Melody is the Site Manager for YourIslandRoutes.com. The website celebrates it’s 20th year in October of 2021.
What started as a simple project to help her Grandmother record the family history turned into a large pile of binders, documents, and research notes that threaten to take over the house. She has experience with Hawaiian, Californian, Massachusetts (especially the Fall River region), Azorean, and French research.
Her Portuguese ancestry originates in Achada, Nordeste, and Maia, Ribeira Grande on the island of Sao Miguel Island, Azores and spreads over several other villages. Her ancestors left the Azores during the sugar plantation migration and settled in Kilauea, Kauai, working for the Kilauea Sugar Plantation.
Melody gives special thanks to Cheri Mello who asked her to volunteer chat moderator and content creator for the Portuguese Special Interest Group with AOL’s Golden Gate Genealogy Forum. She was the Portuguese Hawaiian research specialist from 1997-2003, and then with the spinoff website, GenealogyForum.org from 2003-2008.
While volunteering for the Golden Gates Genealogy Forum, she headed the indexing project for the book “Portuguese Hawaiian Memories” by J.F. Freitas with the hard work of volunteers from Portuguese chat. These indexes can be found on YourIslandRoutes.com.
In addition to running YourIslandRoutes.com, she is currently a co-moderator of the Azorean Genealogy Google Group and moderates the Portuguese Hawaiian Genealogy group on Facebook.
Melody developed a debilitating form of joint disease in her 30s. Genealogy helps keep her sane.
She loves chocolate, reading, hanging out with her dog, music, photography, nature, and searching for dead people.
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