IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – During the month of October, the Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center is offering free color fan charts that show up to seven generations of your family tree. This is in celebration of National Family History Month.
“We’re all about family history,” Gregg Manwaring, the Center Coordinator for the Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center, said. “We wanted the community to know to come here this month and let us show you how we can help you find your family.”
They begin the process with personal family information, including family members’ birth and death information (parents, grandparents, great-grandparent). Even if you only know one name, they can discover a whole root system of family members.
“We’ve worked on our family,” Anna Manwaring, the Center Coordinator for the Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center, said. “We still have space and missing people. But it’s continually growing.”
Anna and Gregg work on their own family fans during their spare time. Uncovering their families past and being able to share it with future generations is what inspires them to keep up the search.
And the FamilySearch Center offers more than research. They offer various classes, host multiple events for all ages, and they have ways to preserve the past.
With many forms of technology becoming obsolete, having a way to access and save your family’s content is becoming more difficult. The Center wanted to ensure that people could access as much of their history as possible and even has a way to share it with future generations.
“You could do a cassette tape,” Gregg said. “You could do an audio tape. We could do a phonograph. Some people have old phonograph records with their ancestor talking. My dad did one while he was in World War two. We wore it out.”
According to research by Brigham Young University, teenagers and young adults could actually benefit from knowing their family’s history. Learning the stories of those who came before can help develop a healthy sense of identity as well as a chance to grow into their own beliefs.
Here is a link to the Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center, if you are interested in checking out everything they have to offer.
The open house will run until Saturday, October 31. Even if you don’t stop by in October, their resources are free.
The center located at 750 West Elva Street in Idaho Falls.
