Kala's World: Organizing a family reunion

It was a great family reunion weekend. Food was great, family was fun and the history was educating. I learned so much about my forefathers and descendants. I know that my family name is Doku and they were from Accra Ghana. My great great grandfather was a chief and my great great grandmother was of Dutch Irish and African descent with very fair skin, reddish-blondde hair and blue eyes. I met family that I never knew existed and learned some amazing facts thanks to my cousin Ada. I will share the information with you in another post.

Cousin Ada

Although I didn't plan the reunion. Here are some great tips on having a successful Family Reunion. Simple and easy. Of course organization is key.

1. Solicite help from family members and form committees/sub committees so that all of the responsibility doesn't fall on one person. You should start planning at least one year in advance so that family members can request time off and prepare for the event financially.

2. Meet with your committess/sub committees in person or on a conference call to agree on a date,location, activities, timelines and venues. In addition, make sure everyone is clear on their responsibilities.

3. Once you set a date, location and activities send out letters to all family members with all necessary information (including the host hotel) as well as a registration fee covering all necessary expenses (food, venue, t-shirts, prizes, etc)

A few extra tips:
**Make sure you have fun activities for all ages
**Make sure you have a meet and greet and try to review your family tree if you have the data. (after all it is a family reunion)
**Either hire a photographer or solicit a friend that is good with a digital camera to capture the event for great memories. Offer family members the opportunity to order the pictures and/or create a scrapbook for sale. (create a share site on one of the popular picture shares sites such as shutterfly)
**Create a directory for everyone to have for future use.
***HAVE FUN!!!!

Here are a few pictures from the 2013 Merritt Family Reunion