Linn Reunion - 2010

This post is for my family but some of you are friends that are like family so I hope you enjoy this little parade of photos that shares the fun we had last weekend at the 81st Linn Reunion.
Each reunion starts with sign-in. This year 50 family members and some friends signed the book where we keep the lists. The Linn Reunions began in 1929. The first one was held that year on August 18th. Current written records of the sign in sheets date from 1959. It's fun to go back and read them and see who came to the reunions each year.

We gather because we are all descendants of Francis Marion and Esther Linn. So that we can keep track of our connections, cousin Charlotte makes these wonderful photo/info boards that help us to know how we are all related!

The couple in the middle of the photo board below is the common ancestor for all of us.......none other than Francis and Esther. They would be my great great grandparents.

I hadn't been to the Linn Reunions in years when I returned for one in 1996. I was so excited to go and see cousins and aunts and uncles that I never got to see on visits home to my folks. That same year, my cousin Betty asked for someone from the next generation to take over mailing the cards and setting the reunion date, etc. I volunteered and I am so glad I did. I have thoroughly enjoyed making it happen every year since then! That's Betty Wickwire and her daughter, my cousin, Kathy on the right. She hadn't been back for a reunion until a couple of years ago and it was so good to see her. What is it about getting older that makes us appreciate any moment we can find to spend with family? Kathy and I can remember some fun times jumping on the beds when we were kids and, of course, getting in trouble for it everytime.

I caught my brother Doug Linn in mid-sentence on some serious subject but he doesn't always look this serious. Do you think he looks like he could be related to Kenny Rogers? And that's my cousin, Kevin Wickwire on the right who is brother to Kathy in the photo above. Let's see, he may resemble Tom Selleck. I'm not sure these guys belong in our family at all! Hee hee hee!

Here is Charlotte Holstrom, maker of the boards and master of all the genealogy information that we have enjoyed reading these past ten years or so. That's my mother, Mary Linn, sitting in the chair.

We do a lot of fun things in addition to food and one is to recognize the oldest member in attendance. This year that was cousin, Shirley Linn Goettinger. She's on the left below and that's her son, Les, on the left.

Shirley is 83. When she and my dad, Melvin, were just toddlers they attended that first Linn Reunion in 1929. Last year our oldest member attending was Great Aunt Marion. She passed away at 92 this past spring. The year before that Great Aunt Elsie was our oldest member in attendance and she was 105 (or maybe 106) and passed away that year. Many family members were no longer with us and they were all missed dearly. At the same time, we were happy to gather and know that the family continues. And look at how fun it is when it continues with twins!

Meet Carver and Colby. I'm pretty sure I've got that right but I can correct it if I'm wrong. I'll depend on their Grandma to help me make sure I'm calling them by the right name.

Speaking of names this cute doggie is Berkley and he is just to cute not to include in the photo parade.



SO, finally we got to the food............and there was lots and lots of good food!!!

Here's my cousin, Janet, who is Grandma to the twins you just met. Janet is holding granddaughter, Brooklynne, who was a little shy at first. Janet has just told her that we were best friends in high school. We had a lot of fun then and also when we were young kids living just a few houses apart. I loved to spend the night at Janet's as her mom and grandma had made beautiful quilts that were on each bed.

Brooklynne warmed up when I showed her these sunglasses that were just right for her. I had bought a basketful of goodies for the kids and wasn't sure who would get what but these were meant for her!

The kids were playing on the playground and I wanted a fun shot of them and no, I did not say "raise your hands or I'll shoot"........instead I just said "how high" and they automatically all raised their arms! LOL!

That's niece, Sue Ellen in red (she's my brother's daughter), Kate in pink, grandson, Jacob (in his Vikings shirt) and Rob. Kate and Rob are Kevin's children. There will be a test at the end of this post. No, just kidding........

Collette took these shots of me with the basket of toys. We thought of this idea last year and it turned out to be a successful one. I picked up fun stuff on clearance at Michael's and Wal-mart, oh, and Dollar Tree, of course. :-) Brooklynne got the basket to carry home all her goodies.

Okay, so that's just about enough except that I think I'll add two more pics of the twins........

Here's Beth (Lind) holding Colby.........

and this is Beth (Wickwire, Kevin's wife) holding Carver .....

and you know what's interesting? The twin's momma is also named Beth!! She's Beth Peterson, married to Janet's son, Nathan. Until I typed all this, I hadn't realized that they all had the same first name!

And this last picture is of my family..... that's my mother seated and my grandson, Jacob,next to me. Daughter Collette and husband Daryl are on the left and son, Devlin, and girlfriend, Stacia are on the right. I've got more photos to share for family members but I've set up a seperate blog where I'll post those later this week. So family members, watch for an e-mail from me with all the details.

That's it for another year. I spent yesterday afternoon organizing all my info and I am ready to do it all again next July. If you are reading this and think you might be related to us, or you would like to be adopted because we do food so well, just send me an e-mail. :-)
And if you are a family member who attended and left any of these items behind, I'll bring them back next year, just like I did that spoon and fork on the lower left. No one claimed them this year, so I will try again next year to find their owner. The black pot was claimed within a couple hours after the event. It belonged to my cousin Fay. And here I was thinking what a great soup pot I would be using for the next year!

Okay, that's it. This is like showing folks slides of your last vacation and so I don't want to bore you, my regular blog readers anymore. Hopefully, family members will not be bored. :-)

If you haven't had a family reunion in your family in a long time, I highly recommend it. It's so worth it to gather together!!

Have a lovely Sunday!

Sandi