Janet Elected to the APG Board of Directors

We received some very exciting news last week! Janet, the backbone of Family ChartMasters, was just elected to the board of directors for the Association of Professional Genealogists! Janet is thrilled, honored, and excited to have this incredible opportunity. 

Here's what the official press release said about Janet:  

Janet Hovorka (Utah), with her husband Kim Hovorka, owns Family ChartMasters, the official printers for every major genealogy software and database company. Janet has been a regular columnist for the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly since 2016 and is the author of the Zap The Grandma Gap book and 9 workbooks to help people connect with their family by connecting them to their family history. Janet received a bachelor's degree. in ancient near eastern history and a master's degree in library and information science from Brigham Young University. She is a past two-term president of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches business and genealogy courses at Salt Lake Community College. She has presented hundreds of lectures all over the world to help people learn about their family's history.

And here's a little bit more about the APG:

The Association of Professional Genealogists (www.apgen.org), established in 1979, represents more than 2,700 genealogists in various genealogy-related businesses. APG encourages genealogical excellence, ethical practice, mentoring, and education. The organization also supports the preservation and accessibility of records useful to the fields of genealogy and history. Its members come from all fifty U.S. states, Canada, and forty other countries. 

What Will Happen Over the Next Three Generations?

What happens over three generations to the family history records in a family? And what will happen to your records over the next three generations in your family?  

My Great-Grandfather was a prolific genealogist. He did his best to preserve his records for coming generations, but the large collection and methods of preservation have been a challenge in my family.  Likewise you can’t see into the future, but there are measures you can take now to help make sure your Great-Great-Great-Grandchildren can learn about their heritage. 

In four generations we have gone from ledgers, journals and letter writing, to iPads, YouTube and Megadatabases. We can’t predict what the next three generations will bring, but we know it will be vastly different than what we have now.  How can you hedge your bets and make sure that future generations will be able to learn about your family’s history?

Joseph Hatten Carpenter: Genealogist 

My Great Grandfather left us 18 volumes of family group sheets, 33 personal journals, one genealogy chart, and several loose ledgers, letters, a book of poems, and etc. He intended that they be donated to an archive for safekeeping. As far as we can tell, the family didn’t exactly do what he asked, but it has turned out ok. The family group records that would have been discarded by an archive have been kept in the family which is now working to digitize them. The journals have been preserved in an archive where everyone has access to them. Joseph had 5 children,18 grandchildren, and now has great-great-great grandchildren. Different branches of the family have ended up with different heirlooms.

 “One arises from the study of genealogy with a clearer and more charitable conception of the whole brotherhood of man.” –My Great Grandfather, Joseph Hatten Carpenter

I’m sure my Great-Grandfather would be pleased if you were able to better archive and pass on your family history records because of the lessons you learned from his experience.  Good luck. 

Basically the Best

We have the best family of employees here at Family ChartMasters. They are hardworking, creative, and just a joy to work with.  I truly love getting feedback from customers who love their charts, and their experience with their designers!  Here is one example:

Hello Janet,

Just wanted to thank you and Karli for doing an exceptional job both designing and delivering such beautiful chart. I didn't even know what I wanted when we first spoke on the phone. With your expertise you were able to create a pedigree chart that exceeded my expectations. Feel free to display my chart if you wish at you conventions. Also if you could archive my information that would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you 

Karli truly is exceptional!  Here is the chart she made for him:

It's so different from any other chart we have made!  He loved it, and we think it's pretty neat.

We also continually get good reviews about our designer, Erin.  One of her clients sent her this picture, along with this lovely comment:

Here we are, Erin. I’ve just returned to Leicester, England after the reunion of cousins in Rotherham, S. Yorkshire, England yesterday, and was SO pleased with the working family trees. I’m including photos of working on it - sadly I neglected taking shots as I was so caught up in it with cousins that I’d forgotten until the end. Thank you SO much again for all you did.

I’m sure I’ll be contacting you again for the next revision when I go to England again. I can’t be any happier!

We will say it again and again, our designers are basically the best! Look for more highlights about our amazing employees in the coming months!

2019 Holiday Gift-Giving Deadlines

The holidays are the busiest time of year for Family ChartMasters and we don't want to have to turn anyone away due to the large volume of orders. As with any custom product, it takes time to make sure that we create the perfect chart. If you want the most beautiful gift, you have to plan ahead. We can take orders through December, but if you send your information during October, we can ensure that you get the best price and highest quality chart.

Here are our 2019 holiday deadlines:

December 2nd: Deadline for custom decorative charts. When you order a custom decorative chart, you will be paired with a designer who will walk you through the whole process. In addition, you will receive online previews of your chart so that you can approve them before ordering the final chart. Please send in your file before December 2nd to avoid rush fees. We will accept decorative chart orders after this date, but you will be charged a rush fee.

December 9th: Deadline for working charts. Working charts are simple, draft-copies of charts with no online preview before ordering. As with custom charts, please send in your file before December 9th to avoid rush fees.

Teaching Family History With Back-to-School Traditions

As a child, going back-to-school shopping was one of the most anticipated days of the year. My younger sister and I would make a list of all the school supplies that we needed and present them to my mom, who would always chuckle and put them in her purse until the long-awaited day. When the day finally came, it felt like Christmas. Upon entering Walmart, we would rush to the back-to-school section of the store where the fun would commence. It was always a madhouse with children running every direction, holding backpacks and binders and lunch boxes, staking claim on the trendiest ones. There was typically at least one child crying over an out-of-stock binder or a set of pens that were too expensive. Despite all the chaos, there was something magical about it. The feeling of summer being over and a new phase of life beginning was pure bliss for my young self.  

The excitement of back-to-school shopping is what sparked my love for school when I was a child and is a tradition that I want to pass on to my children. Likewise, German parents give their children a special gift bag to aid in igniting the passion for education. This tradition is called a Schultüte School Bag. On the first day of school, German children receive this bag filled with books, pens, toys and candy. It is given by parents to help them feel important and loved on this special day. 

What are your back to school traditions? How do you keep them alive from one generation to the next? 

If you don't have any back-to-school traditions, start them now! Learn how to make your own Schultüte bags in the link below.

Make your own Schultüte Bag