TGS Newsletter
Vol. 23 No. 3 May 2004

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QUARTERLY COLLATING PARTY!
Won’t you please come and help us put the quarterly together? We will be at the NORTH BRANCH on Thursday, May 27 at 12:30 p.m. You’ll get to see your friends and take home a brand new quarterly. How’s that for a good deal? 
   
    After reading about the coush coush last month, maybe some of our readers think that all we do is eat and drink at our meetings. We do our share, OK? But every now and then we get a chance to taste a little history. At the April meeting, Juanita CHIASSON came with a Thermos™ of hot “café au lait,” or, as some said, “old-time coffee milk.” What some of us particularly liked was the fact that it had absolutely NO caffeine. Never had, never will. Because it is made from caramelized sugar. Would you like the recipe? Put some sugar (Juanita couldn’t say how much, but less than a cupful.) in a saucepan over medium heat. That’s right. Dry sugar. No liquid. Stir (I would use a wooden spoon.) almost constantly until the sugar melts and turns brown. Remove from the heat and add whole milk to taste. It will be sweet and dark. Like sweet café au lait. After tasting the coush coush last month, someone said that when they were small children they used to eat that and drink this old-time coffee milk for breakfast every morning. Sounds good to me!
    A little more history: Gloria says that during war time when coffee was one of the things that was rationed, some people would ask sugar mill workers to bring home the dark, caramelized residue at the bottom of the sugar kettles to use to make a coffee substitute. I think that’s pretty neat.
     Also, at the meeting we discussed further the volunteer program to help out in the Genealogy Department of the Terrebonne Parish Library’s Houma Branch. We have about eight volunteers, but have come to a temporary standstill until we receive official permission from the top. I am hopeful our efforts will be welcomed.
  
PRAYERS: Some of our members are under the weather and would appreciate any prayers you can offer for their benefit. Audrey B. WESTERMAN, Dorothy M. BERGERON, Neal ABBOTT (Janet’s husband), to name a few.
  
CONGRATULATIONS: Marcie and Essie CAVALIER are justifiably proud of their grandson, Jeremy Joseph BOUDREAUX. He received an Associate of Applied Science degree from the Technology Division of Delgado Community College in New Orleans on May 13, 2004. 
     Besides that, we are proud of them for researching and producing a new reference book in the series of Assumption Parish Marriages. This one covers the years from 1906 to 1917, and all records were abstracted by Essie and Marcie from handwritten bonds and marriage licenses, including parents in parentheses (if given). Ages were given in many instances, but not birth dates. Some information was obtained from other sources as indicated in square brackets. The bridal couple are listed in the book alphabetically by surname. Other helpful features of the book are two maps of Assumption Parish and three pages of church and cemetery listings, including addresses.  The second map is an aid to finding the many towns, communities, settlements and plantations where your ancestors may have grown up and married. Those who ordered with the pre-publication offer will be receiving their copy shortly, if not already. If you have let the opportunity slip past, you may still obtain a copy for the regular price of $30.00, plus $3 postage for the first book, $1 for each additional book.
  
SPECIAL ATTABOY! Thanks to Louis DUET, who printed and collated the book above and printed the quarterly, since Audrey WESTERMAN was “under the weather.” It’s wonderful to have someone come in and take over when you are between a rock and a hard place. Thanks a million from all of us, Louis!
   
MICROFILM RECALL: This is the first time I have heard of a microfilm recall, but the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, will have to do just that if they want to stay in the good graces of the Texas Legislature. That august body has passed a law that microfilms containing birth records newer than 75 years and death records newer than 25 years are now restricted. There are almost 1,300 rolls of microfilm to be removed from Family History Centers. [Source: Margaret MIESTERFELD, LAORLEAN Mailing List - email mahmiest “at” sbcglobal.net]
conGRADulations! To Amanda CENAC, who was graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School on May 15, 2004, during ceremonies held at the Houma Civic Center. Amanda is the daughter of Katherine Elizabeth “Kitty” WRIGHT CENAC and Walt CENAC. She is also the granddaughter of Nancy L. and Elly WRIGHT. Nancy is our hard-working Treasurer, in case you need to be told, and Amanda is her first grandchild to be graduated.
  
BOOKS: Some people can’t wait until they come out each year. I’m talking about 1) the 2003 Houma Courier Deaths [$30], 2) the 2003 Lafourche Comet Deaths, Births, Marriages [$30], and 3) the 2003 Houma Courier Births, Engagements, Marriages [$20]. So if you want or need one, please speak up now. These books are different. We print only enough to fill the orders we have, so if you wait, you may miss out. Please add #3.00 for postage, if they are to be mailed. Deadline for ordering these books is May 31, 2004.
  
IS YOUR PC SLOWING DOWN? The other day I saw some hints for speeding up your PC. No mention was made of Apple or Macintosh, so you are on your own, there, pal. But if your PC (Personal Computer) is getting slower and slower, you may want to try these tricks. First, find out if you are running out of space on your hard drive(s). Find the “pie chart” showing the amount of used and unused space you have. Next, if you are like most of us and have more used space than unused space, maybe you should remove some of the “fun” files, like the audio (music or other recorded sound) and graphic (photos and scanned files) from your hard drive, which take up a LOT of space. If you MUST save them, and you have a CD-burner, you can “archive” those files. Move them to a CD and delete the files from your hard drive. Next, clear your Internet browser cache and delete (archive) old sent and received emails. Remove spyware and old programs you haven’t used in a year or two. Finally, scan and defragment your hard drive and see if you haven’t put some new life in the old PC. Where to go for help? Try the Internet.
http://www.computertips.com/Default.htm (Windows and MS programs)(information is rather dated)
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/?legacy=cnet (spyware and other concerns)(up-to-the-minute)