Once in a Lifetime Family Reunion

Share the emotional reuniting of four generations (71 people) from one family that scattered across America. As families spread further and further apart, reunions are making a comeback to keep traditions and family histories alive. 

 

Evie & Clarence Wedding Day 1948
image courtesy of BrilliantBabyProducts.com

This 3^rd & 4^th of July, in Black Lake, Michigan, after 67 years of marriage, Great-Grandparents Evie & Clarence will gather their entire living family of 71 people from all over America and will finally see their 28 great-grandchildren in one room; meeting many for the first time.  

With family members ranging in age from newborn to 86 this will be a day full of laughs, tears How of joy and memories that will be passed down for generations.

 

This is all thanks to Barbara Klee of Pemberville, Ohio entering a contest to win a Once in a Lifetime Family Reunion, and winning! TinyBeans, the app that makes sharing memories with family safe and simple for over 700,000 people around the world, is honoring Barbara Klee’s family with a $10,000 reunion of a lifetime!

Family Fun Day in Pouring Rain - Yes it Can Be Done!

Well, our annual Family Fun Day (aka Family Reunion) was this past Saturday. It poured rain almost all day so I had to hold it inside our house. That called for some last minute revisions of games, events and the meal!

But guess what? As horrifying as it first was to figure out how 30 people were going to fit into our home, and be entertained, and fed at tables (I don't like people eating on couches and antique chairs), it worked!

I still had everyone wear an ancestor name tag and find their matching ancestor spouse for a partner for the games. Then I placed the 10 objects on the coffee table and gave a 2 minute time period to study and memorize them. I learned the hard way that 2 minutes is way too long as almost every team got it right at the end. In future I'd give a one minute time limit or more objects.

After they studied the objects we covered them and handed out a 10 question multiple choice quiz. This was funny because the questions were all about my husband and I! So whoever knew us best would score well.

I noticed a lot of cheating going on (One of the grandchildren called it research, not cheating) with folks looking at other people's questions for answers.

After the quiz was done, we had a 10 question oral math round. As a former teacher I should have known better, but I told the teams to yell out their answers and first team with right answer would get one point. Big mistake. Because I made the questions super easy, there were many simultaneous shouts of answers and it became impossible to know who said it first. But it made for a lot of laughter.

And really it wasn't very fair as I taught Math in High School and guess what both my sons are amazing at? Yep - Math. So I kind of figured they'd score well for their teams and they did, with the most points. Good thing my daughter was late arriving or she'd have been a strong contender because she too is a math whiz.

Anyway it was fun but we had a tie between the two teams both my sons were on. I had to come up with a quick tie breaker so I played one song from my iPhone and whoever got the name of the song and the artist would win. I chose Stereo Hearts by Adam Levine and Gym Class Heroes so that made it tricky as they both kept guessing Maroon 5 as the group! Cheating almost won the day as one team tried to Shazam the song using their iPhone for the answer.

Seating for the meal was fine - we brought up portable tables and a card table, and used the mudroom, dining room, living room and entertainment room to set places. No one complained so I think it went well.

All in all a good time was had and the last family member left at 9 pm (it started at 1 pm). And yes I'll do it again next year even though I was exhausted and sore and aching everywhere by the time it was over. But that's okay as I rested up all day on Sunday. I'm already planning the 2013 Family Fun Day.

Games for Annual Family Fun Day

As many of my readers know, I host an annual Family Fun Day (aka Family Reunion). I have games and team activities and I try to incorporate some genealogy in there too!

Every year I try to come up with a new idea for the team activities. This year was tough and I honestly didn't know how or if I could top last year's Amazing Genealogy Race.

Well, I definitely haven't topped it but I have a new idea for this year. First, each friend or family member will be given a card to hang around their neck. The card has a name of an ancestor and the instructions "Find your ancestor spouse. He or she will be your partner in the team activities"

So for example one card is the name of my ancestor Cornelis Van Slyke. Whoever gets that card must go around and talk to everyone to find out who is wearing the spouse card of his Mohawk wife Ots-Toch. I do this to encourage folks to meet newcomers, and also to do a little family tree brainwashing. There are charts with pedigrees which I put up for those who don't know all the ancestors - which sad to say is most of my family!

The activities this year are few and they are simple, but I think they'll be fun. After partners find each other, the games begin. They must first go to our storage shed where they will find 10 objects on a table. Their job is to memorize the objects. They can't take a picture with their smartphone or camera. They can't write down what is on the table. It's all memorization.

I'll have some everyday objects such as a spoon, an egg, a guinea feather, a ruler. But I will also have some Ancestor Cards with a photo of an ancestor plus their name. Whenever a team thinks they have the objects memorized they must race off to the first of four events.

