NEW WEB SITE FEATURES
The web site now includes several new pages and features. I will continue to add as time allows.
I have added pictures for Setschanfeld and Georgshausen. I hope to put some Zichydorf pictures up soon.
I have added digital pictures of church records for Setschanfeld and Gross Gaj. See a further expanation below.
I have changed the user profiles. Originally, they showed username, interests, and resources, with a link to the email address. I thought that this was useful for privacy, but several people expressed frustration at not knowing whose information they were viewing. And how private is your name? It can be found in thousands of places. And it is not really any use to anyone without additional information. Therefore, I have replaced usernames with actual names. Also, I have added the ability to post your photo, if you wish.
When you check your personal profile, you will now find the year that your dues are paid to at the bottom of the column of information on the right. I will delete the recently added page listing all members as it will add unnecessary workload and introduce potential confusion trying to maintain the information in two places.
You can now make any payments to ZVA through PayPal by using the Donation feature at the very bottom on the left side of the page. Clicking on the desired amount takes you to another page where you will add more detailed information. Here you will choose how you wish your contribution to be applied. Note that credit card and PayPal fees cost us a combined 5.9% fee, so we would prefer a cheque or a small extra contribution to cover the fee. It is hardly more than the price of a stamp to mail your cheque. Some people had asked for this convenience, so we have provided it despite the cost. American members note that the account is in Canadian dollars, so, at recent exchange rates, you will only pay about 85% of the amount shown.
MISCELLANEOUS VILLAGE CHURCH RECORDS
Some of you ordered supplementary church records that we recently acquired from László Rudolf. Some of the villages covered were Stefansfeld, Kathreinfeld, Sartscha, Setschan, etc. There are thousands of files. I assumed that they were all OK and sent them on without checking them individually. Unfortunately, some people found that they could not read some of the files. When I tried, I could not read them either. I inquired with László and learned the solution.
The files in question were photographed and saved in TIFF format by the Pantschowa National Archives using a photo program from Kodak called Imaging for Windows which was included in the Windows 98 operating system. This program was subsequently dropped from the Windows OS. Even though other photo programs read TIFF files, many cannot read those created with this program. Fortunately, there is a fix! Go to http://www.vixelsoft.com/download.htm and download the free program Imaging Express Version 1.4. This program will open the TIFF files for viewing. IMPORTANT! Although the download is free, after 30 days you will lose the ability to save and print unless you register and likely pay a fee. I suggest that you open all the files in the new program and then save them as JPG. This is a long and tedious process, but you will have your images in a format that you can use freely in the future! I will fix all the files that I have so that future orders will not need this added step.
GROSS GAJ AND SETSCHANFELD CHURCH RECORDS
Several of you previously purchased church records for Gross Gaj because many of the Setschanfeld events were recorded there. The latest records we acquired have some additions to these. I have posted in the photos area of this web site baptisms for Setschanfeld 1940-1944 and a baptism index for Gross Gaj 1918-1944. I have also posted the baptisms for Gross Gaj 1918-1944 at another site nonprofits.accesscomm.ca/zichydorf. I used the other site because the upload process is simpler for the large number of files. Unfortunately, our allotted space on this site did not allow for the thumbnails to all load. However, there are icons in place for each of the missing thumbnails. Simply click on the icons and the full page will appear. You will have to make a small effort to confirm that you have downloaded all of the page numbers. Sorry for the inconvenience.
NEW AT THE LIBRARY
Familienbuch der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Grabatz im Banat 1768-2008; Band 1 A-L; Band 2 M-Z (Family book for the Catholic parish of Grabatz in Banat 1768-2008; Volume 1 A-L; Volume 2 M-Z by Alfred Ivanov is another masterpiece of research and publishing from our German fellow researchers. Because Grabatz has such a long history, it is in two volumes. And, of course, it is in German. As usual, it has a bit of history at the beginning and several invaluable indices at the end. Grabatz was an early settlement that served as a source for many of the founders of later villages, including Zichydorf.
MOUNT ANGEL OKTOBERFEST
Just a reminder to consider taking in the Mt. Angel conference September 17-19, 2009. There is an excellent lineup of speakers this year. Check it out at dsheritage.com/mtangel/.
LIFE MEMBERS
At our April meeting, we voted to make Helmut Kaiser and Peter Noll life members of the Zichydorf Village Association. Peter created the first Zichydorf Familienbuch from the church records available on microfilm. He generously donated a typed manuscript to our library. This was a huge help to researchers. Helmut then digitized Peter’s records and added new information, particularly the records after about 1850 which were not available to Peter. We are all greatly indebted to these two fine gentlemen.
Zichydorf Village Association News
edited by: Glenn Schwartz
2274 Baldwin Bay, Regina, SK, S4V 1H2
Internet: http://zichydorfonline.org
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http://www.feefhs.org/members/zichydorf/frg-zva.html
email: gschwartz@accesscomm.ca
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