen as one of the presenters. Amber is passionate about sharing stories of ordinary people who led interesting lives, especially women, and she hopes to do more presentations for groups in the future.

This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person.
The zoom invite for this meeting has been removed since this meeting has now passed.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

Writing Special Interest Group
2025-09-12 09:30 - 11:30 | Zoom
This special interest group will help you record the stories of your family research. It will meet via Zoom on the second Friday of each month beginning at 9:30 am.
Due to the nature of this group, we’ve decided to limit the number of participants. Please contact communications@afhs.ab.ca to see if there is any space in this group.
Special Interest Groups are a member benefit for all Alberta Family Histories Society members. If you would like to attend a session as a guest, please contact communications@afhs.ab.ca

Thanksgiving Day
2025-10-13, 2026-10-12 | Alberta

UEL Meeting
2025-10-26 13:00 - 15:00 | Resource Centre – Petwin Atrium Commons, Suite 251S 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Our Resource Centre will be used by the local branch of the United Empire Loyalists. AFHS members are invited to attend.
Stephen Davidson from Nova Scotia will be presenting a talk on “Fascinating Facts from Loyalist History: What your teachers might not have known about Canada’s refugee founders”

“This is a particularly good talk for those who are new to loyalist history. It features 25 facts that most Canadians don’t know about the Loyalists. Those who have a longer familiarity with loyalist history may enjoy seeing how many of these facts they already know.”

Stephen has consistently contributed to a weekly Loyalist newsletter called Loyalist Trails.

Resource Centre in Use for Cemetery Volunteers Function
2025-11-23 11:30 - 14:00 | Resource Centre – Petwin Atrium Commons, Suite 251S 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada

Strategic Planning
2025-11-23 14:30 - 17:00 | AFHS Resource Centre, 712 - 16 Avenue NW, Calgary, Canada
We will be having an in-person strategic planning session at the AFHS Resource Centre. This is an opportunity for the members to help shape the future of the Alberta Family History Society. Please come contribute your insights and ideas.

Basics Special Interest Group
2025-11-29 10:00 - 12:00 | At AFHS Resource Centre & via Zoom, Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Are you just getting started? Have you been researching for a while and want a deeper understanding of some of the common topics in genealogy? This Basics Special Interest Group is for you!
We will meet on November 29 and January 31 (5th Saturdays of the month). The meetings will be hybrid – held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE) and by Zoom.
The topic for November 29 is to be determined. It will be either Newspapers (presented by Bev Smith) OR Wills and Probate Records (presented by Marion Peterson). The exact topic will be posted a few weeks before the meeting.
Special Interest Groups such as the Basics Special Interest Group are a member benefit for all Alberta Family Histories Society members. If you would like to attend a session as a guest, please contact communications@afhs.ab.ca. For a list of all other calendar events, see our calendar.

CALL Presentation
2025-12-04 11:00 - 12:00 | At AFHS Resource Centre & via Zoom, Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Join us at the Resource Centre for a presentation offered by CALL (Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners)
Sir John A. Macdonald – The Vision, the Controversy and the Cost of Nationhood
Join us for an hour’s presentation and discussion of Canada’s first prime minister. Sir John A. left us a nation of promises but also some tatters of legacy issues. Ian Harvey of CALL and Jim Benedict of AFHS+CALL will talk on Macdonald, covering the nation building period of 1885, when Canada was only eight years old, the transnational railroad was just completed and the settlement of the west was underway. His handling of indigenous peoples and the Louis Riel rebellion lingers on in today’s debates.
The event will be held on Thursday, December 4 th , starting at 11 am at the AFHS Resource Centre in the Heritage Square at Suite 251-South, 8500 Macleod Trail, S.E. The talk will also be available on Zoom. See the link below.
We are inviting members of the Alberta Family Histories Society, AFHS, to join us in person or by Zoom. This is sponsored by the “Historical Events & Their Impact” group of the Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners, CALL. Please come to the talk to enjoy some Canadiana and to meet some other very interesting people.
The presentation will wrap up by noon. The members of CALL intend to enjoy a lunch at the nearby Toscana Restaurant, a short walking distance just north of Heritage Square with optional parking for you. AFHS members are welcome to join us.
Jim Benedict
The Zoom link has been distributed to our members in recent Windsock messages.

