Some Wiesenseite Protestant Villages

Ray Heinle is among those researchers whose immigrant grandparents came from both the Black Sea and Volga regions of Russia. So he was a natural choice to coordinate one of the many workshops scheduled as part of the 2008 International Convention of Germans from Russia, which will be held later this month in Casper, Wyoming.

Heinle was born in the then German-Russian community of Sanger, California. A retired physicist from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Ray has been a member of both the Germans from Russia Heritage Society and the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. They are the two organizations sponsoring the gathering, and they anticipate nearly 1,000 attendees at Casper’s Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Center July 28 – August 3.

The workshop coordinated by Heinle is Kantons Kukkus, Seelman, and Yagodnaya Poljana Protestant Villages. It is scheuled for 2:00 p.m., Friday, August 1st in Adrian’s Room at the Parkway. Heinle has been active in the Beresan District Odessa Regional Interest Group (RIG) in GRHS as a translator for records coming from the Black Sea Archives.

There will be more than 40 workshops at the week-long convention. While early registration has closed, persons wanting to attend the convention may register on-site in Casper when the convention begins.