Family Reunion Help

[GoofyGolferGirl]

I need ideas for a family reunion! I would like to have some fun things for the kids to do, good food, some neat things for the adults to do and some ideas for the "family tree". Does anyone knw where I could purchase a large family tree? How about some ideas that you have liked at your family reunions. The date is going to be July 10th and hopefully about 75 people there. I am actually planning a weekend and I am going to have a golf scramble for those that play golf. Of course there will be a pool for the kids. ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[semo233]

My husband's family has had family reunions for many years. It is only his mother's mother's side of the family and has ranged from 30 to 180 people. We live in Ct and people come from as far as Florida, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas to come!
In years past, there has been committees and the same people tended to do all the work. Cost was an issue for some and others contributed way more than thier share. It was a three day event and involved LOTS of work.
My husband talks of the family picnics as they were called, with great fondness. Other than weddings and funerals, it was the only time he saw some of his relatives.
Last year, we put in a pool and since the generation that usually hosted the event is getting older (most are in their 80's) we offered to have it at our house. My DH is not really into planning so it mostly, okay all, fell to me.
Here are some important questions to consider:

How many people do you expect?
Do you have a theme?
Age range of those expected
How far will people travel or are they all local?
What kind of help can you expect in planning and on the reunion date?
financial issues
How will you communicate to everyone?

We went back to how the picnics were when my DH was young. The family that hosted it had a pool and it was only one day. In order for cost to not be an issue to anyone, it was potluck. I had a few people volunteer to bring burgers, some bring buns, some make a side dish, others made desserts, some brought beer, etc. One family mailed me a generous check to cover thier family coming in from Ohio. I was a great seed so that I was able to buy all the paper goods and condiments...in fact, I bought WAY too much! It was the most relaxing picnic many people remembered in a long time. A few manned the grills, a few helped me set up some tables and umbrellas, but no one was busy all day.
We had about 65 come and that's good for a first picnic at a new location.
If you have any specific questions, just pm me. You never know, you might be able to offer me some ideas too!

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

Thank you Semo233!! I am also trying it for the first time because I really want to get to know my family better and I am tired of just seeing everyone at funerals! Some relatives live within 25 to 80 miles but I know transportation of food maybe hard for them, I have friends that are willing to help. I was really thinking about doing hamburgers and hotdogs, and whatever fruits and veggies are in season in KY. I will have people coming from several states, some have never been to KY. Did you do anything with a family tree? I would like to have copies of old photos and have "stories" from different family members, maybe to put in a "family book". Did you have a theme? We will have people from infant to 80+. Would a theme be easier? I am planning on three days just because of people traveling thinking they would get to visit more. I was thinking of a "picture table", were we could have pictures of those who have passed and those attending and not attending.

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

What can I be doing now? I sent "save the date" in my Christmas cards!

 

[kaywoody]

One of our favorite activities at our family reunion is kickball. We don't play softball because you need gloves and bats and lots of people said "oh, I don't know how or I'm too old" etc. but EVERYONE loves kicking the big red ball, and it's safe enough to even let the little ones play too!

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

Sounds like fun! I have space for it too!!! Thanks fo the idea!

 

[semo233]

Some relatives live within 25 to 80 miles but I know transportation of food maybe hard for them,
These are the relatives that bring papergoods or other supplies

I was really thinking about doing hamburgers and hotdogs, and whatever fruits and veggies are in season in KY. I will have people coming from several states, some have never been to KY.
Will you be serving more than one meal? We used to do 3, plus food avail all day. One idea is to have each "branch" of your family tree be in charge of one meal.

Did you do anything with a family tree? I would like to have copies of old photos and have "stories" from different family members, maybe to put in a "family book".

You could use a 4x8 piece of plywood, a white sheet or a roll of paper for a family tree. If someone could be in charge of it, everyone could fill in their own spot with a sharpie or something. Before the computer age, we had one "family historian" who collected info and pictures of family and put them in scrapbooks according to the branch of the family tree, or we called them clans. If you had a "branch" for each, well, branch of your family tree, then you could put the branches together and make a large family tree. During our most recent picnic/reunion, a family member scanned most of the pictures into her laptop and will be creating CD's for everyone.

