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 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.
For more help planning your reunion from beginning to end, visit the following Web sites:
Articles
"Tips for a Successful Family Reunion"
by George G. Morgan, "Along Those Lines . . ." (18 Sept 1998)
"Tips for a Successful Interview”
by George Thurston
(Ancestry magazine, Jan/Feb 1998, Vol. 16, No. 1)
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/
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/
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/
Ancestry Daily News
