It’s Saturday night once again and there is a new challenge from Randy Seaver this week. What is the first genealogy society we joined?

I began my never ending walk down the genealogy society trail with two friends in 1980. My first steps in tracing the family were through my mom’s New England lines so the first society I joined was the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston. Back in the days before the internet, I was an avid borrower of their books through the mail.

In 1981, I made my first and only visit in person to the library on Newbury Street and had a terrific time there. Through the years, my membership has lapsed with them off and on, but since the American Ancestors website contains so much material now, I automatically renew my membership with them annually.

My other two friends didn’t have any New England family to research, but we all wanted to experience the friendship and learning available locally so we joined the Pomona Genealogical Society, which met once a month at the Pomona Public Library in Southern California.

I kept my membership with them for a number of years and also often visited their library, which had a sizable, but limited genealogy collection.

If you don’t currently belong to any genealogical societies, I highly recommend membership. Local societies are great because of the friends you make and the opportunities to learn, but don’t forget to consider long distance memberships with ties to ancestral homes. You just might find unique resources not available anywhere else.