Did you have a theme? Although our one day picnic this past year did not, other than getting back to the old days of a one day picnic, etc. We have had many in the past 25 years: Hawaiian, togas, pirates, cowboys and indians. The benefit of having a theme is that we renamed a lot of the activities and foods and events to fit in with the theme.

We will have people from infant to 80+. I have some ideas for activities and will collect them and forward them to you in a PM>

Would a theme be easier? I am planning on three days just because of people traveling thinking they would get to visit more. That was my thinking, but check with some of those people to see if that is really what they want. If other relatives live close, they may not want to dedicate three days to this event and might only show up for one day anyway. Just something to think about. Will those from out of town be staying with anyone local...that's one way to drag everyone there!


I was thinking of a "picture table", were we could have pictures of those who have passed and those attending and not attending.[/QUOTE] Great idea! But what if I want a copy of my great uncle Joe's picture? Can I place an order? There is one picture of a very early family picnic (I think it is from 1958) with so many people in it and so many that have passed, EVERYONE wanted a copy!!! Or maybe, someone can start a website with all of those pictures posted and I can simply download any picture I'd like to print!!

[QUOTE=GoofyGolferGirl;34892568]What can I be doing now? I sent "save the date" in my Christmas cards![/QUOTE]
Get people to commit to help in some way. I even sent an e-mail about saving $20 a week until the picnic means that you would have $500 by then, gas money, hotel money, etc. I tried to address any concerns or apprehensions. Collect addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, start a facebook group, etc.

Sounds like you have a plan already! I was sick and our dog has been sick, so I never sent out anything with save the date.....YET!

 

[GoofyGolferGirl]

Semo233, Thanks for the help! I am going to start recruiting help now and putting people in charge of different areas! Keep me posted if you think of anything else! I would love the activitie ideas esp for kids! We are having to golf scramble for those who play and there is a pool, playground, tennis courts, and basketball court available for those interested. I would still like to have ideas in case of rain, getting out of the sun etc.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

We hold a lot of family barbecues and a reunion is similar, just on a much larger scale. I also got picked as the social director for this year's family reunion (we draw straws every year) which we have every July out at Knoesble's Amusement Park in PA so I've been giving it a lot of thought! These are some of the things that have been big hits in the past.

Dedicate a section for the little kids. A wading pool full of water and rubber duckies and a few cups for pouring for toddlers or pre-walkers with a bunch of towels or chairs nearby for the moms to relax in. A sandbox is also a great place for the younger crowd. It's nice to be able to put a ilttle one down and watch them play in one spot, rather than hold them in a big pool or chase them all over the place.

If you've got no shady areas, rent or borrow some shade canopies or tents and chairs so folks can get out of the sun.

For food, buffet style always works best so people can pick throughout the day. We set up a long table full of aluminum foil chafing dishes and sterno burners and keep them full of macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, etc. for the kids and lasagna, hamburgers/cheeseburgers, roasted veggies, etc. for the adults. A big pile of rolls, some coldcuts, condiments, salad and dressing, and you'll end up with happy tummies.

We have several coolers full of juice boxes, canned soda, water bottles and one for adult beverages. Plus two "pour your own" coolers full of lemonade and iced tea and plastic cups. I put a sharpie marker next to the cups so people can write their names on them - otherwise you get 40 blue plastic cups sitting around and no one remembers which one is theirs.

You can do bucket races for all ages - way too much fun! Set up two lines of buckets about 30 feet apart from each other, one line is full, the other empty. Teams have to move the water from their full bucket to the empty bucket using anything from a spoon to a sponge to a ladle - whatever is handy or will make it slightly difficult and a little messy. One person fills up the spoon, runs to their empty bucket, dumps it and runs back to give the spoon to the next team member.

Some classic fun:
- 3 legged races
- egg or water balloon toss (maybe with smocks available if people don't want to get messy)
- face painting
- pie eating contest
- tug-o-war
- watermelon seed spitting for distance (boys/men LOVE this... )
- bean bag toss games - make a big plywood target, put holes in it with different points / bullseyes / faces painted on it and set it up at an angle for people to try and get the bags in.

