[speaker001:] oops hello I pressed the button one so we're recording right now I'm sorry
[speaker002:] hello that's okay I'm Bill from Raleigh
[speaker001:] okay and I'm Melanie from Harrisville Utah
[speaker002:] oh so another one from a different state besides Texas
[speaker001:] yeah um okay Bill we're talking about family reunions
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] okay um have you ever had to plan a family reunion
[speaker002:] uh yes and no it wasn't really a family a planning one but it was kind of uh it was a birthday and I brought a lot of family together then
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh and how did you feel it went
[speaker002:] it went pretty good I'm I've worked in hotels so I I kind of know how to do these things I used to you know
[speaker001:] oh all of this planning and and getting together and such um oh let's see what else
[speaker002:] usually when we have kind of our family reunion it's my grandmother's birthday and
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and it's all of like she she comes from a big family she has like seven sisters I think
[speaker001:] oh boy
[speaker002:] and they show up and all their kids and then all she has uh I have like uh let's see she has four sons and two daughters and
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] they show up and all their kids so it's a pretty big reunion it's about two hundred people maybe
[speaker001:] oh my word oh well what did you find was most helpful in planning the birthday get together
[speaker002:] um the probably the biggest challenge was uh getting a place where everyone you know could eat comfortably and and everything uh
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] I guess probably the most helpful thing was that uh for the rent uh we rented like a a rescue squad building or something like that and uh
[speaker001:] oh uh-huh
[speaker002:] each one of the everybody that showed up donated donated some money for the rent and for for like soft drinks and and so nobody like really got stuck with the bill each person in the family you know brought a dish or some
[speaker001:] oh oh that's good uh-huh and then did you have a main meal or did everyone just bring it was just potluck uh-huh
[speaker002:] it was kind of potluck you know everybody brought their specialties I guess you would say
[speaker001:] yeah yeah show off a little bit
[speaker002:] yeah and of course my grandmother's food was as always gone first because she's such a great cook
[speaker001:] oh oh now how old is she
[speaker002:] uh she's eighty six
[speaker001:] oh goodness is she pretty spry is she you know pretty
[speaker002:] now she does she looks probably like she's in her early sixties
[speaker001:] oh wow
[speaker002:] and if she didn't have arthritis she'd get around better than me as a matter of fact
[speaker001:] uh-huh oh oh well that's neat that she's in good health and that at that age
[speaker002:] oh yeah uh my nickname for her is honey woman that's what I call her
[speaker001:] yeah oh really well that sounds fun well I I had a real challenge of planning a family reunion a few years ago and there were we sent out five hundred uh announcements because our family is quite large like your your family there and so that was a real challenge and I was president of our family reunion for two years and I wasn't sure I appreciated that duty for two years in a row but I found that advance planning was the key to success
[speaker002:] uh also one thing that's helpful and I don't know if your family's spread out or whatever but most of all my family lives like in the same county so it's just kind of like get on the telephone and
[speaker001:] uh-huh oh well that was wonderful though
[speaker002:] it's so and such days from such and such date and everybody just shows up
[speaker001:] oh oh well that is that is helpful yeah our family ranges from oh goodness well Australia I have a brother lives in Australia to uh Boise Idaho and and uh all kinds of places
[speaker002:] I would say you're spread out then
[speaker001:] we are
[speaker002:] uh my my immediate family you know my my parents and my brothers and sisters I guess we're the ones that have the gypsy blood or whatever because my dad was in the Army and we were
[speaker001:] oh
[speaker002:] we were pretty strung out all over but since they've moved back to Carolina's uh we still are the only ones do not live in in Anson County
[speaker001:] in oh
[speaker002:] I live in Raleigh and then my my parents live in Greenville and I have one brother and his wife live in Greenville and um another brother that lives in outside of Fayetteville so I mean we're we're
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] we're spread out but everybody else is centralized in in my home town Waynesboro so
[speaker001:] boy oh my gosh
[speaker002:] nobody moves away except us yeah I got out as soon as I graduated
[speaker001:] they must really like it there yeah oh
[speaker002:] just like this town is too small for me good-bye
[speaker001:] oh you're ready to move on to big