These events are easy, for example one is to toss a frisbie through a hanging hula hoop. The goal is to break the team members' concentration and make it harder for them to remember the ten objects.  The last event is a fun one - they must go to our pig field, toss a scoopful of food over and yell out "Piggy Wiggly Oinky Oink oink" to call the pigs. Then they count them (and remember how many they counted!) The goal of this event is to make hubs and I laugh. We plan to video folks as they do their silly call.

Then and only then do the teams race to the Pit Stop where they will find pencil and paper waiting. They write down the 10 objects plus the total number of pigs and give it to me. If they're wrong, back they go! First team to get it right wins the prize.

What do you think? Will everyone have fun?

Games for a Family Fun Day

Well it's that time again. In a month I have my annual Family Fun Day coming up. We always have a team event with prizes and lots of activities to choose from and this year I was having trouble coming up with something new.

I've created Scavenger Hunts, Genealogy Races, Amazing Race Genealogy style and more. But I wanted something new and something a little less work. Finally I've got a plan thanks to a little story my youngest son told me of a Military challenge he participated in! All I have to do was tweak it for my family and add a genealogy twist.

The basic idea is that I'll place 10 to 12 objects on a table in our shed and cover them with a sheet. The objects will have some kind of genealogy aspect to them - perhaps a photo of Great Grandma Simpson, the toast rack she owned, a family bible, etc. I might throw in non-genealogy objects such as a kitchen colander or a shovel - ordinary items you'd find in or around your home.

Family members will be partnered by finding their match to an Ancestor card I'll give each person when they arrive. The object is to race to the shed, study and memorize the objects then participate in 3 games of skill before heading to the last event. At the last event teams will write down what objects they saw in the shed. If they're wrong they go back to the shed and start over.

The 3 games of skill will be simple but will break their concentration, making it harder to retain what they've memorized. The games I've decided on are:

1. Toss a frisbee through a hanging hula hoop. Not as easy as it sounds.

2. Toss a ball into a hula hoop lying on the ground

3. Run to the pig pen and taking one scoop from a pail of food, toss it over the fence to entice the pigs out of their barn. Team members must call out "Piggy piggy oink oink oink" as they toss the food (hubs will be there to monitor the calling). The task is to count all our pigs. 

I am laughing already thinking of my family completing task #3.

Planning a Family Fun Day aka Family Reunion

Are you having a family reunion this year? I have one every summer. We call them Family Fun Days because I want everyone to have fun. Every year I plan a different team activity. 

Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger Hunts are popular. They're the easiest to set up. I have my family work with a partner. They don't choose their own partner, instead I have different ways for them to find one. Sometimes they have ancestor cards and have to find the person who has the matching card. Or they are given pictures of farm animals and have to find their partner match by making the animal sound.

Amazing Genealogy Race
Last year I created a Genealogy themed race. It was a version of the Amazing Race but each activity teams went to was based on a real event that happened to one of our ancestors. This required posters with instructions for each event, as well as hiding clues in plastic eggs, and arranging for referees at each event. It was super fun and hilariously funny but tons of work so I won't do that one again any time soon!

This year I'm debating creating another Scavenger Hunt but this time giving it a genealogy twist. I haven't worked out all the details yet but I've got two months to think about it.

Fun & Games
It's great to have one organized game with a prize for the winner(s) but you also want to let your family just talk and enjoy themselves. My rule of thumb is that the race or the Scavenger Hunt should not take more than an hour, but I aim for 45 minutes.

I put out lots of activities such as hula hoops, foam lawn darts, golf clubs, croquet set, football and so on. We also clean out the horseshoe pit and hubs makes sure the ATV is gassed up and ready to go.

Our ATV holds two small children on the back seat plus hubs driving, and I think it's the favourite part of the day for the grandchildren!

If you're running your Fun Day alone, you need to be super-organized. Here's a few tips that might help.

What do you do for your Family Fun Days?

Echo Smart Pen: Handy Tool for Genealogists

Echo Smart Pen

This is my new Livescribe 8 GB Echo Smartpen which I bought from Amazon.com

I've been looking at them for over a year and finally took the plunge to buy one last month.

The Echo Smart Pen allows me to record anything I want from my pen to special notebooks, and then transfer the recordings to my computer.

Special Noteboo

How great would that be at a family reunion? I could go from person to person and record a few minutes of their thoughts on the reunion, or their memories of past reunions, or I could ask them to give one memory of their childhood.  Then it would be a simple matter to transfer the recordings to my computer, turn them into text and create booklets for the next family reunion!

I can also visit my 88 year old auntie and have her reminisce about the past while my pen is recording and I make quick jot notes in the special notebooks.

