SCHEDULE  of  EVENTS

Thursday, June 19, 2008
(8:30 AM to 4:30 PM)

	Registration
	Informal Meet & Greet Knowles Kousins
	KKNFA Web Site (tour)
	Lunch (provided)
	Knowles Genealogy Research Summary
	Dinner on Your Own
	Tour of Knowles Library  (1/2 of attendees)

Friday, June 20, 2008
(8:30 AM to 4:30 PM)

	Knowles Genealogy Research Summary (Continued)
	Knowles Surname DNA Project
	Lunch (provided)
	KKNFA Business Meeting
	Cook-out at Knowles Library (weather permitting)
	Tour of Knowles Library  (1/2 of attendees)

Saturday, June 21, 2008
(8:30 AM to 4:30 PM)

Genealogy Lecture Series
by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
(see biographical sketch below)

	Trace Your Roots with DNA
	Beyond Y-DNA:  Your Genetic Genealogy Options
	Lunch (provided)
	Remembering Our Ancestors
	Introduction to Ancestry.com
	Reverse Genealogy: Techniques for Finding Your Lost Loved Ones

MAKING   RESERVATIONS

All of the conference meetings and functions will be held at the Life Church in Mandeville, and at the Knowles Library, just a short distance from the church.  

Arrangements have been made with both the Covington New Orleans Northshore Holiday Inn and the New Orleans Covington/Mandeville Courtyard by Marriott to provide a block of rooms at reduced rates for Association members and guests at reduced rates for June 19 thru June 21st.    Call either hotel and ask for reservations for the Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association block of rooms.

Covington New Orleans Northshore Holiday Inn
501 North Hwy U.S. 190
Covington, LA  70433
985-893-3580  (local)
800-613-2021  (national)
www.holiday-inn.com/covingtonla

Courtyard by Marriott
Courtyard New Orleans Covington/Mandeville
101 North Park Boulevard
Covington, LA  70433
985-871-0244  (local)
888-364-1200  (national)
www.marriott.com/msycv

You may call the Covington Holiday Inn direct (706-549-4433), or call the national Holiday Inn reservation number (1-800-HOLIDAY) to make room reservations.   Call the Covington Courtyard  at 985-871-0244.  Rooms for the Knowles Conference attendees will be held until three weeks prior to the conference, so be sure to call early to get the best rates. 

The rooms being held for the Knowles Conference include regular rooms configured with double, queen or king size beds as well as some suites.  If you make your reservations, early you should have no trouble getting preferences such as non smoking rooms.  Rates for the various rooms will range from $99/day for a standard room to $129/day for a suite.

All types of rooms at both the Holiday Inn and the Courtyard offer in room coffee maker, hairdryer and iron and ironing board.  Full continental breakfast is also provided.  So, these are full service facilities in a good location at reasonable, but not inexpensive rates.

Other hotels / motels in the immediate vicinity of the
I-12 and U.S. 190 interchange include the following:

	La Quinta Inn & Suites Covington 200 Nord Du Lac, Covington, LA
	Super 8 120 Holiday Blvd., Covington, LA

	Best Western Northpark Inn 625 N. Highway 190, Covington, LA
	Hampton Inn 68700 Hwy. 190 Service Road, Covington, LA

Be sure to ask for their lowest rates (AAA, AARP, etc.)

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
 

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, the Chief Genealogist for Ancestry.com, author, and genealogy lecturer will be in Mandeville, Louisiana for a series of five presentations on Saturday, June 21, 2008.  This event is jointly sponsored by the Knowles/Knoles/Noles Family Association and the St. Tammany Genealogical Society.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that's her real name), author of Honoring Our Ancestors  (Inspiring Stories of the Quest for Our Roots), In Search of Our Ancestors  (101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History), Tracing Your Roots with DNA (Using genetic tests to explore your family tree) and They Came to America  (Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors), has been an avid genealogist since the 6th grade and is skilled in many aspects of family history research.

 
Megan is honored to serve as Chief Family Historian and North American spokesperson for Ancestry.com, the largest genealogical company in the world.  She is also co-founder of Roots Television, a pioneering and popular online channel of genealogy and history-oriented programming.  Among the many shows available for viewing is the New York City press conference about Annie Moore, where Megan corrected history by revealing the true story of the first immigrant through Ellis Island.  This story was featured on the front page of The New York Times and in a variety of other publications, such as the Irish Echo, Time for Kids, and The Wall Street Journal. The story was also covered by NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS's Out of Ireland, and numerous other TV and radio shows.  More recently, she made another interesting Irish connection when she traced a branch of Barack Obama’s family to Moneygall in County Offaly.

Megan also made news when she discovered a startling connection when requested by Austin Fenner of the New York Daily News to research the roots of Rev. Al Sharpton. Much to her astonishment, she learned that Rev. Sharpton's great-grandfather had been owned by relatives of Strom Thurmond .

After Megan walked Rev. Sharpton through his family tree, she traveled with him to Edgefield, SC to see first-hand the plantation and slave quarters (still standing) where his family had lived and the slave cemetery where some of his family is likely buried.

Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree, her latest book (co-authored with Ann Turner, M.D.), has been featured in Newsweek, The New York Times, on NPR, and in the Book of the Month Club.

 
Megan has appeared on Good Morning America (featured in roots segments on Diane Sawyer, Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion), the Today Show, CNN, BBC Breakfast, Ancestors, TimeWatch, NPR, BBC Radio and a number of local television and radio shows, and has spoken at the National Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, Who Do You Think You Are LIVE! and numerous other genealogical, historical, military, ethnic and literary events (21 states, Washington, D.C., England, Canada and Mexico so far!).

As lead researcher for the PBS Ancestors series, she delved into over 5,000 genealogical stories and developed much of the content for the companion website. She has subsequently consulted for other television programs, including They Came to America and African American Lives for PBS, and BBC’s Timewatch (regarding the identification of sailors’ remains recovered from the USS Monitor).

Since 2000, Megan has also been a consultant with the U.S. Army's Repatriation project to trace families of servicemen killed or MIA in Korea, WWII and Vietnam.  The intent is to develop a DNA-database from relatives' blood samples so that remains that are now being repatriated can be identified and interred. She has supported this and more than 75 other genealogical initiatives through her Honoring Our Ancestors Grants Program.

Formerly an international marketing consultant, she has traveled to more than 70 countries and holds a BSFS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, MBA in International Business from George Washington University and MAS in Information Technology from Johns Hopkins University.

Reservations for the Smolenyak lecture series in Mandeville on June 21, 2008 are a must.  Space is limited.  Reserve Early!

NEW ORLEANS  AREA TOURIST  ATTRACTIONS

There are 62 people with my name (Robert Noles) in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?