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Family
history touring
More and
more we hear about families who include touring significant family/ancestor
places as part of their reunion. This is a particularly special
activity when many members are attending from out-of-town and
rarely have the opportunity to visit. These would include homes/homesteads,
farms, neighborhoods, schools, churches and cemeteries. Some families
even do re-enactments in conjunction with the tours. We are very
interested in learning about your history tour, e-mail us!
Take the bus
Transportation by bus or motor coach seems such a practical way to get to and around at reunions. Consider these ideas and suggestions for your next reunion.
Buses everywhere
I was at a Detroit hotel over a reunion season/summer weekend a couple years ago (working, ironically) and there were five reunions at the hotel (that's NOT why I was there). The parking lot was full of buses from all over. When we were all checking out at the same time Sunday morning, buses were lined up. VERY tired revelers were dragging themselves and their pillows onto the buses for the long sleep home. That seems so practical!
Looking for flexibility?
According to the American Bus Association, US motorcoaches carry more than 774 million passengers annually – about 200 million more than airlines and more than double those traveling on Amtrak and commuter rail. Motorcoaches serve more than six times more US destinations than airlines and more than seven times more than passenger rail. ABA offers a free list of US tour bus companies equipped for disabled travelers.
ABA suggests busing destinations
Judith Whitt of the American Bus Association in Washington DC says their Top 100 Events in North America can be requested by email (abainfo@buses.org), fax (202- 842-0850) or mail (1100 New York Avenue NW - Ste 1050, Washington DC 20005-3934). Or visit their website, www.buses.org, and click Top 100 Events. To see and print out Motorcoach Travel Tips, go to www.buses.org/tips.cfm.
These are tips for consumers interested in motorcoach travel in general, or in organizing their own group charter or tour. When booking a motorcoach, be prepared to provide details about your destination(s), required itinerary and the approximate number of people.
How to plan your bus needs
Estimate the number of people requiring transportation for each event. Establish pickup and dropoff sites. Will members be moved in one trip or many?
Request information about ground transportation operators from Convention and Visitors Bureaus or hotel staff.
Questions to ask
How long have they been in business?
What is their specialty?
Do vehicles have air conditioning, seat belts, public address system, restrooms?
What is their safety record? (Department of Transportation, Office of Motor Carrier Federal Highway Administration, 800-832-5660; www.safesys.org)
When they quote costs, do they include fuel, equipment, maintenance, union fees, state and local taxes, surcharges and tolls?
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Iowa exploration
To get back to our roots, the Werdel Family Reunion planned a bus trip of Oelwein, Iowa. There was a drive through a small Amish community, cemetery visit to ancestor’s graves, including those of Bernard and Elizabeth Werdel, the Historical Society Museum, Railroad Museum and a windshield tour and stops at houses, schools and churches where many of our ancestors lived, worshipped or were educated. The tour included lunch at a local restaurant.
I contracted with a reliable bus company and was fortunate that no advance deposit was required. I could cancel without penalty a week before the reunion, so I asked for more buses than I thought I’d need; always better to have too many than not enough. I also checked seating capacity and whether buses had restrooms, microphones and air conditioning. I also asked whether the bus driver was familiar with the area and would be adaptable to changes.
The itinerary was planned with approximate times, allowing flexibility for extra or less time at each stop. I also did a “dry run” the day before the reunion so we could keep the bus driver on-track. I developed a great appreciation for tour guides after my brief stint as one.
I wrote or called someone at each tour stop several months in advance and again about two weeks before the reunion to be sure they were prepared. It is important to contact churches to be sure doors are open and that no wedding or other functions are planned. Provide your phone number so someone from the church can contact you about unexpected events.
Overall, I was extremely pleased with the outcome. In retrospect, I would have done a couple things differently. First, solicit more help! I was so busy tending to details, I didn’t have as much time to spend with individuals as I would have liked. Second, the stop for lunch yielded some surprises. Everyone paid for their own lunch and management added a gratuity and beverage to each check, although some people only drank water. This resulted in some confusion and long lines when paying for the meal. Including the price of lunch with the bus trip would have solved the problem.
