Thayer Family Reunion games

Name Tag Winners

Our National Thayer Families Reunion brought together Thayers from 22 states, many meeting their “somehow cousins” for the first time, so name tags are a must. Of course, by the third day, attendees tire of wearing them, so to encourage everyone to keep wearing them, we had “Name Tag Winners” throughout the weekend. Maybe on a bus tour, maybe at breakfast, even at the farewell banquet winners were called. I bought a variety pack of tiny stickers containing many different images. Each name tag got a different sticker. I kept a list of the stickers and randomly called out “If you have a sun/puppy/red car/whale/bunny/lollypop/ghost /cactus/whatever on your name tag, you are a winner!” If you use name tags at your reunion, this is a real hit!

Family History Writing Competition

Do you have a story to tell? About your grandmother? Your dad? A cousin? A family tradition? We encourage writers who are age 16 and under to tell us a family story.  Entrants too young to write may dictate their story(ies) to someone willing to type it/them.

The winner(s) will be announced at the banquet on Sunday, July 1, 2018 and presented a certificate and a gift.

 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

• Entries must pertain to individuals or families descended from Thomas, Richard, William, or an unplaced Thayer.
• Entrants must be present at the National Thayer Families Reunion 2018.
• Fiction will not be accepted.
• An entry must be original and not have been previously published.
• As many entries as desired may be submitted.
• By entering this competition, the author agrees that, if his/her entry is selected as a winner, the Thayer Families Association has permission to use that entry in any manner.

ALL ENTRIES WILL BE JUDGED ON:

• quality of writing and readability (including grammar, spelling, and punctuation), based on the age of the writer
• the choice of an engaging story
• placement of the subject(s) in historical, geographic, and cultural context

 JUDGING

• A panel of judges will select the winner(s). Identity of the judges will remain confidential.

FORMAT AND DUE DATES

• Two printed copies of each entry in 12-point Times or Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins may be submitted at the Reunion not later than Saturday, June 30, 2018 by 5 p.m. OR the entry may be emailed in advance, not later than June 26, to [email protected]. Entries will then be forwarded to the judges.
• Entries should be at least 100 but not more than 2000 words.
• Place the title, age of the writer, and the page number on each page.
• Attach a cover sheet containing the author’s name, age, mailing address, phone number, email address, and title of his/her entry. Use one cover sheet for each entry. The sheet will be separated from the entry before forwarding to judges, to ensure the author’s anonymity.
• An image, table, map, chart, or illustrations may be included if desired.

QUESTIONS? Contact: [email protected]

Older Than Dirt Game

Names _______________________________________

A young person and an older person do this as a team.

_____1. In the 1940’s, where were automobile headlight high beam switches located?

1. On the floor shift knob
2. On the floor board, to the left of the clutch
3. Next to the horn

_____2. What did Grandma Pearl Austin (and others) do with an old soda bottle with holes the bottle cap?

1. Capture lightning bugs
2. Sprinkle clothes before ironing
3. Shaker for sea salt

_____3. What did Joanne Grinnell (and others) buy in the 50’s that cost 20 cents?

1. Gallon of gas
2. Postage stamp
3. Loaf of bread

_____4. What was the popular chewing gum named for a game of chance?

1. Blackjack
2. Gin
3. Craps!

_____5. What method did women like Aunt Louise (and others) use to look as if they were wearing stockings when none were available due to rationing during W.W.II?

1. got a suntan
2. painted their legs
3. wore slacks

_____6. What postwar car turned automotive design on its ear when you couldn’t tell whether it was coming or going? Ask Uncle Ellis if he had one.

1. Studebaker
2. Nash Metro
3. Tucker

_____7. Which was a popular candy when your Grandpa was a kid?

1. Strips of dried peanut butter
2. Chocolate licorice bars
3. Wax coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water inside

_____8. How did Uncle Bob use Butch wax?

1. To stiffen a flat-top haircut so it stood up
2. To make floors shiny and prevent scuffing
3. On the wheels of roller skates to prevent rust

_____9. Before in-line skates, how Grandma Barb Austin Withey keep her roller skates attached to her shoes?

1. With clamps, tightened by a skate key
2. Woven straps that crossed the foot
3. Long pieces of twine

_____10. When Aunt Judy was a kid, what was considered the best way to reach a decision?

1. Consider all the facts
2. Ask Mom
3. Eeny-meeny-miney- mo

_____11. What was the most dreaded disease in the 1940’s-50’s

1. Smallpox
2. AIDS
3. Polio

_____12. Caroline Kennedy’s pet pony was named Macaroni. What was Uncle Doug’s pony’s name?

1. Old Blue
2. Paint
3. Comanche Queen

_____13. What was a Duck-and-Cover Drill?

1. Part of the game of hide and seek
2. What you did when your Mom called you in to do chores
3. How you prepared for an A-bomb attack

_____14. What was the name of the Indian Princess on the Howdy Doody show?

1. Princess Summerfallwinterspring
2. Princess Sacajawea
3. Princess Moonshadow

_____15. What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?

1. Immediately sniffed the purple ink
2. Made paper airplanes to see who could sail theirs out the window
3. Wrote another pupil’s name on the top, to avoid looking bad when they flunked

_____16. Why did  Aunt Chris Cashion (and others) shop in stores that gave Green Stamps with purchases?

1. To keep kids out of mischief by licking the backs, which tasted like bubble gum
2. They could be put in special books and redeemed for various household items
3. They were given to the kids to be used as stick-on tattoos

_____17. 1930’s college fad

1. Swallowing goldfish
2. Collecting bottle caps
3. Streaking

_____18. Who left his heart in San Francisco?

1. Tony Bennett
2. Xavier Cugat
3. George Gershwin

_____19. How long did the first television evening news shows last?

1. one hour
2. 30 minutes
3. 15 minutes

_____20. What came on television at midnight in the 50’s and 60’s?

1. the National Anthem
2. adult movies
3. repeats of the afternoon soaps

ANSWERS

1. b) On the floor, to the left of the clutch. Hand controls, popular in Europe, took till the late ’60’s to catch on.
2. b) To sprinkle clothes before ironing. Who had a steam iron?
3. a) Gallon of gas- 20 cents, stamp- 3 cents, bread- 14 cents
4. a) Blackjack Gum.
5. b) Special makeup was applied, followed by drawing a seam down the back of the leg with eyebrow pencil.
6. a) 1946 Studebaker.
7. c) Wax coke bottles containing super-sweet colored water. They were called “Nik-L-Nip”
8. a) Wax for your flat top (butch) haircut.
9. a) With clamps, tightened by a skate key, which you wore on a shoestring around your neck.
10. c) Eeny-meeny-miney- mo.
11. c) Polio. In beginning of August, swimming pools were closed, movies and other public gathering places were closed to try to prevent spread of the disease.
12. c) Comanche Queen
13. c) Hiding under your desk, and covering your head with your arms in an A-bomb drill.
14. a) Princess Summerfallwinterspring. She was another puppet.
15. a) Immediately sniffed the purple ink.
16. b) Put in a special stamp book, they could be traded for household items at the Green Stamp store.
17. a) swallowing goldfish
18. a) Tony Bennett
19. c) 15 minutes
20. a) the National Anthem

SCORING

18-20 correct: You are older than dirt!

12-18 correct: Not quite dirt yet, but you’re getting there.

0-11 correct: You are just a young “whippersnapper” and if you don’t know what that is ask someone who is “older than dirt”.