PGSM May Meeting is Open to Public; Learn about Finding and Using Alien Registrations for 20th-Century US Immigrants

The Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan's May meeting is a webinar format that is open to the public. Hosted in partnership with the Polish Genealogy Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, the meeting takes place on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.

Ryan Johnson will present Finding and Using Alien Registrations for 20th-Century U.S. Immigrants via Zoom. Invitations will be emailed to PGSM members.

Registration will be open to everyone at www.pgsm.org starting May 1. Pre-registration for this webinar meeting is required

Alien registration forms constitute an important federal immigration record series rich in genealogical details that was recently transferred from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to the National Archives Electronic Records Division. Join us to learn about why non-naturalized residents filed these forms just after the 1940 census and what information we might find in them about family members. We will then practice using a free database to identify and request these useful records.

Ryan Johnson, MAT, completed the National Genealogical Society's Advanced Skills in Genealogy Course and researches for clients in the Midwest. As the great-grandchild of eight 20th-century U.S. immigrants, he has special research interests in French Canada, Sweden, Italy, France, and the Baltic states.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

Mother's Day and Genealogy ... Pretty Sales on DNA and Vivid-Pix!

Happy Early Mother's Day to All!

Regardless of whether you are a Mom or even female, there are genealogy-related sales this time of year that might be of interest to you. Rather than detail them all individually, consider this a scavenger hunt of sorts.

April had DNA Day and several sales that started then turn into Spring or Early Mother's Day sales so some deals have been going on for while. Without further ado, here is a list.

DNA

AncestryDNA is now on sale for $29 until May 11, at 10 a.m. ET with taxes and shipping extra. There are options: pay $30 for the DNA test and 3-months of Ancestry World Explorer (which will renew at $99.95 every 3-months unless cancelled before term renewal) or pay $39 for the DNA test and 3-months of Ancestry All-Access (which will renew at $149 every 3-months unless cancelled before term renewal.

MyHeritageDNA has returned with the lowest price ever of $19.90 on its regularly priced $89 MyHeritageDNA test. Taxes and shipping extra; free shipping for 2 or more test kits. This sale ends today, May 3, 2026. There is also an option to pay the same price and also get 1-month of Complete free trial of MyHeritage's data subscription* and get free shipping. (*After 30 days, you'll enjoy a 50% discount and be charged $299 $149 for the first year. The Complete subscription renews annually. You can cancel anytime.)

FamilyTree DNA extended its DNA Day sale until April 30 but now is running its Mother's Day sale which runs until May 11. Some of the pricing it still the same.

FTDNA's FamilyFinder (autosomal) test is on sale for $39, regulary $79. The mtDNA (mitochondrial/maternal for male and females) test is now $119, regularly $159, which is $10 better than the DNA Day sale. The FamilyFinder + mtFull Sequence bundle (for one person to test) is on sale for $149, regularly $229. This is $10 better than the DNA Day sale. 

The Y-DNA tests (for testing males only) are back to regular pricing but they will more than likely be on sale for Father's Day. The prices listed for this sale for Y-DNA tests were better during the DNA Day Sale.

23andMe's Mother Day sales goes until May 10. The Basic Ancestry test is 20% off so on sale for $79, regularly $99. Taxes and shipping extra; limit 4 tests. The Advanced Ancestry+Health test is on sale for $80, regularly $199. That is a savings of 55%. With this test the 23andMe+ Premium renews at $69 per year which can be cancelled at anytime. The Ultimate Health+ Advanced Ancestry is on sale for $399, regularly $499. With this test the 23andMe+ Total Health renews at $199 per year which can be cancelled at anytime. The last two test types are FSA & HSA Eligible.

LivingDNA is on sale for $69, regularly $124, plus taxes and shipping. This company is in England and for UK ancestry tries to go down to the county-level. 

With any of the DNA companies you can see prior posts that MCGG has written by using the labels in the left column. Just click on the label and see posts on prior sales and changes throughout the years with each company's testing.

Also running sales are: 

Vivid-Pix is using a coupon code Family2026 for its Mother's Day and Father's Day sale. Save $10 on its Vivid-Pix RESTORE software making it $39.99. Save $40 on the Memory Station Home Edition Software for Windows (includes Vivid-Pix Restore software) making it $159.99. See our past posts on Vivid-Pix using our labels in the left-hand column.

There are probably more out there. Good luck finding a sale on what you want.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

This Week is Our MCGG Friday Meeting on Handwriting Recognition using AI Internet Tools to Transcribe and Translate

MCGG meets in-person (hybrid) this Friday, May 1, 2026, at 1 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is ... Handwriting Recognition (HWR): Using "AI" and Internet Tools to Transcribe and Translate presented by Lisa Eschenburg.  

