Relatively Speaking Blog

For some September invokes thoughts of colorful fall leaves, crisp autumn air, and the aroma of pumpkin spice. For me September makes me think of my family as this month has become when the descendants of Charles and Lucy Swank Brown gather for a family reunion. It has been held in Indiana County PA for over twenty years, usually on the second Sunday of the month, although some years it had been changed to a different Sunday due to scheduling conflicts. The reunion is a perfect time to reconnect with cousins I might not see throughout the year. This year, unfortunately, it has been cancelled due to Covid19.

One of the first organized Brown family gatherings I remember was in 1981 when my three aunts in Indiana PA held a reunion in their backyard on a beautiful summer day. The day brought back vague memoires of my cousins and me playing in that yard as little kids. Eight of Charles and Lucy’s children, about twenty of their grandchildren and nine of their great grandchildren attended that event. I know my aunts enjoyed seeing everyone together and mentioned how their eldest sister, Susie, would have liked the event. A few years later another one was held, but it did not draw as many people as the first one; I missed it myself.

In the early 1990s the family gatherings began occurring spontaneously at the funeral home for some of my aunts and uncles. A few cousins remarked that “we had to stop meeting like this,” and that “we needed to have a get together not at a funeral.” Although we all shared the same sentiment of the cousins getting together, nothing got organized.

We had a few gatherings later in the 1990s. In 1995 when my Aunt Betty came in from Michigan to visit, we had an impromptu reunion at my aunts’ house. Many of the local relatives stopped in, if only for a little while, to say hello; a few had even travelled from out of state. The next gathering took place in 1997 when my dad was fighting cancer and my sister hosted a reunion. Unfortunately he was not well enough to attend, but it was good to see many of my cousins come to show their support, then, as well as later the next year at his funeral. These picnics were the kind we had talked about earlier in the decade, and it was not until the fall of the next year that the annual reunion began.

In September 1998 we celebrated my Aunt Mazie’s 80th birthday with a surprise party for her at a park. Her grandchildren from out of state came as well as many nieces and nephews. We had such a fun time that those attending agreed to have a picnic the next year in September. We decided to make it a potluck and we spread the word. Thus the annual Brown reunion was established.

In addition to a covered dish lunch, our reunion consists of Frisbee golf, bingo with prizes, games for the kids, and an auction to help raise money for expenses for the next year’s picnic. Sometimes the auction brings out some fierce, but friendly, competitive bidding between family members. When my Aunt Helen was alive, she would often raise the bid by a nickel to be funny. Now, occasionally during the auction one of my cousins will raise a nickel in the spirit of Aunt Helen.

Although many cousins are local to the area, other cousins drive several hours from Pittsburgh, Erie and State College to attend. Some years cousins from out of state, such as Arizona, Michigan and North Carolina have attended. One year we had guests from Indiana and New York; Harry Fortunato and Mary Wheeler, descendants of my grandfather’s brother Harry, made a special appearance after I had attended one of their reunions the year before. It was a pleasure to share the day with these distant cousins.

There were a few years when the reunion was lightly attended as many of my cousins’ children were away at school or working. As these kids have grown into adults, married and now have children of their own, they attend regularly bringing a new generation to the annual picnic. It’s wonderful to see second and third cousins meeting and playing with each other annually.

Over the twenty some years the weather, for the most part, has been in our favor. Even on the dreary or rainy days, it was never a total washout. That is except for the one year when the remnants of tropical storm Gordon came pummeling through on reunion day, making for the wettest and coolest gathering we ever had. It also made for a quicker than normal reunion as we packed up a little earlier than usual; but we were glad to have spent a few hours together to catch up, and the rain did not dampen our spirits. Thankfully this was the exception as most picnics had pleasant fall weather.

As the family historian, I am often wrangling families for photos each year. These pictures are enjoyed by all, even those who resist getting their picture taken or joke that they’ll break the camera. Since the first organized gathering in 1981, these photos document the many changes in the family. The older generation of Charles and Lucy’s children have now all passed away, and it is wistful to look at those older pictures and see their smiling faces. We all seem so young in those pictures spanning some thirty years. Those little kids when the reunions began are now adults with their own children, who in time will add more descendants to the Brown line with the next generation of families.

September holds many special memories of family for me. In the absence of our annual reunion, I will be thinking of my cousins and missing the time we typically have to catch up and observe our shared family connection. Although I cannot share in person any new genealogical finds or family pictures, I will recollect all the good times I have had at the many reunions with my Brown family. I wish all my cousins much health and happiness through the next year and I hope to see you all at the Brown reunion in September 2021.