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Reunion Research and Statistics- 3
More fun facts
& opportunities
Guinness Book of World Records celebrates largest reunions
The 80th Lilly Family Reunion-descendants of Robert and Frances Lilly in Flat Top, West Virginia-set a new world record for the largest family reunion, according to officials with the Guinness Book of World Records. The Lilly family had 2,585 registered members during its three days in August 2009.
To be counted, members had to be connected to the Lilly family by blood, adoption or marriage. Scores of non-Lilly friends show up for the reunion but were not counted. Attendees came from 30 states as well as the Sudan, Germany and the United Kingdom.
"Southern West Virginia should be proud of having a world record," said filmmaker Chad Morgan Meador, a Lilly cousin whose company, Good Old Boy Productions, was filming a documentary. He said. "It was very close, but so exciting."
The Busse Family Reunion set the first Guinness World Record for the largest family reunion in 1998. The reunion was of descendants of the six children of Friedrich and Johanna Busse who settled 150 years earlier in Lake County, Illinois. The 2,369 descendants were amply accommodated at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Grays Lake, Illinois.
Rules and authentication to achieve a Guinness Record are not simple. Members of both Busse and Lilly families worked hard at pulling together countless details leading to their success. Both are to be congratulated for their efforts at encouraging a record setting number of family members to their reunion.
Lilly information from stories in the Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, by Amelia A. Pridemore, Courtney D. Clark and Mannix Porterfield.
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How about longest running reunions?
Let's hear it for the families who have maintained their traditional reunions year after year. The Burton Family Reunion celebrated their 125th anniversary reunion this year near Mitchell, Indiana. Emalou Burton Garten, Indianapolis, Indiana, reported that descendants of the thirteen children of John Pleasant and Suzannah Stamper Burton gather to clean the family burial ground, have genealogy and family meetings and enjoy a banquet and picnic together. This long running, strong family reunion is governed by three directors elected at reunions for three year terms of office.
How long has your reunion been running? We'd like to hear from you. Add to these extraordinary numbers to demonstrate your family's strength and your reunion's staying power.
E-mail us.
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Participate in family reunion research!
Reunions magazine editor is eager to hear your stories about what occurs during your family reunions. Here are some topics and themes we want to hear about: feel free to write about any or all of them.
About how many people usually attend your reunion? Who are they? What are their ages? Where do they live? Where have reunions gone? How often do you see each other outside of the reunion?
What are the first things that come to mind when you think about your reunion? What have you enjoyed most about your reunions? During your time together, how do you make decisions about meals, cleaning, events, arrival and departures?
Often, parents and siblings have stories that become part of the family's history. Stories can be about family events, members or other relatives. Are these stories brought up during your reunions? What are they? Are there ways you act with your siblings only when you reunite with each other (special ways of talking or communicating with each other)?
When we attend family reunions, most of us are part of two families: the one we grew up in and the new married family. To the family you grew up in, you are still a child (son or daughter) and a sibling (brother or sister). In your new family you are a spouse (husband or wife) and probably parent (mother or father). If you're not married, you are an adult. Describe your role during your family reunion? How do you feel about it?
In general, how well do people get along during your reunion? Describe relationships. How do you feel at the end of your reunion? How do you think other participants feel? Let us know!
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Family Reunion Research Project:
Call for Participants
Dr. Stephen Criswell, a folklorist and professor of English at Benedict College in Columbia, SC, is conducting a study of African American family reunions. This study, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, will examine the origins, development, and significance of these family celebrations.
Dr. Criswell is seeking individuals and families to participate in this study. Volunteers will be interviewed about their family reunions and should allow Dr. Criswell and his assistants to observe and document their reunions. In exchange for their participation, interviewees and their family members will have access to all documents (including videotapes, photograph, and interview tapes) regarding their family reunions.
If you would like to participate in this project, please contact Dr. Criswell at 803-253-5221, secriswell@hotmail.com, or write to Department of English, Benedict College, 1600 Harden Street, Columbia, SC 29204.
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