Branching out

Many in Durango are digging up their family roots

By Ann Butler Durango Herald Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: Saturday, November 27, 2010 11:38pm

Denmark, Prussia and medieval England are just a few of the countries where Durangoans have traced their roots. They’ve searched across the country and the globe while exploring every aspect of their genealogy.

“It’s like a treasure hunt,” said Jeannine Dobbins, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, who is tracing her 36th line back to an ancestor who contributed to the American side during the War for Independence. “This will be my first female ‘patriot.’”

Members of the Daughters of the American Revolution probably have been doing it the longest – 120 years since the organization’s founding in 1890 – but they have been joined by millions of Americans who are trying to learn more about themselves and their ancestry. More than 10 years ago, Time Magazine reported that genealogy was one of the four most popular hobbies on the Internet, and it has exploded since then.

“It’s historical research but your own history,” Lynn Constan, current regent of the Sarah Platt Decker Chapter of the DAR, said. “It turns almost into an addiction.”

Constan spent eight days in October in Missouri with a sixth cousin whom she discovered on a genealogy message board.

“She knew who her ancestor was, and I knew who mine was,” Constan said. “Her father’s DNA and my brother’s DNA were a perfect match.”

Julie Pickett understands how addictive learning about one’s family can be.

“I just wanted to know,” she said. “I was just dabbling at first. I didn’t get serious until about three years ago. I just like visualizing these ancestors’ daily lives, wondering why did they transmigrate from one place to another?”

Moving beyond Colorado's ballot issue battles

By Sarah Kurz and Janice Sinden, The Denver Post

Posted: 11/08/2010 01:00:00 AM MST

In this year's election, Colorado business, nonprofit and community leaders aligned in opposition to Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101. These dangerous ballot issues threatened tens of thousands of jobs, would have led to drastic reductions in education funding, and could have crippled Colorado's economy.

In response, more than 600 organizations formed a bipartisan coalition aimed at defeating these measures. The opposition campaign raised more than $6.8 million for this important fight, and that number doesn't capture the thousands of hours and in-kind contributions that nonprofits and community groups donated, as well.
This battle had to be fought, and the cost of defeating three statewide proposals is high but necessary. However, it's a shame that so many resources and so much energy were being devoted to simply maintaining the status quo in Colorado.