Reunion activities

These activities are from many reunions, reported first in Reunions magazine. We invite you to e-mail us your special reunion activities.

Burnette Family Contemplation
 Georgia Burnette writes about a questionnaire the Burnette Family Reunion used. After the traditional Candlelight Ceremony (prayers for relatives no longer with us and for family members unable to attend). After this somber and eloquent interlude was a perfect moment to ask each person to reflect in writing on his/her role in family affairs. This was a self-evaluation and answers were not shared or discussed. The exercise was intended to heighten awareness about participation in family matters and to encourage individual pause and consideration about working to move the family forward or sitting back and letting it happen.

What Have I Done For My Family Today?

Long distance planning results in Wheeler Family Reunion success
by Nancy Getz
  We really liked the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We rented four cottages (one held 16 people), all within five minutes of one another. The atmosphere and environment was very nice and the staff was good to work with. Cottage prices were very reasonable.

  Hundreds of kids were kept busy with organized activities. It was so nice at night to hear them singing. Their routine and our activities never clashed. We had 14 kids between ages 10 and 19. Many activities were planned for them and they also enjoyed the swimming pool, tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields. The Alpine Rope Tower was a highlight either for climbers or cheering climbers! Softballs and bats, soccer balls and a volleyball were all furnished.

  Blue Ridge Assembly has a beautiful outdoor amphitheater where we held our "Lack of Talent Show." Fireflies (lighting bugs) were still around to delight the kids!

  Our family is scattered from Alaska to Florida and Hawaii to Pennsylvania! I live in Anchorage, Alaska. This reunion was for siblings of my mother and father, our spouses, children and their spouses, their children, and some of them have spouses and a child or two. A lot of relatives were meeting for the first time. Others hadn't seen each other for at least 20 years.

  I designed matching t-shirts and had them made at a shirt store in Illinois. We made name tags from a tree branch cut in slices, painted designs and our names on them and attached plastic lacing to hang them around our necks. Holes were pre-drilled.

  We also had "mini-interest" groups. I recruited volunteers to share hobbies, talents or skills with the rest of us. At the beginning ... my blind sister, Betty, and her new husband did a mini-session on "Living Skills for the Blind" which was very interesting to the whole family and made communicating easier. Later, I noticed one of the kids talking to her and to show her something, he nudged her hand with the object. He had just learned she can see with her hands! We had crafts, a knot tying group and a campfire lakeside one evening. Music and singing was spread throughout the week. A family member wrote The Wheeler Theme Song which we sang often to the tune of There's Nothing Finer Than To Be In Carolina In The Morning!

  I made evaluations on my laptop on the last day of the reunion for everyone to fill out! WOW! We learned so much for our next reunion. It was definitely a big hit and many said it was way beyond their expectations. Everyone wanted another reunion, for sure. Most of the kids wanted another one in one year for a month! I don't think we sisters would last that long! Adults were about 50/50 wanting the next one in two or three years and again for one week.
About the author
Nancy Getz is married, retired and has lived in Anchorage, Alaska, for 22 years. She has three daughters and 11 grandchildren who live in Washington and Arizona. "Staying in touch with family is very important to me and I finally have "extra" time to contribute to organizing our family reunions, which I dearly enjoy and love!" she says.

Reunion worship
How many families can go to the church their ancestors started and attended regularly nearly 126 years ago? A majority of Howitt Family Reunion members attended church at the rural Star Chapel Methodist Church in Empire Prairie, Missouri. The minister invited members to participate in the service which made it very personal. Betty Jo Howitt reported "As I played the organ I could see in my mind my father, his brothers and sister and parents singing in the choir. It was a cherished moment." Three relatives continue to attend the church.

Victorian Sunday afternoon
One hundred year old Jeanette Saboe, Hermiston, Oregon, was among Perkins Family Reunion members in Colfax, Washington. Descendants of James A. (and Jennie Ewart) Perkins, founder of Colfax, participated in the event at the historic 1886 Victorian-style Perkins House now home of Whitman County Historical Society in conjunction with the society's 25th annual ice cream social. Participants were encouraged to wear period costumes.

Submitted by Heidi L. Dowling, Colfax WA, from the Pullman-Moscow (WA) Daily News

Reunion bells
Patricia Miller, 55, and Nate Molden, 59, combined two powerful family rituals by arranging a surprise wedding ceremony at their Starling-Wilbourn Family Reunion in Chicago. The reunions of Molden's family have been held every other year around the country for 25 years.
Miller envisioned a small, intimate wedding, but Molden wanted to take advantage of his large, scattered family being together. Molden's brother, the reunion organizer, was delighted to include a wedding in the program. A minister in the family was also pleased to accommodate the couple. The wedding was kept secret so no one would feel they needed to bring gifts and that it wouldn't distract from other reunion activities. The printed reunion program listed a "special event" between the convocation and meal. The wedding was met with great excitement, cheers and happiness.

Submitted by Matthew L. Figi, Highland IN from The Monroe (IN) Times

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