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Reunions That Commemorate Holidays
Family reunions are, in fact, holidays just for your family —
a special occasion, special date, special place and very, very special
family! Promote your reunion as your own special family holiday. Then,
use your family holiday as the reason for everyone to make a special
effort to be there.
If your family can't all be together during the holidays, consider
a Christmas theme for your summer reunion or some part of it. Ellen
Clark, of Jacksonville, Florida, called her Ray/Clark Family Reunion
in July, "Christmas at the Beach." Friday evening they visited
a Christmas tree farm. Everyone helped decorate the tree by stringing
popcorn and hanging family photo ornaments made in advance. Santa arrived
the next day with presents for the children.
When Vivian Anderson, of Lincoln City, Oregon, turned eighty years
old, the family planned a reunion with a Christmas theme in July at
Fogarty State Park near Newport, Oregon. They drew names for gifts and
a stocking stuffer. Anderson knit thirty red stockings. Many African-American
families incorporate Kwanzaa principles into their summer reunions.
If you plan a Christmas theme for your summer reunion, do your reunion
shopping the during the season or, better yet, get supplies at the after-Christmas
sales. If you're going to exchange presents, you'll need wrapping paper.
Also, you'll find paper goods and decorations are cheaper right after
the holiday. Announce your intentions early so the rest of the clan
can also take advantage of these sales.
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Holiday time is also great for meeting with your reunion committee
(or at least members who are home for the holidays). Discuss progress,
assignments, program, timetable, and deadlines. Several years
ago, Emma J. Wisdom summarized a reunion planning meeting of descendants
of Mary Cage Givens Gilmore in Nashville, Tennessee. Committee
members from Arkansas, Texas, and Ohio planned the reunion at
a meeting during the holidays. An agenda helped spark ideas and
smooth details. They discussed activities, mapped strategies,
selected a site coordinator, treasurer, someone to be in charge
of correspondence, t-shirt selection and the family tree. Each
carried out assigned tasks from their homes and kept expenses
reasonable.
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Holiday
time is great for meeting with your reunion committee.
Discuss progress, assignments, program, timetable,
and deadlines.
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Many families include reunion reminders or announcements in their
holiday greetings. It is one way to save time and money and it gives
many family members something to look forward to. You can use the opportunity
to pose questions, ask for suggestions, solicit volunteers for planning
chores as well as reunion day helpers and, of course, during this season
of generosity, ask for donations that will ease your planning.
Holiday Gift Ideas for Reunions
Also think about holiday gifts for your reunion: books, games, a subscription
to Reunions magazine or a copy of Reunions Workbook. Reunion
related gifts are great for other family members or co-workers who are
planning reunions or persons you would like to recruit to help with
your reunion. Games such as Lifestories (800-433-GAME), Generations
(703-256-7092), Table Talk and Questions and Ancestors (717-464-0963)
are made especially for reunions as are many popular board games whose
focus may not necessarily be history or genealogy but are great family
fun.
Other excellent choices are Family Ties: Fun Activities for Collecting
Family Historical and Heritage Information (216-397-1342) and, of
course, family tree software. If you have trouble finding books, send
a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Reunions magazine, P.O.
Box 11727, Milwaukee WI 53211-0727 with a note requesting Reunion
Roundup, a compendium of all known reunion books and publications.
In the spirit of the holidays Reunions magazine (800-373-7933)
is celebrating with a special subscription price of $17 (regularly $24)
including the workbook, which can also be purchased separately for $10
(new fourth edition available January 1, 1999).
Reunion Workshops, Seminars and Conferences
Looking forward to next year, keep your eyes open for workshops, seminars
and conferences that feature reunion organization. Many reunion workshops
are presented as programs at local genealogy society meetings and sometimes
as part of larger regional or state meetings. While a planned program
is typically presented, I've always found give and take from and among
the audience is much more fun. Every time I present a workshop I learn
much from the discussion by participants who range from people who have
already organized reunions to those who are just beginning and need
all the help they can get — and they say so!
If you are part of a group that is planning or would like to present
a reunion program, send information to Reunions magazine about
your plans. Depending upon your plans, door prizes, presentation materials
and samples might be available.
Reunion Fun(d)raising
Starting in this and continuing in several columns we'll discuss reunion
fundraising. I'd like to include your ideas too; e-mail to reunions@execpc.com.
