One of the greatest ways to keep up on genealogy, and find out what’s new (or old), is to attend meetings of a genealogical group. Its members may include just the person you need to ask about local resources – and ancestry.

I long have hoped that another chapter of the Maine Genealogical Society would get going again in Greater Bangor.

So how happy was I when Dale Mower called to say that a new chapter was starting up? Very. The organizational meeting of the chapter, which doesn’t yet have a name, will be held 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, in the Lecture Hall on the third floor of Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St.

At that hour of the day, there will be ample parking in the lot across the street. For handicapped access, go in the children’s entrance and take the elevator to the third floor. Then turn right, go through the Bangor Room, into the hall and you’ll see the Lecture Hall straight ahead.

The group will work on a wish list of topics for future meetings.

“My goal is to bring together people of varying experience and share ideas, talk about brick walls and how to overcome them,” Mower said.

While some of the focus will be on the Penobscot County area, Mower pointed out, our roots go well beyond those boundaries. He’s hoping activities will include everything from field trips to local facilities to sessions on wills and probate, land grants, lineage organizations and their resources, the Internet, scrapbooking and you name it.

“The Bangor Public Library has been very helpful and encouraging in offering to help get this going,” Mower said.

If you want to contact Mower before the meeting, e-mail DWMower@aol.com, or write Dale Mower, 185 Norfolk St., Bangor, ME 04401.

If you tried the Web site for Ira Wolfman’s “Climbing Your Family Tree,” which I wrote about last week, you probably noticed a small glitch in the address. I accidentally put a period where I should have put a slash. The correct address is www.worman.com/familytree. My apologies.

I’m sure you’ve seen vital records filed after the fact in town records, on occasion. How about this one, written on a nice big birth certificate, hanging on the wall in the city clerk’s office at City Hall in Bangor?

The child was Paul Bunyan, born Feb. 12, 1834, to Jacques Bunyan and his wife, Sarah Marie DuBois. The birth was recorded Jan. 29, 1959, by then-City Clerk Jay Alley.

The place of birth was Bangor – with apologies to my favorite Minnesotan, University of Maine student Heather Taylor. Minnesota also claims Paul Bunyan, but, then, he was surely big enough for two states.

Do you remember when Foxcroft Academy’s football team journeyed to Old Town for a game against Maine State College, which later became the University of Maine? Probably not.

The year was 1893, according to Louis Stevens, who included that information in an article in the autumn issue of The Shiretown Observer, published by the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society.

A picture of that first team shows that Louis Oakes, who paid for the football field that is named for him, was a member.

Stevens, as you may know, has written two books on FA football, “Foxcroft Academy’s Five Undefeated Teams” and “100 Years of Foxcroft Academy Football.”

Other pieces include “Intriguing Obits from the Piscataquis Farmer, Piscataquis Herald & Piscataquis Observer, 1838-1858,” by Madalyn C. Betts and Celeste B. Hyer. The individual obits are not dated, but have good information.

The next meeting of the society is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Thayer Parkway. The speaker is Walter MacDougal, who is writing a social history of the railroads. Bring photos to share.

Membership, including the newsletter, is $3 a year, sent to Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society, 11 Harrison Ave., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. You may contact newsletter editor Nancy Battick at battick@midmaine.com.

This is a good time to send in queries related to roots in Maine, New England, New Brunswick, Quebec and Nova Scotia.

3200. STAPLES-JOYCE-CARTER. Seeking parents, ancestors of Alexander Staples and wife Mina Joyce. Daughter Marie Staples, b. July 8, 1899; d. May 13, 1966, Damariscotta. She md. Everett Carter, Nov. 29, 1919, in Blue Hill. He was son of Rawley and Minnie Ivy Carter. Seeking their ancestry, too. Danny W. Howard, DECF Box 428, Machiasport, ME 04655.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net.