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| OHCC LIVING | JANUARY 2024 |25 Genealogy Interest Group e Genealogy Interest Group is a growing group of individuals who want to find out about their heritage and their ancestry. Curiosity about those who came before and formed us is important. e group provides tools to do your research and help in getting started. For the experienced, we can offer suggestions to break through the brick walls of past generations. Meeting with others looking in the same geographical areas is a great help. We have both Apple computers and PCs in the computer room. We will meet for Help Sessions on Sat., Jan. 6th and Fri., Jan. 26 at 10 am. Newcomers are welcome. All sessions can be seen on the TAG calendar. We are happy to offer the World Explorer version of Ancestry.com free of charge in the computer room. is program would cost an individual over $100 a month. We also offer the Family Tree Maker on several of the computers in the lab. A family tree can be started and compiled with either or both of these programs with many hints to assist in your research. Coordinators are Dorothy Miller, Shirley Rock and Peggy Singh. Contact us at rootsatOHCC@gmail.com It has been a tumultuous year for both the SMB Club and the Western Monarch butterflies that it is our mission to support. e Club, thanks to the tremendous financial, physical, and moral support of our members and the OHCC community, has exceeded our most optimistic expectations, with the maturing and expansion of the butterfly garden, the tremendous growth of our butterfly population, and the huge success of our first Butterfly Ball. e garden has become one of OHCC's centerpiece attractions, one which we hope all residents enjoy. For the Monarchs, the year saw mixed results. While thriving here over the summer, the California population as a whole suffered from the unusually cold, damp spring and the late arrival of summer. Early butterfly counts statewide indicate that the Monarchs just held their own last year, with total numbers estimated at about 200,000, the same as 2022. at is a major improvement from the all-time low of 2,000 just three years ago, but it shows that the Monarchs are still vulnerable, and that they continue to need all the support we can give them. e Garden is now closed through January until the butterflies return (hopefully) in February. e Club is using this time to continue to plant milkweed and nectar plants, both inside the Sanctuary and, with the approval of the Master Board and the Landscape Committee, on open spaces beyond the fenced area. In mid-December, a group of volunteers planted 200 new milkweeds in those areas. We look forward to seeing you at Do Dues Day Jan. 13, and to enlisting new members and volunteers. And on behalf of the club and the thousands of Monarchs who have passed through our gardens. Happy 2024! Save the monarch butterfly

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