Reunion tales
In their Grandparenting column, Dee and Tom Hardie reported about the Thornhill Foundation reunion at Tom's ancestral home, an antebellum cotton plantation in Talladega, Alabama. Their annual reunion is devoted to the clan's history and upkeep of the family cemetery and research. The Hardies took their 13-year old granddaughter who was fascinated by 50 cousins she met. Her fourth cousin, a perky 82-year old grandmother who recounted a story of a visit to her farm from her three- and five-year old grandchildren. Together they planted wildflowers. The following morning the children rose early and rushed "to pick the wildflowers." Grandma had to tell the children that the flowers were still sleeping and that Hardies have always been optimistic people!
Submitted by Schuyler C. Brossman from the Reading (PA) Eagle.

Frederickson Family Reunion
Elsie Hutton, the oldest of nine, and daughter of an oldest of nine father, has much to deal with as she resurrects the Frederickson Family Reunion after a break of many years. The family has already published a cookbook and preparations for entertainment around a "Good Old Days" theme includes participants dressing in period attire. Hutton plans to provide a genealogy workshop to share her passion as well as interview elders, develop a family health record and collect keepsakes.

National Archives figure in reunion display
Ericka Watson, Westampton, New Jersey, has been bitten by the genealogy bug. She gathered several members of the Williams Family Reunion for a research trip to the National Archives to prepare an exhibit for their family reunion. They are also engaging older relatives for contributions of pertinent information and oral histories. They report frustration at names listed incorrectly and inconsistent census data but a passion to continue and have more for each reunion to share with family.

In case you don't remember
Charlotte Johnson, Alton, Illinois, is historian for the family reunion of George Schultz and "His," Inc. She presents a very entertaining slide show about the formation and genealogy of the family. Johnson weaves and illustrates an uncommonly complicated, sometimes convoluted, tale that follows the growth of the family. At each reunion, she reserves a room for displays of past reunions; pictures, mementos, notes and comments. The room rings with happy laughter and chatter as family members see pictures of themselves and begin to recall past reunion pleasures.

Catskills Ideal
   The third international reunion of about 125 descendants of Richard Lounsberry (ca. 1634 - 1690) was a great success, reports Albert "Al" Lounsbury, Saratoga Springs, New York, about what he refers to as the "L Family Reunion" at the Balsam Shade Resort in Greenville, New York.
   Family gathered from many places in the US and Canada. The recreation hall was lively with genealogical research. Members brought computers with a wealth of information stored in them to share family lines, picture displays and genealogy books.
   A short skit depicted the family of Richard Lounsberry and Elizabeth Pennoyer, who came from England separately, married and raised six children (five sons and one daughter) in the mid to late 1600s. Volunteers from the audience played roles as family members. Each night there was a bonfire for those who preferred to be outdoors. An auction Saturday produced lots of laughs, good bidders, fun and helped put reunion finances in the black with a little to spare for the next one.

Family skeleton
    For one Iowa family, a family skeleton brought them together again. Literally. After 132 years, James Benson's bones were unearthed from his Lafayette County, Wisconsin, grave so relatives could move them to the family plot in Lamoille, Iowa. It took two grave diggers one-and-a-half hours to uncover the remains. Then, family members were invited to sift through the dirt for remaining bones.
   To some this may seem like a grizzly way to reunite five generations of buried Bensons. But not to Wendell Benson, James' 73-year-old grandson. "We're a very close family," Wendell said. The idea to dig up great-great-great-grand dad originated at the 1997 Benson Family Reunion. Family members agreed to share the cost of exhuming and transporting the remains. The family plans a graveside service at its 1999 reunion.

The Harmelink Archive
In an effort to collect and preserve family documents and treasures, Vernon and Sondra (Einfeldt) Harmelink, Phoenix, Arizona, established a family archive. They voluntarily began to collect items and organized what they have.
   An archive is an organized body of records pertaining to an organization or institution; in this case, a family. The Harmelink Archive is intended as a repository, storage place, museum for records and artifacts. This Archive includes vital statistics (birth, marriage, divorce and death records), photographs, documents, certificates, diplomas, military records, news clippings (achievements, acknowledgments, obituaries) and heirlooms or photos of sentimental keepsakes. The items will be centrally organized and accessible to family members.
   The Harmelink Family is anyone using the name in any version (Harmeling, Hermelink, Hermeling), those with Harmelink genes (blood), having legal ties to family members by marriage or adoption and their descendants or even by divorce. Once a Harmelink, always a Harmelink.
   Vernon and Sondra (Einfeldt) Harmelink volunteered to collect and organize what they have. Statistics and photographs are being entered into Family Tree Maker, version 7. Hard copy printouts of records, statistical worksheets and original copies of photographs are stored in five steel file cabinets at the couple’s home. A few precious artifacts (e.g. gold pocket watch and two gold wedding bands owned by John Harmelink, Sr.) are stored in a safe deposit box in a bank.
   Harmelink family members were asked to submit birth, marriage, divorce or death records, photos and newspaper coverage, obituaries and funeral memorial brochures. The request for materials is of particular importance to people who are closing down a home or downsizing possessions. There are instances of old photos being thrown out because it was thought no one would want them. Label photographs with names, dates and places. Even without labeling, photos are valuable, since names, places and approximate dates can often be determined from other photos, from family group records or the ages of children in photos.
   Family members who want to retain wedding, graduation or family group photos, can send copies. Paper records will be deposited in the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society files in the Sioux Center, Iowa Library, and the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.

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