The First Word #14: Changing Times, Moving On and New Tattoos

I turned 35 this year, (I know, I am getting old) and I decided to do something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but just never did. I got a tattoo. I figured that 35 was a good waypoint in my life to get it. If you follow average life expectancy rates, I’m almost half way through. The tattoo I got was of an ouroboros (the snake eating its own tail) on my upper back. The ouroboros is an ancient symbol that “often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end” (from Wikipedia.com). This is completely relevant to all of the changes currently happening in BGS.

First, all local BGS members should be aware that our library holdings, previously housed at Carnegie Library in Boulder, have been released, mostly to Denver Public Library or to a few BGS members for safe keeping, to make room for a large collection of the Boulder Daily Camera to be housed at Carnegie Library. Second, as most of you also know, we have moved from publishing a traditional printed Quarterly, to a modern, electronic Quarterly. Third, this year, instead of having our annual garage sale, we have undertaken another fundraiser instead, the BGS/Boulder Sesquicentennial Playing Cards. These are three significant changes for BGS and demonstrate how all of life grows, evolves and flows.

I want to take this time to say thank you to all of the volunteers who have worked on any of these facets of our society. There have been many who have helped staff the library as well as a strong contingent of people who faithfully showed up for collating the Quarterly once per quarter. Every year we had many helpers for the garage sale, either by donating goods or by showing up for pricing, sorting and selling. We all appreciate your dedication to keeping these projects afloat. Many hours have been given to the society by these people and they should know that they are appreciated beyond words!

These changes in our society make me think about how our ancestors must have experienced change in their lives. They encountered difficult circumstances like war, disease, moving across the country in covered wagons, Indian raids, natural disasters, loss of loved ones, and the list could go on forever. I also think about how changes in society, culture, technology, science and so forth, affected them as well. Penicillin was a major scientific breakthrough that saved many lives from infections that would have previously been fatal. The invention of the telegraph allowed communication over large distances as well as over seas. The railroad allowed faster, easier travel from one side of our country to the other. As immigrants flooded in to our great country, the “melting-pot,” became a great meshing of many different cultures and ideas.

As changes came in the past, our ancestors embarked on new phases of life and our society as a whole evolved. So will it be for the Boulder Genealogical Society as well. We are embarking on a new time in our Society’s life. With these changes, people and their ideas will change as well. Let us focus on what the benefits of these new changes will be, and avoid non-beneficial discourse over the way things “used to be.”

When thinking about taking the Quarterly in the electronic direction, I can see many possibilities in regards to the addition of more graphics and publishing photographs in color. Without printing costs, the sky is the limit when it comes to adding color. (Well, maybe the file size is the limit, but you know what I mean.) Also, having the Quarterly in an electronic format, you will be able to use search or find functions to locate specific surnames or subjects in each issue quickly and easily. Not only will we be cutting down on our own printing costs, but we will also be cutting down on the amount of natural resources consumed to create the Quarterly. By keeping the Quarterly on your computer instead of in a printed format, you will also be saving your house from unnecessary clutter.

By looking at the positive changes these situations bring, we can move forward happily and in a cooperative manner. Change can be very difficult, especially if you liked the “way things were,” but change is necessary for things to grow and evolve to the next phase of life. If change had not occurred, our ancestors would still be living in their ancestral homelands and this great country would still be wild and untamed.
Like my new tattoo, things end and new things begin all the time. What’s next in store for BGS? New local history projects? New developments online? More electronic publications? More educational opportunities? Who knows! But let’s all peer into the future and try to imagine the new beginnings that we can bring about for our great Society.