You can have cheap little dollar store prizes or candy for the game winners - it makes people, esp. the kids, feel a little special.

It's also nice for people to have something to bring home - maybe small fabric tote bags with "xxx Family Reunion 2010" on them and have fabric paint available so the kids or adults can put handprints on them.

Be sure to set up some group shots to get pictures - have the cameraman stand on a ladder or something so he/she will be able to look down and see everyone's face (or if you've got a hill you can assemble folks on that's good, too).

That's all I can think of off the top of my head... although one other thing I'm doing is taking pictures from last year's reunion and blowing up just a piece of them (like someone's nose, or the back of someone's head, etc.) and having a trivia contest to see who can correctly identify the most pictures.

Oh, and don't forget music! Not too loud to be distracting, but just enough to make background noise and give it a party feel.

 

[gregokdisney]

We have an annual water balloon fight at our family reunion. Also a bean bag toss tournament. The kids love both of those activities, but the main draw for almost everyone is fishing on the lake.

 

[Newfie2000]

I have been in charge of several family reunions and it looks like you have gotten some great help and ideas! I am looking forward to reading more here on your thread as I am always on the lookout for new ideas. One thing that I have done in the past and have gotten lots of positive feedback from is had each relative contact me either via email, phone, mail or whatever with a little piece of trivia about themselves, whatever they want - could be humorous, serious, something from way back, completely unexpected, a secret they are just dying to reveal, whatever. I then make up a sheet of all of these little facts and alongside it a list of those that contributed the facts. Then people had a time limit to try and match up the names with the fact. We have a blast and actually learn a lot about our family. I mean who would ever guess that uncle xx was a grave digger in high school, or that cousin xx (who is now 250 pounds) was able to run a mile in less than 4 minutes when he was 16? Get the idea? People always ask to do the getting to know you family trivia game and it is so easy to do. I usually offer prizes for the highest number of correct guesses but in the long run everybody is a winner because they learn about their family and those little bits of trivia actually break the ice and give people something to talk about in the future. Good luck!

 

[malibuconlee]

One suggestion I have is this. If you are planning on this being a yearly thing it can help for everyone to know exactly when it will be. Like my husband's family has a reunion the 4th Saturday in September every year. My family had one the 2nd Sunday in August.

It helps for people to be able to plan in advance especially if there is a lot of travel involved.

 

[RangerPooh]

This threa dis making me envious of family reunions! My dads side had a few when I was younger and that was about it. As a kid (and the only girl out of all the cousins under the age of 20...yes, about 10 boys and 1 girl within a few years of age)I remember feeling like I didn't have much to do. I think that the suggestions for baby wading pools and sandboxes are great! Don't forget about activities like simple crafts or coloring too. Relay races are great, you might want to drum them up to the families so that you get maximum participation.

My mom's side of the family regularly does get togethers. There is always food available all day to snack on, plus the main dish later in the gathering. Shade is always well appreciated as California summers are a bit hot. I do think that planning an excursion or activity is a good idea, esp if it is a multiple day event. Consider what is available in your area and then send out an email, facebook posting, or even postcards to generate a response to see if there is any interest. For us the beach is only a 45 minute drive so that was what was chosen.

I agree with setting up a family website/blog/facebook group of some sort. Plus you can also send out newsletters to drum up interest.

As for the tree, consider using large pieces of butcher paper and provide the basic information for a few generations. You might select to go back as far as the 1700s (info can be gained from an Ancestry.com membership if you don't already have it). Then make the branches coming down. Provide guests with different colored pens to fill in their info; marriage dates, birthdates, children, spouses, death dates, etc. This way contributions are being made by many people and can be entered into an online database later or placed into a scrapbook.

To build off the family tree idea assemble as families together as possible for group pictures that can be placed into a scrapbook. You can have their picture, and information: Dan and Jan Smith + children (spouses) + grandchildren... and each persons info. Each spread representing a different branch of the tree, don't forget to include those who have passed away, didn't attend, or were before the invention of the camera. Upon creating the book you could make it available for everyone to purchase through shutterfly or another company as a keepsake. I hope that wasn't too confusing.