Lauren M. Boyd

Novato, CA 94947-2025

Qualifications for Office

Volunteer Positions

President

Marin County Genealogical Society 1998-2000

I am currently the President of the Marin County Genealogical Society, a California not-for-profit corporation. I serve without compensation. I preside over a Board of Directors that is made up of 6 elected officers and 5 members at large, for a total of 11 members as well as over the meetings of the general membership, which I believe is currently about two hundred and ninety. During my year as President, we have undertaken the re-writing of the bylaws that have not been changed since their inception in 1977. I write a column "The Prez Says..." for each issue of our quarterly publication, the Marin Kin Tracer. My focus for our group this year has been to have more member involvement, more community outreach and to boost membership. To accomplish this I have, expanded our presence on the Internet and along with two other members of the Society, given presentation at our County Fair entitled "Ancestral Journey". It was popular enough that we were invited back to repeat it. We have also presented this to the patrons of the Tiburon-Belvedere Library and have been invited to lecture at the Sonoma County Genealogical Society. I have created the "Adopt a Meeting Program" and have encouraged the membership to join in the process of being involved in the Society. I have appointed several new committees including a grant proposal committee. I am currently working toward creating a working relationship with the Marin County Historical Society in hope of combining efforts. We are in the process of finding a permanent home for our Library Collection as we have just been notified by the County Library they will no longer house it. The term of office is one year and I was reelected for a second term.

1^st Vice President

Marin County Genealogical Society 1995-1998

During my three terms as the 1^st VP , I was a member of the Board of Directors and in charge of programs. I arranged for a lecturer ten out of twelve months in each year. I have arranged for such speakers as Christina Rose, who has co-authored "Genealogy for Idiots" and Joyce Buckland a noted speaker on British Research. I was responsible for arranging our annual workshop which is an evening of classes, usually four that repeat once. I arranged for Heritage Quest to come and do their "Road Show" twice during the three years and had them scheduled to return in late 1999 before I left the office. I have arranged and co-ordinated an Everton's "Climbing Your Family Tree" workshop, including a catered lunch for about 60, if memory serves. I had co-ordinated our Anniversary Celebrations and our Winter Holiday Party, as well as initiating our participation in the Novato 4^th of July parade and a picnic afterward. I served on the nominating committee in 1996, 1997 & 1998. General meeting attendance increased from an average of 25-30 per monthly meeting to 50-60 during my stint as program director. I had an annual budget of about $400.00 and managed to find speakers that would come for little or no fee. I have served on many committees and have re-designed our membership application. Normally, this office is limited to two terms. I was invited to stay on and oversee the 20^th Anniversary year.

Founder & Librarian

Marin County Genealogical Society CD-ROM Research Library, 1996-current

In 1995, I contacted the Legal Department of Broderbund Software, Inc. and negotiated that our Genealogical Society be allowed copyright permission to share a library of their CDS for check out and to use in their own home. This took about six months to accomplish. I had secured a similar relationship with Palladium Interactive for use of their "Data Library". We now have about 200 research disks in the collection. I house them in my home and have 2 assistants involved with this project. We have about 60 members of the Marin County Genealogical Society CD-ROM Research Library.

Founding Member

Marin County Genealogical Society Computer Interest Group

In 1995 a few of us in the Society recognized the importance of having a "computer users' group" as computerized genealogy was becoming more popular. We banded together and met at a member's home for the first time in January 1996. There may have been 20 people in attendance at the first meeting. We do not require membership in the Society to attend these meetings. It is one way we reach out to the community and it encourages membership. Our group now includes more than 95, although they do not attend each meeting. We have grown to the point that we can no longer rotate meetings from one member's home to another. We began as an informal discussion group and have included formalized computer lecture topics, such as the "Y2K Problem" and "How to Build a Computer"as well as hosting Paul Burchfield, from Broderbund Software, to speak on the topic "How to Write Your Family Book Using Family Tree Maker". As one of the more "experienced" members, I get calls from others that need help. I have quite regularly refused payment for my traveling to their homes to assist them.

Web Master http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/1878

Marin County Genealogical Society

In 1997 I took over the responsibility of our web page and moved it from a member's home page to a site of it's own. I do the HTML coding and updates for the page. I recently had an offer of assistance, so will be able to share some of the work. I respond to and forward all e-mail sent to our society address.

List Owner and Administrator

MarinGenSoc-L@Rootsweb.com

RootsWeb Sponsor

For about the last three years another member of the Society and I had been manually distributing messages to our membership maintaining an address database. It became so large as to be cumbersome and I sought out a server to host our list. Being as I was unable to find a free home for it, in June of 1998, I became a Sponsor of Rootsweb and began our list there. I currently have 103 people subscribed to the list.

Volunteer 1996-current

Novato Historical Guild

I work in the darkroom of the Novato History Museum. I copy old photographs and print negatives for the use of the Guild, the Museum and its patrons. I have printed photos for use for presentation before the City Council in order to save the old firehouse at the now closed Hamilton Air Force Base. I have printed many photos for exhibition at local banks as well as for the recent Anniversary Celebration for the North Marin Water District. I have been asked to join their Board of Directors three times and have had to turn them down as they meet in the afternoon during the work week.

