Just a quick note to let you know that I've started a BLOG to help us organize a family reunion in 2010. Kurt Swihart and I were talking last week about the cousins not having many opportunities to visit and keep up with one anothers lives and we considered trying to get my sons and his brothers together sometime in August for a visit. Since it's now August and schedules are busy for the short time left, we rethought the situation and agreed that we don't have time this year. Further discussion led to the obvious solution ... it's time for another family reunion to be held next summer.
Since Sammy will be celebrating his 79th birthday on June 20, 2010, we wanted to shoot for that date, but Linnae Swihart Wintersteen's son, Nikk, is getting married in June, and Kurt's daughter, Ashley, is getting married the first week of August, and of course, the July 4 holiday is out, so this is going to take some planning.
We are considering the best location and obvious ideas came to mind--Champaign--although only John and Harriett Swihart and my sons live there now, and most of the younger family members don't even know where it's located. Las Vegas pops to mind too, but everyone would have to travel to get there and it's so darn hot. Missouri comes to mind in terms of numbers and travel. Kurt is checking locations, hotels, etc. He has one prospect that sounds good in terms of accommodation, cost, location, etc. Rachel, his eldest daughter, manages the Oasis Inn and Convention Center in Springfield, MO. She thinks she can get rates for us as low as $48 per night. Very upscale retro hotel with a pool and meeting rooms. There are lots of restaurants in Springfield, four lakes, a Bass Pro Shop, and nearby is Branson (which has three major golf courses, various kinds of entertrainment, and lots of night life) all within 30 miles. I was concerned about the traffic in Branson, but new exressways there make it much easier to get around.
The goal is for everyone who is interested in participating being able to do so. If you have any good ideas, you may post them on this blog, or send me a note and I'll post them so everyone can participate in getting this organized and underway.
There are so many new Swihart descendants, through marriages and births, that I'm losing track of them--many of whom I've never seen. I also want to see family members who I love dearly but seldom have an opportunity to see. Family is so important ... it saddens me that I'm missing knowing my relatives in this short life.
Several folks have been trying to get a reunion together for years, so I think we can count on Jenny Albee, Linnae Wintersteen, Deb Jobe, Terry McGonagle and others to be helpful in this process. Don't be intimidated by the technology ... it's very simple once you learn how to use it. It is the way of the future, so this is a good time to learn to use it.
You can contact me via email at
We will need everyone's participation to make this really successful. Let's do it!
Love and hugs,
Barbara ... or for purposes of this BLOG, I'm Babs.