Resource Centre Closed for Christmas Break
2025-12-20 - 2026-01-02 | AFHS Resource Centre, 712 - 16 Avenue NW, Calgary, Canada
Our Resource Centre will reopen on January 3 at noon.

Labour Day
2025-12-21 | Alberta

New Year's Day
2026-01-01 | Alberta

Basics Special Interest Group
2026-01-31 10:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Are you just getting started? Have you been researching for a while and want a deeper understanding of some of the common topics in genealogy? This Basics Special Interest Group is for you!
We will meet on November 29 and January 31 (5th Saturdays of the month) by Zoom.
The topic for January 31 is to be determined..
Special Interest Groups such as the Basics Special Interest Group are a member benefit for all Alberta Family Histories Society members. If you would like to attend a session as a guest, please contact communications@afhs.ab.ca. For a list of all other calendar events, see our calendar.

CPL Coaching Program
2026-01-31 13:00 - 15:00 | Calgary Central Library, 800 3 St SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2G 2E7, Canada
Alberta Family Histories Society partners with the Calgary Public Library to offer a coaching program. This is held the last Saturday of each month from 1 to 3 pm (except July, August and December). Experienced library staff and AFHS volunteers will be available to provide one-on-one consultation on any aspect of genealogy or family history from getting started to busting those brick walls. Register on the CPL website.

Finance Committee Meeting
2026-02-01 13:00 - 15:00 | Resource Centre – Petwin Atrium Commons, Suite 251S 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
The Finance Committee will meet during this time.

Family Day
2026-02-16 | Alberta

Genealogy 101
2026-03-28 09:30 - 16:00 | Resource Centre – Petwin Atrium Commons, Suite 251S 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Just getting started? Looking for basic information about doing family history? Join us for one day of introductory lessons.
Saturday, March 28 from 9:30 – 4 pm (doors open at 9)

In person only at the AFHS Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE)
Free for AFHS members; $30 for non-members (Non-members can apply the $30 towards a membership if they join before April 30).
This program will only be offered if we have a minimum of 8 participants.
March 21 is the deadline for registration.
Register by contacting communications@afhs.ab.ca
The presenters will be Bev Smith, Marian Jones and Marion Peterson – all experienced volunteers with Alberta Family Histories Society.

The Schedule:

Why Do Genealogy
What is the Difference between Genealogy and Family History?
Who Do You Start With? BMDs & Family Group Sheets
Where to Look

Morning Break

The Internet as a Source / Popular Internet Sites
Cite Your Sources
How to Organize
Software / Online Trees

Lunch – Bring your own bag lunch; we will offer water, juice, tea or coffee (1/2 hour)

Fun with Genealogy – a true example
What is a Pedigree Chart
Genealogy as a Puzzle – The Research Process

Afternoon Break

Census Records
Timelines
What is Your Goal?
Q&A
Tour of Resource Centre

Ready to register? Just send an email to Marion (communications@afhs.ab.ca) by March 21.

Good Friday
2026-04-03 08:00 - 17:00 | Alberta

UELAC Calgary Spring Meeting
2026-04-19 12:00 - 16:00 | At AFHS Resource Centre & via Zoom, Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Our Resource Centre will be in use for the Spring Meeting of UELAC Calgary.

Unison Seniors Expo
2026-04-25 09:00 - 16:00 | Unison Centre, 1133–7 Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Alberta Family Histories Society will have a display booth at the 2026 Seniors’ Expo at Unison at Kerby Centre. Save the date!

Victoria Day
2026-05-18 | Alberta

Canada Day
2026-07-01 | Alberta

Historic Calgary Week Presentation
2026-07-29 10:00 - 11:30 | Resource Centre – Petwin Atrium Commons, Suite 251S 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
Alberta Family Histories Society is pleased to once again be participating in Historic Calgary Week.
Ron Gilmore and Jim Benedict will be doing a presentation at our Resource Centre. More details to follow.

Civic Day
2026-08-03 | Alberta

Truth & Reconciliation Day
2026-09-30 | Alberta

Conference
2026-10-17 08:00 - 15:00 | Hotel Blackfoot, 5940 Blackfoot Trail SE, Calgary, AB, T2H 2B5, Canada
Alberta Family Histories Society will be holding a conference on this date. Details to follow!

Remembrance Day
2026-11-11 | Alberta

Hanukkah
2026-12-05 | Alberta
