Members of the Orangeburgh German-Swiss Genealogical Society will hold their annual meeting, Octoberfest XXVII, on Oct. 12-13 at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center.

For 27 years, the society has been exploring histories of the families who settled the old Orangeburgh District including Orangeburg, Calhoun, Barnwell, Bamberg and portions of Lexington and Aiken counties.

According to society President Josephine Shuler, "Although the society is mainly concerned with researching and documenting the ancestry and descendants of the many Swiss and German families who immigrated to the district in the mid 1700s, the data gathered includes many other families.

"Families such as Bozard, Culler, Felder, Fogle, Funchess, Gramling, Haigler, Hildebrand, Huffman, Horger, Holman, Hungerpiller, Hutto, Inabinet, Kemmerlin, Myers, Rickenbaker, Salley, Shuler, Sistrunk, Smith, Syfrett, Stuckey, Till, Ulmer, Wolfe and Zeigler."

At the annual president's dinner at 7 p.m. Friday evening, Betty Jane Miller of Barnwell will provide a presentation on "Colonial and Revolutionary life in the Orangeburgh District."

Saturday morning registration begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by a brief business meeting at 9 a.m.

A 9:30 a.m. presentation titled "Preserving and Copying Family Photographs" will follow, discussing the use of digital scanning and editing to preserve and enhance old photographs. Another discussion will focus on the David Gavin-Shuler family connection.

The Saturday luncheon program will feature Dr. David Aiken, professor at the College of Charleston and The Citadel, who will speak on "William Gilmore Sims and the male descendents of Heinrich Dimroth."

According to Shuler, participation in the family tables is free, but registration must be made in advance for meals no later than Oct. 8.

A registration form is available on the OGSGS website at www.OGSGS.org or at OGSGS, P.O. Box 974, Orangeburg, S.C. 29116. For further information call 803-534-1227.

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