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“HELP FOR FAMILY REUNIONS”
by Juliana S. Smith
reprinted from Ancestry Daily News - 17 May, 1999
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Family reunions are great opportunities for gathering information from
family members that you may not see often and updating current data. Below
are some ideas that may help you collect information and stir interest in
your shared heritage in ways that are fun and interesting for everyone.
~ Prior planning can be difficult with families that are spread out over
long distances. A MyFamily.com Web site ( http://www.myfamily.com
) can help
bridge that distance and facilitate prior planning. Post your GEDCOM file
on the site and ask site members for help filling in missing data. This
information can be used for other projects that will be mentioned later.
The message boards are useful in planning what everyone will bring, and
afterwards, the site is a great place to post pictures and reminiscences
and will help you to stay in touch.
~ Send out blank pedigree charts and see how far people can go back. You
might want to think about sending them with the reunion invitation so
family members can reference resources that they may have at home to fill
them in. When you get the charts back, combine them into a big chart so
that everyone can see how they are related. You might want to use a
tablecloth or bed sheet that can be hung up or laid out for all to see.
~ Make a map that traces the migrations of your ancestors and family
members. If possible cite hometowns in the old country to show family
members exactly where your common ancestors were from. Travel brochures or
a search on the Internet might even turn up pictures of their hometown.
~ Make up questionnaires for everyone to fill out. Include vital
information like birth dates and places, marriage information, information
about their parents, and medical history. Also ask for personal information
like memorable events in their lifetime, traditions from their youth,
places that they have lived or visited, hobbies, and any other information
that will be of interest to future family historians.
~ Put together handouts with your family information in them. Organize the
information in different ways. You can include charts, timelines, copies of
old photos, news clippings, copies of original documents, or transcribed
family stories--anything that you think may stir interest and revive old
memories.
~ Kids love to put on shows. Provide them with costumes and some props and
have them act out scenes from your ancestors’ lives--the crossing to
America, overland treks in covered wagons, how Grandma and Grandpa met, or
any other interesting family story. This will preserve these memories in
their minds and actors and audience will have a good time. If there are no
“actors” in the family, storytellers can narrate the family story for those
interested.
~ Make up games out of your family’s history. You can create your family’s
version of “Trivial Pursuit,” where participants have to answer questions
about your family to win pieces of the pie. Make a collage with copies of
old photos and baby pictures and award a prize to the person who correctly
identifies the most people. Ancestral Charades can have players pantomiming
an ancestor’s life as the audience tries to guess the identity of the
ancestor.
While you’re at your reunion, don’t get so caught up in the past that you
neglect the present. Take lots of pictures and make lots of memories for
the kids to treasure, so that they can reminisce and tell stories about
this reunion at reunions with their children.
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For more help planning your reunion, visit the following Web sites for help
from beginning to end:
ARTICLES
“Tips for a Successful Family Reunion”
by George G. Morgan, “Along Those Lines . . .” (18 Sept 1998)
http://www.ancestry.com/columns/george/09-18-98.htm
“Notes on a Successful Family Reunion Trip”
by George G. Morgan, “Along Those Lines . . .” (30 Oct 1998)
http://www.ancestry.com/columns/george/10-30-98.htm
“Tips for a Successful Interview”
by George Thurston
(Ancestry magazine, Jan/Feb 1998, Vol. 16, No. 1)
http://www.ancestry.com/magazine/articles/interview.htm
“Family Celebrations: What do they have to do with Genealogy?”
by Linda Rogers
(Ancestry magazine, Nov/Dec 1996, Vol. 14, No. 6)
OTHER RESOURCES
Better Homes & Gardens’ Guide to Planning a Successful Family Reunion
http://www.bhglive.com/food/cookhelpers/reunion/reunion.html
“Using the Internet to Plan a Family Reunion”
(Mindspring)
http://www.mindspring.net/community/featurepgs/familyplan/
Reunions Magazine
http://www.reunionsmag.com/
ReunionTips.com
http://www.reuniontips.com/
The Reunion Network
http://www.reunionfriendly.com/default.html
Family Reunion List
http://www.reunionindex.com/list.html
ReunionNet
http://www.reunited.com/
HELP FINDING LONG-LOST COUSINS:
DIRECTORIES AND POSTING YOUR REUNION
FamilyHistory.com
http://www.familyhistory.com
(Great for posting your reunion information--listings by surname.)
AnyWho
http://www.anywho.com/
BigBook
http://bigbook.com/
Big Yellow
http://www1.bigyellow.com/
Infospace
http://pic2.infospace.com/info/index.htm
Switchboard
http://www.switchboard.com/
WhoWhere? (Lycos)
http://www.whowhere.lycos.com/
Yahoo People Finder
http://people.yahoo.com/
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Best Wishes,
Juliana Smith, Editor, Ancestry Daily News
Rebekah Thorstenson, Associate Editor
Please feel free to circulate this newsletter to other genealogy enthusiasts!
We hope that you will also credit the Daily News as the source.
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Planning a Research Trip ~ Planning a Reunion ~ Research & Travel Aids
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