Family Reunion - Happy Birthday Grandma

This year would have been my grandmothers 100 birthday. She died a few years ago and my aunt decided it would be good to do a reunion on her birthday. I shared some of the games we played (and used to play) at the reunion but this is the page where I put all the other stuff that we did at the reunion in case you need ideas. 

I contacted all the family weeks ago and asked if they had any photos or memorabilia that they thought others in the family may want. I was actually collecting if for another reason but it just worked out that we were having this reunion so I could share what I collected. I spent hours sorting and three days at Walmarts across the state scanning what items others had about my grandparents lives and put it all together on a few discs to share at the reunion. 

I will go into that more later but we had a table of memorabilia at the reunion. We had someone read a brief history of my grandmothers life. We had a work station where I set up making copies for everyone and included things people brought that morning. 

We had a few people sing songs that my grandmother wrote and had published. We all sang a few of her songs as well. 

I suggested a bouncy house for the kids as they didn't have a play ground at this park and it was a hit. It always had kids in it. 

We had barbecue catered and the meal was wonderful.  The only issue we had with that was they used a regular power cord and you can't do that with the big catering pans. Check out what it did to this regular extension cord. We almost had a fire and it blew the circuits at the park which made us have to run the bouncy house off a generator. 

There were two volley ball courts and so I suggested some sand toys and they were also a hit with the little children. You can see them building castles here.  The older members of the family enjoyed playing volleyball later.
My cousin hired his friend who is a photographer to take a group picture of everyone there. I was sad that one aunt was in the hospital and another from out of state wasn't there. It may have been the last chance for a family picture of the siblings together. 

They grouped us together in family clusters on a hill for the picture and I snapped this picture as everyone was headed to the hill. Our family is getting quite large and lots of them were missing but it was good to see those who were able to attend. 

One family had a wedding on the other side of the family and several of my siblings had children who were off doing life. Even Princess three was busy working and wasn't able to attend. Partly, that was my fault, thinking I forwarded the invitation when I actually didn't.

I think we should have had better assignments as one family brought in all the speakers, ordered the food, did the set up (with a little help), got the photographer, bouncy house, bought prizes, and did most of the clean up. 

I stayed until everything was cleaned up and by then it was way after dark. I hope we can get into a place in the future where my aunt's family doesn't have to do it all. I did the Bunko Reunion last year (click here) and much of it fell on me so I know how that goes. We still haven't figured out the best way to work that as many are out of town or state and my mother isn't capable since her accident. I'll have to ponder on that one and let you know if I come up with anything that would work better. 

The short list of hits: 

Bouncy house or slide -  Always a hit and we have had them at three reunions now and it is well worth the money to keep the kids entertained. Make sure you anchor them down as we had a wind gust once that tipped over the slide. 

Catered dinner rather than pot luck - There is a bigger cost but it is so nice to have someone else bring all the food and paper goods and do the clean up. Just make sure they have a good power source. 


Information Sharing - It would have been better to have everyone send me what they had or scan them but most people, if they have to put themselves out time and energy wise, they won't share. If you ask to take the item, they won't want to have it out of their site. The best bet is to take a day when you can borrow it in their town and scan it at Walmart. Then, make a disc for everyone to have prior to the reunion. I worked the entire day and got no visiting in because I had to take the stuff to a nearby building once the power went out at the pavilion. Still worth it for everyone to have but lots of headaches for the person making them. 

Family picture - People are fresh when they first arrive but you miss late comers but others have to leave early. I suggest telling everyone there is a family photo near the beginning so everyone isn't hot and sweaty from the games or messy from the meal. Set up a time and a nice place scoping it out before hand. Morning or dusk is better for lighting as we all have shadows from the hot sun. Or have a shaded place or take it indoors. 

Speaker system - Outside and with lots of little children or streets nearby, you will have a hard time hearing. My cousins brought their sound system for their band and it worked wonderfully and everyone was able to hear. They had everyone get up and introduce themselves and give a quick synopsis of their family. It was great catching up with everyone.We used a megaphone in the past but it wasn't near as nice as having speakers and microphones.

These are just some things to think about if you are going to be doing a reunion. Plan it all out in advance and take a run through it in your head from decorations to clean up writing down anything you may need. Bathrooms and extra paper is a must when you have a large group gathering. Also, name tags help with children you may not know. 

Hope this helps you. It was well worth the effort!