Choosing a Location for Your Family Reunion
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| While it is tempting to choose a popular resort or a well-traveled tourist site to hold a family reunion, why not look back over the milestones in your family's history for clues where to go? |
Celebrate a Long-Ago Wedding
Where did your parents or grandparents get married or go on their honeymoon? Travel to that location and have a theme celebration featuring the year of their wedding. Check with the local historical society for pictures of the town as it looked the year your ancestors wed. Look through magazines from that year. The articles and ads will give you a good idea what was popular during that year. |
Adopt an Old Hometown
Look back a few generations and visit the place where your ancestors homesteaded or lived. If you have not researched your family back that far, ask a professional genealogist to get you started. Once you have chosen a location, check with the local Chamber of Commerce for ideas of where to stay or what to see in the area. |
Visit an Historic Site
What type of professions did your ancestors have? Were they farmers, ranchers, miners or mercantile clerks? Did they wear the silver star or were they riding the range? Find an historic site that illustrates life as it was in the 17th, 18th, or 19th Century. If you will have children traveling with you, see if you can let them 'apprentice' for a day learning the trade that their ancestor had. |
Take the Trip of Lifetime
Many of us have immigrant roots. Plan the trip of a lifetime back to the country of your heritage. Check with tour companies that have experience planning group tours in the country you are interested in seeing. With a large group, you can have a custom tour designed for you to visit the places where your ancestors lived and still take advantage of the savings group travel offers. One of the things that makes a reunion different from a family vacation is celebrating the unique heritage and history of your family. Choosing a location that honors your family's past does just that. |
| Dina C. Carson is the author of Reunion Solutions: Everything You Need to Plan an Extraordinary Family, School, Military, Corporate or Association Reunion, available at your local bookstore or at
www.ReunionSolutions.com |
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