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Archiver > AUS-QLD-SE-Germans > 2000-07 > 0963622819


From: "Lorrae Johnson" <>
Subject: RE: reunions
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 2000 11:00:19 +1000


Hi Bev
My cousin and I held a small reunion (about 100 folks) 18 months ago.

>How did you handle the difference in religions that were present?
As we held it in the church hall, we observed minimal religious happenings,
such as Grace and a thank you to the Lord. The church did not believe in
dancing, so there was no dancing in their hall, and many of the family would
like to have had a song and dance evening as well. (Most were musical but
members of other religions loved to dance). But no dancing for us, and we
limited the musical to tapes for fear of offence.

>How did you handle difficult relatives (the grouchy kind)?
Positive attitude and kept things easy. But always POSITIVE.

>Did you have them bring food for a pot luck?
Yes, for lunch and afternoon tea - both days. Dinner was at the local
Football club were many other family members also joined us.

>Did you organise games for the kids?No

>Did you visit historical sites?No, not enough time

>Did you have the event advertised in the paper?
Word of mouth, this list, and letters to all known members, about 200.
Postage gets expensive.

>How did you contact everyone to get them to come?
Letters, but as we were also writing the book, we used the same letter as to
confirm their details.

>Did you write a book about the generations?Yes
We broke the book into sections, the chapters were based on the 10 children
with a page of stories, wedding photo if available, and family photos,
followed by the descendants. After the index, we had the photo gallery of
all other photos. Not forgetting the Robyn in Mackay did the research, I
wrote and posted the letters and did all the computer work here in Laidley,
using relatives as couriers between us. (Mackay is in North Qld, and I live
in SE Qld). We also had a printout of descendants that was passed around
the reunion, requesting members to ensure that it was uptodate.

Official photographer ? A reunion in Gatton with over 2000 people
"DIONYSIUS" had an official photographer, and the family photos were then on
display in his shop/studio for others to order. Found out later they were
also my Irish relatives, but too late to attend the reunion.

I recently attended another family reunion, and this is 4 or 5th held by
this 2nd fleet family in the last 10 years (and my first attendance) and the
thing I noticed missing was the list of descendants. They have not yet been
put into a computer file, with alone recorded in a TREE format. Not even
present was the Family group reports in paper kind, and one family turned
up, only direct male descendant for 200 years to attend, and we were hard
pressed trying to work out how he fitted in. His father or grandfather had
attended previous ones.
BY THE WAY, I actual meet a distant cousin of mine, (descendants from
convicts) who is also a member of this list, appears our common relatives
married into the German arrivals.
(Hazel - what else did you notice missing from the June meeting?)

Catering was fine, tea and coffee - help yourself, and a reasonable cost for
hamburgers, drinks, and the likes. Plenty of photos displayed around the
room, reports and photo albums from previous reunions, photos of the graves
they have already restored - showing before and after photos (kept the
original mistakes too). Raffle of a donated prize. Book mark sounivers.
All in all, a great day, expect I would like to have seen how we were all
related. If not yet in book form, then in print out form so that folks can
browse and update.

Well, that is a good input. Hope it is helpful.

Lorrae Johnson
13 Forest Avenue
Plainland Q 4341

Phone/FAX: 07 5465 6725



-----Original Message-----
From: Beverly [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, 14 July 2000 7:52 PM
To:
Subject: reunions


Hello Listers, I have a question for you all.

Some of you have held reunions in Australia and I hope that they have been
successful.

I will be holding two of them in March 2001 and would like you to tell me
what things you did with your reunions that were successful and what things
were not successful.

Please post your answers to the list so that it can generate some interest
in this subject.

Some of you are perhaps contemplating having a reunion and the responses to
my query may just help you to decide if this is something you want to do or
something you wish to avoid.

For example:

How did you handle the difference in religions that were present?

How did you handle difficult relatives (the grouchy kind)?

Did you have them bring food for a pot luck?

Did you organise games for the kids?

Did you visit historical sites?

Did you have the event advertised in the paper?

How did you contact everyone to get them to come?

Did you write a book about the generations?

I have lots of other questions but would like some input from the listers
about this subkject.

Thanks in advance,

Beverly.
Life on earth is expensive. The biggest
perk is the free trip around the sun.
Wear a hat and enjoy the ride....

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