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Pahrump Genealogical Society to host inaugural ancestry look-up event

History can be a very fascinating subject, particularly when learning about one’s own family, and residents of the Pahrump Valley will have the opportunity to do just that this coming November, with a brand new community event slated to take place next Saturday.

The Pahrump Nevada Genealogical Society is gearing up to host its inaugural ancestry look-up event on Saturday, Nov. 6 and event organizers are encouraging anyone and everyone who is interested in learning more about their relatives to make their way down to the Pahrump Valley Museum between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for a day of investigation into the nuggets of historical information that can be found about their very own ancestors.

The Pahrump Genealogical Society got its start more than two decades ago and in 2020, the group marked its 25th anniversary, with a celebration taking place at its April 2020 meeting.

However, by May 2020, the organization was forced to halt its activities in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and while this was a big disappointment to members, they took the hiatus in stride and simply bided their time until they could resume their activities once more.

As of May of this year, the society was back at it again and members are optimistic that holding the ancestry look-up event will not only raise awareness about the society but will attract new members to bolsters its ranks.

“This is our 26th year and the group was founded by some local residents who were simply interested in genealogy,” current Pahrump Genealogical Society President Paula Elefante explained for the Pahrump Valley Times. “For me, I got started in genealogy many years ago, starting with a letter from my husband’s grandfather back in 1977. I moved here to Pahrump in 2000 and by 2001, I had gotten involved with the Pahrump Genealogical Society. I was actually the president early on, but then I got busy with other things. I eventually came back to the society about four or five years ago, getting active in it again, and we are so excited to be able to hold this event.”

Those wishing to take part in the event are invited to bring down any existing records or information they may have about their family, such as birth dates, death dates and a list of locations in which their family has lived. Computers will be available for researching attendees’ family history and there will be plenty of people on hand who have experience in extracting bits of information from an array of sources who will be more than willing to help out with the process.

There are several groups that will be taking part in the event, including the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic, the War of 1812 Society, the Family History Center and of course, the Pahrump Nevada Genealogical Society itself.

“It’s fun, it’s exciting and it’s interesting, and it gives people a little insight into their family,” Elefante enthused. “We have one lady in our group who has for years been trying to find out who her father was and she just last year found out. And she’s in her 80s. Four years ago, I found a half-sister that was put up for adoption. So it’s really, really neat and I always tell people, my hobby is digging up dead relatives!

“We’re hoping that this will build our membership, as well as membership in the other various organizations that will be there,” Elefante continued. “For the genealogical society, I think majority of our membership is like me, over 70 years of age, and we’d love to get some younger blood in here. We are now meeting on the third Wednesday of each month, at 2 p.m. at the Pahrump Community Library. We have program at every meeting and speakers oftentimes, and we finally decided to hold this event to hopefully get more people involved. More and more people are interested finding out more about their ancestors, and this is a great way to do that!”

The Pahrump Genealogical Society’s ancestry look-up event is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pahrump Valley Museum, 401 E. Basin Avenue.

For more information email pahrumpgenealogy@yahoo.com

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com

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