Chair, Genealogical Committee

Genealogist

Clan Stewart Society in America

I was appointed to this position in May of 1996. This was a brand new committee for Clan Stewart. It was for me to define. I have five other members on the committee across the nation and in Greece. I am the recipient of all queries and contact regarding genealogy of the Stewarts. I respond to those that I am able and forward others to other members of the committee as appropriate. I began and maintain a computerized data base for our membership of approximately 950+/- members, inclusive of their collateral lines. I provide genealogical information and forms to those that host or volunteer at the Highland Games and gatherings. I spend time regularly at the Clan Stewart Tent answering questions about genealogy. I write articles relative to genealogy for print in both the west coast edition of Clan Stewart's Newsletter and the national edition "Fesse Chequy."

Member, Web Page Committee

Clan Stewart Society in America

As one of the people responsible for showing the need for a presence on the Internet, I was appointed to the newly formed Web Page Committee in 1996. I supply genealogical information to the Chair and have assisted with HTML coding, editing and proofreading. I submit all items to the President of Clan Stewart for approval and changes prior to uploading. This is a long process that may be changing as we have a new chair this year.

Member, Forgotten Monarchy Committee [forming]

Clan Stewart Society in America

President Laird has invited me to be a member of the committee that is forming, but has not been formalized as of yet. This committee will be charged with discussion and research to determine how Clan Stewart can best help H.R.H. Prince Michael of Scotland, in a non-political way. Prince Michael is the Author of "the Forgotten Monarchy", a history of his Stewart line. Given the information that appears in the book, it may be that he is indeed a legitimate heir to the Royal Stewart line that was thought to have died with Prince Charles Edward Stewart's brother, Henry, Cardinal York.

Northern California Convenor

House of Boyd Society

I was appointed to this position in January of 1996 by then President, Dr. William Barneyback, affectionately known to all as "Barney". Shortly after my appointment, Barney died. I was on my own to figure out what to do as Convenor. I kept in contact with Barney's widow, Marianna and she sent me some tartan, cloth and banner to use at the tent. I contacted the Vice President of the Clan Stewart and asked what I should do, how would I proceed? He gave me addresses and phone numbers of the various Highland Gatherings contacts and put a tent over my head. It is with the help of the Stewarts that I began my task of serving our membership and as an ombudsman for the Clan. Tom Boyd helped me with the tent at my first event that year. I put together a collection of items to have for the games and continue to add to the book collection and others to make our tent a better home for members while visiting the events in California. I had a hard road ahead of me as we had recently experienced a split in the Clan and people were either stand-offish or curious "which" Boyd organization I represented. I established the policy that ALL Boyds are welcome at my tent. I diplomatically answered people's questions regarding the "split" and many rejoined our ranks. I have created many hand outs and try to answer folks questions about the history of the Boyds and the Scots in general. I host about 12 events each year in order to make our presence known, service our membership and help to expand it. Most games I man the tent by myself. I have not yet been able to build a volunteer base, but am working on it. My territory is larger than Scotland and I travel some 1,000 miles or more each year on behalf of our Clan.

Member, Executive Board

House of Boyd Society

In 1997, I was nominated by Richard G. Boyd to serve on the Executive Board, was elected that Spring and first met with other officers at the AGM held at Grand Father Mountain, North Carolina. I have actively insisted we follow the bylaws and Robert's Rules of Order, since I joined the Board. I redesigned our advertisement for publication to appear both more friendly and more professional than our old ads. I feel I have had a very good working relationship with my fellow board members. I have been charged with various duties by our President, Don Mellen. I serve on the Finance Committee, and have corresponded regularly via regular mail with both Don and our Treasurer, Dave A. Boyd, Jr. I have been in contact with Grover Gore, via fax and telephone conversations. I keep in regular contact with fellow Executive Board Members, Don Mellen, Ken Boyd and Cal Boyd by way of e-mail messages. When a need arises, I contact the President by telephone.

Co-Editor, Dean Road

House of Boyd Society

With the help of Cal Boyd, I published the Autumn 1997 and Winter 1998 issues of the Dean Road as Richard G. Boyd, the Editor had asked me to take on his duties as he faced surgery on his hands. We received many compliments on these issues.

Chair, AGM Committee

House of Boyd Society

At the 1997 AGM, it was decided to hold the 1999 AGM in Pleasanton California. Being as this is in my territory, I was charged with planning and hosting the event. I have made arrangements for accommodations, a President's Reception, Annual Dinner, entertainment, the AGM, as well as some events for those traveling a great distance, such as a tour of Alcatraz Island and a winery.

Chair, Highland Games Committee

House of Boyd Society

Following the Executive Board's 1999 vote to hold a moratorium on the appointment of Convenors, President Don Mellen charged me with defining what was entailed in Convenorship. This committee will address such issues as insurance requirements and hold harmless agreements; approval of expenditures involved and a process for same; items to be supplied by the Clan to Convenors; who has been officially appointed, when and by whom; how and when and where it is appropriate to call for Convenors and procedures for same. I have begun to make contact with our Convenors to get this process started.

Prior Position

Site Facilitator, Novato 1982-1985

Parent Services Project

Marin County Office of Education

During my three years as Site Facilitator, I was paid a stipend. I facilitated meetings of about 35 single parents. I was a signator on the bank account for our Site. I coordinated and arranged for monthly pot luck dinners for about 35 adults and 50 children, as well as fundraising events. I also was responsible for arranging daycare for Respite Day. I met with other Site Facilitators in the County on a regular basis. I attended a Leadership Training Workshop taught by Judy Segal of UCLA. I was sent to attend the Conference on the Education of Young Children in Los Angeles. I spoke before the Legislature when we had a bill before the California Assembly to provide for a branch of Parent Services Project at every public school in California.