Hope everyone's had a great week!

I have a son graduating from high school so I'm taking some time to digitize family memorabilia before he tosses everything. I shared a WSJ article, "The Family Heirlooms That Our Children Don't Want" on the OnGenealogy Facebook page, but what I've found is they don't want THEIR stuff either, so I've spent the week scanning memorabilia before my son tosses everything. And while the sorting piles have occupied our dining table, I've scanned old postcards and recipe cards as well.

I got an appointment at a local Family History Center where I was able to use a high speed photo scanner (in the image below) to digitize old family postcards, recipe cards, and some photos. (From last week's email: If Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted in your area, you can use this Find a Family History Center link to look up a center near you and then select "Website" where you can read about the offerings at that FHC. Specifically, I look at the "Hardware and Equipment" because I want to know what type of scanners they have.)

I created a Google Slides file (free) with my mother's recipe cards and for my own purposes, I saved it as a PDF on my computer. Visit my blog if you'd like instructions for how to create your own digital recipe box with a free 70s Recipe Box template. If you're not able to use a scanner for recipe cards, you can also take photos of them with your camera or use a scanning app on your phone. And you can use the same template for digitized postcards or photos.

I'll be tackling more projects this coming week and will share more ideas for ways to preserve and enjoy our family memories.

Best with your family history!

Alyson Mansfield

OnGenealogy