Family Reunions
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Cathie

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 09:00 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I have been "appointed" by my mom and her sister to plan a family reunion, including all of their children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren (total of about 60 people) We haven't all been together at the same time for over 35 years. Having never done this before, and not remembering many details from previous reunions, I don't know where to start.

Families will mainly be from TX, IL and Ohio, and a mid-point location has been suggested. Being given the burden of planning this, I am going to pick a place I like, and am looking into Eureka Springs, AR. Now comes the hard part--I have no idea how long the "event" should be, and if I need to plan on activities or just let everyone eat and mingle for a few days (eating and mingling is all I remember from childhood reunions.)

Most people will travel about 6-9 hours by car to get there, and the Ohio bunch will probably fly.

What do you do at family reunions?

How many days should it be (long weekend/whole week/whatever?)

What else do I need to do to make this succeed sometime next summer (as my mom said last night, "you know we won't be around forever...")

Kaili

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 09:09 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Try these links I just found. Ours are usually long weekends at locations with a lodge facility as well as either an on-site campground or nearby campground. The last one had cabins taht the families could rent. We had little things planned that were optional- campfire time where some kids did skits- I'm sure all famlies are different though. Hope these help- I've never planned one :)

http://www.family-reunion.com/

http://www.bhg.com/bhg/category.jhtml?catref=cat160003

http://www.gatherings.info/reunion/

Cathie

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 09:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks, Kaili, those links look good!!!

Tabbyking

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 10:40 am EditMoveDeleteIP
we are going to one in august. it is at my sister's house. (brave? stupid?) she has a great outdoor room and a pool on a large lot. my dad was one of 10 kids, so there will be a lot of people there. my father has passed away, but a lot of my mom's family has been invited, too. then my sister's hubby decided to invite his family, too. there could be anywhere from 40 to 150 people.
it will be from friday night til noon sunday. friday night a mexican restaurant is making itself available after 8:00 p.m. for only our reunion people. it will be 'dutch'.
saturday is a pool party at my sister's house from sun-up til whenever. several of us are chipping in to buy costco ribs, i am making a huge macaroni salad, my sister is making a huge potato salad, other's are bringing all sorts of things. my brother-in-law will provide draft beer from his outdoor kitchen and keg-o-rater. sunday is brunch, also at my sister's house.
thursday night for those who can get to northern california by then, my brother's band is playing at CR gibbs in redding.
my daughter and i are taking the motorhome and camping for 8 days first. then we will have something to sleep in parked at my sister's or my mom's houses. my husband and son will come up friday evening. (caitlin and i should be in redding on thursday, to make the macaroni salad and find a good parking space for the motorhome, lol...) others are staying with other siblings of mine in the area, or in rv parks, motels, etc.
there will be several small prizes (perfect ones are the march of dimes bears we get at our department of motor vehicles branch for $5. they look like beanie babies but are even cuter!) the prizes will be for horseshoes, water volleyball, badminton, pin the coconut on the palm tree, smash the fish pinata, talent show, karaoke, first to rsvp by snail mail, etc.

cathie, you are welcome to come to mine if i can go to yours!! lol i really want to go to arkansas with you.....

oh, other than the mexican restaurant outing, the theme is hawaiin tacky luau. so hawaiian shirts, flip flops, snorkels and metamucil seem to be the things to bring! everyone will also get lei'd. (oops!) i told my sister not to buy the plastic 'itchy' ones, but the fake softer flower ones. she is shopping from the 'oriental trader', i think it's called. i used to buy halloween party items from them for the city party i put on each year. lots of tiny trinkets and theme-related items there for dirt cheap.

Ann

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 12:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I attended a big family reunion last year in PEI, Canada. It was a 3-day event, which seemed about the right length. Some of the eldest attendees stayed at the homes of the organizers. The rest of us stay at nearby campgrounds, B&B's, and motels that had "family accomodation" which included a kitchen. Each day we had an organized event. For example, one day we were able to go deep sea fishing. Another day, we were able to go golfing. At the same time as the golf was a "crafts" tour. In other words, we piled into vans and hit all the craft/antique stores within a 25 km. radius. Great fun. Each evening we met at the home of one of the organizers (with a huge back yard that bordered the ocean) for cocktails and then one evening we had a big BBQ and another evening we all went to a "Lobster Dinner" at a local church hall. During the daytime while the adults were fishing, golfing, crafting, etc. the older youngsters (those in their 20's) took the youngest kids to the beach one day and to an amusement park the other day. We all brought photos to share (old stuff of our grandparents, great-grand parents, etc.) as well as any genealogical information that we had been able to unearth. This was all put out on display for everyone to look through at their leisure. We found that the best part of the reunion was just stitting around the campfire late into the evening and talking to everyone. Too many organized events just aren't fun after awhile. We did get t-shirts made up as well as coffee mugs with our family crest, etc. on them.

It was such a great experience. I got to meet cousins that I had never met before. And I found out so much about my family's history.

Cathie

Monday, July 14, 2003 - 01:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Tabby, you can come to the reunion--we will say you're the sister that we never talked about, lol :)

When my MIL died a couple of years ago my hubby was pretty much ignored by all of the older relatives. He was the last child, born when she was in her 40's, with 12 years between him and the next-to-youngest (and about 25 years younger than his oldest sib). When he introduced himself most people either didn't remember he existed or said they forgot about the young 'un. When it came time to clean out her house, though, don't you know they were all needing the young 'un to do the lifting and carrying...thank goodness there WAS a young 'un, lol!

Tabbyking

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 06:29 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
okay, cathie, tell me when and where...and start making up some good stuff about me for when i pop out of the reunion cake! lol
how we explain the 8 inch height difference will be up to you, too! i guess there wasn't much left in the gene pool when i went diving for dna strands........;>)