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SPRING INTO FAMILY REUNION PLANNING
National Family Reunion Institute
Virtual Family Reunion Planners Workshop
was sponsored by:
FAIRFAX COUNTY
HOTEL NEGOTIATIONS
THE SITUATION : MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
Our family is having a hard time maintaining momentum for the reunion after the loss of several significant family members/leaders. How do we regain the enthusiasm that we once had when so many family members are feeling grief over the loss of others?
We believe reunions have the power to nourish and strengthen families of all races and ethnicities. Reunions can encourage healthy extended family relationships, provide a sense of belonging, restore family pride, nurture and respect all generations, and impart wisdom, knowledge and a shared purpose. Our goal is to strengthen, inspire and support family reunion planning; share useful information and resources; and advocate for the teaching of family and reunion history, values and experiences.
- Dr. Ione Vargus
Planning a family reunion? Click below for tips on:
NEED HELP with a Sticky Reunion Situation?
- Check the SRS Archives (CLICK HERE) -OR-
- Contact us (CLICK HERE).
It’s March. Time for the big thaw and elevating our reunion goals.
Spring is right around the corner and with Spring comes hope. And this year we’re hopeful that more of our reunions can get back on track, resume face-to-face gatherings, and experience record attendance.
This March is bursting at the seams with things to do, celebrate, educate, explore, and make great family time out of, including Social Workers Month and Women’s History Month. Dr. Ione Vargus, trailblazer, pioneer and founder of the Family Reunion Institute, is a big advocate for social work, and has earned her stripes as one of the many accomplished and acclaimed women we should pay homage and tribute to this month.
Not only was Dr. Vargus an Acting Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Temple University, she served as the first African American academic Dean, and the Dean of the School of Social Administration. Her lifetime of achievements make her one of the women whose contributions to family, reunions, history, culture and society are acknowledged and celebrated.
March is also host to hundreds of observances. You can check out the 70+ we’ve selected for family fun in this month’s FAMILY TIME. This month’s REUNION TIP OF THE MONTH is a deserved repeat, and speaks to the issue of Common Courtesy. WORTH REPEATING is an ode to Social Work. And PRACTICAL FAMILY REUNION PLANNING is an invitation.
If you’re looking to advance or fire-up your reunion planning this month, join us on Saturday, March 23rd, 12noon to 2pm EDT for Spring Into Family Reunion Planning—another National Family Reunion Institute virtual workshop. We will cover Family DNA Projects; Pros & Cons of Family Dues; and the Nuts & Bolts of 5 Fundraising Questions for Reunion Planners and Consumer Rewards Fundraising. Interested? CLICK HERE for more information. CLICK HERE to register.
Here’s hoping that Spring delivers an abundance of brighter days, ingenious planning, and dazzling reunions—with glowing results. Let’s stimulate our reunion planning—and family members. Let’s motivate our children, encourage our elders, and inspire everyone in-between. Let’s take the time to make and enjoy happy family memories, and keep in touch.
Be well, be safe and keep planning.
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NEW NOW...
- Reunion Tip of The Month
- Practical Family Reunion Planning
- Family Time
- Worth Repeating
- Sticky Reunion Situation
Common Courtesy doesn’t seem to be as popular today as it was in the past, and family elders routinely mention the lack of common courtesy at some reunions. So what’s a family to do?
March 21, 2024 is Common Courtesy Day. If your family reunion is in need of a common courtesy make-over ask family members to identify what courtesies the family is lacking. Use the responses to create a list, and ask family members what they can do to overcome it. Come up with a slogan or tagline about common courtesy that you send out with every message to the family. (Example: Davis Common Courtesy. See it. Be it. Live it.)
Ask family members to practice common courtesy every day until the reunion starting with saying hello and goodbye when entering rooms. Greeting family elders respectfully (Cousin John, Aunt Evelyn, Uncle Fred…not John, Evelyn, Fred). Using family-friendly language (no cursing, harmful slang, dissing). Putting down cellphones when engaging/talking with others.
Make a game out of it. Create Common Courtesy Coins that family members can earn. At the end of the reunion, the person with the most earned coins wins a prize. You can have categories of winners based on age groupings or generations. The goal is to get family members spreading respect, courtesy and love for one another intentionally all year long, especially during the reunion.
March is bursting at the seams with plenty to do, eat, explore, discover, celebrate, enjoy and make great family time out of. Did you know that March is the host to over 100 observances? We hand-picked over 70+ to help encourage and inspire your family time this month, including Easter, Irish-American Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, Social Workers Month, Incredible Kid Day, Forgive Mom and Dad Day, Expanding Girls’ Horizons in Science and Engineering Month, Ethics Awareness Month, National Optimism Month, Spiritual Wellness Month, National Nutrition Month, Common Courtesy Day, World Compliment Day, Zero Discrimination Day, Plant a Flower Day, Let’s Laugh Day and Take a Walk in the Park Day.
Want to know how to turn these observances into great March Family Time? Have a discussion, do some research, discover something new. Make a game of it, make a meal of it, create an activity around it, get the whole family involved, and don’t forget to make it fun.
"Reaching younger generations, building expectations, creating a sense of worthiness, building up self-esteem and high expectations, offering scholarships, and getting children to think beyond where they are, is highly important. There’s nothing better than being able to offer real-life role models that look like you, can talk with you and can mentor you. Children need role models outside of the sports and entertainment world and that’s one of the benefits of the family reunion. And that’s definitely one of the benefits of reunions being more than just a picnic".
- Dr. Ione Vargus
"The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope."
- Barack Obama
"I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint—and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you."
- Oprah Winfrey
"The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves
in the service of others."
- Gordon B. Hinckley
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time
and always start with the person nearest you."
- Mother Teresa
"There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues are created, strengthened and maintained."
- Winston Churchill
PATIENCE PAYS...
Tondra Talley, Vice-President of the Mitchell Family reunion, was worried. A whole lot of planning had gone into the reunion, but not many reservations were being made. “I’m thinking OMG, nobody’s going to show up,” Talley remembers.
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