Family History Month can be any month

Hi neighbors. If you missed out on October being Family History Month it's not too late to do something about it.

Actually, with Thanksgiving coming soon, what would be a better time for exchanging family stories, photos and information? Most of us gather together at holidays with several generations represented.

If you haven't made it a practice to exchange photos, birth, marriage and death information, obits, etc., at your extended family get-togethers, this year would be a great time to start! You could make up a trivia game specific to each generation or open to all.

For instance, my grandmother had a huge organ in her front room. I remember all of us grandchildren playing on the stool that could be twirled around, but I can't remember if I ever heard my grandmother play it. I can't imagine why she had it if she couldn't play it. I know nothing of where it came from or where it went.

What items do you remember seeing from your childhood in your grandparents' homes? Make those memories into a trivia question and ask the gathered family. Odds are someone will know, or at least your memory might spark one of their own.

If you have photos of people you don't know, take them with you and pass them around.

Take a lap top computer, printer, scanner and tape recorder. If you have a video camera, take that too and record some of the stories being told.

We all know how those stories go ... so and so caught a catfish so big they had to bring the buggy back home and get the hay truck to haul it home on, etc.

Tales about how people met and married, where they went to school, if they are in sports.

What were some of your grandparents‚ favorite songs when they were kids, teenagers? Could they dance? Play an instrument? Do your family reunions end with everyone gathered around a piano singing along or stomping their feet to a family fiddle player? Listen to what the women are saying about the foods they prepared. Does Aunt Molly always bring noodles? Why? Listen to the men talk about cars or horses. Who had the first car in the family? What was it and what trials did it present in learning how to drive it? Remember to get some stories about pets and farm animals. My grandparents had more tales about the old dog Pedro and the "marching rooster" than I thought possible.

Once you get these conversations started, you'll be amazed at how even the youngest family member will sit mesmerized by the story of Grandpa's last horse race, or his first car.

Littler ones would enjoy coloring pages made from traced-over photos of family members or their pets.

Take a family tree‚ drawn on a sheet with surname branches labeled. Give each person a name pre-written on a leaf and find the right place to attach it.

Bring photos from the previous reunion and see who can identify all the people. Again, make a game of it.

If there is an appointed family historian, help them put together a photo album before everyone leaves. Get e-mail addresses, scan in the album and send copies to each person who wants one. Don't forget to include the colored pages the little ones make.

Even if you celebrate the holidays with only your immediate family, you can take time to review photo albums, and add new pages with the help of your children of any age. Tape record their questions about the family and your answers. Transcribe these conversations for the photo album.

Don't forget the local library. Here in Nevada we have a great genealogy room with history books, family histories and books with many photos of local places and events. Show your children how important it is to remember people and places.

If you print it yourself or publish your family history in any format, most libraries will welcome a donated copy. It's another way of making certain your hard work survives for your descendants.

Until the next time friends remember, nothing goes better with a good cup of hot coffee than a photo album, video or shared memories of your family.