Maybe you have had the chance to participate in a family reunion as a youngster.  You met a bunch of folks that you never knew existed and visited a place you have not been back to since.  Well, family reunions can be an amazing source of discovery.

In 1988, I attended a family reunion for my mother’s side of the family in a rural setting – the school grounds of a one-room school.  One year, I attended that very school as a youngster when my ride back north from a summer on the farm did not materialize for several weeks. Over 300 folks attended, including a party of eight cousins who traveled from England.  I found some cousins that I did know, but I also met dozens more that I had never met before.  My aunts and uncles seemed to be without numbers.  My mother did come from a large family – 13 siblings!  My cousins generated a huge family tree diagram and pasted it on the blackboard in the classroom of the school where everyone could see the connecting lines.

One of my cousins, Rob, was a professional photographer who clambered up onto the roof of the school and took a group photo.  Only last year, he and I began the process of numbering every individual and putting a name beside each one.  What a great photo!

My cousins Edna and Leone were super organized with colour-coded name tags for everyone so you could tell at-a-glance which segment of the family a person belonged to.  They also organized a huge BBQ and entertainment. The immense amount of homemade food soon disappeared.   Seems that we have some musical talent in the family.  Our British cousins regaled us with song.  And we also have some comedians and actors.  The microphone offered up some tasteful jokes, and several folks delivered some wonderful skits. 

This is my family!  Wow!  What an amazing bunch!  I cannot wait for the next reunion. 

Ron Gilmore

Email:    rvg3@me.com

Website:       https://rgenealogy.ca