Family Reunion Planning

Family Reunion Planning

Planning a family reunion can be a lot of hard work! But it also takes a lot of planning and a lot of people who are willing to help. If you or your family are considering having a family reunion, here are some helpful pointers to lead you in the right direction and make your reunion an event that will have lasting memories, but most of all, bring the family together again and again! A reunion is the best way to learn about family members past and present, catch up on old memories and create some new ones along the way.

First, are there enough people who would like to see this event occur? Have a couple of family members volunteer to contact family members by email, phone, or mail and determine the interest in attending a reunion. These are some tips on questions to ask the members to find out the details that works for them?

(1) Are they interested ?

(2) What time of the year would they like to see this happen

(3) How many people in their family would attend

(4) Would you be willing to travel to get to a reunion and how far?

(5) Are you interested in helping us organize the reunion?

(6) If so, is there something they can help with specifically that is a valuable resource to the reunion?

Second, If you receive enough interest. Establish a family reunion committee of members who are committed to putting the reunion together.

Remember, it takes MANY people to make a reunion work. It is too much for one person to take on. Also --- with a committee you get a better idea and other views and opinions of what will and won't work with your family. To make it easy, delegate specific tasks to each committee member AND ensure that not too much is put on any one person. This will make it easier and be less time consuming in our every day lives to get it done!

Areas of interest to be separated can be such things as: The place of the reunion, the budget, fundraising, correspondence or commun ication to family members, t-shirts & reunion memorabilia, reunion activities/sports for adults & children, family historian, food / catering, setup & cleanup

1st Committee Meeting to get started:

(1) Decide when and where the reunion should take place.

TIP: Always a good idea to think in terms of safety for the place due to the amount of children that attend reunions. Clubhouses, or rental halls are a great way to do this. However, any place with outdoor recreation are always the best for outdoor activities, sunshine and for the kids to romp and play. Most reunions are held during the summertime--- so while being outdoors is great, it is also important to have the alternate option of being able to go indoors in a climate controlled room for those persons that cannot remain outdoors for long periods of time. It is good to decide where the heart of the family members reside and determine if that should be the location of the reunion such as the families birthplace or hometown.

(2) Decide how long should the reunion be: 1, 2 or 3 days? Keep in mind that if your reunion will involve many members traveling from out of town, allow enough time for them to come in on a Friday evening and relax and time to return home.

(3) Determine who will attend the reunion? Invite everyone even though not everyone will attend. The last thing you want to do is offend anyone in the family.

(4) What activities should it include? Such as horseshoes, bouncer for kids, baseball or volleyball game, DJ, auction, etc.....

Deciding the type of Reunion? Long or short term

REGULAR PICNIC OR BARBEQUE --A picnic or bbq reunion is the best way to go for your first reunion. Not as much planning and work involved with this being a 1 day event as opposed to the 2 or 3 day reunion which requires more activities. If it a one day event, usually Saturday works the best, allowing people to come in on Friday or Saturday morning and leave on Saturday evening or Sunday.

Determine if you want family members to prepare and cook their own food for a buffet line or if a few people should be in charge of the cooking. Whatever is decided--be certain that the person responsible for the food has enough to go around more than once. Great ideas for food are hamburgers, hot dogs, barbeque brisket, chicken, ribs, side vegetables, like beans and potato salad, green beans, cole slaw, and lots and lots of desserts. And don't forget the drinks? If you asking everyone to bring a dish, be prepared to have a lot of the same food.

When you are trying to select the place to have the reunion, be sure it has enough table and chairs to accommodate your family. Other important features this place should contain is: clean restrooms, area for kids to play (safe), good parking, an indoor or covered area in case of bad weather, and enough room to accommodate everyone. NOTE --- If you are looking at having a reunion at a park, be sure you have it reserved for the occasion or have a permit to be there.

