Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society
(Portage County, Wisconsin)
Welcome to the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society on the web. This
site will provide you with local resources to assist you in searching your
family tree in Portage County and the greater Stevens Point area.
The Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society, also known as SPAGS, was founded
in 1975. SPAGS
is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering an interest in genealogy,
sharing information, collecting, compiling and recording genealogical records
of Portage County, and assisting members and others in tracing their local
history.
SPAGS meets the first Wednesday of each month, unless otherwise announced, except in January, July and August, at the Lincoln Center, 1519 Water Street, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and is open to the public. Meetings start at 7:00 p.m. and include guest speakers on various topics of interest. For our Calendar of Events, see below.
Membership
Membership in our society includes monthly meetings and a subscription to our quarterly newsletter "Pedigree Pointers". (View a sample issue.) Dues for the year are $15.00/single and $20.00/family. Please send your dues to the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society ℅ Portage County Library, 1001 Main St., Stevens Point, WI 54481. Here is a printable membership form.
2012-13 Calendar
5 September 2012 - "Welcome back! "A Time to Share." What did you discover about your family this summer? Did you take a trip to your family's homeland? Tell us about your latest genealogical finds. Also, clean out your closet and bring genealogy related items to swap: magazines, books, maps, old newsletters, etc., or to just unload them. Dues are due! Individual $15 and Family $20.
3 October 2012 - "Windows Explorer - Genealogical Uses." We all have heard of Internet Explorer but how many of us know or use Windows Explorer. At Gene-A-Rama 2012, Thomas MacEntee gave an excellent presentation on "Managing Your Genealogy Data" which included extensive information on Windows Explorer. We will look at Windows Explorer and apply a few of the techniques he explained in real life scenarios.
7 November 2012 - "Area Research Center Work Night 5:30 - 7:30 p.m." The ARC will be open for research by SPAGS and Wausau Area genealogists. Ruth Wachter-Nelson will present an overview of ARC holdings at 5:30 for those interested. There will be no official business meeting. In preparation for this work night, we will have a 10 minute presentation on "Preparing to do research at the ARC" during our September and October meetings. Note: Change in location and meeting time: UW-SP Library, 5th Floor, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
5 December 2012 - "Slovak Christmas Traditions" This will be our holiday party. Marge Krogwold will present information on Slovak Christmas Traditions. Bring a Holiday treat to share.
January 2013 - No Meeting.
6 February 2013 - "PAF versus Family Tree Maker" Genealogy software can be complicated and expensive. We will review "Personal Ancestral File" free from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and compare it to "Family Tree Maker" purchased from Ancestry.com.
6 March 2013 - "Find A Grave website" What does this website provide and how can we use it in our genealogical research? Vickie Schnitzler will provide answers to your questions on this interesting website.
3 April 2013 - "Along the Slovak Immigrant Trail - and Beyond" presented by Charlotte Brendel, a member of the Price County Genealogy Society and beginning a term on the Board of Directors of the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International. She has written several books and done numerous presentations. She will have a supply of books with her and will sign copies after her presentation. Charlotte has travelled extensively in the Slovak and Czech areas of Europe. For more information on her travels and books, please check out her website. This program will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room at the Lincoln Center.
1 May 2013 - Election of the 2013-2014 officers will be held. Pam Anderson, past SPAGS President, will give an Ancestral Homeland presentation.
5 June 2013 - Cemetery Walk. The 2013 Cemetery Walk will feature South New Hope Lutheran Church and Cemetery, 1410 County Rd T, New Hope , WI. The Church and Cemetery are located east of Stevens Point. Take Hwy 10 East to Hwy 161 (left turn – approx. 7 miles from Holiday Inn). Follow Hwy 161 to County Rd T (left turn – approx. 6 miles). Church and Cemetery are on the left side of County Rd T (approx. 7/10 mile). South New Hope Lutheran Church was established in the latter part of the 19th Century and became inactive during the 1960s. The cemetery at South New Hope is actually two separate cemeteries on the same plot of ground. One cemetery, referred to as the "Back Cemetery", was established in the 1850s, about 30 years before the South New Hope congregation was started. Once the congregation was established, a new cemetery was created south of the church building. The South New Hope congregation was deeded the land of the older cemetery and continued its maintenance. The two cemeteries are separated by a walking path through a wooded portion of the church site.
Each Meeting will have a "Show and Tell" time. Everyone is encouraged to bring information relevant to the topic of the meeting. Eeach meeting will also include a short presentation by a member on their ancestral homeland.
Note: Entering a name in the search box above will return limited results. HOWEVER, there is a way to search for all occurrences of a name or term within our site. To do so, you need to follow the directions below.
Use the Google search box above.
Copy and paste the following address into the search box replacing "boyer" for the name you wish to search. Make sure there is a space between ~wispags/ and the name or term you are searching.
site:http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wispags/ boyer
The above search yields all the pages containing the word "boyer."
You can use the modifiers "and" or "or" to get different results.