Reunion activities-7

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

Special reunion for Aunt Joyce
The Stansberry Family had a reunion about thirty-five years ago. I don't remember much about it. Then families moved away from Elk City, Oklahoma. The next reunion was about four years ago at Roman Nose State Park, Oklahoma. We all agreed it was great and designated someone to plan the next reunion for the following year. When it never happened, I just dove in.

What a mess. The California relatives didn't want to travel to Oklahoma so I chose Estes Park, Colorado, as a midway point. I knew it was beautiful and I made a great brochure. Well, it flopped. The Oklahoma people didn't want to travel to Estes Park ... the altitude was too high ... they couldn't get the time off ... and so on.

People didn't respond. I started producing a family newsletter hoping to get someone to respond about the reunion. I got very little feedback. I am one of the relatives who moved to California so I don't remember a lot of family members. I don't know husbands or children's names. I don't know what they do for a living. But I'm learning fast.

I swore I'd not try to plan a reunion ever again. Then my Uncle Bob passed away and Aunt Joyce, whom I love dearly, was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The doctor told her it was fast spreading and she should make arrangements to die. My aunt wanted to see her family one more time. I decided to do a reunion come hell or high water. I hoped if I planned it, she would focus on trying to live a little longer.

As part of the reunion program, I am working on a videotape that will show the family tree with snapshots and narration from a diary that my great-grandmother, Mary Huff-Stansberry, wrote as she came out from Missouri to Oklahoma.

Church services to open the reunion will be followed by an ice cream social featuring some ice breakers I found online. The next morning the children will make centerpieces for the evening dinner. That night the entire family will meet at a restaurant for dinner, a family talent show, viewing the video, and a dance later for the teens.

About fifty people are coming! The great thing is Aunt Joyce's cancer "that couldn't be stopped" is in remission. I know that love is the true physician and it is inside us. The family brings it out of us. The family reunion is vital to our survival.

Reported by Beverly Hartman, Fresno CA

A lasting memorial
With remaining funds from their reunion account, the Busse Family Reunion decided to replace the cemetery monument of ancestors Friedrich and Johanna as a lasting tribute to their memory.
The original, made of marble, was badly deteriorated, so this one was made in granite. The new monument looks much like the original in lettering and symbols, but an area they could not read now reads:
To the memory of Friedrich and Johanna Busse who came to America in 1848. Dedicated by their 7,000 descendants in honor of 150 years in America. June 28, 1998.
“We will give thanks to You forever; from generation to generation we will recount Your blessings!” Psalms, 79:13.

Musings from “cemetery crawlers”
Flora/Tommi O’Hagan, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, commented on an earlier Reunions Magazine feature about cemeteries. “We just returned from a wonderful visit to Cornwall, where we spent a morning in the churchyard of the parish our great-grandmother came from. Notepads in hand, Bob and I worked one side and my brother and his wife the other, focusing on names which appear in our family tree. As is often the case in old burial grounds, we were frustrated by not being able to read everything clearly. We have encountered similar problems in many cemeteries at home and abroad. A number of things seem to account for the problem, from the type of stone on which the inscription was etched, to lichen growing on the stones. I am curious about what one can do to clean markers to make them more readable - without destroying anything.”
This query inspires lots of answers and opinions, sometimes contradictory! Because gravestones are a non-renewable resource already subject to nature’s stresses, perhaps the best approach is the most conservative. The following websites will be of interest to anyone researching tombstones.
The Association for Gravestone Studies FAQ page addresses concerns including Gravestone Rubbing Dos and Don'ts, Tools and Materials for Gravestone Cleaning Projects, and Symbolism on Gravemarkers. www.gravestonestudies.org.

The Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration Project webpage Suggestions for Your Cemetery Restoration and Stone Repair Toolbox offers a section on stone cleaning as well as many other tips and considerations for those doing research in cemeteries. http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp/repairtoolbox.html
The Connecticut Gravestone Network provides links to information about cleaning, inscriptions and rubbings at www.ctgravestones.com.

Of course, before trying any method of cleaning a headstone, check with the cemetery sexton.
O’Hagan reminds us, “Monuments add much to the portfolio of a family researcher, but should not be accepted as the most accurate source of information. For instance, the date of death on the stone should be compared with records that give the date of burial. Date of birth should be compared with christening records.”

Fran Carlson, Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, reported, “I went to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn this past weekend to photograph some graves and verify relationships. The heavens opened and we were caught in a flash flood. I was amazed at the amount of water that can accumulate in a short time. The interesting thing is that each time I found a gravesite, my scream of joy to my husband was drowned out by a lightning bolt. The lightning came closer each time until -- when I finally found my “special” grave -- we got a double blast of jagged lightning immediately overhead. If I saw it in a movie I wouldn’t believe it. I think someone’s talking to me! Well, I’m listening.”

Resources

Destinations Locations

Products & Services

Free Trial Issue

Send us your name and address to receive a sample copy of Reunions magazine.

Reunions Forums
Share your planning advice and experiences with other reunion planners, attendees, newbies, and the editors of ReunionsMagazine in our Reunions forums!