• Classes and equipment make family history easier and more interesting

Star Valley residents have access to a resource in Afton that some may consider important and of great value. The Family Search Center, located at 365 Jefferson Street in Afton, which is offered and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has the instructional and technical tools to support individuals and families who want to gather or supply information about their ancestors.

Gary and Joyce Hancock have been asked by the Church to run the facility and support patrons who come to the center hoping to learn more about their family and learn more about how to use existing records or create new family records.

“We have large groups come in for classes or to find information,” said Joyce in an interview and tour of the facility with SVI Media last week. They are currently helping a group of youth to find information about pioneer ancestors as the youth prepare to go on a pioneer trek this summer.

Specialty services offered by the center include teaching patrons how to scan and edit photos. They offer training and equipment to create photos from negatives, clean and clarify old photos, enlarge small photos and digitally repair damaged and torn photos.

Elaine Olsen, who is a patron to the center, had never had a picture of her grandmother. Someone had one and sent it to her in an old shoe box with no packing materials to protect it. “When she opened it up, it was in pieces, and she just cried,” Joyce explained. “So, we scanned in the pieces one at a time and then digitally pieced them together. You should never, ever throw away a photo. Often, people look at photos and decide they are not good quality or not helpful, but that’s not true. Don’t ever throw away a photo. Your photos are memories!”

MyHeritage.com and Ancestry.com both have photo editing options on the site. “All of the pictures of my mother from when she was a child were blurry, and I ran them through the photo editing option on MyHeritage.com and her face is as clear as can be,” said Joyce. “Sometimes, they have to digitally generate parts of it, but it’s close to what she looked like. For the first time, I saw my mother’s face clearly. My sister looks just like her! It was so much fun to do that!”

The center’s equipment is high quality so “you can see your photos clearly and the imperfections in them and repair them.”

Additional resources available in the center include a book room filled with family and regional histories, newspapers and cabinets filled with microfilm. Much of the information and images on the microfilm are online, but not all. “There are church records and some issues of the Star Valley Independent there. It’s nice to have them just in case.”

The center offers two photo scanners and a high-tech book scanner that takes a photo of each page automatically when the page is turned. Families can scan their ancestry journals into digital form or share copies of an important family record with multiple individuals with these tools.

“When people come into our family search center, they are amazed at what we have available here,” Joyce said. “We have a lot of scanners and computers. We can accommodate large groups for instruction and research.”

Another feature offered through the Family Search Center and genealogical websites is the option to record your voice with an image. You can upload a picture and record your voice on Family Search explaining what is happening in the photo and the story behind it.

Joyce spoke of a photo she explained with her own voice that was taken of her when she made an Easter bonnet as a child at church that she didn’t prefer. Her parents wanted a picture of her in her Easter bonnet. “I was scowling and wasn’t very happy. Other people can hear my voice as I explain what that picture is about, and other people can see that picture. You can share pictures and voice recordings of stories. That’s one of the best things about Family Search.”

An account on FamilySearch.org is free and use of the facility is open to anyone interested in using the equipment and materials there or learning about their family members. “You can have access to it and see photos and read or listen to stories.”

The center offers a variety of classes each month to “people who want to come in and learn to do something.” Class schedules are posted in the Star Valley Independent and at SVInews.com