Reported by Virginia Aitken, Havelock, North Carolina
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Dreisbachs tour Allentown, Bethlehem and Kreidersville, Pennsylvania, area
The Hidden History Bus Tour was a full day in the Lehigh Valley's “Dreisbach Country,” where 1743 immigrant Simon Dreisbach and his sons lived, worked and worshipped. The Tour also explored the three groups who preceded the Dreisbachs in the area: the Lenape Indians with their peach-orchard and gardens, the first European settlers (the Ulster Scots), and the Moravians and their experiment in communal living.
The tour included historic sites such as Whitefield House, built in 1740-43, and its 1740 log house neighbor; the newly restored Jacksonville settlement; and an authentic, fully furnished 1756 Pennsylvania-German homestead, the Troxell-Steckel House. After lunch the tour continued to the lower reaches of the Lehigh Gap to see the path ancestors took when they moved out of the valley. The group learned about the area's recently identified prehistoric “sacred landscape,” about cheated Indians who wailed on a mountaintop through the night, about massacres and abductions, and about the Pennsylvania governor who had a Dreisbach mother-in-law.
This tour lasted eight hours and included bus, lunch, admissions, gratuities and a “Dreisbach map” made especially for the tour.
A second ten-hour bus tour experienced the Amish country of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.They enjoyed an insider's look at farmlands, one-room schools, horses and buggies, the plainest of dress and life without electricity. They explored their common Pennsylvania Deutsch heritage.
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Schürch family heritage tours
After the Schürch family reunion registration and a delicious breakfast, we greeted “old” cousins and met “new” ones before 165 of us boarded buses for heritage tours. Two buses went on each tour. The “Blue” tour visited landmarks important to descendants of Ulrich Schürch (immigrated 1728), Casper Sherk (immigrated 1732), Ulrich Schürch (immigrated 1752) and Joseph Schürch. The “Red” tour concentrated mainly on Ulrich Schürch. Some kind proprietors permitted us to tour our ancestors’ homes. Can you imagine strangers walking through your home? We stopped for lunch at Denver Memorial Park and Fireman’s Park near Shirksville Crossroads, the first Schürch reunion site in 1982.
Reported by Janice (Sherick) Kluck, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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Magnolia was a goal
For one Gilmore Family Reunion in Arkansas the family chose the theme “Celebrating Our Roots.” A highlight of the three days was a charter bus tour of Magnolia, the original homesite, and Pine Bluff, where they held a memorial service at the cemetery where ancestors are buried.
Getting there
The Taylor Family Reunion alternates their reunions between Buffalo, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. They hire a bus to transport the Chicago contingent to Buffalo and have transportation while they’re there. The per-person cost is better than any other form of transportation, for both the long-distance and local trips.
Cruising Biloxi
Laura L. Bedard, Hudson, New Hampshire, wife of Roland, member of 1st Special Seabees, wrote that their reunion activities in Biloxi, Mississippi, included a one-day bus excursion with lunch and sightseeing.
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Fleetwood family does Oklahoma
The Fleetwood Family Reunion gathers descendants of Charles Fleetwood and Lucinda Morgan of Oklahoma and their 14 children. The first reunion was in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Capitol of the Cherokee Nation West, where their 7th great-grandparents met at nearby Fort Gibson, Indian Territory, in 1834. Charles Fleetwood was a Dragoon in the Army from Bertie County, North Carolina, on the east coast and Lucinda Morgan was a Cherokee/Catawba immigrant from the hills of western North Carolina.
The reunion reserved a travel coach with an intercom and visited several historic sites in Oklahoma’s Delaware District, along with places the family lived, transacted business and are buried. Presentations on the tour included charts, maps, pictures, displays, books, and genealogy material pertaining to family history.
Friday they traveled north into the Delaware District and visited historic sites where policies had impacted their ancestor’s lives. They contemplated Charles’s involvement at the Battle of Cabin Creek historic site. At the Saline Courthouse they imagined ancestors coming to cast their votes in Cherokee Tribal elections. They visited cemeteries where Lucinda and other descendants are buried. That evening they showed a documentary called Last Raid at Cabin Creek.
Saturday, again by coach, they traveled south, first stopping at Fort Gibson State Historic Site, where their ancestors met and married. Lucinda was 16 and Charles was 24. From there the tour stepped out of the Cherokee Nation and 30 years into the future. They went south to the Battle of Honey Springs State Historic Site. Again they imagined Charles’s involvement at another pivotal engagement of the Civil War in Indian Territory and cried that he was an old man in the Union Army, who at this place faced his sons who were Confederates.
