One thing I quickly learned about genealogist, is that they are inherently generous people. I have had a lot of help from my "cousins", and other genealogist not related. I kept thinking well if there was only something I could do to help others.
A friend told me about two wonderful sites where I could help others: raogk.org and findagrave.com. I loved helping people through both sites but found it especially rewarding through raogk.org. There I was able to help with more than just headstone photos. I quickly learned of all the wonderful resources here in Elko. The museum, Northeastern Nevada Museum , has a huge obit collection and the newspapers back to 1869. And it's free for me to go find what I am looking for there. The courthouse is also very helpful. the ladies there are always willing to give me a hand, especially in the recorders office. Sadly, raogk.org is not up and running for the time being. Last year the co-founder passed away and the servers went down all around the same time. The other co-founder is still grieving but plans on bringing the site back up later this year, possibly.
The other site I volunteer for is findagrave.com. I have been able to help connect lots of people with their families through this site also. Some people think it's morbid that I spend so much time "haunting" cemeteries and that I drag my kids with me. But I have found that cemeteries are actually very peaceful places to be. There is a lot to learn from a headstone. They contain important genealogical data. Plus, it's nice to see the resting place of my ancestors. While some may not agree with my wandering around cemeteries and taking photo's of the headstones, I think it's a great way to let people know that they haven't been forgotten. The gratitude I get from people I have helped always out weighs the negatives I get. Mindy Adamson-Wahl, here you can see some of the things I have done.
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