The first step to planning your family reunion is accepting the fact that this family reunion endeavor will take up a lot of your time and that you will persevere no matter what. Making a commitment to oneself to do whatever it takes to finalize every needed step is of utmost importance. You should not be about giving up when your plans do not go according to your desires or when you receive your first negative response from your favorite in-law. Your listening skills, patience and willingness to cooperate with the majority will be challenged. To make your job easier having your own home office and supplies to get you started is almost mandatory! Do not get discouraged! Give it your best try! At least you can say you at least tried but do not try to do it alone!

Taking on the role of chairman of your family reunion committee as this writer did can be fun. The planning process provides you an opportunity to show off your leadership, organization skills, increase your confidence and self-esteem and an opportunity to get to know relatives like you have never known them before! Close up and personal! Having the responsibility of planning your family reunion is a time-consuming process but a labor of love. Give yourself at least a year to gather and consolidate your ideas to present to your family members and to get a feel for the consensus among family members. It would be advisable to first casually discuss your idea with other family members in an informal setting perhaps a birthday party or personal telephone call to get their feedback. Luckily for me, my family was ready for a major family get-together after several years of being incognito! Our family reunion committee consisted of my father, three brothers, two sisters, five cousins and my spouse.

Your next step would be to communicate with all family members through formal correspondence channels, e.g., first class mail or a telephone call. Call a meeting of all family members – interested and not at this point. Email at this stage would not be advisable because many people do not check their email in boxes for days at a time. Although email at a later date, works perfectly once all interested family members have been informed to watch for emails from the family reunion committee. But, first class mail is more reliable. Send first class mail to family members on attractive stationery requesting interested parties to contact you with the role in which they would like to play in the planning stages of their family reunion. We included a survey asking potential participants many questions about choices of places, locations, foods, special needs, etc. We also included self-addressed, stamped envelopes for return responses. At a later date, we solicited a RSVP form for more feedback information.

Be creative! Get everyone excited! Remain upbeat and positive! Once you have gotten the majority of positive feedback for the go ahead of your family reunion, set up a meeting that is as convenient as possible for everyone who responded positively. Let them know that the number one agenda item will be the election of officers for the family reunion committee and that refreshments will be served "initially" at your expense and probably at your residence. Refreshments can be cheese and crackers or something you can quick fix in your kitchen. Do not over expend yourself. This can be easy to do because of your excitement!

The officers that make up the Family Reunion Committee are all considered part of the Executive Committee. The positions up for election were: Chairman, President, Vice President, Sergeant-At-Arms, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Secretary, and Assistant Secretary. Communicate this information in your letter of invitation to join! The duties and responsibilities of each position can vary with the needs of the family reunion committee but a brief job description for each position is discussed below:

• Chairman: The Chairman oversees all activities. In conjunction with the committee, the chairman shares in the decision-making process of the family reunion. The Chairman chairs the meetings, approves the agenda and assures that the committee remains focused and adheres to the time frame for the completion of each project or tasks at hand.
• The Chairman and/or President can be one in the same but if there is someone that you can work with extremely well in the President’s position, do open it up for election. But, there is no guarantee that you will get the person you want. In a proper election, the majority rules.
• Vice-President: The Vice-President assists the President. The Vice-President acts on behalf of the Chairman or President. The Vice President can and usually do assist other committeemen as well.
• Sergeant-At-Arms: The Sergeant-At-Arms assures that order is maintained within the committee. Some family reunions can be quite formal by abiding by Robert’s Rules of Order.  You can visit your local library for a book on Robert's Rules of Order at http://www.chicagopubliclibrary.org.
• Treasuer: The Treasurer records and monitors all monies incoming and outgoing for necessary items to assure a successful family reunion. The Treasuer is responsible for preparing a weekly/biweekly/monthly financial report to the committee.
• Assistant Treasurer: The Assistant Treasurer assists the Treasurer. The Assistant Treasurer may have check-signing rights to disburse funds or receive funds with the added signature of the Treasurer and Chairman.
• Secretary: The Secretary is responsible for taking the minutes of the meetings. The Secretary is responsible for all office procedures, including typing, filing, family reunion mailings, etc. The Secretary reads the previous meeting minutes at each meeting. The meetings are either accepted as read or revised and accepted.
• Assistant Secretary: The Assistant Secretary assists the Secretary.

There are other positions that can be developed to fill needed responsibilities to make your family reunion event more successful. For example, someone may volunteer to transport equipment, food, chairs, etc. No position nor need should go unfilled if the manpower is available. There is no way you can do it all yourself. We had cookers at the picnic! And, a clean up crew!

If possible, all Executive Committee Officer positions should be filled by the end of the first election meeting. The attending family members should make a determination if proxy votes will count during the election. Elected officers should be informed of their respective responsibilities. Before the election meeting is adjourned, the next meeting agenda items should be agreed upon, a date set for your next meeting and location. Any unresolved issues can be tabled for the next meeting.

• What is the event;
• When will the family reunion take place, including time ;
• Where will the family reunion be held;
• Why a family reunion;
• How much is it going to cost as a whole;
• Who will pay?

The details for these topics will be decided conjointly by all members of the family reunion committee. Once the decisions have been made the members of the committee decides who is responsible for each activity based upon their elected position. In many cases, members may wish to or can work on other committees within the family reunion committee as long as their main responsibilities are not neglected.

As mentioned above, we submitted a survey to gather information to assist us in making this family reunion memorable for everyone. This was also the way we based all of our expenses. For our food expenses, we estimated our restaurant expenses per plate, per adult and/or per child. For our outdoor expenses, we estimated individual serving sizes per adult/child in addition to the cost of the park grounds. In some cases we charged by family, e.g., two adults and number of children. We were also able to reimburse ourselves for initial out-of-pocket expenses.

Our family reunion entailed a three-day celebration, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until noon. For our out-of-town family members and late payments, registration and/or sign in took place at Among Friends, Family and Company, http://www.amongfriendsfamily.com from 6a.m. to 9p.m. Arrangements were made for out of town family members to stay with other family members or at neighboring hotels. Driving directions to all events were also provided. On Saturday we had our family reunion picnic at the Calumet City Green Lake Pool and Beach, http://www.fpdcc.com/tier3.php?content_id=55 and Sunday we had a buffet brunch/dinner at Captain’s Hard Times Restaurant in Chicago. The oldest living family members were recognized and celebrated as well as a moment of silence for those who were no longer with us. In addition to games and giveaways, as an added bonus all families attending were given a 168-year family tree history in booklet form dating back to the year 1831 by the writer of this article, LaVerne A. Smith-Bell. Another major challenge but interesting and informative, the family tree history information was solicited from many old and young family members by the writer through telephone calls, chance meetings, letters, pictures, emails, and face-to-face interviews.

During the planning process, it is important for the family reunion committee to stay in touch with other family members who could not be a part of the planning process for whatever reason. A one to two-page bi-weekly or monthly newsletter is a good method for communicating the family reunion planning stages progress. Continue to encourage family members to join the planning process. Suggest that they send pictures, articles and updates for inclusion in the family reunion newsletter as well as suggestions and recommendations for family reunion ideas.

We hope this article will be helpful in planning your family reunion celebration. Please email us at contactus@amongfriendsfamily.com if we can be of further assistance in your family reunion planning process. Have fun!