This past weekend I went to a family reunion and had a blast! When I was a child we had reunions every other year with my dad’s family and I always loved them. This weekend did not disappoint. I live far away from a lot of my relatives and I came away from the reunion having reconnected with family members that I hadn’t seen for years and connecting with my cousins’ children which was so meaningful to me. I am not a stranger to family reunions. In addition to my dad’s reunions, we regularly attend reunions with my siblings and with my husband’s family. In fact we are about a week and a half away from a Frei family reunion. So with one reunion down this summer and one to go, I want to share ideas about family reunions – kind of a where, when, what, and how of orchestrating one of these fun family gatherings.
How
So how do you even go about planning a family reunion? There is so much to consider – when to hold it, the location, food, activities, and how to pay for it. One way to figure this all out is to gather your siblings and decide how you want to make it happen. For my family, it has worked very well to rotate through the children in birth order, giving each person a turn to be in charge. That person decides on the location, books lodging, designs(or gets someone else to) and orders t-shirts, plans the activities and meals, buys the food, etc. My husband’s family asks at each reunion who will be in charge of the next one and people then volunteer.
Where & When
Planning a date or dates is the first thing to do and determining a location is a very close second. If you are going to hold reunions on a regular basis (every year, every other year, every 3rd year, etc.) it is helpful to determine a specific month and week/weekend when the reunion will be held; For example, the 3rd weekend of July or the 2nd week of June. That way, everyone knows well in advance when to take vacation and to set that time aside for the reunion. Perhaps you want your reunion to be just one day long which is a great option if everyone lives close by. But if anyone is traveling far, a multi-day event is the way to go. As far as location goes, you can decide on one location where the reunion will always be held, or you can rotate where it is held. My siblings and I live all over the country and have had a great time going to varied spots for our reunions. It is important to keep in mind that you may need to book accommodations a full year in advance of your event, especially if you want the whole family to stay in a place together. I speak from experience when I say that it is great to rent a huge house and have everyone stay there together. This makes it possible for parents with small children to put the little ones to bed and then be able to hang out with everyone in the evening. You can also pick your location and let everyone book their own lodging. This simplifies things for the main person in charge and may be the best way to do it if you have over 50 people attending. If you do have a very large group, one option is to find a group camp with cabins and a dining hall for your reunion or you could all camp in tents in a group campground. There really are so many options for lodging and locations for a reunion. I highly recommend holding a reunion away from where people live so that everyone can be fully committed to participating and not feel like they need to step away for some random reason.
What
This is the fun part of the reunion but definitely takes the most effort to pull together. Tailor the activities to what your family likes to do but don’t be afraid to add in something that is a bit out of the ordinary for fun. We have traditions that have developed over the years that have become standard protocol at each reunion. At our 2001 reunion I provided a barrel of cheese balls to eat. Some of my siblings gave me grief for having them which somehow turned into making sure that we always have cheeseballs at the reunion. This tradition was solidified in 2007 when there was a balcony at the house we stayed at. My brothers took turns throwing the cheeseballs off the balcony into the mouths of the nieces and nephews who were down below. Talk about fun!!! Another tradition from the 2001 reunion that has lasted is our “unbirthday party” (named as such since it is no one’s birthday but we are celebrating everyone’s birthday). This entails everyone being given a name of someone in the family. Cousins are given another cousin’s name and the “adults” of the family are given another adult’s name. You then buy a gift for that individual and at the reunion we have an evening where we open the gifts and have cake and ice cream. The gifts are often quite hilarious or sentimental which makes for a delightful evening. There are so many options when it comes to what to do at your reunion. Here is a list of activities that have been successful at reunions I have attended.
- Bowling
- Day at the lake
- Boating
- Float a river
- Four-wheeling
- Talent show
- Visit a cave
- Visit a state or national park
- Fishing or crabbing
- Cook together
- Hiking
- Biking
- Service project
- Tie-dye t-shirts
- Go to a baseball game
- Go to an amusement park
- Cardboard canoe making and racing
- Bonfire – Sing together and have S’mores
- Visit ancestors graves and share stories from their lives.
- Crafts – painting rocks, have someone teach a painting class, bracelet making, etc.
- Games – relays, minute-to-win-it, water games, card games, board games
- Have grandparents, aunts, and uncles share things about their lives
- Swimming/Go to a water park – You can even rent out a pool and have it all to yourselves.
- Picture scavenger hunt – If the location of the reunion is where you grew up, send everyone to places significant to the family.
- Paper bag skits – Divide into groups. Each group makes up a skit using items in a bag that their group is given.
You can do it!
So, what are you waiting for?! Get that next reunion planned. Comment below on what has worked well for your family reunions or feel free to ask any questions. I’ll do my best to answer them.
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