Wilson L. Hammock and Margaret Eliza Garrett's daughter, Margaret "Laverne" Hammock Tornow, was born on September 20, 1955 in Brooksville, Hernando County, Florida. Touting herself as a "sixth generation Florida Cracker with four generations rooted in Hernando County", Laverne attended Hernando High School in Brooksville, but graduated from McDowell High School in Erie, Pennsylvania. Shortly after graduation she enlisted in the United States Air Force where on October 12, 1974 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas she married Stanley William Tornow of Walnut, Bureau County, Illinois. At this time, Laverne and her husband reside in rural Hernando County, and her mother lives nearby.

A love for history and early American culture is what Laverne believes created her interest in genealogy. "Reading about the things your ancestors owned and having a working knowledge of life in that time period can really bring your family history to life right before your eyes. It really is true what they say about forgetting the past; 'Those who choose to forget their past are doomed to repeat its mistakes.'"

Besides what she does for genealogy, Laverne has done a lot to spread her knowledge and love of history, happiness, and laughter. For ten years, she worked as a booking agent for the International All Star Circus and The Great American Circus in Sarasota, Florida. Also for a ten-year period, Laverne and her husband traveled the East Coast as a First Person Living History Interpreter and Historical Costumer.

Since the Tornow's Living History travels have ceased, Laverne has delved wholeheartedly into volunteerism. She is the Membership Director and a founding member of the Hernando High School Alumni Association, FLGenWeb County Coordinator for Citrus, Orange, Pasco and Pinellas counties, Coordinator for Citrus, Pasco and Hernando Counties and the Topic Sites; Food and Recipes, Domestic Arts for the American Local History Network(www.alhn.org)and Webmaster for several web sites just to name a few of her endeavors.

When asked why she does so much, Laverne cheerfully replies, "I am working in my small corner of the world to keep information of a genealogical and historical nature available and free to everyone. As George Bernard Shaw once said, 'Those who can, do; those who can't teach.' I do a bit of both." You can visit Laverne's personal genealogy site, Sparkman Family Research

Born at 2:18 PM on August 6, 1964 in St. Petersburg, Amy Lyles is the adopted daughter of well-known area Architect and Interior Designer Sandy Hall and his wife Jo. Though some of Amy's schooling was done in Denver Colorado and Buffalo New York, most of her education was derived from attending school in Pinellas County. She met and married violinist Larry Lyles at Central Christian Church in St. Petersburg and they now live in Richmond Virginia.

Amy has been researching the genealogy of her adopted family off and on since high school, but became more serious about it in 1998. Her husband is also adopted and she has helped the genealogists in his adopted family further their research.

Though Amy is not a professional genealogist, she does volunteer to help friends with their genealogy projects. She also helps others by volunteering with RootsWeb as a monitor for several of their email lists, message boards, and the Pinellas County FLGenWeb Project as a co-coordinator with Laverne Hammock Tornow.

At this time Amy does not have a genealogy web site of her own. She does, however, plan to have one online in the near future.