The notebooks have controls at the bottom of the pages. You press on Start with your pen to begin recording and Stop when you are done. There are other controls - pause, rewind, scroll ahead for example. You can fast forward and do other functions directly in the notebook.

The jot notes are great because while you are recording the person, you make point form or jot notes. Then you can touch your pen to any point in your jot notes to replay just that portion of the recording.

I bought a set of 4 notebooks and my SmartPen came with one so I'm pretty set for recording family histories. For a limited time a purchase of the 8GB SmartPen also includes a one year premium subscription to Evernote  I already use the free version daily so I'm a happy camper)

Next week I will be visiting my auntie to start recording her memories. I'm really excited! 

Here's what came in the box:

• The Echo smartpen with 8GB of memory
• Livescribe Connect Premium: Includes Connect Basic (Facebook, Evernote, MyLivescribe, your mobile device, and your computer) plus additional connectors for Email and Google Docs
• Livescribe Desktop software for Mac or Windows (download)
• 500 MB of personal online storage
• Starter dot paper notebook
• Micro USB Cable
• Interactive Getting Started Guide
• Smartpen Tips and Tricks
• 2 smartpen caps
• 2 ink cartridges

 If you don't think you need anything as big as the 8GB, there is also the Livescribe 2 GB Echo Smartpen Starter Pack or the Livescribe 4 GB Echo Smartpen  available.

Geneabloggers Radio Show - I did it!

Last night I stayed up past my bedtime to be the last of 3 guests on Geneabloggers Radio Show "Until We Meet Again: Family Reunions and Genealogy" Guests were Edith Wagner, founder, publisher and editor of Reunions magazine and reunionsmag.com; Marilyn Stewart, better known as “Aunt Mo” who runs the Family Reunion Helper website; and me - Lorine McGinnis Schulze

It was a bit nerve-wracking but thanks to Thomas MacEntee's skill as host, it didn't take long for me to feel relaxed and comfortable. If you missed the show, enjoy it now!

Listen to internet radio with GeneaBloggers on Blog Talk Radio

If for any reason you can't listen to the show here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog, visit the BlogTalk Radio site to hear all three of us give our views on how to hold a fun and successful family reunion.

Olive Tree Genealogy to be a Guest on GeneaBloggers Radio!

I am super excited to be a guest on GeneaBloggers Radio on Friday, July 22, 2011 starting at 10pm Eastern, 9pm Central, 8pm Mountain and 7pm Pacific with special host DearMYRTLE discussing Until We Meet Again! - Family Reunions and Genealogy.

Quoting from the website:

"Our special guests will include: Edith Wagner, founder, publisher and editor of Reunions magazine and reunionsmag.com; Marilyn Stewart, better known as “Aunt Mo” who runs the Family Reunion Helper website; and Lorine McGinnis Schulze of the Olive Tree Genealogy Website. We’ll be discussing how to plan your next family reunion, how to include fun activities for all ages, and how to include your genealogy research to share with family reunion participants. "

Won't you join me on Friday night? It should be a fun show!

Family Fun Day - Let the Games Begin!

Family Fun Day was Saturday. It was a record day heat-wise - 32' Celsius and humid with no breeze. Phew. We had lots of water on hand although every family member and friend brought plenty to keep themselves hydrated. We had a turnout of 26 (7 of those were children aged 3 to 9)  as a few who were slated to come had to opt out at the last minute.

I like to let folks mingle for about an hour and then we start the organized games. The events were all genealogy themed and based on an actual event in an ancestor's life. See  Part 1 , Part 2 ,  Part 3 and Part 4 of this series of Genealogy Games for a family reunion. Finally I can tell you about the actual events!

Wampum Central

Found the beads!

Wampum Central.  Based on our Dutch ancestor Cornelis Van Slyke in New Netherland (New York) in 1637. Wampum was used as money instead of paper or coin. Teams had to find two red, two black, one green and one white bead buried in a wading pool full of corn. Then they had to string the beads on to a piece of embroidery thread, add a guinea feather and show Cornelis Van Slyke (played by me) to get their egg and next clue. At this event, the children jumped into the wading pool and were covered in white corn powder by the time they found their beads.


Apple Alimony. Based on my ancestor Albert Andriessen de Noorman who was ordered by the courts in 1680s to pay his ex-wife Geertruy 80 bushels of apples yearly as alimony.  Teams had to take a small plastic basket and fill it with apples from our apple trees then find Geertruy (played by my 87 year old auntie!) for their next egg and clue.

Eileen Vollick Flight School. Based on our cousin's achievement of becoming the first woman in Canada to get a pilot's licence in 1917. Teams had to toss frisbees (which I decorated with photos of Eileen in her flight uniform and plane) through a swinging hula hoop.

