Family history hobby helps people preserve memories, discover connections

NORTH LOGAN — October is officially Family History Month, and genealogy and family history have become a popular pastime for people looking to learn more about their past.

The Logan FamilySearch Center, located at 165 E. 2200 North, has the tools to help people take that search a step further.

"Yes. There's a big following," said Bill Cox, coordinator of the center, along with his wife.

"And it's addictive," said Bonita Farmer, who sits at the front desk and has been a member of the staff for 12 years.

Family history and genealogy aren't just for people with a religious connection. For many, it's a hobby that can quickly turn into hours of research.

"At 2 in the morning, you're saying, 'Oh, maybe I should go to bed,'" said Farmer.

The goal can be as simple as filling in the gaps of a family tree, making connections or finding previously unknown relatives.

"Connect, find and connect," said Cox.

Preserving family memories

Farmer is not just a helper at the center, but also does her own research. She was given some old photo albums and historical items from a family member and began thinking about how to preserve the material.

"It was intriguing as I went through the box. And so I thought, 'Oh, somehow this can't be lost, but it's going to be lost if we don't do something with it.'"

Sometimes the challenge is figuring out what to do with old documents and photos, or tapes that can no longer be played because the equipment needed to play them is no longer available.

"Almost everything that you can think of, we have a way to digitize it and put it on a flash drive for them," said Cox, while uncovering an old reel-to-reel tape player. "This is where some of the magic happens."

The center has equipment that can digitize pictures, slides and audiotapes, along with old home movies and VHS videos.

"People see their old home movies (from) the 1940s come alive that they haven't seen for years, and suddenly they hear their father's voice from 40 years ago. It's a cool experience. It happens quite often," he said.

The center has a recording studio to record interviews with family members and a green chromakey wall for recordings.

Making old memories new again

Cox said the process quite often brings tears to people's eyes.

That's what Richard Selvage was doing when he came to the center to scan pictures from an old scrapbook his mother put together years ago. He plans to share the newly digitized photos with his siblings when he sees them in two weeks.

"It means the world. All this will be gone in a little while. If I would save it. They don't have it. Neither do my kids know that I was a kid once. Or my grandkids aren't aware of that," said Selvage, smiling at the thought of him being a child in their eyes.

Selvage said he comes to the center six days a week.

"To me this is just amazing. And there aren't very many of these available throughout the world," said Selvage.

The Logan center is one of 15 larger regional FamilySearch centers located across five western states. Visit FamilySearch.org to find the nearest location.

The 15 larger regional FamilySearch centers:

• Idaho Falls, Idaho
• Las Vegas
• Layton
• Lehi
• Logan
• Los Angeles
• Mesa, Arizona
• Oakland, California
• Ogden
• Orange County, California
• Pocatello
• Riverton
• Sacramento, California
• San Diego
• St. George

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