How to Hold a Genealogy Family Reunion

Gathering genealogy information at a family reunion is a rewarding experience. Not only can you share time with loved ones, but also meet new relatives. The stories you gather at these meetings add spice to your genealogy records, and the reunion itself becomes part of the lore of family history.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Address Books
• Palm Handheld Organizers
• Internet Access
• Postage Stamps
• Calendars
• Envelopes
• Cameras
• Drawing Software
• Genealogy Software

1. Begin by forming a reunion committee. Choose a small group of family members whom you like - this will make the reunion planning as enjoyable as the actual event.
2. Call the selected members to see if they'll agree to participate.
3. Select a date and site for the first meeting.
4. Create an agenda and send it to the committee members.
5. Have the first task of the committee be to set a date for the reunion. Often a holiday or anniversary works best as people are already planning to take time to get together with others.
6. Make a group decision on the reunion's location. A park or meaningful historical site can be particularly captivating to a family. Depending on the size of the reunion, members will often volunteer to have it at their home. Hotels are set up to cater to large groups of people and can be used as a backup.
7. Decide on a budget, which will determine the scale of the food, decorations, accommodations, and activities for the reunion.
8. Plan the events that you want. Think about activities that will further the family knowledge of shared heritage and bind the group together. Consider, for example, a story-telling hour, a photo-sharing table, and a central genealogy chart where blanks can be updated by family members.
9. Create a mailing list of all the relatives that you have on your genealogy chart or, if you are just beginning, go through the phone books of the various committee members. This should include names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses.
10. Decide on subsequent committee meeting dates and locations.
11. Contact the family members by sending out invitations by letter, e-mail or phone.
12. Make it clear that you are planning a genealogy reunion and that you would like them to bring family history, photos, collectibles and stories to share with other family members.
13. Print up a program of the scheduled reunion events to give to family members as they arrive.
14. Hire a professional photographer or a video-camera person to film the reunion, or assign an experienced family member this task. The event will eventually become part of your shared family history and having it recorded will make it all the more valuable.
15. Get a volunteer or volunteers at the reunion to issue a newsletter afterward that includes stories, photos and news items from the reunion.
16. Send the newsletter together with an updated genealogy chart to all the attendees as well as to those less fortunate family members who were not able to attend.

Tips & Warnings

• If you give yourself plenty of time to plan for the event, organizing it will actually be fun and entertaining.
• When planning events, food, accommodations, and invitations, be aware of the cost of such activities. You can easily get into trouble financially if you are not careful.