Pulling off a family reunion takes creativity

Color-coded shirts come in handy when 120 people get together at the lake.

That’s one thing Linda Collins learned while helping plan her family’s reunion several years ago.

The family descended from Collins’ grandparents, who had nine children. One of them was Collins’ mother, who had 11 children. In 2000 – some 60 or 70 years from that initial union – there were 120 family members spanning nearly 100 years in age.

With today’s mobile society, it’s easy for branches of families to move away and lose track of their roots. Every year, numerous family reunions are held throughout the Inland Northwest with hopes of linking generations and keeping family trees alive.

New friendships are formed, long hours are spent reminiscing and water fights are pretty much inevitable. Horseshoe and softball tournaments can become intense, wipeout contests off inner tubes give everyone something to laugh about, and dinnertime is the greatest social event of them all.

But a seamless weekend of family fun takes intense planning, flexibility and a bit of ingenuity to pull off.

“The thing of it is to have things going on all the time for everybody,” said Collins, who lives in Potlach, Idaho.

“Cards in the lodge, ball games or skiing on the lake. Everyone is covered.”

And color-coded shirts. For the Kleinsmith reunion six different colored shirts represented the six families that descended from the original nine children born to Collins’ grandparents.

Collins and two of her sisters, Joy Roberts and Gladys Hall, spent nearly a year and a half planning the reunion.

Letters of intent went out more than a year prior just to gauge interest, Collins said.

Once they had an approximate count, well over 100, the three sisters searched for the crucial perfect location. It had to be accessible to everyone, not too far from an airport, affordable, and it had to accommodate a variety of activities.

Nearly every reunion planner we talked to had similar criteria, although the locations selected were as unique as the families involved.

Chattaroy’s Nancy Hartley has held her family’s reunions at both her paintball field and a horse farm.

Mary Dorsey hosted one from Anderson Hall at Eastern Washington University, and Chewelah’s Fred Phillips thinks Diamond Lake is an ideal location.

Camp Three Meadows in Dworshak State Park was the answer for the Kleinsmith reunion. Three miles before reaching their destination, guests began seeing banners featuring family photos.

As they poured into Dworshak, everyone had their choice of cabin, tent area or RV hookup. A clown greeted the kids.

Young and old alike donned their color-coded shirts and headed out for a day of fun at the lake.

Many relatives were quick to take part in a wipeout contest. Spectacular wrecks on the inner tube were filmed, Collins said, the more ridiculous the better.

That night, everyone gathered around to pick the best wipeout via an applause contest.

A live band carried the party well into the night.

“We had a fabulous time,” Collins said. “But we generally do when we get together. We’re an active bunch.”

Reunions aren’t for the faint-hearted.

Hartley said, “You have to be an entertainer to do this. You have to love getting people together.”

Dorsey, who lives south of Spokane, said she and her siblings started planning their biennial Heidt reunions after their parents died.

“There were eight of us, and we decided we need to have something to keep everyone together. The cousins need to know each other.”

Endless hours can be spent just catching up.

“You learn about other families, what they’re doing, what they’ve done since the last reunion,” Phillips said of the biennial Harding reunions he attends.

Though making sure there’s plenty to do is important, some say it’s best to not overschedule the event.

“It’s important not to plan too much,” said longtime Baker family reunion attendee Craig Baker.

“Leave plenty of time for people to just visit and laze around.”

A main component of lazing is making sure no one is stuck with too much kitchen duty. A main cabin with a full-service commercial kitchen allowed Collins to hire a caterer for the Kleinsmith reunion at a cost of $65 per person, including lodging, ensuring that no one was chained to the kitchen for the weekend.

Phillips has seen people hire church groups to cater reunions, and Dorsey is a big fan of Longhorn Barbecue.

Others love to go potluck or stock up on easy fixings.

“Just keep the menu simple so you’re not spending all your time in the kitchen,” Hartley said.

“The family time is what’s important.”