Each day the coordinator, Jennifer Sparks, called ahead and made reservations for the party. She chose moderately priced restaurants with which she was familiar and served good food. Everyone was satisfied.
Reported by Jennifer Sparks, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, who says in commenting about her reunion: “It was a great accomplishment to have successfully executed such a large event, and it was so worth it. I think the greatest reward was the wonderful people I came to know and love. I made so many new friends out of previously unknown relatives, and it is a satisfying feeling.”
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Civil Rights icon finds a new home
The bus in which civil rights activist Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat to a white man is on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
According to the Associated Press, a Montgomery, Alabama, man bought the bus in the early 1970s, and left it to his daughter when he died in 1985. The museum purchased it from the family for $492,000.
There have been questions, however, about the authenticity of the bus. No bus number was written on the police records when Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott that famous day in 1955.
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Civil Rights icon finds a new home
The bus in which civil rights activist Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to give up her seat to a white man is on display at the Henry Ford Museum.
According to the Associated Press, a Montgomery, Alabama, man bought the bus in the early 1970s, and left it to his daughter when he died in 1985. The museum purchased it from the family for $492,000.
There have been questions, however, about the authenticity of the bus. No bus number was written on the police records when Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott that famous day in 1955.
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Be WOWed by Wisconsin
by Edith Wagner
With the enthusiastic assist of a character named “Flat Jack,” the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) can help arrange group tours of Wausau-area attractions.
According to Wausau CVB Executive Director Darien Schaefer, “Flat Jack” is loosely based on a popular children's book, in which a boy named Stanley gets flattened by a falling bulletin board. Then, “Flat Stanley” is mailed around the world to be photographed in front of landmarks and mailed home.
“Like Flat Stanley,” Schaefer explains, “Flat Jack is a world traveler who came home to be spokesperson and tour guide extraordinaire for Wausau/Central Wisconsin tourism.”
I am a great fan of visiting places where I can learn how things are designed or made or sold or all of those things. I like to learn how things are done. I am always reminded of the importance of introducing kids to cows so they don’t grow up thinking milk comes only from cartons.
Reunion programs can be enlivened by tours of area industries or enterprises. If you don’t live in the area and want to learn what’s unique in addition to the obvious, well-advertised tourist attractions, there is an easy solution. Contact the CVB for help identifying and arranging special area tours.
At their 2002 reunion, the 9th Armour Division enjoyed a tour of the central Wisconsin area. Forty passengers boarded a bus at their hotel for a first stop at Mosinee Papers for a tour. Then, a tour of Wausau’s Andrew Warren Historic District (www.marathoncountyhistory.com) led to a visit to the renowned Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum (www.lywam.org) before lunch. After the break, the tour continued to Rib Mountain State Park and a stop at Grandfather Falls in Merrill.
In the same area, this is a sample of some intriguing tours available in Central Wisconsin.
The Van Der Geest Dairy Farm (www.vandergeestdairy.com) was designed specifically with tours in mind, giving you a bird's-eye view from a catwalk above the operation without disturbing the business at hand. This, for a native of Wisconsin, is an outstanding tour. The Van Der Geest barns are home to over 3,000 cows, each milked three times a day — an almost continuous milking schedule — with the help of only five workers per shift and modern, computerized technology.
At Hsu's Ginseng Gardens (www.hsuginseng.com), the largest ginseng enterprise in the US, you can learn about herbal remedies made from the ginseng root. Wisconsin ginseng is prized for its high quality and potency, and Marathon County now produces 95% of the US cultivated crop, 87% of which is exported to Asia.
Only three plants in the world give bottles diverted from landfills new life as fine stemware. Green Glass LLC (www.greenglassUSA.com) transforms bottles into stunning goblets and tumblers.
Other equally unusual and surprisingly interesting tours include Kolbe and Kolbe Millworks (www.kolbe-kolbe.com) to see the window-making process, and nearby Anderson Brothers and Johnson Granite Quarry (800-826-1581), which harvests stone for intriguing uses.
Finally, visit the Reitbrock Geological Marker, the exact center of the northern half of the western hemisphere, is one of only four places like this in the world; one is in China and the other two under water. A visit to this geographical landmark gives you something to talk about!
