The Ranch Inn Has Two Rooms!

Marie called me yesterday to tell me that the Ranch Inn (the main gathering place for the reunion) just had two rooms open up and she will hold them for Park family reunion attendees only until Monday, the 18th. Both rooms have a full and two twin beds. Hope someone out there can use them!

Let's Talk Turkey!

After taking a couple of weeks off to help mom (Barb) begin to recuperate from a recent fall which left her with a broken hip and wrist, it is time to get back to the business of planning the final details of the family reunion, which are, as follows:

• MENU The place we will be gathering at is an outdoor pavilion. We will have access to running water (no sink) and electricity (no stove) so, for the most part, it will be somewhat like camping. In the interest of simplicity, we plan to have simple breakfasts and lunches, with a big dinner each night.
• For breakfast, we will serve cereal, fruit, yogurt, sweet rolls, milk, coffee,and juices. Babz requested that we have bacon and/or sausage one day and volunteered her family to cook it, so we may have that as well. (Yay, Babz!)
• For lunches, I was planning al'a'cart fixings for sandwiches, assorted chips, cold veggies, cookies, punch and ice tea. This will make it easy for those wishing to take a sack lunch while swimming, etc.
• For dinners, Thursday night will be hot dogs, hamburgers and salads and Saturday night will be dutch oven chicken and potatoes
• Friday afternoon and evening we have reserved an indoor community center, which has a fully equipped kitchen, tables, chairs, bathrooms, the works. We will have a big dinner, with roast, potatoes, gravy, rolls, salads, corn-on-the-cob and cheese cake for dessert.

This is subject to revision. I have already changed my mind several times and reserve the right to do so again before we are finished. :)

If you or your family has a special cereal request, let me know, so we can try to accommodate. Likewise on the salads, lunch meats, juices or any special requests, in general.

• FUND RAISERS In keeping with tradition, we will be having a Park Family yard sale. We will have to be creative in how we do this, but I think we can make it work. Bring all your treasures! In addition, there will be a raffle and/or silent auction for some home created items. Bernice is already working on some stuff, and Uncle Bill is great to donate. I plan to donate a copy of the Albert and Mary family history book that I am working hard to complete. (the request for memories of Grandma and Grandpa Park is now open to everyone...leave it in the form of a comment at the end of this post, send me a letter (3161 West 3500 North, Vernal, Utah 84078) or e-mail me (lindalpm1978@yahoo.com) Hurry please, it goes to the printers in a few weeks.)

In conjuction with the yard sale, if any of you have room to bring a table (long, short or in-between) that would be greatly apprecaited.

• Chairs We are requesting that anyone with room, bring chairs to sit on. There will be picnic tables to eat at, but to just sit and visit, there isn't much there.

• The next post will be about swimming and other activities we are planning!

ACCOMODATIONS!

I just talked to both motels we are booking with. These are the reservations they have made, as of the 19th of March.

Ranch Motel
Mervin: rooms 1, 2 and the large yurt
English: rooms 3 and 7
Bernice Park: room 4
W Park: room 5
Barker: room 6
Frank Park: room 8
Blum: room 9
Williams: small yurt, one full hook-up#4
Merrell: teepee, one full hook-up#3

Home Motel
Merrell: rooms 101, 103, 111
Johansen: rooms 106, 107, 110
V Thompson: room 108
Barker: rooms 104, 105, 140 (is right next to 104)
J Vincent: rooms 102, 109

Rooms still available for $65 per night: 112, 113, 114, 115, 116

I will be in Lewiston for Uncle Bill's birthday celebration and hope to be able to talk to some of you then if there are problems.

Thanks, Aunt Peggy!

Look at these great pictures!

This is Grandma Park, age 4. It will definitely have to be added to the Look-A-Like contest.

Wha-hoo! I don't remember Grandma anyway but completely covered up. What do you think...should we add this one to the contest, too!

Here's a great picture of Grandpa.

Thanks, Aunt Peggy.

Only 155 days to go!

Get your accommodations, quickly!

I talked to Babz the other day and she told me that she had taken the last rooms I had reserved at the Home Hotel and Motel (see earlier post for phone number; sorry I don't know how to do the link thing...feel freee to add it, Aspen) so they agreed to set aside five more rooms for us...the last five in the motel! If you haven't made arrangements for a place to stay yet, you need to hurry! I believe these last five rooms have one queen bed in them, and the price is still $65.00 per night. There are still trailer hook-up spots available at the Ranch Inn,and camping spots.

Oh! and that reminds me. When I last talked to Marie at the Ranch Inn, she told me that they had mistakenly double booked some of you. I think it was for the yurt...but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, she said she would call the Home motel and make arrangements with them so that everyone would have a place. I would assume that she called whoever it was that it involved, but to be on the safe side, those of you booked at the Ranch Inn should probably call and confirm your reservation.

Tomorrow I am checking into rates for the swimming pool, hot pools, river tubes, etc. and I will post that information soon.

A request for yard sale and other donations to go towards the family reunion fund will be in a post later on this week,as well.

I still haven't heard from anyone at all from Aunt Peggy's family. If there are any of you out there reading this, please let me know!

Look-Alike-Contest!

HERE THEY ARE! The pictues for the Albert and Mary Park look-alike contest to be held during the Park Family Reunion! I am excited to see who will win. Let's have some fun with this. Some of the pictures I have are group shots, which I will try to have cropped . But, for now, here they are...This is Grandpa,with two of his sisters. He, of course, is the one in the middle.

Again, a group shot of Grandpa's family. He is in the front row, second from the left. His twin sister, Alice has her arm around his shoulders.

Grandpa, as a young man.


The next two pictures are of both Grandma and Grandpa.

