October 18, 2025

9am - 3pm, Doors Open at 8:30am

Classes for All Levels

Lunch Provided

Hayden Lake Family History Center

2293 W Hanley Ave, CdA, ID

Keynote Collaboration

Meet the Instructors

Class Descriptions

Discovery Day Registration

Class Handouts

Together - 9:00 am

Classes

Some of the classes offered this year

Beginner (B), Intermediate (I)

Session 1 - 10 am - 10:50 am

FamilySearch 101 & 102: From Signing In to Adding and Editing People (B) If you are new to FamilySearch or just need to refresh your skills, this class will take you from creating an account to adding your family to the tree. Randy Pixton

Researching Land Records (I): This class will look at why we need to research land records. I will cover the first transfer of land, metes and bounds legal descriptions, Federal Land Grants, legal descriptions of platted land, homestead patents and so much more. This class will help you no matter where you are in your research. Pam Heath

Temple and Family History Training: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints training for callings in TFH leadership and consultants. Training led by Hayden Lake Stake.

Youth Battleship (ages 11 - 18)

Session 2 - 11:00 am - 11:50 am

FamilySearch 103: Searching and Attaching Sources (B) Learn to find and attach sources in FamilySearch. Sources not only help support facts and relationships in the tree, but often lead to additional family members. Rhonda Budvarson

FAN Research (B,I): FAN refers to Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. In this class we will learn where to go when we are trying to research these individuals. Places like the Census, City Directories, Land Records, Google Books and more. This is a fun class, and I think you'll be surprised what you can find. Pam Heath

Session 3 - 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

FamilySearch 104: Adding Memories (B) Share photos, stories, even audio by adding and tagging relatives. These memories help us connect to ancestors on a whole new level, making them more than a name and date. Jenn Potter

Intro to FamilySearch Labs: What are they? And why you should get involved. (B, I) FamilySearch Labs are innovations geared toward improving functions in the FamilySearch family tree. Currently, the labs being worked on are geared toward improving tree accuracy, utilizing AI (artificial intelligence) to help with your research, improving the merge function, and having better information available in the change log. If you are interested in trying out and commenting on groundbreaking family history technology as it is developed, FamilySearch engineers want to hear from you! Rhonda Budvarson

DNA Genealogy Basics: What is it and things to think about (B) This class will cover what DNA genealogy is, how it is used, best practices, and some things to think about when embarking on your DNA research journey. Ray Aust

Session 4 - 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Digital Newspaper Research (B) What can you learn from an old Newspaper? Newspapers contain a wealth of information about births, marriages, deaths, and everyday events. Learn about available newspapers online and gather ideas and strategies to effectively search for information about your ancestors specifically using Newspapers.com. Kim Cannon

DNA Genealogy: Websites, tools, and techniques (B,I) This class will discuss the various DNA databases and their features for identifying relatives, additional online tools for taking a deeper dive into DNA genealogy research, and examples of how these resources and research techniques can be used to identify and verify family members. Ray Aust

Meet the Instructors

Pam heath

Researching Land Records (I) 10 am - 10:50 am

FAN Research (B, I) 11 am - 11:50 am

Pam is a member of the Kootenai County Genealogical Society and currently serves as their secretary. She is also the Education Coordinator for the Foothills Genealogical Society of Colorado.

Randy pixTon

FamilySearch 101 & 102: From Signing In to Adding and Editing People 10 am - 10:50 am

Randall lives in Hayden Idaho and has lived his dream .

Family History is his passion, and he has helped hundreds of people around the world with their personal journey searching for their own families. He served as fulltime missionary with his wife at the Church Headquarters mission training Senior missionaries on Family Search. Teaching the basics to advanced techniques. He also served in the discovery center in Salt Lake and then went on to serve at Roots Tech for Family Search. The draw to be continually involved took him to George UT where he and his wife served two years as Church service missionaries at the Family Search Discovery center. Helping people learn the basics and find those missing ancestors.