Contact Christine Martens, Group Tour Sales Manager for the Wausau/Central Wisconsin CVB, 10204 Park Plaza, Suite B, Mosinee WI 54455; (toll free) 888-948-4748, x 305; cmartens@wausaucvb.com; www.wausaucvb.com. Martens notes that one phone call will lead to itineraries to suit any group's interests, including lodging, restaurant, and entertainment suggestions to make all Central Wisconsin reunions fun, affordable and fulfilling.
Here are some suggestions from the many fine venues in the Central Wisconsin area.
To stay
Stoney Creek Inn
1100 Imperial Ave, Mosinee
715-355-6858
For special meals
The Wausau Club (available for group parties planned in advance)
309-McClellan St, Wausau
715-845-2131
Hereford and Hops (where you can select and grill your own steak)
2201 Sherman St, Wausau
715-849-3700
2510 (serve lovely lunches)
2510 Stewart Ave, Wausau
715-675-9961
About the author, Edith Wagner is editor of Reunions magazine.
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Touring guide
If you’re interested in visiting companies to see how things are done or made, a good reference is Watch It Made in the USA: A Visitor’s Guide to the Companies That Make Your Favorite Products by Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg (1997, 368 pages, paperbound, $17.95. John Muir Publications, PO Box 613, Santa Fe NM 87504). The authors did something I would love to do! They traveled the country and visited many wonderful, interesting places to find out how things are made.
Choose your favorites and the book probably has the information you need to find and visit them. This is a perfect reunion activity, particularly if the tour is inside and you’re facing a rainy day. Who wouldn’t want to visit Microsoft? There it is, with a free tour, in Redmond, Washington, but you’ll need reservations. For big and little boys, Mack Truck in Macungie, Pennsylvania, has a free tour but no freebies (we hoped). However, Lionel Trains in Chesterfield, Michigan, gives free souvenir pins. If freebies are what you’re looking for, count on them if you visit breweries and candy factories/stores. In fact, sampling is required.
Information for listings include such practical items as cost, freebies (essential from tours!), hours, length of tours, whether a video is shown, minimum age, directions and more. Listings are presented according to state.
If you’re a person who ever stops to wonder how something is made, these tours are for you. And kids will be intrigued, too!
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Heritage
Haunt
by Linda L.K. Armstrong
Want to create a memorable reunion event that captures family
history and entertains everyone at the same time? The answer is
a Heritage Haunt.
A Heritage
Haunt consists of tours of family homes, farms, schools, neighborhoods
and businesses. It includes favorite restaurants, parks, and bars,
and other sites where interesting family events took place. Aside
from visiting locations, family history is shared through stories,
narration, re-enactments, pictures, antiques and artifacts.
Imagine sitting
in the same tree where Grandpa Albert carved Grandma Edna's initials
seventy-five years ago. Picture yourself climbing the steps to
the hayloft where Aunt Ruth and Uncle Harold had their first kiss.
Who couldn't laugh at seeing the school banister where Albert
Jr.'s head was lodged throughout one entire 4th grade recess?
These "haunts"
are your family's heritage. They are where stories and memories
were born. When you visit, the past is alive, well, and firmly
linked to the present.
This inexpensive
tour is actually a backdrop for an afternoon of stories, music,
food, games, and laughter. It's a way for the entire family to
participate in a single activity as they connect with each other
and their shared past.
Planning
your "Heritage Haunt"
Select core family members
First, determine which family members or ancestors to focus on
for your tour/haunt. Often, families have core members that who
are the focal point for the rest of the family. Focus on these
people for your tour. Once you select several members, narrow
your list to particularly lively characters or families, living
or deceased, who are well known by the people attending the reunion.
Research
family history and possible sites
Start by creating a family history sketch to select sites and
dig up interesting stories. Search your memory first. Jot down
whatever you know about these core members. Where were they from
originally (country, city, state)? Where did they live? What schools
did they attend? Did they own businesses? Where did they work?
Where did they spend time? Which neighborhoods, restaurants, bars,
stores and clubs were their favorites? Where did they attend church?
Where did the married couples meet? Where did children spend their
time?
Create a
history sketch filled with information about who these members
were, what they did in life, interesting events associated with
them, and locations or sites associated with the stories. Once
you have some ideas, call other relatives and ask for information
and stories.
