By Judy Seifert (Contact / Staff Bio)
July 5, 2008 - 12:00 a.m. EST

MILLINGTON --­ Since 1965, Bill Kaiser has been researching his family tree. His enthusiasm for the work has now spilled over to include teaching a class on the subject at the Millington Community Center.

The class is already under way at the center and has entered its second of three sessions, but that doesn’t mean Kaiser won’t schedule another class.

"If people want to join in now, that’s okay. If they have an interest and want to get another class going, then that will be fine, too," Kaiser said.

Bev Rodabaugh, director of the community center saidit is hoped that people will sign up for the free class. "We need to get the word out, though. I know a lot of people have expressed interest in the area of genealogy. We want to let them know that we’re here to help."

Each session of the class is held two weeks apart and for a reason, "they’ve been given a project to work on and they need time to get it done," Kaiser explained.

The first project? A pedigree chart and filling it out. Those attending were asked to provide two sources of information on each of their progenitors, a birth date and death date, or birth and marriage date, or marriage and death dates.

"I’m also providing each person with a free downloadable computer program that will give them wide access to information on the Internet," Kaiser explained. "There’s quite a bit out there; in fact, it’s amazing what you can find now."

In researching his family, Kaiser has acquired 900 names of progenitors. He has one friend who has 34,000 names, and his wife’s family, traced back to William of Orange, has 1,800 names.

"When you start going back, you start getting more into the history of the times," he explained. "Putting your family in an historic context is very exciting and interesting."

Anyone interested in joining future classes should contact the center and express their interest. Call (989) 871-7377.