July 14 , 2022 The Beacon • 21

There are so many activities that can fill our summers . Ball games , vacations , gardening , swimming — the list could go on and on . For many of us , another common summer activity is one or more family reunions .

I have a hunch your family reunion is not as well-attended as it once was . I have no official university research to back that up . It is only a personal observation of my own family reunions and what I hear from others . I have some theories about why this may be the case .

Family size is shrinking

Each August I usually attend two different family reunions . The Barr Family Reunion is for my mother ’ s side of the family — the descendants of her mother ’ s parents — and is held in Perry County , Ohio . The Blair Family Reunion is my father ’ s side of the family — the descendants of his mother ’ s grandparents here in Coshocton County .

As a child I remember lots and lots of people at these family reunions — older people , children and all ages in between . Now that is not the case .

My grandma had eight siblings . It is not nearly as common to have families that large anymore .

According to the National Center for Health Statistics , in 1800 the average number of children per woman was 7.04 . This dropped steadily until 1940 when the average was 2.2 . Then the baby boom peaked in 1961 at 3.62 children per woman and has decreased for the most part with a current rate of 1.73 in 2018 .

With smaller families , there simply are fewer people to gather than there used to be , and it is easier to stay in touch in other ways .

Influence of social media

The Coshocton County Herb Society met with 13 active members present and two guests on June 15 .

Gail Piper from the OSU Extension gave an informative presentation on Ohio pollinators . Pam Simmons and Betsy Alverson served light herbal refreshments while Mendy Palumbo gave the herb report on garlic , which roll call was given on .

The herb society , with a unanimous vote , gave a donation of $ 500 to Coshocton In Bloom .

The next meeting will

be Wednesday , July 20 for the annual field trip , meeting to tour Clary Gardens at 6 p . m . Then there will be a dinner at 7 p . m . at Main Street Station .

For questions or more information , call Marge Erman at 740-622-0422 .

Social media has allowed us to stay connected to family in ways we could not in generations past . The family reunion was one opportunity to catch up on the highlights from the past year . Now that part of the purpose is obsolete because we can keep up with where everyone ’ s been on vacation or activities that kids are a part of .

The danger is letting these virtual relationships replace actual conversations with our extended family . Even though you may think you know what is going on in someone ’ s life , there is something about being in someone ’ s presence that cannot be replaced .

Passing on the leadership

Someone ultimately must be in charge of a family reunion . The leader ’ s job is typically choosing the date , securing the location , announcing and then reminding attendees about the details , and setting the expectations of what will happen during the reunion .

My great-uncle Dewey was the leader of the Barr reunion for many years . He made sure we were all introduced , and a family representative would give a brief update of happenings . After uncle Dewey ’ s dementia prevented him from leading this , my mom ’ s first cousin took up the mantle .

One thing I appreciated about Del ’ s approach is that as numbers began to dwindle , he made a special effort to help us know more about our extended family members when we attended . One activity I remember is filling out a note card with a fun

fact about ourselves . He mixed them all up in a basket and drew them out one by one . Everyone in the room tried to guess whose card it was , and we had lots of good laughs together .

I appreciate there was a plan for the transition of leadership and the next generation was willing to accept that responsibility . If your family still has a reunion , I encourage you to go this year . Ultimately , reunions are an opportunity to honor our ancestors and hope for the future . We remember we are only but one generation with many generations behind us and many more yet to come .

Emily Marrison is an OSU Extension family and consumer sciences educator and may be called at 740-622-2265 .