Narrow
and research the locations
From the history sketch, select places to visit. As you consider
each site, ask yourself the following questions. Does the site
still exist? Is the site interesting because of its history or
stories? How long will it take to travel to this site? Is the
site an option for a large group? Is it accessible to family members
with special needs? Once you’ve selected a site, research
it. Find out who owns it; is it public or private property? If
possible, research the site's history before and after your family.
Locate
resources and plan the particulars
Transportation
Traveling to sites is a large part of the tour as well as an opportunity
for your family to connect. If at all possible, try to rent a
motorcoach, bus or mini-van to keep the group together. If you
choose not to do this, provide maps and a time frame for drivers.
Then, caravan and car-pool to sites together.
History
In addition to viewing the site, you need to explain and narrate
its history. This is where your research is put to use. Try a
number of approaches to narrate stories.
- Narrate
the stories on the way in the motorcoach/bus or select a young
family member to narrate "Hauntbook of History" -
prepare a history booklet as a memento and read together as
you visit sites
- Create
a re-enactment complete with period clothing and dialect
- Create
a script of an event and surprise family members and assign
roles AFTER you arrive at the site.
- Recruit
your kids or grandchildren to create a re-enactment
Pictures
Dig up pictures of family members at this location. Reunion goers
can connect the present and the past, and note changes in the
site from past to present. You might also make copies of the pictures
and create a booklet.
Food
If you decide to include food on the tour, select from options
like these:
- Potluck
lunch at a site
- Catered
lunch en route or at a site
- Create
a menu of family recipes
- Eat at
a restaurant "haunt" en route
- Cook your
own food pioneer style over an open fire
Entertainment
What can you do to add even more fun to the experience?
- Dress
as your family would have 100 years ago.
- Play music
related to sites or the time period as you travel.
- Hold a
barn or street dance.
- Create
a family trivia contest.
- Display
family treasures or heirlooms. Find the quilt Grandma Nette
made or the rug that covered Great Aunt Susie's kitchen floor.
- Locate
antiques previously owned by your family; kitchen tools, farm
implements, office machines, ledgers, crochet hooks.
- Demonstrate
the use of old farm, household or business equipment.
- Video
the day's lighter moments and play the tape later in the day.
Relax
and enjoy the day!
You've done your planning and research. Now it's time to have
fun. Remember to enlist the help of others for the big day. Don't
do it all yourself. Assign jobs and delegate responsibilities
to other family members. Remember, what's really important is
the time you spend together. The stories and the laughter are
what you'll remember; so don't let the details get you down. Happy
Haunting!
The author’s
Heritage Haunt
The latest Kuenzel reunion enjoyed a "Heritage Haunt."
At exactly noon, everyone was called together with an enormous,
gong-like school bell retired to our backyard from the Kuenzel
brothers' elementary school, our first stop.
A tour booklet,
containing family addresses, old photos, and a brief family history,
was provided. We boarded a school bus and headed for the farm.
One family member provided tongue-in-cheek descriptions of the
sights en-route. "Coming up on the right you'll see Clay
Hill, where Bob and Howie used to do snow/tow skiing behind the
Buick. On your left you'll see Gutches Grove, the first place
to check when the cows got out."
At the school,
Harold told horror stories of trudging through waist-deep snow
to school, starting the fire in the wood stove and ringing the
enormous bell. The old-timers led us on a story-filled tour of
the first homestead.
Then we visited
the last Kuenzel farm. Old-timers remembered years of love and
hard labor while the farm reminded the thirty-year olds of their
childhood. We toured the house, where everything seemed much smaller
than we remembered. We also toured the barn and outbuildings and
took a peaceful walk toward the "back 40." City kids
played with farm animals and explored the hay loft.
At a quick
visit to the town's museum we dug through the town's history and
found ways our family contributed.
At our central
location a home-cooked dinner of family recipes awaited using
the family's antique dishes. Our heritage haunt was completed
with food, love, and most importantly, old and new memories.
About
the Author
Linda Armstrong is a freelance writer and an alternative school
English teacher in Minnesota. In addition to reunion-centered
pieces, she also writes a bi-weekly travel column, "Caribbean
Travel and Culture" at www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/1575.
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