This a list of some of the things you would need to be certain to have there during the reunion: tables, chairs, kitchen or grill for cooking, coolers for ice, extension cords, music equipment, plates, napkins, cups, utensils, table covers, and kids games. Not to mention having a place for showing off your family albums and memorabilia, auction or raffle items, a wall for hanging family photos. (many families make posterboards from one reunion to the next displaying reunion photos and family members going to great ancestors)

WEEKEND REUNION ---

These are great fun but require lots of planning and activities. Most important task --ensure that everyone has a place to stay for those coming in from out of town. Select one person to take care of lodging and reservation information to communicate to family members. Some hotels will hold a block of rooms for family members if everyone stays at the same location. This is a great idea and provides extra fun for family members upon arrival. Also --- you can leave information at the hotel for the clerks to hand out upon each persons arrival. This can include directions to the reunion place, their t-shirts ordered, etc. etc.

For these reunions, Friday starts the fun with members arriving, ready to see old family members, relax and prepare for the rest of the weekends activities. Plan a setup party at the hall that night with members who are willing to come over and help. This gives you a boost on meeting new family members. Have some food available for setup so that everyone can eat and enjoy each others company thru the evening. But make this night the short one ----Saturday is the big day. This should be where most of the activities come in.

Some activity ideas are: Horse shoes, washers, tug -of -war, jumpers for the kids, volleyball, kickball, egg toss, water balloon toss, frisbees, softball, DJ and dance area, auction, raffles drawing, door prizes, food, magician for the kids,

Auctions: To help fund the reunion, have people bring something to the reunion that is either hand made, a family heirloom, or something purchased along the way that would be of interest to auction off. Hire a real auctioneer (this makes it very humorous and fun as well as exciting) to get people to bid on items. Use the money raised toward the reunion to be added to the budget to help pay for expenses for food, games, rental equipment, etc. etc. Great auction item is our Family Tree Prints, Photo Collage, Family Tree Beveled Mirrors that we design ourselves. These have gone over very well and are priceless family heirlooms that can be passed down from one generation to the next. These can also be used for the Raffle items as well.

Raffle: Use this to help pay for expenses as well to purchase the raffle items and other things. It is a good idea to have a variety of raffle items from TVS, DVD Players, etc., coolers,

Door Prizes: This simply makes it fun to give away items made for the reunion. Use the memorabilia items such as extra shirts, hats, coolers, etc. to give away as well as kids games, sports equipment, etc, etc......

Kids Games: There are numerous things to select from A LOT OF BALLS to kick around, frisbees, jump ropes, pinatas, and other children's outdoor games. Keeping the children entertained makes it much easier for the adults to relax and enjoy themselves.

NOTIFYING FAMILY MEMBERS:

The key to communication is reminders. Today we get so wrapped up in our own busy schedules that it is easy to forget to send RSVP's back and be prepared for a family reunion. So it is important the 1 or 2 people be the main contacts for family members to reach by phone, mail, and or email.

Obtain a mailing list of family members. This may or may not be an easy task to do. This may require a lot of time on the phone. But once this information is obtained, you can have someone keep up with keeping it current.

Have someone creative make up a nice Letter to send to all family members inviting them to attend. Include detailed information of date, time, place, include a map (if necessary), contact #'s to reach you by, and include order forms for shirts and other memorabilia items that they can buy. Have a form for them to RSVP with orders and money to you by a specific date. This letter should be mailed out early between 2-6 months before the reunion.

Follow up with a REMINDER POSTCARD ON BRIGHT PAPER about 1 month before the reunion so that everyone doesn't forget and to count on last minute RSVP"s to come in.

Email is a great source these days for communication as well. Also ---have someone create a free website for your family for people to go online and check in from time-to-time.

BUDGET

Reunions are expensive and there is no way around it. It is a good idea to have someone open up a reunion account and be in charge of ensuring that the funds are properly placed and used for this event from reunion to reunion.

If you reunion activities are of great expense, then have each person who wishes to attend the reunion , pay $ 25 per person of whatever you feel is the best amount to cover expenses based on expected persons to attend. This is hard to determine, so don't cut yourself short. Use the raffles, auctions, shirts, and other items you purchase to help pay for these things. After all, the only way to keep a reunion going is to have enough money turned in to support it from year to year. This is trial and error with each family. As for pricing items to family members, make it affordable, because you will have a better response.

WE are always looking for great stories and great ideas from families that have had successful reunions as well as unsuccessful reunions. If you would like to share one of your DO's or DON'ts with us, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to complete the comment form below to do this.

Please Type any great stories or great ideas that you have had that have been successful for your family reunions.

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