The Deer

The Shooters

Deer Run. Based on our Mohawk ancestors Ots-Toch and her son It-sy-cho-sa-quach-ka (his non native name was Jacques Van Slyke). We set out nerf guns and a nerf bow and arrow as well as small brightly coloured rubber balls. Teams had to stand behind the coloured ropes and watch for deer (played by my husband who hid behind a shed and scampered out to dart and weave and taunt the shooters). A direct hit by any weapon on the table earned them their next egg and clue. A great favourite with adults and children alike!

  Steve Peer Niagara Falls Tightrope Walk. Based on my great grandfather's cousin who walked Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Teams had to walk across 3 planks raised about 6 inches from the ground.

Carrying the Babies

Obstacle Tires

Mary Vollick's Escape From New York. Based on my Loyalist ancestor's wife flight from New York during the American Revolution. American patriots turned her and her 10 small children out of their home, burned the house to the ground then marched her into the woods several miles and left her there. She managed to get all of her children to safety in Montreal Canada. Teams had to carry 10 stuffed animals to safety through an obstacle course. The catch was that only one team member could carry the stuffed animals but the entire team had to complete the course.

Tee for Two. A golf maze based on Scottish ancestors. I set out croquet wickets and buried small cups in the ground. Teams had to use a tiny children's golf set to get their golf ball from the starting point, through the wickets and into the cup at the end.
  

Grenade Event

Grenade Event

WW2 Grenade Training. Based on my dad's service in WW2. Teams wore toy helmets and tossed toy grenades into a hula hoop on the ground. The children loved this game!
  
Ancestor Match. A puzzle game. I printed off 24 head and shoulder shots of ancestors and baby photos of some of those attending Family Fun Day, then printed out 26 names. Teams had to match names to photos.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and after we had all cooled down, we had our corn roast with barbeque chicken and hot dogs plus salads and desserts. Then the children went frog hunting at one of our smaller ponds and ended their day with ATV rides with my husband. Lots of fun and I can hardly wait til next year to do it again.

Genealogy Games for a Family Reunion: Ancestor Match (Part 4)

The family members and friends coming to our Family Fun Day this Saturday range in age from 3 years old to 87 years old. That was one of the things I had to take into account when setting up games and events. It's always an option to sit out but I wanted to have a few activities that might suit either end of the ages.

One activity I've organized as part of the Amazing Ancestor Race is a puzzle I call Ancestor Match. It should allow the older participants to catch up to the younger ones who will almost certainly get through the first few events quickly.

Ancestor Match

Ancestor Match

First I printed photos of ancestors as well as photos of those attending the Family Fun Day. The photos of those attending are when they were children.  I have 24 photos.

Then on another piece of paper I listed all the names of those in the photos and threw in two extra, so there are 26 names. It's an easy game - participants are asked to match names to photos.

To make it a bit easier I assigned numbers to each name so those playing only have to write a number under the correct photo.

Because not everyone will know who the ancestors are, I also created pedigree charts with photos and those will be on the wall. The observant family members and friends who spot the charts should realize that there are clues there.
 
See  Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 of this series of Genealogy Games for a family reunion.

Ten Tips for a Successful Family Reunion

Your Family Reunion day has arrived. You're hosting it. Are you ready? Or are you starting to panic? I host Family Reunions (we call them Family Fun Days) every year and I've learned a lot from my earlier mistakes.

Here are ten tips and guidelines that might help you survive.  Just remember that the key is organization! And everyone attending wants to have fun. So relax but stay organized.

1. Create a guest list, send out invites well ahead of the actual date of your reunion and keep track of who is coming and who isn't. Contact guests a week ahead to remind them.

2. Plan your food and decide who is bringing what - is it a potluck? Are you providing everything? Be specific in your invitations so that guests know what is expected of them.

3. Plan your activities and games. Keep  children in mind. Perhaps you want to provide games and goody bags specifically for  youngsters. 

4.  Create a Timeline for your Family Reunion.  Set a start and end time, then assign blocks of time to certain activities such as eating, organized games, free time, cleanup etc. These are flexible but as the host or hostess you need to keep things moving so you need a timeline.

Let's  say your Family Reunion is going to run from 1 to 6 pm.  Your timeline might look like this:

11 am set up games and activities outside
12 noon Pop and water in coolers, chips and nibbles out on patio
1 pm Guests arrive. Potluck food goes in fridges
1-2 pm Guests mingle, look at family charts and play games if they want
2 pm - 3 pm Scavenger Hunt (an organized activity)
3 pm - start the fire for the corn roast, get family members to help shuck corn
3:30 pm start barbeque
4 pm Supper (corn, hot dogs, hamburgers)
4:30 Coffee and tea
5 pm Cleanup
6 pm Guests leave

Your timeline can be as detailed or as basic as you want but having one will help keep you on track.

