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| Richard Family Reunion | |||||||||||||||||||
| Year 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Log - by Doug | |||||||||||||||||||
| In case you were not at the 2000 Reunion, I thought I would give my version of the weekend events. If you were there, then this will supplement your experience. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Friday July 28th: The early birds arrived to camp. Camp Tapawingo is a 4H Camp with a major Pavilion with dorms in the basement that hold 60 females on one side and 60 males on the other. It has 10 cabins on the property that hold 6-8 people. Although we rented the whole camp we only utilized half of it. Some of the family checked out the cabins (electricity - two electrical outlets and a wall heater). The cabins are adequate (they require bedding/sleeping bags). 3 cabins were used this year. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The typical Friday night eating problems happened. The K.C. Club was crowded and the local fish place next to the camp wasn't expecting the volume. Albert brought fish to the camp and numerous people ate there. Next year, we think we'll all eat at the camp, since we could do some simple fish boil, and perhaps a Cherry Pie contest. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Many people showed up (approx 60) to do some visiting and checking out the property. Approximately 30 people stayed on the grounds. The cost was $20 per night for the cabins, and $5 for the dorm per person. There are two showers per side in the dorms and another facility (called the Wagner house) on the grounds by the cabins that also have a male and female shower facility. We had a great fire in the fire pit (temperatures dropped to about 55 degrees) and people were around the fire throughout the night until 4 a.m. Of course, the card game lasted to 4am, and the kids watch a long movie on the "big screen" TV - about 35 inches until about 1 a.m. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sat. July 29th: Breakfast was served when you got up (Albert was the pancake man). Cereal for kids, juices and milk. Golf was at Fox Hills and began at 9am. Some people were unavoidably late (i.e. me). But since I was paired with my forgiving Aunts Lou and Chris, I had nothing to worry about. We returned to camp after the golf and had brats and corn. Uncle Larry was cooking up a storm, with help from Albert and others. A lot of miscellaneous visiting and frolic. Kids were playing down by the East Twin River (right behind the Pavilion), and about 18 inches deep. Frisbees, pool, bean bags, botchy ball, etc. | |||||||||||||||||||
| I'll have to get all the winners for the events so you can figure out whom to beat next year. Trust me, someone won all the 1st place awards. Dinner consisted of pizza, lasagna, and misc. stuff. Plenty to drink and eat. No complaints about any of the food, at least that anyone informed me. | |||||||||||||||||||
| At night, just before the Talent Show, we had the annual Family Meeting. The vote for the place for next year, was a high percentage for the Camp Tapawingo. So, we booked it and the dates for 2001 are 27, 28, 29 of July. Mark your calendars today. There was some discussion about cost and convenience. So far, I have received numerous offers of generosity from some of the 2nd generation cousins, and some from the 1st generation parents to donate money to the RFR coffers. Perhaps 2001 will be free, no cost, except if you want to stay in a cabin. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The talent show was wonderful. We had approx. 12 acts. The 1st generation announced this was their "last performance". Francis had to go home early and we missed her usual enthusiasm for the act. There was signing, piano, video of gymnastics, a play, guitar (go Dylan), verbs/nouns/subject game, dancing, and more. It didn't end until 11:30. No problem for the people at the camp.. I'm sure it was a tough drive for those who were staying off-campus. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Kids were all out by 12:30 - they were beat. Adults were all heading to bed in a hurry as well. Pretty quite by 1 pm. Even the card players gave up. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday 30th - Church service in Tisch Mills at a Catholic Church. 3 miles away. Ivan and Kathy, had Willie baptized right after the mass. Back to the camp for breakfast. Cindy, Joanna, Albert and assistants provide the breakfast of eggs, meat, coffee cake, etc. Everyone had his or her fill. Many helped with the cleanup and we were out of camp by 2pm. Fun, fun, fun. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Lessons learned for next year: 1) More communication. The committee will attempt to meet this fall, so each family representative can have information by Thanksgiving. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2. Coordinate and breakup the weekend into segments. A family be responsible for 1) Friday night � eating and a fun thing, 2) Sat morning breakfast, 3) Sat lunch 4) Afternoon kid games, 5)Dinner, 6) Family Meeting, 7) Talent Show, 8) Sunday breakfast | |||||||||||||||||||
| That's my story. If you have a story write it up and I'll post it on our RFR site. Perhaps you could have your kids write a story about the reunion and sent it to me at [email protected] and I'll post. | |||||||||||||||||||