1. Sandy Wunder, Cheyenne, Wyoming

Yes, Cheyenne, Wyoming, of all places. Sandy has been researching Eastern Ontario families for more than 15 years. She has compiled a full index of all land transfer records for Leeds & Grenville and is currently in the midst of an even more ambitious project which will be an invaluable tool for family researchers.

Sandy has helped me to learn how to do family research. Plain and simple, she has taught me "how to fish". Her knowledge of available resources for family research in Canada is remarkable and her prodigious memory allows her to recall having glossed over material relating to someone's family while searching for information on her own families. Sooner or later, someone like me comes along, asks a question about a person and Sandy can point to the most likely source based on her own work done over the years. She is remarkable.

Sandy, thank you ever so much for your guidance and kind assistance.

2. Laurel May Haynes, Joyceville, Ont.

Laurel and I are 1st cousins. Her mother, Norma Mylks-Whitney, is my mother's older sister. Laurel has been extremely helpful to me by providing family documents and by being the custodian and copyright owner of the 1854/5 Diary of Eliza Giff-Keays-Bellamy, our 4xgreat-grandmother.

Laurel has been kind enough to chauffer me around the cemeteries of Augusta Twp. and the Town of Algonquin as I photographed graves and still-standing family homes from the early 19th century. Without her help, I would have been lost (literally and figuratively) as I wandered my way through places and documents.

Thanks, so much, Laurel.

3. Gordon Herbert Mylks, Kingston, Ont.

Gord is my 2nd cousin. He, too, has been so helpful by providing family photos and stories. Gord, and his best friend, Dawn Switzer, have also taken the time to go, on my behalf, to Augusta records' offices to obtain copies of documents I needed to verify essential facts. Thanks, Gord.

4. Miriam Elizabeth "Betty" Mylks-Morden, Niagara Falls, Ont.

Betty is my mother's younger sister and is the possessor of a prodigious memory. Woe is the person who doubts her memory of a discussion she had over lunch on a sunny day in 1952.

Betty and I live just a mile from each other. Many has been the day when I have dropped in unannounced to discuss a family connection and relied upon her memory to provide me with the always appropriate family information. There are still several leads she has provided which I have not yet begun to research. There's so many that they will take me years to fully develop. Thanks, Betty.

5. Dorothy Keays and Bob Keays, San Francisco, Ca.

Dorothy is the widow of William Jeremiah Keays III. On several occasions, I have talked with her by telephone to verify facts and to clarify my confusion over the descendants of William Jeremiah Keays, the younger brother of my 3xgreat grandmother, Eliza Keays-Wright.

Bob is Dorothy's son. He has been very helpful in our exchange of family documents and photographs. The photographs of William Jeremiah Keays and Emily Horton-Keays come from their home.

Dorothy and Bob, my sincere thanks to both of you.

6. Niagara Falls Public Library and its Staff

This Library has been a wonderful resource and its staff a great help. Naturally, it's strength for genealogical work is local area information, but the resources seem to be plentiful and comprehensive.

The staff is extremely helpful. Genealogy is not necessarily their field but they are always willing to help find the answer to an "odd" question and to find a resource wherever it may be through the Interlibrary Loan facility.