Research your family's history at Bicentennial event

Adding to the festivities of the 4th of July weekend is a Bicentennial event, "Westlake is 200! How old is your family?"  Banners around town proudly proclaim Westlake’s 200-year history and this is an ideal time for everyone to consider their own 200-year (or more!) history. 

Borders at the Promenade will host the free event from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, July 2, and anyone interested in finding ancestors is invited to attend. In addition to Border’s, the event is sponsored by the City of Westlake in partnership with ancestry.com and family historians from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Attendees are encouraged to bring any family documents that contain names, dates and locations – such as birth, death and marriage certificates.

Dorothy Titera, family historian, has been instrumental in programming this event to allow people to begin or add to their family history. In as few as five minutes one of the experienced volunteers at the event can help search for documents from the lives of grandparents or older ancestors. 

Researchers will have immediate access to familysearch.org and ancestry.com, and will be able to leave Border’s with resource information to continue their research. Border’s manager and Westlake resident, Sylvia Scherma, recognized the 200th Bicentennial and approached the city’s Community Services Department Director, Joyce Able Schroth, about a possible partnership.

Ms. Schroth thought it was an easy partnership, bringing together two organizations that exist because of people’s desires to read and research. In addition to the free access to ancestry.com for this event, there will be a drawing for three ancestry.com memberships for those who attend.
 
Ms. Schroth added that the event may be repeated on Saturday, November 12, near Westlake's actual 200th birthday on November 14. For further information, contact Westlake’s Community Services Department at 440-899-3544.