If you have pictures that depict your fundraising activities, I'd like
to consider using them in REUNIONS magazine,
with your permission. Also, if your reunion has a designated person
who is responsible for fundraising activities, please print this out
and pass it on.
We'll assume that yours is not a reunion where someone offers to pay
for everything, money is no object, you need not worry and just plan
a reunion to remember. That's a little much to imagine for almost any
family. So we'll assume instead that money is an issue and you'll need
some from day one. But before we depart this fantasy, you might want
to think of a way to get that well-heeled uncle to consider a legacy
of funded reunions in perpetuity. It's worth asking!
Fundraising can be many different things to many people. For your
reunion, keep in mind that the funds you raise usually stay in your
extended family so the persons most likely to contribute will be family
members with some notable exceptions which will be discussed separately.
Fundraising activities, both long-range and at your reunion, like everything
else, must be well conceived, planned and executed to be successful.
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It is not inappropriate for you to include in your reunion communication
little reminders that you are expending your time and energy but
also expending out-of-pocket cash; for phone calls, postage, paper
and printing. Always ask for others to volunteer and help out
with organizing tasks. Encourage family members to provide generous
contributions. Also, be sure that those who have difficulty affording
a reunion are helped whenever possible. These can be the young
families, always strapped for cash, and senior family members
who are on fixed incomes. You want these members to attend reunions,
so making arrangements to ensure their participation may require
some special planning.
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Always
ask for others to volunteer and help out with organizing
tasks.
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Many reunions swear by "passing the hat" as their primary
source of reunion income. Since donations are for family, many members
will be very generous. As the organizer, your energy and commitment
can probably never be completely re-paid but the response of family
will be the intangible reward that makes it all worthwhile. However,
don't wait until the reunion to pass the hat. Keep it circulating all
the time. You will always need money for every step of the way to your
reunion.
Sometimes discretion is also necessary but like all else in organizing
a reunion, you will need to be creative. Among the many ways to raise
funds for your reunion, you must suggest just the right ones at the
right times. Auctions or raffles at the reunion require advance planning
and announcements for everyone to bring items and come prepared to bid
generously. Be sure to plan for all ages. In fact have a special auction
for kids or a special time during your auction where kids are the primary
bidders. Kids can really get into the spirit easily with Chinese Auctions.
The Warner Family Reunion encouraged everyone to bring lots of quarters
and something to auction. As an incentive to donate, the top three bid
items also got cash prizes. Items to auction included a handmade birdhouse
on a stand, a set of pillows, a decorated sweatshirt, plants, a paint
set, and a luxurious bath basket. Prizes, appealing to young and old,
were arranged with labeled bags in front of each. Bids were made by
dropping 25¢ tickets into the appropriate bags. At the end of the day
winning tickets were drawn. Sonia Croft, of Jennings, Florida, says
that with so many ways to win, the Warner Chinese Auction was a real
hit.
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Reunion auctions/raffles are perfect places to share family treasures;
handmade and handcrafted items, and heirlooms. Treasures that
many may covet that will drive the bidding ever higher and higher
— the object of any auction, after all! Auction items provided
by descendants of Simon and Lida Slaubaugh include lots of handmade
things and younger members snap up items handcrafted by the original
brothers and sisters as keepsakes. The real winners at these auctions
are city folk who attend rural reunions where home grown, fresh
and preserved produce is plentiful...yum!
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auctions/raffles are perfect places to share family
treasures. |
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It is essential, if you're considering auctions or raffles, to carefully
plan ahead. Members should be your primary source of auction/raffle
items. Some families even announce in their fliers or newsletters what's
been donated so others are ready to bid when they are and also to encourage
others to top the donations that have already been received.
Speaking of Postage and Spare Change
You don't have to be a philatelist to lick this: many new postage
stamps are being proposed to celebrate the millennium. So we got to
thinking: why not a family reunion commemorative stamp? Approximately
40,000 such suggestions are made each year; twenty-five to thirty may
become stamps. From recommendation to issue date takes about three years.
Ask for a family reunion stamp! Send your request to:
Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee
U.S. Postal Service
475 L'Enfant Plaza, Room 4474E
Washington DC 20260-2437
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