Happy New Year

Our tradition for the last three years has been to watch Groucho Marx movies and toast with Martinelli's at midnight. This year I did not fall asleep at 10 pm as I have in the past. Also, we always watch the Rose Bowl Parade. My step sister works on at least fifteen of the floats. I don't know which ones she worked on this year. Unfortunately, I slept until 9am and missed half of the parade.

One of the things I would like to do again is to pull apart the British "cracker". These nifty noise makers make a "pop" like the old fashioned pop guns and are filled with little toys and paper hats. It is great fun for kids of any age.

San Diego County Library , Vista Genealogical Reference part 2

Part 1 covered some reference books about military service, census and the Revolutionary war. In Facts About American Immigration by David M. Brownstone and Irene M. Frank (2001) I found general information on the immigration of different ethnic groups. The book covered Native Americans, Restrictions on immigration and immigration from Europe. the countries covered were Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germans, France, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Italy, Poland, the former Yugoslavia, and Jewish immigration. This work also contained immigration from Asia, the Americas and Oceania. The appendix of Facts About American Immigration an appendix with tips for genealogy, NARA, the Soundex and a glossary of immigration terms. This may be a useful book for someone who is just starting to research an immigrant ancestor, it provides general background on immigration by ethnic group.

Also in the Vista reference section: R (before call number means Reference)
929.4 Our Sacred Identity: Indian Names
929.4 First Name Reverse Dictionary
929.40973 Black Names in America
Black's Surnames of Scotland
929.373 Passengers to America
929.4 British family Names

Vista's newspaper collection includes the San Diego Union Tribune on ProQuest--1983 to present from NewsBank. They have the Fallbrook Enterprise 1915 to the present and the Vista Press from 1926-1973. The Fallbroom Enterprise and the Vista Press are on Microfiche.

Genealogists will find some familiar genealogy titles in the reference section as well such as: Kemp's International Vital records (R929.3) and New England Court Records by Rapaport (R929.3)