Our Motto

family reunions are more than just a picnic.

We believe reunions have the power to nourish and strengthen families of all races and ethnicities. Reunions can encourage healthy extended family relationships, provide a sense of belonging, restore family pride, nurture and respect all generations, and impart wisdom, knowledge and a shared purpose. Our goal is to strengthen, inspire and support family reunion planning; share useful information and resources; and advocate for the teaching of family and reunion history, values and experiences.

PLANNING A FAMILY REUNION? NEED TIPS? Click below for tips on:

NEED HELP WITH STICKY FAMILY REUNION SITUATIONS? CLICK HERE.

It's Newish...

Family Reunion Institute’s QUESTION OF THE MONTH

The Family Reunion Institute's Question of the Month is newish, meaning

this is our third month asking family reunion planners questions

about their reunion planning.

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We’d like to get info on what family reunion planners are doing and

thinking so we've developed the Question of the Month to help us

obtain planners responses first-hand. In return for sharing your response

with us, we'll share the results with you, and you'll get to see

how your reunion planning compares with other families.

We thank you in advance for SUBMITTING YOUR RESPONSE, and

WE WILL NOT send marketing emails in response to your participation.

CLICK HERE FOR THIS MONTH's QUESTION

CLICK HERE FOR QUESTION RESULTS

STICKY REUNION SITUATION

we have no Family Tree

My maternal and paternal grandparent’s families are very big and very close. There are lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and lots of combined family gatherings. However, no one has taken the time to create family trees. We really have a good time when we get together, but it bugs me that I don’t have a clear understanding of where everyone fits in the family. Whenever I mention it they wave me off, and one of my cousins has even said I was “meddling”. How can I convince them that putting together a family tree is a good thing—or should I just leave it alone?

CLICK HERE FOR THE FIX

August is definitely the month of more. More of what we don’t want: covid-19 variants, a monkey-pox outbreak, severe summer storms and flooding, record gas prices, and an increase in the cost of living. And more of what we do want: hot, hazy, lazy summer days; more grill and chill time; more days and ways to celebrate family, reunions, friends, and have fun, including Family Fun Month, Exercise With Your Child Week, Respect For Parents Day, Sister’s Day, Son and Daughter Day, Middle Child’s Day, Friendship Day, Happiness Happens Month, Simplify Your Life Week, National Relaxation Day, Kiss and Make Up Day.

Barack Obama’s birthday is this month along with National Couple’s Day, National Girlfriends Day (a day for women to support and encourage their girl friends), and National Minority Donor Awareness Day and Week (NMDA), observed August 1-7 every year to encourage minority donors. NMDA highlights the contributions of minority donors and their families, and the diverse communities in critical need of organ donations. In 2020, 28% of the total candidates waiting for transplants were Black, while only 13% of organ donors were Black. NMDA wants to encourage minority donors to step forward to help save millions of lives.

August is also What Will Be Your Legacy Month. Look for a tip about it in this month’s REUNION TIP OF THE MONTH. The AUGUST QUESTION OF THE MONTH is about tracing your family history. WORTH REPEATING showcases quotes befitting Happiness Happens Month. And FAMILY TIME has 65+ observances and celebrations—plus another 54 activities to help you make the most of Family Fun Month.

Did You Know that August is one of the top three most popular wedding months? Men and women desire great relationships, great love, great marriage, a great family—and if reunion planners have anything to do with it, great family reunions. Greatness comes with hard work. Relationships take time and patience, sacrifice and compromise, respect and caring—just like planning reunions. Relationships mean treating others in the best way possible, and the manner in which we want, hope and expect to be treated. In the end—if we’ve done our work—we end up with the love, marriage, family—and/or reunions of our dreams.

Here’s wishing you more happy, more summer, more family, more fun, and many more reunions to come.

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NEW NOW:

- Question of the Month

- Responses to Previous Questions of the Month

- Reunion Tip of the Month

- Family Time + 54 Family Fun Month Activities

- Worth Repeating

LATER THIS MONTH:

- Practical Family Reunion Planning - You’re Invited

- Sticky Reunion Situation

- In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

Tracing your family roots, building your family tree, and documenting your family history are all part of building your family legacy. It’s interesting how families record the richness of family members' lives—including what they’ve accomplished and the impact they’ve had on others—so eloquently in an obituary, but rarely tell the story out loud in a family setting where folks can communicate, learn from and encourage one another. At repasts we hear folks say I wish I knew about…, or if I had known I would have asked or talked about…, or I would have loved to have created something with them.

