COVID-19 Virus Update 17 March 2020

COVID-19 Virus Update: Here are extracts from the email from Valerie issued to members about the COVID-19 Virus in relation to Caloundra Family History business on 17 March 2020.

Good afternoon members

Further to the decision to cancel the general meeting on Thursday 19 March, and in view of the rapidly developing situation, the Committee has now decided that we should close the library at midday on Friday 20 March until the end of April.

The impact on our activities will be:

  • Members’ meetings (19 March, 16 April)
  • Library Open Days (Thursdays and Saturdays for the rest of March and through April)
  • All Interest Group meetings (for the rest of March and through April)
  • Movie Afternoon on 3 April

This means that the library will close until the end of April. This closure will be reviewed in mid-April.

I know this will be a source of great disappointment for many but staying healthy and safe is far more important. Our activities are really non-essential.

No-one knows how long this pandemic will last but there has been a lot of discussion about flattening the curve and making it a bit easier to control the situation and deal with the needs of those who require hospitalisation. It is my opinion that we can all do our bit to help this happen and closing our activities for a while is one way to reduce the risk/rate of infection and in the long term helps to deliver positive outcomes for the community.

During this break from normal activities, it could be a good time to:

  • spend time reviewing your research;
  • check your sources;
  • put entries into your FTM (or other software) program;
  • sort photos and add captions;
  • sort out your family history files either online or in hard copy or both;
  • research and write a story (or two) for the Lorrie Barzdo Writers’ Award;
  • research something you’ve always wondered about;
  • read the books you never had time for;
  • declutter your cupboards;
  • research your next holiday;
  • and there are 101 other things to do !!

There have been some other great ideas from the committee to help /share with members that we need to explore further and I’ll let you know some of these shortly. If you have ideas you’d like to share with members, including some good free sites to explore, please let me know.

And if we all do our bit and help others in our community, we will get through this. I keep thinking how fortunate we are compared to our ancestors who went through the Spanish flu 100 years ago – we have so many communication tools available and we can keep informed and stay in touch with family and friends. How much scarier must it have been in 1918?

Regards Valerie

President
Caloundra Family History Research Inc.


Additional information to Valerie’s newsletter

Previous Update on COVID-19 Virus.

Australian Federal Government Coronavirus (COVID-19) health alert webpage. (Link no longer available.)

Join our Facebook Page for more family history ideas.

Join our Members Only Facebook Group to join and start discussions between members only. Anyone joining will need to be approved. There are only a few of us joined so far so your wall will not be overwhelmed with posts.