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SALT LAKE CITY -- If you watched the Days of '47 parade today, you might have spotted an unusual banner for the 2010 Census.
The U.S. Census wants Utahns to know next year's count is coming up and that it provides an invaluable snapshot of life today, which will be priceless tomorrow.
Amid the waving beauty queens, the handcarts and riders on horseback, one sight on the parade route stuck out a bit. It was the Kearns High Band carrying a sign for the 2010 Census.
Each person at the parade, in the state, in the country will be counted next year, their names recorded, and eventually, in a few generations, publically available.
Todd Hansen, the local census office manager for Census 2010 in Utah, said, "The personal information that's given on the census is completely confidential for 72 years. After 72 years it is released to the public and can be very, very useful for genealogical research."
We stopped by Ancestry.com, which keeps vast volumes of genealogical data. Using census documents, researchers easily located one branch of my family, my grandparents, in their 20s, operating a sheep ranch in central Wyoming in 1930.
Ancestry.com spokesman Mike Ward said, "We found your family living in Rawlins, Wyo., in 1930. Your grandparents were living there with one child."
According to the census, they rented their home for $60 a month and owned a radio.
"Those puzzle pieces can help pull together your family's history. It can unlock the past and help take you back in time," Ward said.
Older census records, digital scans of originals, trace my family back five generations to places like Denver, Ohio, New York and Canada, with names, children, addresses and occupations.
"From a genealogical standpoint, the census is a goldmine," Ward said.
The 2010 Census will create as many 3,500 good paying jobs in Utah. Next spring a 10 question form will go out. Workers will help make sure folks get those forms filled out and sent back in.
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
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