Hi All, I received a note from John Roblee concerning the structure of the Reunion. Meals, events, etc. And, of course, it jarred loose some thoughts about the event here as well. My mother's family reunion was this summer in August and it was my turn to host. This event has been going on for almost 30 years on a 3-5 year basis and has evolved somewhat from our first get-together. This event runs over a weekend and most of the family gathers for the main meal on Saturday. A baron of beef or two cooked over a wood fire and six dozen baked potatoes form the basis for the meal. We have averaged between 50-75 attendees over the years. What we call pot luck contributions here, round out the meal. Family photos were hauled out about 20 years ago, and in some cases the identity of people in them was established and labelled. Now the various albums travel to the reunions and there is always some exchange after new duplications. About two reunions ago, we brought various family treasures that we no longer wished to keep and auctioned them off. Proceeds to offset event costs. Family treasures were getting short this time. We expanded the scope to include recipes and related items from the family background. My grandfather had sold garden seed from his store years ago, and we were able to find some original packets, duplicate them, and add a favorite of my grandmother's, sweet peas, to them. A cousin is an auctioneer by trade and his presence helped make the auction an event to be remembered by all. This time, we specifically planned events for the kids, although we weren't exactly sure as to how many would be coming. There was a range from babe to teen as usual. After some reluctance on the teens' parts to participate, they did admit later that they had enjoyed the activities. We do have a family tree that we put up in a prominent place. It is not too difficult seeing as this part of the family only runs to about 400 persons. At the last reunion, in Vermont last year, we didn't have anything like this and had to reproduce a chart by hand. Seeing as the family has grown, [I have close to 7000 family members in my files] does anyone have any thoughts as to how we could display this for the event? Over the years, I have been in contact with others whom are not members of our List at Rootsweb. And I'm sure that others have as well. I intend to send a letter to those and invite them as well. Send me the names and addresses of those and I will add them to my list. We keep a file and address book which we pass to the next host of the next reunion. The file contains event records to help us plan the next event and the addresses give us a starting point to send out the invitations. The time and place for the next event needs to be established towards the close of this event. That's about all I can think to add to the thoughts for now. I'm sure that others will add their thoughts as well. HOpe to hear from you soon. Bob