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Reunion Games- 4
Add games from the web
by Andrew Russell Bordeaux
Are you trying to play that specially requested card game to keep wacky Cousin Ed happy, but you just cannot remember the rules? Or perhaps you’re looking for a new game to entice and interest all at your reunion? Then look no further than www.pagat.com. Easily one of the most comprehensive and extensive card game lists on the web, www.pagat.com will keep your family shuffling and dealing all through the weekend. It offers insight into different types of cards, variations on games, card games assorted by nation and region, and even the classification of the card game. And if your family has it’s own home-grown card game, you can even add it to the site to share with other families.
If you’re in need of some great ideas to keep kids busy and having fun, www.gameskidsplay.net offers suggestions for many different games, complete with rules and how to play. It offers a list of rhymes able to keep kids entertained for hours. Another site full of game ideas can be found at www.familyfun.com. This site arranges games by categories such as indoor and outdoor games, holiday games and party games. Games can also be arranged by age groups. The list of games provides diversity and different tastes to appease any youngster. These sites can certainly be a big help, if you need new and creative ways to ensure that kids keep coming back.
About the author
Andrew Russell Bordeaux is a member of Reunions magazine’s administrative staff.
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White elephant
Plan ahead and ask everyone, in pre-reunion correspondence, to bring a gift-wrapped item for a white elephant sale. White elephant items are usually those no one wants, too tacky for words, or simply not the taste of the giver. At random, give each member a number, which becomes the order in which members can pick a white elephant. The first person unwraps and waits for the second person (with whom the first person might exchange … or not). The exchanging can continue as people open packages, but no item can be swapped or exchanged more than three times, so the person who ends up with a third trade keeps that item and is finished in the game.
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Old Soldiers and Settlers Reunion features games
If the Davis County (Iowa) Old Soldiers and Settlers Reunion teaches anything, it's that kids don't change. Games played during their reunion are sack races, three-legged races, hoop races and other events that would probably have been recognizable to children in 1846, when Drakeville, Iowa, was founded. There was fishing, a makeshift duck pond, and a mad scramble for candy hidden in hay (a more savory version of the needle in the haystack) for the younger children. An egg race and balloon toss entertained older ones.
The wheelbarrow race—where kids pair up and A holds B’s ankles while B scrambles on his hands—was for children ages seven and eight.
Kids lined up for the egg race. Each contestant clenched a plastic spoon in his mouth. Organizers gave each an egg, which had to stay in the spoon during the race. The number of drops and falls quickly suggested that the eggs were hard-boiled.
There was still a frog jump, canoe carnival, mule show and several other events to go.
The youngest folks at the reunion were on the main stage in the baby contest.
From an article by Matt Milner in the Ottumwa Courier, Ottumwa, Iowa.
Search for “Hidden Mickeys”
Our online survey (www.reunionsmag.com) asks where your “dream reunion” would be (money is no object). Theme parks consistently score very high and Walt Disney World (WDW) is at the top of the list.
Scavenger hunts for “Hidden Mickeys” in WDW is a new group activity, with clues, hints and points. Hidden Mickeys are images of Mickey Mouse that Disney’s designers have camouflaged all around WDW – in rides, on walls, even in walkways and fences.
Disney fanatic Steve Barrett, who has visited WDW almost weekly for over a decade, wrote Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World’s Best Kept Secrets. There’s a scavenger hunt for each park, one for the resort hotels and one for everything else in the “World” … almost 500 hidden Mickeys.
To add to the fun, Barrett assigned point values of one to four for each Hidden Mickey you find. The harder to spot, the higher the score. Young children can focus on easy-to-spot one- and two-point Mickeys, while teens and adults will especially enjoy finding the better camouflaged three- and four-pointers.
Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide to Walt Disney World’s Best Kept Secrets, 2nd edition by Steve Barrett (2005, 173 pages; $11.95. The Intrepid Traveler, PO Box 531, Branford CT 06405; www.TheOtherOrlando.com).
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E! True Toomerwood Story
By Shamele C. Jordon
- In E! True Toomerwood Story at the Toomer Family Reunion, the best family story wins. Each person has up to three minutes to tell a g-rated family story, based on a chosen category. Family members then vote on the best stories. The top three or five will go on to the finals, taking place on Reunion Saturday. Each finalist must tell a new story. Following are sample categories: Family Table, Reunions, School, Trips, Big Aunt Ida, Us Against Them, Blueberry Field, Whippins, Brothers & Sisters, New Baby, Christmas, Family, Gatherings, Church and Holidays.
These are other reunion games the Toomers play:
- Silent Auction - We have had this prize winner for more than a few reunions. There is a table with auction items. In front of each item is a box. Purchase tickets at $1 each. Place ticket(s) in the box, in front of the item you want to bid on. Winners are drawn from the box and announced during the Saturday program.
- Guess Your African Ancestry was an opportunity to guess results of a DNA test — before results were in — and win a prize.
- Get To Know Your Family. At registration, forms for this game are handed out. They list family questions. Players had to find family members who match the answers.
Can you match ’em?
Maria Moore, Fredericksburg, Virginia, helps plan the Moore, Swensson/Mattsson and Ferro Family Reunions andHayward Cousins Crusade. For a recent Moore Family Reunion she made a match game. The first card has pictures of family members now and as youngsters. Their matches are on the second card.
After the sun goes down
Spilsbury’s newest collection is perfect for kids and adults who like to keep playing after the sun goes down! They came up with light-up versions of favorite games families can keep playing after dark. Spilsbury’s Collection includes Light-Up Bocce Ball, Football, Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, Horseshoes and Croquet. All light-up games are sturdy enough for years of outdoor nighttime fun.
More game ideas
Hay rides
Dj, band, dance lessons
Skits, talent show
Top 10 list (like David Letterman’s)
Invite a celebrity, politician, sports figure
Exhibits
Displays
History: papers, books, pictures, maps, memorabilia, artifacts, tools, toys, crafts, implements
Demonstrations: whittling, caning, quilting, hand sewing, butter churning, ice cream making, tatting, style shows, skits
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The King comes to family reunion
Diane Yamaguchi’s affinity for Elvis began as a young girl. She'd play his records, sing and dance along to the music, pretending she was a star. In seventh or eighth grade, she entered an Elvis impersonation contest and took first place. She graduated from high school in 1963.
She never considered bringing The King back to life until a family reunion about four years ago.Yamaguchi's family gathers every year in Avila Beach, California, where they hold a huge family reunion, complete with entertainment.
In 2002, Yamaguchi and her sons decided to entertain their family members by performing a song-and-dance routine as Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson and Tina Turner impersonators and, of course, Elvis. Yamaguchi lip-syncs a 12-minute CD of prerecorded Elvis songs and moves her hips and pelvis, just as Elvis did in his day.
She's performed as Elvis at her past four family reunions and her 40th high school reunion in 2003.
From a story by April Charlton in the Santa Maria Times, Santa Maria, California.
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