History made: series on genealogy & memoir writing nets award

With a state-level association’s selection of it as Innovative Senior Program of the Year, a River Forest Township-led series that blended genealogy research with memoir writing has made some history of its own.

The Illinois Township Association of Senior Citizens Services Committees (ITASCSC) announced the award at a virtual ceremony earlier this month.

The series, “The Gifts of Genealogy and Meaningful Memoirs,” culminated in January 2020 with “Narrative Genealogy: Where Memoir Writing Meets Genealogy.” That program, which packed the River Forest Public Library with about 50 participants, was led by genealogical researcher and instructor Charlie Thomas.

His fellow presenter was memoir writing instructor Cathaleen Roach, the River Forest Township senior outreach coordinator at the time.

Prior events in the series included a session by Barbara Hoffbeck Scoblic, author of Lost Without the River: A Memoir, and a memoir writing workshop led by Roach. A firmly planted seed was a prior program called “Between Generations: Interviewing for Genealogy Research and How it Promotes Family Connectedness.”

That session, led by River Forest Township Clerk Abby Schmelling and Bob Ray, focused on intergenerational interviewing techniques for high schoolers and grandparents, as well as how to use information gleaned from genealogy research.

The idea for combining genealogy and memoir writing in a workshop series came about as senior community members expressed great interest in both endeavors, with each pursuit informing and illuminating the other, Roach noted.

In singling out the Townships for the award, ITASCSC officials praised their recognition of a burgeoning interest in the separate disciplines, while also recognizing their interrelated nature, as well as the strong community engagement sparked by the programs.

“The memoir-writing and genealogy programming began as an inspiration from Cathaleen Roach and morphed into a wonderful collaboration among the Townships, River Forest Public Library and Arbor West Neighbors,” said River Forest Township Supervisor Carla Sloan. “The response from the seniors has been amazing.”

In addition, the ITASCSC named Township Senior Services Director Pamela Mahn as its Senior Director of the Year. Mahn has served as director for nearly four years and with Senior Services overall for almost 25 years. Senior Services encompasses both Oak Park and River Forest Townships, and Mahn emphasized the organization-wide nature of the recognition.

“I’m grateful for the leadership of both Townships,” said Mahn. “We have a fantastic team that has pivoted so exceptionally well during the pandemic to offer the increased programs and services that we’ve needed to provide.”

Looking ahead, Mahn said she is eager to forge deeper collaborations with organizations throughout the community.

The awards are the latest in a series of honors conferred on the local Townships.

A year ago, Oak Park and River Forest Township received a joint `Township of the Year’ award from ITASCSC for its collaborative efforts. And in a separate nod from the Illinois Lieutenant Governor’s Office in July 2018, the Townships’ Youth Interventionist Program was awarded “shared service best practice” honors for its combined efforts to serve youths.

Flowing out of their membership in the Townships of Illinois (TOI) organization, the ITASCSC was formed in 1982 to help enhance senior services throughout the state’s communities. The group promotes the cooperation and sharing of resources and program information among township senior service providers.

To learn more about programs or services provided by River Forest Township, please call 708-366-2029 or visit www.RiverForestTownship.org. For Oak Park Township, please call 708-383-8005 or visit https://oakparktownship.org/.