5. Create a master plan for your reunion. This is the list of all games, activities and food you are providing. I also like to have sketches of where things go.

For example for our Family Fun Day this year I'm organizing an Ancestor Race and there are several events that have to be set up that morning. So I made a rough sketch of our house and property with the location of each event shown.  I also have pails labelled with the name of the event and filled with whatever items are needed for that event. That will make it easy for whoever might be helping me set the events up to grab a pail, check my sketch, and get things ready without asking me questions.

6. Make a TO DO list for the week before your reunion. This is where you will note what foods you need to buy, what food prep you have to do (if any) and when, when you are going to tidy and clean your bathrooms and have extra toilet paper and hand towels ready, and all other miscellaneous tasks that might get forgotten or left to the last minute.

Example: My TO DO list for the week prior to my family reunion might look like this:

Monday: Grocery Shopping
Tuesday: Find coffee urn, plastic plates and all other reunion items. Set out buckets with Scavenger Hunt or Race items ready to be hidden outside
Wednesday: Clean and tidy house. Clean all patio furniture. Put Ancestor Charts up for family to see
Thursday: Make hamburger patties. Get bathrooms ready (extra soap, towels and toilet paper out)
Friday: Buy 60 cobs of corn from local farmer. Set out game items (frisbees, football, croquet, etc).
Saturday morning: Hide Scavenger Hunt or Race items outside. Put up posters

7. Keep the little details in mind. For example are you having name tags? If yes, you need pens for your guests to fill those name tags out. Hosting a reunion is hectic and the last thing you need is to be running around hunting for pens or some other item you suddenly realize is needed.

8.  Make a detailed shopping list. What food items do you need? What about plates and cutlery? Write it all down. For example I will need hot dogs,  buns, pop, bottled water, chips, pretzels, relish, mustard, ketchup, serviettes (napkins), plastic cutlery, butter for corn,  coffee and coffee cream. I usually write out everything I need for the reunion then tick it off if I have it on hand.

9.  Organize your games. Let's say you are having a Scavenger Hunt. What items do you need for it? Write them down! You'll need bags for family to put their items in as they find them. You'll need clues so bettter get those written and printed off. Do you need to hide items? Make a note of what you are going to hide and how many and where.

10. Last but not least, have a backup plan in case of rain. Our Family Reunions seem to always get rained out. I learned the hard way that I need a plan for what to do with 35 or more people trying to fit into my house and how to set up the buffet meal that I planned to have outside until it started raining. Perhaps you will want to rent a tent in case of rain. Or maybe you have a big family room and can easily accommodate all your family if rain forces everyone inside.

I'm pretty organized for this year's Family Fun Day (one week from today!) but I'm sure something will go wrong. It always does but that's part of the fun!

Genealogy Games For a Family Reunion: Race Events & Eggs (Part 3)

T-Shirt Prizes

My annual Family Fun Day is fast approaching and I'm still creating posters, flyers and other items needed for the Amazing Ancestor Egg Race.  I'm also busy organizing all the materials I'm going to have to set out the morning of the reunion.  I talked about what else I've done to create Genealogy Games for a family reunion in Part 1 and Part 2  of this series.

Yesterday I completed the t-shirts which are the prizes for this year's winning team. This year I did iron-on transfers as I didn't have the time to create hand-painted t-shirts.

In my genealogy themed race,  family members in teams of two must complete events in order to receive coloured plastic eggs containing their next clue.  Each clue directs teams to the next event.  Each event is based on an actual event in the life of one of my ancestors.

Amazing Ancestor Egg Race Events

Here are a few of the events my husband and I have created:

Deer Run Event

Deer Run In this event teams must help my 9th great grandmother Ots-Toch (a Mohawk French woman) and her son It-sy-cho-sa-quach-ka aka Jacques Van Slyke, my 8th great grandfather, hunt deer. I don't want to reveal how I've got this set up as too many of my family read my blog! Some of them will be trying to get a little edge on the rest of the players by reading my blog for clues. But it's not giving away too much by saying that using the tools I'm providing, teams must prove their ability to hunt alongside our ancestors Ots-Toch and Jacques.

WW2 Event Flyer

WW2 Grenade Training Course. This event is based on my dad's military service in WW2.

I bought toy grenades and toy army helmets at the Dollar Store and can hardly wait to take photos of my family and friends donning their helmets and tossing grenades to achieve the event goal.

Eileen Vollick Event Flyer

Eileen Vollick Flight School.  Eileen Vollick was the first female in Canada to obtain a pilot's licence. She's also a cousin. In this event teams will have to prove their skill at flying in order to get their next clue from Eileen. (played by a family member who has agreed to be the referee for this event)

I can't describe any more events I've got planned as that would give away too much to my family. But there are several skill testing challenges, all genealogy related, and one ancestor puzzle to complete before the final pit stop.