Hobbies, Fishing, Adventures, Traveling around the world with his sweet heart . Loving the Joy of my grandkids.

Jenn Potter

FamilySearch 104: Adding Memories (B) 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Jenn has lived in Northern Idaho for 4.5 years, she loves exploring and spending time with family outdoors especially camping and 4-wheeling. Jenn has 34 nieces and nephews who all keep her life interesting and so fun. Jenn enjoys dabbling in family history and loves to help others get started down their own family history journey.

Rhonda Budvarson

FamilySearch 103: Searching and Attaching Sources (B) 11:00 pm - 11:50 pm

Intro to FamilySearch Labs: What are they? And why you should get involved. (B, I) 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Rhonda Budvarson lives in Hayden Idaho and has a love of family history. She is blessed to have been raised with the belief that “ Family is Everything!” Family photos and stories are a treasure that need to be preserved and shared. And every hour spent working on Family History is a labor of love.

Kim Cannon

Digital Newspaper Research (B) 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Kim Cannon is the mother of 4 children. She enjoys searching for stories of her ancestors and learning about what life was like for them. She has lived in Hayden for the past 5 1/2 years and loves exploring the beautiful area we live in.

Ray Aust

DNA Genealogy Basics: What is it and things to think about (B)

DNA Genealogy: Websites, tools, and techniques (B,I)

Ray Aust grew up in a family with predominantly German roots. Both sides were heavily involved with genealogy and family history. As a child one of his prized possessions was a copy of the Ellis Island immigration record of the grandfather he was named after. However, Ray was adopted the day he was born and always wondered what his biological family history might look like.

With research skills developed over a career as an Intellectual Property attorney and the addition of DNA genealogy technology Ray’s interest in genealogy has developed into an obsession. He has identified his biological parents, seven biological siblings, and even identified the biological parents of a grandfather who had also been adopted as a baby and ultimately showed him to be a direct descendant of a Scottish clan. His biological family tree now spans hundreds of years and shows he is predominantly of British Isles, Western European, and Scandinavian decent.

Richard Dance

AI Journaling (B)

Richard Dance has been associated with genealogy and family history since 1974, when he took some of his original classes from Ben Bloxham at BYU.

In 1975, he wrote the history of his grandfather, and in 2021, the history of his mother-in-law. He has also gathered and distributed CD's within his extended family on family histories.

More importantly, he has been an early adopter of technology, dating back to Radio Shack model III's before IBM or Apple computers ever existed.

Lastly, he is related to both the Mayflower Pilgrim, John Howland, and the Wampanoag Indian chieftain Massosit Ousemequin. He is very grateful they established a treaty for 50 years and didn't kill each other off.

Heidi Chapman

Family History Battleship 101

Heidi is a happy wife and mother of six who enjoys family history, music, outdoors, reading, chatting, and making memories. Her super powers include animal ballon tying and watching YouTube videos to learn how to fix things.

Pam is grateful for the love and support of her husband, Leon, children Daniel, his wife, Kylee, Sam, his wife Abby, Marcus, his wife, Lily, Emmalee, her husband, Gabe, and Elizabeth. Also her cute little grandchildren, Natalie, Oliver, Jack, and Beau.

Pam Williams Duce

Researching Women 10:00 am - 10:50 am

Immigration 11:00 am - 11:50 am

Can You Search Canada? 1:00 pm - 1:50 pm

Family Search Full Text Search 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm

Pam Williams Duce has been a student of family history for over 30 years and will continue to learn and grow as long as she is able. She has been teaching classes and giving presentations for the last 24 years.

Pam’s love for learning about her ancestors started in her early years through the stories shared by her parents. Though not formally trained, as a preteen she did learn to read upside down and backward, believing it would come in handy when she became an FBI agent. Instead, it was useful while reading to her five children while simultaneously showing them the book.

Family History is full of great mysteries, stranger-than-fiction stories, and emphasizes the importance of all families. The perfect combination to create a deep desire to not only research her own family but also help others discover theirs.

Swedish research and DNA research are her current favorites.