Hello Again Family & Friends--
The last time Pittsburgh held a reunion was 1984. We are really getting geared up for your visit in July. And we are so thrilled to hear so many exciting comments and helpful reflections. However, the Coordinators recently had our Kinfolk Representatives "phone conference" meet and discovered something interesting. A lot of the Kinfolk chapters (we include ourselves in this) simply are not meeting regularly enough. Yes, we're all super busy, in a super busy world, and perhaps, if there is not a reunion happening in your town, you simply don't think it's important. But nothing could be further from the truth!
The reason the first reunion was held in Pittsburgh in 1980, was because the family was becoming splintered. In agreement with family members from across the country, we formed a mandate to keep in touch with our blood relations, to continue research into your background, to foster "the positive" in our upcoming generations and to generally keep all of us in the spirit of God as we continued forward in our lives. Now, as with every one else, the ability of family to spread even further, be involved in much more than was possible years ago, and our difficulty in keeping our young folks engaged, has threatened to change the shape of future family events.
Through the Coordinator's conversation, we discovered keeping our family reunions relevant means involvement and inclusion throughout the year; not just during reunion times. We also realized, the willingness of the elders to keep the lines of communication open with our young people is imperative. Discussions about our family, its growth, and its legacy should happen on an on-going basis, so that when the reunions come up, young people aren't asking "Why should I go?"
Another issue is how people--young and older in this case--want to spend their money. While, for many of our family, the reunion is a priority, some are conflicted. As it was pointed out in our conference call, some would rather have the designer shoes, the tattoos or buy very expensive booze. (Yes, you should be laughing)
But it our job as family to impress on all close to us the equal importance of "family." We in Pittsburgh are confident you will support us as we have supported all of our chapters in the past decades, but we also know it's going to continue to be more and more difficult as the years go by for future reunion planners. So we are putting out a Family APB: Please plan to reinstate regular meetings with your local Kinfolk Chapters ASAP. And let them know that in addition to the many sites and venues they can visit while they are in Pittsburgh, there will be plenty of time for family gathering and discussion. Including daily times in our hospitality room, morning stretch and swim session, which we hope will be programmed by different chapters (Call us for details!) our Friday night " Taste of Home" program, our two genealogy workshops and Kinfolk Coordinator's meeting (Lots to talk about!). And of course our Saturday Night Banquet. Come one; come all! Let's make this reunion a family renaissance!
Christine
Coordinator, Pittsburgh Kinfolk
412-596-6521
