Reunion

        As we grow older, I suppose it is natural to think about attending family reunions.  We want to gather with families, particularly family that we don’t often get a chance to see. And I also think that it is natural to want to share these reunion experiences with our children and grandchildren. We want them to meet their relatives, share in the stories that are part of their heritage, and understand where they came from. And we also want to be remembered by the younger generations, and I think attending these reunions together is our way of helping cement those memories and family ties.

Location of the Hinch reunion every year 2nd Sunday in July

When I personally think about a family reunion, I always think about the annual Hinch reunion - my dad’s paternal line. This Hinch reunion has been an annual occurrence since around 1925. It originally started as a birthday celebration of James Nathan Hinch, my great grandfather. It is believed that the first gathering was held in July 17, 1925, when he would have turned 76. After he passed away in January 1929, the birthday celebration kept going, and morphed into the annual Hinch reunion. It kept getting bigger and bigger, so eventually they changed the location to the Cumberland Mountain State Park in TN.  More on that later.

Clipping about Hinch reunion in July 1933

My focus on talking about this reunion is that I was going through some letters and cards that mom and dad had sent me over the years, and I found one just a few weeks ago that my mom had written in June 1988. In her letter she mentioned that the annual Hinch reunion was coming up in July (it is always the 2nd Sunday in July), and she said that she and Dad would love it if we could attend this year. (We live in ND, about 1200 miles away). She said Dad would help with the airfare, and we could stay with them in a timeshare outside of Crossville, TN, so it wouldn’t cost us hardly anything. They lived in NC, so it was a few hours drive to Tennessee for them. 

So the sad thing is, I hardly remember this letter, and I don’t think Chuck and I ever seriously considered going to the reunion. Mom said that they weren’t getting any younger, and they had to do these things while they still could. But you know how it is when you are both working, and raising a family. There is time off from work to consider, pets to take care of, so many excuses why we couldn’t go. So we didn’t. 

Reading that letter some 37 years later really hit me hard, because just three years after she wrote it, my dad passed away. So I never did get the chance to go to his family reunion with him. I never got the chance to meet some of his cousins, aunts and uncles, and extended family. I never got to hear the stories, or ask the questions that you only think to ask at that point in time. I never gave him the opportunity to tell his stories while we were actually there where they happened. But the past is the past, and I cannot change it. But there is a good side all this.

The good news is that the Hinch reunion started up again in 2023, and that is when I made the intentional decision to attend. The reunion had a few gaps during WWII and Covid, but this year we will be celebrating the 98th reunion. And yes, I will be attending, as I have for the last two years. To get things going after Covid, I was able to help out with the things that could be done long distance, and my cousins who live in the vicinity picked up the majority of the work. We are looking ahead to a big celebration for our 100th reunion in 2027!

Hinch folk reviewing all the historical information attendees brought

So here is the bottom line. Life is busy, life is filled with obligations and just regular day to day duties. But don’t make the mistake I did. If you have the opportunity to attend this, or other family reunions, do it. There will always be reasons why you can’t. But if you do attend, you will be giving your family, and those elders for whom this might be their last year being able to attend, a very great gift - your presence. 

My cousin greeting another Hinch relative at the reunion

Okay, sermon is over. But if you do choose to attend the Hinch reunion this July 13, I will be there and I would be thrilled to share with you the knowledge I have built over the last few years about our family. We can visit cemeteries (they are incredibly beautiful) where many of your 5th and 6th great grandparents are buried, we can take a drive up Hinch Mountain (highest peak in Walden Ridge) in ATVs and 4-wheel drive vehicles to see our cemetery up there, and you can get a sense of what life was like for our ancestors living there over 150 years ago.

    And even though I didn't get to attend that reunion back in 1988, I am attending them now, and doing my best to keep it going. I know Dad would be thrilled about that.