Event Referee & Ancestor Name Tags

Name Tags

Every event will have a referee wearing a name tag of an ancestor connected to the event. Most events will have a ref  watching to make sure teams don't cheat. Yes, my family are known for cheating in order to win.  One year two of my nieces (fully grown adults with children of their own) hid the scavenger hunt items as they found them so that other teams could not finish the hunt.

Some events don't have a referee watching the teams. When team members complete that event, they must find a specific ancestor and show that ancestor their completed task.  This is designed to slow teams down and scatter the field a bit.

Observant family may already have noticed some people wearing name tags of ancestors and will know who to look for. Others will have to race from person to person to determine who has the next egg and clue.

Eggs Filled With Clues

Eggs Filled with Clues

After creating all the genealogy ancestor events, I wrote out clues that will move teams along from event to event.  I had to make 15 copies of each clue as I expect 15 teams will participate. Then I folded the clues and inserted them inside plastic coloured eggs. Each event has a basket of eggs (labelled so I don't forget what basket goes with what event!) which the event referee can quickly grab just before the race begins.

I also created a master list of clue numbers and egg colours in case a basket gets spilled. Can you imagine trying to remember where the purple or yellow or.... any colour eggs go? So I have a list that shows that purple eggs belong to the  referee for the Deer Run event, yellow eggs are with Grenade Training and so on. 

Part of the fun is that teams must bring all their coloured eggs with them to the final pit stop. That should be in interesting exercise to see how creative my family is in figuring out how to carry those eggs.

Genealogy Games for a Family Reunion - Part 2 (Ancestor Cards)

In Part 1 of Genealogy Games for a Family Reunion I talked a bit about one of the genealogy-based events I'm setting up for our Amazing Genealogy Race. Today I want to talk about how race teams are chosen.

Our Family Fun Day (that's what we call it) should see about 35 people here. There will be 9 children under the age of 12. Because we are on a farm property we don't want children going around on their own so all children under 12 have to be with an adult.

Amazing Genealogy Race Rules & Boundaries

Amazing Race Rules & Boundaries

First I made a poster explaining the rules of the race and more importantly, the boundaries. Every year something unpleasant happens. One year my niece broke her ankle while participating in  the Scavenger Hunt. Last year several people were stung by bees when they ventured too near one of our outlying barns.

So this year I've reduced the boundaries to the cleared property around our house. I've drawn a very loose representation of the boundary area and explained it on the RULES poster.

Why a poster? Because no one listens to me when I try to explain the rules just before they start the game! My family apparently has a short attention span. Or I'm boring. Either way, they just mill about and chat and cat-call while I'm attempting to explain how to play the game.

Teams for the Amazing Genealogy Race consist of two adults (and as many of the under 12 years of age children they wish to have with them). I  want people to mix and mingle because we have invited my family, hubs' family and assorted friends. Some have never met.

Creating Teams Using Ancestor Cards

Sets of Ancestor Cards

So this year I've created Ancestor Cards. I made duplicate sets of the same ancestor with a photo, their name and brief biography on the card. Hubs laminated them as I hope to use them in future genealogy games.

There are matched sets and every adult will receive a card moments before the game begins.  After all the ancestor cards are given out, each person has to find whoever holds their matching card and that is their 2-member team. As soon as they find their match they are free to begin the race.

I'm really looking forward to them reading their ancestor bio and watching them race from person to person trying to find a match. I expect some of the more competitive younger family members to be yelling out ancestor names "Sarah Elvery Stead, I'm looking for Sarah Elvery Stead!!!" I can hear it all now and it makes me chuckle to think of it!

Some years I have them choose a card (last year it was animals) when they first arrive so they can wander around for the first hour of the reunion looking for their matching card. But this year I want it to be a bit more chaotic. 

I also want to spread out the teams and not have everyone racing to Event #1 at the same time.  The first event is a hunt for wampum in honour of our ancestor Cornelis Van Slyke, a Dutchman who lived in New York in the  mid 1600s .... but I'm getting ahead of myself! I'll talk about that event in another blog post.

Genealogy Games For a Family Reunion: Part 1

Summer's the time for family reunions. We have one every year or two at our home in the country and a Scavenger Hunt is a big part of the family fun day. But this year I'm doing something quite different. I'm creating a race - The Amazing Egg Race (this is the working title, we may change it) - which features 8 genealogy related events.

