Branching Out

Last month I got a call asking if I would be interested in the position of Secretary for the Goshen Historical Society.

Why, yes. I would be!

My ancestors, the Packards, were some of the first settlers of Goshen. I'm the 8th generation, living in the family homestead, surrounded by diaries and letters dating from 1798 to 1918. How could I not be part of the Historical Society?

I went to my first Board of Directors meeting. It was the first time I had ever taken minutes at a meeting, and I was kind of nervous about it. Turns out, it's just like note-taking in college and not very difficult. The main thing we talked about was what programs we were going to hold next year.

At that moment, I thought about the Eleanor Roosevelt magnet on my refrigerator that reminds me: "Do one thing every day that scares you."

Okay, Eleanor.

With a deep breath, I spoke up and offered to do a presentation on my family, specifically Edward Packard, my Great, Great Grandfather. This will be a program open to the public. To say I'm already kind of terrified is putting it mildly.

My plan is to go through all of those diaries and letters, jotting down the interesting parts- things that will paint a picture of the town in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Depending on how familiar you are with diaries from that era, you might know that most of the entries are pretty mundane: "Ed drew wood today", "4 of us went to services, the rest didn't". But tucked in here and there, you'll find little nuggets, like about gypsy wagons that traveled through town in 1904. Those are the parts I want to share with the public. I have these primary sources at my fingertips. They deserve a look through and a program dedicated to them.

Now let's hope I can read the handwriting well enough. I have until September to get this done!