My First Family Reunion

As you may have noticed, I haven’t been blogging much in the month of June. This is because the weather here in North Carolina has been absolutely wonderful! Usually we are in the upper 90s by now, however, this year we’ve been straddling the lower 80s with only a few hot days. I’ve been taking advantage of these beautiful days by kayaking, hiking, white water rafting, and camping; anything to do with the outdoors. I even got some more work done on my deck! Almost done, just have to figure the logistics of getting more boards home from the store. Here is a photo of me at Pilot Mountain, North Carolina (June 24, 2012).

Genealogy has kind of gone on the back burner. However I have been responding to emails that my blog readers have been sending me. And there is finally in the works a Fox and Sutton family reunion being planned for the end of September. I have heard rumors of such a reunion being held for the past 10 years or so, but nothing ever came of them that I know of. I’m very excited about this for two reasons: 1) we are using Facebook to promote it. A goal is to get family members together and for them to get to know each other. Our closed group is also a venue by which we can share photos and stories. 2) Because we are including the Sutton line in addition to the Fox line, I will get the opportunity to learn about my 2^nd great-grandmother, Melvina West’s “first” family – the Suttons.

This will be my first ever family reunion! I know this may seem strange to some folks, but it’s the honest truth. I might have attended one when I was really young, but too young to remember. The last one I remember that was planned was in 2000 and I missed it. I’m excited to meet everyone. I visited with my great-grandmother and her 4 sisters often as a child, but I never visited with their individual families, including my grandfather’s own siblings and their children. Although I have “met” quite a few on Facebook, it will be a treat to meet them in person finally.

I will probably be asking around for suggestions on what a genealogist does at a family reunion. Because this will be a time for me to meet and get to know people, I will probably want as little hands on as possible with the genealogy aspect. I can collect information via email and Facebook correspondence after all. But I can only have this kind of face to face experience once.

How do you prepare for your family reunions?

To Cite This Post: 

Ginger R. Smith, "My First Family Reunion," Genealogy By Ginger, 27 June 2012, (http://www.genealogybyginger.blogspot.com : accessed [date])