Hubs and I started brainstorming for this race about 3 months ago. Gradually it evolved into eight different events, each one based on an actual true event or life circumstance for one of my ancestors. For example, one of my cousins, a man named Stephen Peer, walked a tightrope across Niagara Falls in 1887, then later fell to his death - whether accident, suicide or murder is not known.

Poster with Flyer & Event Rules

So one of the events that teams must complete is the "Steve Peer Niagara Falls Tightrope Walk". The event will consist of a long narrow board raised about 4 to 6 inches from the ground, along which all team members must walk from one end to the other.

I don't want to give away too much information here in Olive Tree Genealogy blog, as some of my family actually read the blog! But I am creating posters on bristleboard and flyers for each event. The posters with rules and instructions for the specific event will be placed at the event location and laminated flyers taped to the poster.

Flyer for Steve Peer TIghtrope Walk

8.5 x 11 inch Flyers provide details of the specific ancestor - their births and deaths, and accomplishment that the race event is based on. I've also added pictures to hopefully generate more interest. 

An event "referee" wearing a name tag with that ancestor's name, will monitor the specific event. As each team completes an event, the team is given a coloured plastic egg. Inside the egg is their next clue which takes them to the next event. Simple!

But of course there are some surprises along the way. For instance, teams must reach the final ancestor pit stop with 9 coloured eggs and some other items which I can't mention here or it will give too much away. Let's just say that by the time teams reach one of the last events on the race, they'll be hard-pressed to figure out how they are going to complete it and manage to carry all their items and eggs to the finish line.

In future parts of this series about Genealogy Games for Family Reunions, I'll explain how teams are assembled (Spoiler: Think Ancestor Cards...), more of the events, prizes, and how to plan and organize your own Genealogy Family Fun Day.

What I would do differently at a Family Reunion

Well the Family Fun Fest (aka Family Reunion) is over. We held it Sunday at our place and thankfully the rain held off until all the games were played.

The Scavenger Hunt went well except we had a problem with people getting stung by bees over near the red barn! Unfortunately the nest was around the back and we had no idea it was there. I suppose that's one of the challenges of an outdoor family reunion in the country, but I still felt bad that it happened to my family and friends.

Even though my brother was savvy enough to read my Sunday morning blog post to get clues ahead of time, his daughter and her husband, plus my 4 year old grandson, won! Little Colby knows our property very well and he knew where a lot of the items (chicken eggs, carrot for a bunny, oak leaf, a letter in the mailbox) were.

The victory photo of the winners was amusing as Colby did his Dr. Evil impersonation and held it for all the shots.

After the Scavenger Hunt we had to scramble as it started to rain. Just a light drizzle at first so everyone moved under the awnings (until we ran out of room). But just as the meal was almost ready, corn was boiling over our outdoor firepit, and food was being placed on the tables on the front verandah, it began to pour.

I had no backup plan (note to self: create a Plan B next time for eating!) and had a moment's panic trying to think where 38 people would sit in my house to eat a very messy meal! But everyone was very good natured and they either sat outside under the awnings or made do with whatever little space they could find to park themselves inside. Luckily the food was fine as our front veranda is 40 feet long with a roof.

The most correct answers to the Family Trivia Game was won by my oldest son (go figure!!) and his prize was the McGinnis Family Book I created.

What would I do differently next year?

1. I would have name tags - and I'd ask each "guest" to put their name AND their relationship to me or to my husband. That would not only be kind of fun for distant cousins to figure out their relationship, but it would also help people to know who everyone is. There are complex relationships with today's blended families and sometimes Person A can't figure out how Person B fits into the family.

2. I'd shorten the Family Trivia Game, and I would have it a bit more structured. I'd have a set time where everyone who wants to play is given the sheet of questions and a pencil, then given a set amount of time to finish the task. I thought it would be more fun if they had all afternoon and could ask other family members for help, but that just resulted in confusion and people losing interest in the game.

3. I would put up a more prominent family chart - a simple pedigree chart - and make sure everyone knew where it was for viewing

It was a lot of fun and I can't wait til the next one!

Scavenger Hunt at Family Reunion

Today is the day of our big McGinnis Family Reunion. I always create a Scavenger Hunt for these gettogethers and this year is no exception. Because we live on a large property the hunt covers a fair bit of ground and usually takes from 30 to 60 minutes.

Because our reunion also includes my husband's family, and friends, I like to encourage mingling by creating random partners for the hunt. I do this by creating cards in pairs - either numbers or animals or colours. Sometimes I have people choose their cards as soon as they arrive. This gives them lots of time during the first hour of the party to look for their match. But other times I wait until the Scavenger Hunt is ready to start and then everyone picks their card and frantically hunts for their match. That's lots of fun as it gets quite noisy with people yelling out numbers, or animal names, or sometimes making the sound of their animal.

