Sara Marberry
Ninety-seven years ago, my great-grandparents Emmett and Alice Gray started a reunion in Weldon, Illinois, to bring their six children and other relatives together every August.
But it wasn’t just a social gathering. They wrote a charter, had members and officers, and conducted meetings governed by Roberts Rules of Order.
These binders, which I have because I’m the current Secretary-Treasurer of The Gray Reunion, contain the minutes of those meetings. Until the 1990s, most were hand-written by various women of The Gray. Having beautiful handwriting isn’t a requirement for the office (nor is being a woman), but the sweeping, precise cursive strokes preserved in these minutes is rarely seen anymore.
Last year, as research for a book I’m writing, I read all the minutes and put them in these binders, along with the original cover made by someone long ago. For the most part, the details are similar -- who was there, where the reunion was held, how much money is in the kitty, who was elected to office, committee tasks, where the reunion will be held the following year, and who did what for entertainment.
In 1969, reunion members started sharing the highlights of their year. These accounts are also similar. Because life changes, but often not in very dramatic ways. Every year, people vacation at the same places, watch their kids play the same sports, have the same jobs, do the same hobbies, and follow the same sports teams. They get married, have babies, those babies grow up, and the cycle starts again.
The binders also include poems written by my Grandma Ruby (The Gray’s official poet laureate), reunion trivia, essays, newspaper clippings, and other things shared for entertainment. There are also tributes to family members who have died and historical information about Emmett and Alice’s life.
I’m guessing not many families have written legacies like this. And because the books change keepers each time a new Secretary-Treasurer takes office, they may be in danger of being lost some day.
All the more reason to start a digital archive. Do I have a motion for this?