Couple of days ago I had a call from - let's see - a step-first-cousin once removed on the Rempel side of my Mennonite heritage. We have been communicating by email for some time, sharing a passion for family history but with that passion taking different forms. Abe Hamm is his name. Last fall Abe and his brother George took the Mennonite Heritage Cruise through the Ukraine and visited the villages and locales of their forebears - and indeed the forebears of most of us of Russian Mennonite descent. Through the winter Abe assembled, narrated, researched, put background music to ten - soon to be eleven - DVDs, each about half an hour long, of his trip. He has generously let us have copies of the disks so we too have gone on that trip, virtually. Coincidentally, one of my fourth cousins, Walter Giesbrecht, was also on that cruise, so there were pictures of him among the others, just as I remember him from his presentation and later conversation at the Niebuhr Reunion in Abbotsford in 2006.
But that's not MY family history project. I hadn't thought of it as a family project at all, this one, but now I think it is. Family Reunions. The subject came up in Abe's recent phone call, wherein among other things he asked me about my experience in planning family reunions. He said that he had a feeling he was going to be prevailed upon to plan one for his branch and he wanted some idea of what he might be getting himself into.
Smart move, Abe.
I certainly didn't know what I was getting into when I became involved in reunion planning committees, but I saw the value of reunions, and when crowds of people at one reunion did NOT leap to the head of the line with offers to take on planning the next, I figured since I thought they were worthwhile I should put my money where my mouth was. I have now attended six reunions and have been involved in planning five of them, so I may be said to have some experience, which I am glad to share with Abe. Or anyone else. Just ask me. I am happy to pass on what I have learned, including samples of documents, to anyone who inquires. But I won't be participating in any more planning committees. I am corresponding secretary for the upcoming Rempel cousins reunion in Borden, Saskatchewan in August, and I will be giving a presentation, but that's it. I intend to devote my family history project time to printed efforts!
Family reunions ARE worthwhile. I don't suppose I could include all the reasons I believe that is the case if I were to type for another hour. Take it as given, and if you are asked to participate in planning, deliver a presentation, sing a song or just ATTEND - DO IT!