Climbing the Family Tree at the Library, Last Boating Safety Course of the Year

Here's what you need to know for Friday.

• With the growing popularity of studying genealogy as evinced by television shows like "Who Do You Think You Are?' and websites such as Ancestry.com, it's clear an increasing number of people want to know their roots. Take a climb up your family tree Friday morning, when the Jefferson Township Public Library presents Me, My Family and I: Intro to Genealogy. This course helps you navigate the tricky world of online genealogical research to help you learn vocabulary, get organized and start sorting through all the possibilities. In the class, you will get to research your own ancestors and, with any luck, make some wonderful discoveries to give you more insight into how you got here. The course, already underway, runs Fridays at 9:30 a.m. through Dec. 13 (the class is be preempted Nov. 22 and 29)—which means you have two remaining opportunities to take a look at your past. Register online; it's free. The library is at 1031 Weldon Road in Oak Ridge.
• The Jefferson Township Middle School PTA hosts an adults only Casino Night Friday at Casa Bianca on Berkshire Valley Road in Oak Ridge. Tickets are $48 and include $100 in gambling money, hot hors d'oeurves, cold antipasto buffet and dessert. Cash bar. Doors open at 6:30 pm, gambling begins at 6:45 pm. Winnings will be redeemed for raffle tickets for chances to win gift baskets.
• Weekend reminder for recreational boaters: Your final opportunity in 2013 to obtain the NJ Boating Safety Certificate comes this Saturday. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 06-07 offers its periodic boating safety course “About Boating Safely” at the Hopatcong Civic Center this Saturday in nearby Hopatcong. The class runs from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at 32 Lakeside Blvd. in nearby Hopatcong. Contact FSO-PE Frank Federico at f.federico@att.net. Price is $65 and includes lunch. 
• It's a drive to Montclair, but it's worth it to see a hot New York cabaret show come to New Jersey. Lauren Fox presents 'Love, Lust, Fear & Freedom' at Outpost in the Burbs, a music series presented at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Trinity Place. The show features Fox offering a dialogue through the songs of legendary songsmiths Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen who had a love affair years ago and continued to refer to the relationship in their music years after it had ended. Tickets are $32 at the door and you can buy them online via TicketLeap. The venue is at 67 Church Street in Montclair.
• Also this weekend, the Lake Hopatcong Elks 782 Veterans Committee invites all areas to a post-Veterans Day Pancake Breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, coffee and juice.  For vets with identification, the meal is free. Tickets are $7 for non-veteran adults and $3 for kids age 10 and under.  The event runs from 9-11 a.m. at the Lake Hopatcong Elks Lodge at 201 Howard Blvd. in Mt. Arlington.