August is What Will Be Your Legacy Month. If we communicate with family members more, and work to encourage, support, inspire, motivate, reassure and restore all of the talents and generations within the family as a whole, who knows what remarkable answers will follow the question when asked next year, or the year(s) after that.

family time

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

August is the month we make the most of what’s left of summer. And there are plenty of creative ways to celebrate as August is host to Family Fun Month, American Adventures Month, Happiness Happens Month, Be Kind to Humankind Week, Simplify Your Life Week, Be An Angel Day, Kiss and Make Up Day, Women’s Equality Day, Just Because Day, National Relaxation Day, Respect For Parent’s Day, Sister’s Day, Son and Daughter Day, Middle Child Day, National Senior Citizen’s Day, and so much more including those end of summer reunions, your family member’s birthdays, anniversaries and other special celebrations.

Want to turn FAMILY TIME observances into great time with the family? On days that celebrate foods, incorporate them into your meals and show the kids how it’s made. On dates with activities, incorporate them into your daily routine. On all other days have a discussion, do some research, discover something new about the day. Make a game of it, get the whole family involved, and have some fun

click for AUGUST FAMILY TIME observances

HAPPINESS QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

"They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." - Tom Bodett

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness is an inside job." - William Arthur Ward

"Happiness is a state of mind." - Walt Disney

"Being happy never goes out of style." - Lily Pulitzer

"The best time to be happy is always now." - Roy T. Bennett

"Happiness is the best makeup." – Drew Barrymore

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

“Ah, summer – that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It’s a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.” – Darrell Hammond

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” – John Lubbock

“Smell the sea, and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly.” – Van Morrison

“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability”.

– Sam Keen

“It’s a sure sign of summer if the chair gets up when you do.” – Walter Winchell

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” – James Dent

“In Summer: Hair gets lighter. Skin gets darker. Water gets warmer. Drinks get colder. Music gets louder. Nights get longer. Life gets better.” – Unknown

As family reunion planners the work we do to hold family reunions, research family members, and trace family heritage and history are essential to developing, maintaining and enriching our families. However, doing so leaves us with a lot of documentation and paperwork. So what’s a family planner to do with the wealth of information collected? Share your research.

There are bonafide organizations looking to preserve your information and documents. One such organization is the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN. According to their website: Another immediate way to support the work of The Genealogy Center is to share your research. We welcome your contributions of papers, books, and disks of data. In print or in digital formats, your work will not only benefit great numbers of researchers, it will also be preserved for generations to come on our shelves and web pages. Whether it’s research articles, images of military veterans in your family history, completed books, indices to record groups large and small, or copies of the family record pages in your family Bible, all will find a good home in The Genealogy Center.

The ACPL Genealogy Center is a “unique and valuable resource for the Northeastern Indiana community and the entire genealogical community at large. We have one of the largest research collections available, incorporating records from around the world. Our staff specializes in genealogy and is always available to help.”

For more information visit the following website under “Share Your Research”: https://acpl.lib.in.us/donations

If you know of other organizations that welcome family documents tell us who they are so that we can share with fellow family reunion planners.

PRACTICAL FAMILY REUNION PLANNING

Have you ever planned events and activities for your family reunion that did not turn out as well as you thought they would, and the planning team is having a hard time understanding why? The best way to find out what happened is to ask your family members. You can provide a survey that can be completed online (and anonymously if needed). Or you can call and speak with family members directly. Whichever way you go, ask straightforward questions in a caring way so that you get the direct answers you need to make the next event or activity successful.

If reunion attendance was low ask those who did not attend if the absence was due to any of the following: Day, Date or Time; Location; Cost of Reunion; Number of Days; Activities Planned; Travel Expenses; Family Emergency or Illness; or something else.

If an event was not well attended ask those who did not attend what about the event did not appeal to them. Ask if there is an alternative event that they would like to see the family have.

Don’t be afraid to approach family members about reunion-related events and activities. Doing so is the only way to plan something good, great and wonderful that most (if not all) of the family will enjoy.

Our Motto

family reunions are more than just a picnic.

It's Newish...

Family Reunion Institute’s QUESTION OF THE MONTH

STICKY REUNION SITUATION

we have no Family Tree

AUGUST 2022

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

family time

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

reUNION TIP OF THE MONTH

HAPPINESS QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

worth repeating: SUMMERTIME QUOTES

DID YOU KNOW???

PRACTICAL FAMILY REUNION PLANNING

Coming Soon...