I like to have family gather some items but I also have them answer questions for part of the hunt. This year I tried to think of some genealogy questions that could be incorporated but decided instead to create a separate game called Family Trivia Game which I talked about in yesterday's blog post.

This year we are using pairs of animals and it should be fun to see everyone trying to find their matching animal.

So our Scavenger Hunt consists of gathering items such as:

* a piece of hay

* an oak leaf

* an egg (we have chickens but they don't lay enough eggs. So to make sure everyone finds an egg, I hardboiled 2 dozen which we will hide in the barn and around the yard. However the teams will not be told that the eggs are hardboiled. Instead each team wil be told that they need to be very careful with their eggs since they are freshly laid by the chickens and can't come back to me broken.... just a little McGinnis twist!)

* a Canadian flag (I'm going to plant small ones on sticks around the yard)

* an apple (we have apple trees scattered around the property)

I also ask questions such as

* How many outside doors are on our house
* How many barns do we have
* What is the name of hubby's tractor?

For a bit of extra fun this year, I took envelopes and addressed them to each animal team. I then created stamps using the animal picture from the cards I made, and on each stamp I printed a postage amount (2c, 5c, etc) The instructions and question posed on the Scavenger Hunt say that it is Mail Call. Each team has to get their team mail (it's up to the teams to figure out there is a rural mail box at the end of our driveway) and bring it back. They must also note the cost of their stamp. But the trick is that I fastened the stamps on very loosely, and it is almost guaranteed that many will fall off before the team checks the postage. Yes okay I have a bizarre sense of humour....

For an extra surprise I sealed all the envelopes and in each one I put a slip announcing that team had won a bonus prize. It will be interesting to see which of the teams open their envelopes! The bonus prizes are small tokens which are genealogy related - bookmarks I created with genealogy slogans on them.

I think this will be quite a bit of fun and as long as my niece doesn't break her ankle again (as she did at the last family reunion at our place) we should be okay.

Family Reunions & Genealogy Games

Tomorrow is a big McGinnis family reunion at our home. We have these about every 5 years, and each year I try to incorporate new games for everyone to play. Because my family is not as passionate about genealogy as I am, I like to brainwash them (oops, I mean educate them!) with a little bit more genealogy and ancestor stories at each gathering.

This year we are having my infamous Scavenger Hunt - it's infamous because at the last gathering my niece broke her ankle! Yes, she was running down our gravel driveway during the hunt and lost her footing. Our property is a 100 acre hobby farm so there's lots of places for mishaps to occur. My Scavenger Hunt is not a genealogy based game but it's lots of fun and everyone seems to enjoy it. Because we are on a large property the boundaries of the hunt are clearly laid out and I hide items when necessary. More on that in tomorrow's blog post!

We will also be playing a game called Family Trivia Game. I created a list of 15 questions about the family - asking such things as "What was the maiden name of Grandma McGinnis?" and "Which ancestor is famous for being the only person to die walking a tightrope across Niagara Falls?" and "What year did Grandma & Grandpa Fuller leave England to come to Canada?"

I create fairly easy questions because of my family's general lack of interest in all things genealogy! But I like to include questions about facts they probably don't know and I'm hoping they'll remember when they leave. If my 11 year old grandson were able to be with us tomorrow, he'd win this game hands down. He knows more about our ancestors than anyone in the family besides me.

One of my questions this year (and this is a big help for any of my family reading my blog before tomorrow!) gives one point for each sibling they can name for four of our ancestors - our Grandpa Fuller, Grandma Fuller, and Grandma & Grandpa McGinnis. I like to give clues so for this question I told them that the total number of possible points is 15. That should help.

I also create a simple ancestor (pedigree) chart that goes on a clipboard I will place outside on one of the tables. Anyone who checks that chart will be able to answer some of the questions. This year I added a question that involves them looking at a photograph of one of our ancestors taken in England in 1894. I hope that adds a little more visual interest to the game. I gave the relationship of the ancestor to me (2nd great-grandmother) and they have to tell me her name. I suspect no one will know it, but they might realize they can check the 16-generation genealogy chart in my computer room to see who fits the bill.

As family arrive they'll be given the sheet with the questions, and a pencil. They have several hours to work on their questions, because I won't be posting the answers until after the corn roast and meal is over. So that will give everyone about 3 hours to try to come up with the answers. Each person will mark their own sheet (hey, my family is honest, aren't they?) and the prize for the person with the most points is a copy of my McGinnis Family book.

I'm excited to try this game out tomorrow, it was very difficult to limit the questions to 15! I kept thinking of questions I wanted to ask, but my husband pointed out it was starting to look too much like an exam at school! Here's hoping I hit the middle ground and asked questions that weren't too difficult but were interesting enough to pique family members' interest.