And now, the pictures of Grandma Park

As a young girl...

A teenager...

A little older...

And finally, in her later years.

Rules for the contest are as follows:

1. The above photos will be framed and sitting on a table for everyone to see, with a clipboard in front of each photo.

2. Throughout the reunion, you will be encouraged to "nominate" candidates for each photo, by putting their name on the clipboard.

3. On the last night of the reunion, each of the nominated candidates will have a chance to "strut their stuff". Candidates are encouraged to do whatever it takes to improve their chances of winning (wear similar clothing, etc.)

4. An applause vote will determine the winner of each photo.

5. Each winner will receive a framed photo from the category they won in, and each contestant will receive a smaller, unframed photo, plus bragging rights.

Finally, if any of you have different pictures of Grandma and Grandpa Park that you feel would make better look-alike photo contest pictures, please mail or e-mail them to me by March.

And I still need memories and photos! The book I am working on will have a section for each of Grandma and Grandpa Park's children, with short histories of their lives, (Aunt Lil, Aunt Gracie,Uncle Bill...)as well as pictures (hopefully!). If you want a better assortment than the snapshots I have of past reunions, then please send me some pictures!

Also, I have not heard back from many of you. I am most concerned that there is at least one representative from each of the original sibling's families. So, please take a minute and make a comment at the end of this post. By commenting, you will agree to make sure that your extended family gets the word. Anyone I haven't heard from by the time I return from my vaction the middle of February I will have to call or send a letter to. (not a fun task!)

Great Stuff from the Blums!

I know I said my next post would be one announcing the look-alike contest to be held at the 2009 Reunion, but I just received some wonderful pictures and memories from Aunt Mildred and Uncle Stan! Here's a peek at a few of my favorites...For some of the younger generations who weren't around when this was taken back in 1936, this is a picture of John and Minnie Park, (Albert's parents) taken on their Golden Wedding Anniversary!

This picture is priceless to me. It's where our story begins!

Did anyone else not know that Aunt Mildred and Uncle Stan got married at an US Army base in Augusta,Georgia?! (I'm still hoping for wedding pictures from several more of the original siblings...as well as any of the rest of you!)

I would love to have more family pictures like these from those who haven't sent any,yet!

I clumped these three together. I love the expressions on each sister's face!

That's all I have time for...I'll get the look-alike contest posted soon. (The best way to see this picture is to right-click on the picture and it should open to a larger view)


That's all I have time for. But keep watching for the look-alike contest details!

Pictures still needed!

A few posts ago,I requested pictures for the Albert and Mary Park Family History book that I am compiling for the next reunion. Aunt Lillian sent me some great ones!

I need some help identifying a few of these "Park family's finest". I know there are two Williams, two Mervins and a Thomas, but who is that handsome blonde? Can anyone help me out?

I was afraid that the photo-copied pictures might not be very clear, but I was quite pleased with how they reproduced. I think they will look great in the book.

Can anyone guess who these adorable girls are?

That's all for now. But, please keep sending me your pictures and memories of being a part of the Park family. I'll gladly use anything you send, but I am really hoping for some more wedding pictures. If you prefer to send pictures via e-mail, send them to me at lindalpm1978@yahoo.com Thanks!

P.S. The next post will be an announcement of the look-a-like contest that will be held at the Park Reunion next July. Check back soon for the details!

Thanks, Aunt Lillian!

I recently received in the mail two large packets of pictures, family info and memories from Aunt Lillian. She must have spent hours getting everything ready to send. Thank-you, Aunt Lil! I have been busily scanning everything for the last several days and will post pictures, soon. But I just wanted to let everyone know how special the memories have been for me to read. To those reading this who haven't done so yet, please, please, please send me your pictures and memories.

I also recently received an e-mail from Cinniman, who gave me some more e-mail addresses. I hope that more of you are finding this blog. Please make comments now and then so I will know you are reading.

Request for Family Photos! And More!

This is a photo request post. I am compiling the Albert & Mary Park Family History book. I would love to be able to have copies of the following pictures: Any pictures of Grandma and Grandpa, especially ones from their childhood and early years of marriage.















Some of the pictures I have are not in the best condition. If anyone would like to e-mail or send me some others, I would be very thrilled. (Any paper copies would be returned, of course)

















I am also looking for wedding pictures of each of the original siblings. (Lillian, Grace, Bill, Bus, Mildred, Ann, Peggy, Marvin)












Past family reunion pictures would be wonderful, especially those that were repeated through the years like this one with the sisters.











And I also need current and past family pictures. These can be pictures taken at the reunions, a favorite family picture, etc.










Aunt Mildred and Uncle Stan have loaned me some pictures from Grandma Carney's family. This one is of Cora Ann Newton (Grandma Carney). I would love to see some pictures of Grandpa Park's parents. Does anyone have any they would be willing to let me make copies of?





In addition to pictures, I am still trying to get current information on all of Grandma and Grandpa's descendants. (Names, dates and places of birth, marriages and deaths) So far, I only have complete information from Bill, Bus and Marvin's families. I talked with Judy on the phone yesterday and she is going to send me information on Aunt Grace's family. Vanessa sent me info from just her family, but I still need the rest of the Schnees. I also need Aunt Ann's, Aunt Mildred's and Aunt Peggy's. (I have the first, second and third generations...it is the fourth and fifth generations that I still need)

If you are still with me, I have one more request. Please send me your memories of Grandma and Grandpa. It can be from past reunions, from growing up years...visits to their house, anything you remember; a sentence, a paragraph, a couple of pages...I will gladly take anything I can get! Thank-you!

It sounds like there will be a lot of us coming next year. I am getting real excited. In my next post, I will tell you about some of the fun things we have planned.