Volunteers - what are they and are you one? According to Webster's New World Fourth Edition the definition of a volunteer, used as a verb, is "offer, give, etc. of one's own free will".

Your IGHS was organized to save genealogical and historical material and the sheer volume of our holdings in our library emphasizes the value placed on that ideology. I can't thank you enough for your efforts - the mortgage retirement and now the Building Fund to raise much needed capital for roof repair - all from volunteers. You have given freely but there is still an area we need help with and it does not involve dollars.

The library is open Monday through Saturday starting at 10 AM. People are needed to staff the hours of operation in order to meet and greet and give assistance to those searching for family ties or simply wanting to read up on the Illiana area. Can you spare as little as two to four hours, once a week, to help our friends?

Training for library assistance takes but a short time and once you serve, you'll meet a lot of interesting people and it provides you with the opportunity to gather information on your connections with the area. So many of us say we intend to pick up on our heritage, research our roots and, well, you know how that goes, but we never seem to find the time. This is a way to make up for that time while serving others, If you need yet another reason you know what they say; active hands, active minds makes for a healthy individual. Join us, won't you? We need YOU, the Volunteer. Contact Carolyn Livingston to donate some time.
There is yet another area you can help as a volunteer. I personally am always interested in hearing or reading stories of events that happened "back when". As I have told my children and grandchildren, any time you get a chance to listen to an older person you are listening to history. The speaker or writer was an everyday person and what they relate you won't find in a well crafted book; they lived it and to me that is history. Our Quarterly is always in need of articles and you can help.

So many of you have personal experiences that are worth sharing and you should consider putting them to paper. Submit the articles to IGHS and let us review them and possibly put them in the Quarterly.

IGHS operates solely on dues, donations and with the help of volunteers. Genealogy and history are important parts of the organization. Take time as I have and reflect and ask yourself; what have I done lately to help my IGHS?

Larry Thomason