Have You Ever Planned a Family Reunion
By hofferp
@hofferp (4734)
United States
March 30, 2010 8:49am CST
In 2006, I volunteered to plan our family reunion in 2008. The first thing I did was to find a location and a date. I picked Deadwood, South Dakota (my family's originally from SD), in the Black Hills, on a weekend in July that the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally wasn't (the prices in the Hills skyrocket when that event happens). I then got all the addresses from my cousins who had hosted the 2006 reunion (Big Bear, CA) and prepared my first letter announcing the place and date. Later, I prepared the agenda, which included indoor games (I got many off the internet), skits, entertainment, an auction, and because we were at a resort and casino in Deadwood, a family slot tournament (it cost $5 to play, but the pot was over $250). I sent out three letters in all, reminding people of the date and place. The event turned out great! We had the largest gathering ever for a reunion with 124 people. It was planned and executed so well, I got volunteered to plan the next reunion in 2010...this year. Have you ever volunteered/been volunteered to plan/execute a family reunion? Did you do anything really unique that people loved? The slot tournament was a big hit, for many, but not all. (Those who didn't play in the tournament, played bingo in our conference room.) Did you have any unexpected things happen at your reunion?
2 people like this
4 responses
@laglen (19759)
• United States
30 Mar 10
I have never even BEEN to a family reunion! So no I haven't planned one. I can only imagine the time that goes into that! I do however manage a hall here and I book them. Most of the ones I see, they have matching t shirts and play games. One I saw had a fundraiser for a cancer charity, the family had lost a lot of people to this. Good luck with your planning!
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
30 Mar 10
We had matching t-shirts one year (Estes Park). This year I'm planning on having t-shirts made for the "winners" of the games I have planned. We always have an auction at our reunions. We usually make up to $2K. With that money, the next hosts don't have to worry about how to pay for the next reunion conference center/room/hall and other expenses that go along with planning/executing a reunion. Thanks, I'm pretty much done with the planning, I just have one more letter (reminder) to put out before May (the rooms need to be booked before mid-May), and then it's time to go have fun. And you need to think about attending a reunion...they can be a lot of fun, Laglen.
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
31 Mar 10
No, we moved this one south...Colorado Springs. It's too cold in Estes Park :} And Colorado Springs has an airport...most of the people fly in. Besides, we had two reunions back to back (1998 and 2001) in Estes Park because we loved it so much. We stayed at the YMCA resort (?) outside of Estes. Our reunions are too big now to stay there. But if you want to come down to Colorado Springs, the dates are 24-27 June at the Best Western on Academy Drive. See you there?
@setsuna26 (2748)
• Philippines
30 Mar 10
Just as i answered your question about family reunion a while ago hofferp ;) i would love to plan one but sadly most of my family members are too busy or are not in good terms. Its really fun to see everybody present sharing their stories with each other but sad to say thats not pretty easy to achieve in our part. Are you going to host one? i mean a family gathering that is ;)
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
30 Mar 10
I think if you plan them far enough in advance, people have time to save money and plan for the reunion. We've been doing this so long now, everyone knows we're going to have a reunion every two years, sometime in June, July or August, and now, somewhere in the middle of the country. My brother, my sisters and I were always too busy, but now even my sister and her husband attend and they love them too. We still have to get my brother involved... I planned the one in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 2008, and it went over so well, I got volunteered to do the one this year. It's planned for Colorado Springs, CO, the last part of June. I pretty much have the "agenda" together, but I'm still looking for some "wild" things to do. One thing I have planned, and I hope it goes over, is a scavenger hunt all over the Colorado Springs area. Not everyone will have a car, but several will, so it's hopefully also a chance to check out the area and not just be indoors all day long, talking, playing games... If you ever decide to plan one, send me a message, I can tell you what I've done and hopefully that'll help with yours. Ours weren't always big...they've grown over the years. So don't worry if only 30 people show up the first time. If you plan it to be fun, people will start showing up. That's what's happened with ours...they just keep growing. Good luck with planning one...go for it!
@SomeCowgirl (32189)
• United States
30 Mar 10
All the family reunions we've had have always been at parks, and I really only remember going to my dad's family reunions. My grandfather (mama's daddy) and his family had reunions as well and I remember one of those, we went to a church or a community center, I was young but I think it was a church. Then my grandmother had one or two, these were at restauraunts, again I was young.
I've actually not been to a family reunion in years!
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
30 Mar 10
I remember "reunions" at my grandparents' places, but those get togethers were nothing like what we do now. Our reunions start on Thursday night, go all day Friday and Saturday and end on Sunday morning. When you plan to go to a reunion, now, you plan a summer vacation in conjunction. That's why the location and timeframe (late June/July/early August, when the kids are out of school) are critical. Our past few reunions have been in Estes Park, CO; Port Townsend, WA; Big Bear, CA; Deadwood, SD and now, Colorado Springs, CO. After the two on the west coast, we agreed to try and hold all our reunions in the middle states, so no one would have to travel from Alaska to Florida or Ohio to California. You should consider planning a reunion. They can be a lot of work, but they are also a lot of fun.
