By Daniel Klein
For The Jersey Journal
They say time flies when you're having fun. If that's the case, the past 10 years have been a flash, according to Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society members who celebrated the organization's 10th anniversary Saturday at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center.
"It all started back in 2007 with an idea," said HCGHS President Doreen Bloomer, speaking to the attendees of the Society's genesis. "A group of inquisitive individuals started asking questions: Where do I find the (genealogical) records? Do the records exist? How can I access them?"
Bloomer presented the Society's founders -- this reporter, Dee Berry, Ellen Healy, Joseph Mann, Bob Murgittroyd, Kathie Pontus and Jacqueline Wisner -- with leather folios, embossed with the HCGHS logo.
Bloomer later summed up the Society's continuing goals, saying "Hudson County is full of rich history and genealogy, and it is the job of us all to help preserve it for future generations."
Attendees reminisced about the events and projects the Society has organized over the past decade while examining items from the Society's collection.
One item, a wooden coat peg, is purported to have come from the old Sip House, a 17th century Dutch home that once stood at the corner of Bergen Avenue and Newkirk Street in Jersey City. The home was moved to Westfield in the 1920s.
Anyone interested in starting their genealogy is invited to attend an "Ask Granny" beginner workshop at the Kearny Library, 318 Kearny Ave., today at 6:30 p.m., sponsored by the HCGHS and the Evening Membership Department of the Women's Club of Arlington in commemoration of Kearny's 150th anniversary.
Note: Daniel Klein is a member of the Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society's executive board.