Reunion activities- 1

How are you going to get all these activities planned and done? Volunteers, of course! Find out who and how to involve volunteers in your planning as well as on reunion day(s). The more the better! Click here for podcast.

These activities are from many reunions. Some are links to pdf files. Click in for some great ideas. We invite you to e-mail us your special reunion activities.

Wondering what to do at your reunion? And how to present a program?	The Seideman Family Reunion has a full day of outdoor activities with games and contests listed. An announcer uses a PA system to call participants to the games to stay on schedule and fit everything in.
The Wilson Family prints its daily itinerary on a paper fan so family members can be aware of what's going on while staying comfortable in the July heat.
Check out these other reunion programs.
The 2012 Gillyard Johnson Mahoney Family Reunion Dinner Banquet Program The 2012 Saffore-Scyffore Family Reunion Program The 2012 80th Wilson Family Reunion Program The 2011 Moses Family Souvenir Booklet Thelma Harper Jones, heart and soul of the Banks Hill Outlaw Family Reunion (since day one), shared the program for their 30th anniversary reunion. You go, girl! The Gottung (Gruny Vetter Eck) Family Reunion in Wausau, Wisconsin, used this program. Thanks to Sandy Smith, West Des Moines, Iowa. 2010 Saffore-Scyffore Family Reunion Celebration Program "We are a family, DRIVEN by Divine Purpose” 2010 Marine Corps Engineer Association program 2011 RosebearyFamily Reunion "Time to Jive" - Celebrating 35 years of Good Times

Before you check in to your hotel, you will want to have what the professionals call a "pre-con" meeting. See a suggested outline to include everything you should consider for the meeting.

A mystery for reunion entertainment
During the first evening of the Waukegan (Illinois) Township High School (WTHS), Class of 1947 reunion, classmate Pat Booth-Lynch, Lehigh Acres, Florida, announced that she had written a mystery, A Touch of Gold, involving a reunion. She distributed copies to anyone who wished to read it. Since it contained a rather unique surprise ending, she hoped it would stimulate some thought and perhaps inspire a bit of controversy as to the true culprit in the mystery. It wasn't her intention to have class members concoct a solution prior to the end of the gathering. However, the following day there were several stimulating informal discussions about who really killed the villain. Booth-Lynch was amazed to discover that so many attendees had read the script later that evening and formed some fascinating conclusions.

Long distance planning results in Wheeler Family Reunion success
by Nancy Getz
We really liked the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We rented four cottages (one held 16 people), all within five minutes of one another. The atmosphere and environment was very nice and the staff was good to work with. Cottage prices were very reasonable.

Hundreds of kids were kept busy with organized activities. It was so nice at night to hear them singing. Their routine and our activities never clashed. We had 14 kids between ages 10 and 19. Many activities were planned for them and they also enjoyed the swimming pool, tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields. The Alpine Rope Tower was a highlight either for climbers or cheering climbers! Softballs and bats, soccer balls and a volleyball were all furnished.

Blue Ridge Assembly has a beautiful outdoor amphitheater where we held our "Lack of Talent Show." Fireflies (lighting bugs) were still around to delight the kids!

Our family is scattered from Alaska to Florida and Hawaii to Pennsylvania! I live in Anchorage, Alaska. This reunion was for siblings of my mother and father, our spouses, children and their spouses, their children, and some of them have spouses and a child or two. A lot of relatives were meeting for the first time. Others hadn't seen each other for at least 20 years.

I designed matching t-shirts and had them made at a shirt store in Illinois. We made name tags from a tree branch cut in slices, painted designs and our names on them and attached plastic lacing to hang them around our necks. Holes were pre-drilled.

We also had "mini-interest" groups. I recruited volunteers to share hobbies, talents or skills with the rest of us. At the beginning ... my blind sister, Betty, and her new husband did a mini-session on "Living Skills for the Blind" which was very interesting to the whole family and made communicating easier. Later, I noticed one of the kids talking to her and to show her something, he nudged her hand with the object. He had just learned she can see with her hands! We had crafts, a knot tying group and a campfire lakeside one evening. Music and singing was spread throughout the week. A family member wrote The Wheeler Theme Song which we sang often to the tune of There's Nothing Finer Than To Be In Carolina In The Morning!

I made evaluations on my laptop on the last day of the reunion for everyone to fill out! WOW! We learned so much for our next reunion. It was definitely a big hit and many said it was way beyond their expectations. Everyone wanted another reunion, for sure. Most of the kids wanted another one in one year for a month! I don't think we sisters would last that long! Adults were about 50/50 wanting the next one in two or three years and again for one week.
About the author
Nancy Getz is married, retired and has lived in Anchorage, Alaska, for 22 years. She has three daughters and 11 grandchildren who live in Washington and Arizona. "Staying in touch with family is very important to me and I finally have "extra" time to contribute to organizing our family reunions, which I dearly enjoy and love!" she says.