MCGG Member Eschenburg will continue the update for attendees on developments since she presented on AI in 2024. This month we concentrate on using AI and internet tools to transcribe and translate.

Our plan is that our meetings will be hybrid meaning the meeting will be in-person with a virtual Zoom option. The Zoom meeting link (or registration link) will now be found on our Southeast Michigan Genealogy Events Calendar and our Facebook page. The link will usually be added the night before or morning of the meeting. Members will receive a reminder email with the Zoom invite or a reminder that registration is required for a meeting.

New attendees are always welcome.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

May MCGG Meetings -- Join Us!

A reminder about our Macomb County Genealogy Group May 2026 meetings. Please Join Us!

MCGG meets in-person (hybrid) on Friday, May 1, 2026, at 1 p.m. in the Boardroom of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is ... Handwriting Recognition (HWR): Using "AI" and Internet Tools to Transcribe and Translate presented by Lisa Eschenburg.  

MCGG Member Eschenburg will continue the update for attendees on developments since she presented on AI in 2024. This month we concentrate on using AI and internet tools to transcribe and translate.

MCGG meets in-person Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at 5 p.m. in the Auditorium of the Mount Clemens Public Library. Our topic is the ... MCGG Combined Friday Group and Let's Talk...Genealogy Annual Summer Potluck.

Bring a dish (homemade or store bought) and join us for some social time. This events starts at an earlier time 5 p.m; dinner is at 5:30 p.m. We will announce any other details closer to the date.

Our plan is that our meetings will be hybrid meaning the meeting will be in-person with a virtual Zoom option. The Zoom meeting link (or registration link) will now be found on our Southeast Michigan Genealogy Events Calendar and our Facebook page. The link will usually be added the night before or morning of the meeting. Members will receive a reminder email with the Zoom invite or a reminder that registration is required for a meeting.

New attendees are always welcome.

See you at our favorite library!
LE

Clarification: NEWEST LOW Sale for MyHeritage DNA Ends in 3 Days

Just spotted this morning that the newest lowest sale price for MyHeritage DNA ends in 3 days. So, probably Sunday, April 19.

See yesterday's post regarding the sale.

See you at our favorite library!
LE 

AncestryDNA FLASH Sale $39 TODAY ONLY

Ancestry is having a FLASH sale on AncestryDNA TODAY ONLY until April 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. Remember taxes and shipping are extra. The regular price of an AncestryDNA test is $99.

There are three options with this sale.

Just the AncestryDNA test is on sale for $39.

For new subscribers or those without a current active subscription:

The AncestryDNA test and a World Explorer Membership for $1 has a total sale price of $40.

The AncestryDNA test and an All-Access Membership for $10 has a total sale price of $49.

These subscription memberships will renew at regular prices every three months until you cancel.

*Offers end 16 Apr 2026 at 11:59pm ET. Excludes shipping. Package offers are for new and returning subscribers only and not for renewal of current subscriptions. Limit one $1 subscription per user. Your World Explorer subscription will automatically renew at $99.95 or your All Access subscription will automatically renew at $149 every 3 months until you cancel by visiting your Account Settings or by contacting us. See our Renewal and Cancellation Terms for further details.

See our prior posts on AncestryDNA for the changes in what you can access for your DNA test without an Ancestry member subscription and what you can not. You can see past sale trends by selecting the topic label in the left column of this blog (for example, AncestryDNA) to see all past posts regarding AncestryDNA.

Good luck finding the sales you need!

See you at our favorite library!
LE

NEWEST LOW for MyHeritage DNA

MyHeritage DNA hit a new low.

For its Spring DNA Sale, which has been extended, the NEW LOWEST PRICE EVER is $19.90 for MyHeritage DNA. The autosomal DNA test is regularly $89. The site says sale ends soon but we can't find an exact end date/time. So don't wait too long if you are going to buy.

There are two options:

MyHeritage DNA test for $19.90, plus taxes and shipping. Usually there is an offer to purchase two test kits and get free standard shipping.

MyHeritage DNA test plus 30-day Complete free trail* for $19.90, plus taxes and free shipping.

*After 30 days, you'll enjoy a 50% discount and be charged $299 $149 for the first year. The Complete subscription renews annually. You can cancel anytime.

Remember, MyHeritage ended its DNA uploads of DNA test data from other DNA genealogy testing sites back in August 2025. So now you do have to test directly with MyHeritage DNA. And at this new low sale price it should not be a hard decision to get yourself or your tester into another DNA match pool.

In October MyHeritage announced it is transitioning to Whole Genome Sequencing of its MyHeritage DNA tests. We mentioned it in this post. From comments at RootsTech 2026 and the Q&A at the bottom of the sale page we believe that all tests are being processed with Whole Genome Sequencing.

See you at our favorite library!
LE