Family Reunions • Gatherings • Meetings

by Edith Wagner

Important reunion event! Mark this on your calendar!!

March 21-23, 2003 are the dates of the Family Reunion Conference, where you can expect to learn very interesting, valuable and practical reunion organizing ideas. This meeting is highly recommended for anyone involved in family reunion planning. It is the 13th edition of a conference that just gets better every year. This year’s event is at the Columbia Sheraton in Columbia, Maryland. Some of the best times are talking reunions with hundreds of others facing the same challenges you do. Attendees are always dedicated, serious (though fun-loving!), eager reunion organizers. Come and bring your reunion committee members: inspire, motivate and involve everyone in your reunion!

Details of the 2003 conference program can be found in the Feb/Mar issue of Reunions magazine or at www.reunionsmag.com/information_center/workshops_seminars.html. For information contact Dr. Ione Vargus, 215-204-6344; ivargus@temple.edu
Register at www.temple.edu/fri/familyreunion/conference.html.

For lots more info about organizing reunions, visit www.reunionsmag.com. List your reunion free; check listings at the Reunions! section. Lots of information about fundraising to help pay for your reunion.

Big reunion fundraising boost!

Check out this new contest that will provide $25,000 worth of goods and services for two reunions. Deadline is April 14th so you’ll want to get details pronto. The two winners must hold their family reunions between June 15 and September 1, 2003.

Hebrew National, a brand of ConAgra Foods, Inc., developed the Hebrew National Family Reunion (HNFR) program that focuses on bringing "family" (broadly defined – from relatives and friends to co-workers and others) together.

To enter, consumers (legal US residents 18 or older) must write an essay of 500 words or less that explains "why having a family reunion would be meaningful to you and your family." Mail the essay with an official entry form available at www.hebrewnational.com where entries can also be submitted online. In May, two HNFR Grand Prize winners will be chosen and awarded up to $25,000 in retail value for travel, lodging, food, entertainment – whatever the winners need to create the ultimate family reunion. In addition, Hebrew National will assist winners with logistics and planning reunion events.

Here are some upcoming family reunions.

Foley/Murphy

Descendants of John Owen Foley & Mary M. (McDonald) Foley and Denis Murphy & Margaret (Sullivan) Murphy of Ireland, then Newmarket area, York County, New Brunswick, Canada. July 18- 20, 2003, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Pat (Foley) Casper, 8722 Grand Oak Dr, Salt Lake City UT 84121; 801-942-1392; juddcasper@earthlink.net.

Lewis

Family from Cleveland, Ohio, will be celebrating their five year anniversary reunion. July 11-13, 2003, Toronto, Canada. Andrea Harris, aharris@uws.org for more details.

MacDonough

Descendants of George and Sarah MacDonough from Trenton NJ. Sep 12-14, 2003, Bellingham WA. Betty or Donald MacDonough, dobemac@msn.com.

Wallace

3rd International Gathering. July 24-27, 2003, Reno NV. Richard A. Wallace, wallacegathering@excite.com, www.ziggy1.com.

Winslette-Durden

June 1, 2003, High Falls State Park, Jackson GA. Kathy McCoy, katsmac@bellsouth.net.

Other interesting reunions

12th Gathering of Cornish Cousins

Sponsored by the Cornish American Heritage Society and hosted by the Toronto Cornish Association. July 23-27 2003, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Features include Cornish genealogy, a Bardic ceremony, Cornish pasties, a Cornish choir. Contact Brian Waters, 55 Balmoral Ave, Toronto, Ont. M4V 1J5; brianmarjwaters@sympatico.ca.

Kitty League Centennial Reunion

100th anniversary of the Kitty League’s founding in 1903. Former minor league baseball players, front office personnel, umpires, broadcasters, writers, official scorers, batboys, fans and family are invited. Aug 15-16, 2003, Paducah KY. The Kitty League was a Class D minor league in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri between 1903 and 1955. Contact Kevin McCann, 615-740-0553; reunion@kittyleague.com; www.kittyleague.com.

Want more?

For more reunion information, visit Reunions magazine at www.reunionsmag.com where you can request a free sample of Reunions magazine. Also see Reunions Workbook and Catalog and The Family Reunion Sourcebook by Edith Wagner (1999, Lowell House, Los Angeles) in bookstores. List your reunion (also free) by emailing info to reunions@execpc.com.