PROGRAM:  Friday will be “Get Acquainted With Your Family” Day.  After an opening ceremony at 1:00 pm with introductions and information sharing, we will trace the family history focusing on Archibald and Esther and their fifteen children.  Why did they leave a beautiful home in Pennsylvania for the Nebraska frontier?  What was life like in Nebraska in 1879?  Who became a physician?  Who helped establish colleges?  Who went abroad to teach?  Why?  What were their religious lives like?  Who was educated and who was not?  Are there “skeletons” in our closet?  Etc., etc.!  There will also be opportunities for you to share stories you have about Archie, Esther, Calista (Do you know who Calista was?) and the children.  Come prepared to speak up! There will be a huge family tree and displays for Archibald, Esther, Calista and for each of the children.  (More about the displays below.) 

Those of us who have been planning the reunion feel we have a wonderful history and heritage to share.  Many of you know a lot about it and have helped us gather stories and information.  But far more of you have candidly told us you know very little about the family beyond your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  We are hoping you will be interested in learning more.

For those foolish enough to stay up, Paul Brumbaugh will host a Late Night Video Friday night, with a brief discussion following.  We considered using either “Friendly Persuasion” or “Witness.”  Both movies could be used to illustrate aspects of Van Dyke-Swigart family traditions and life.  However, we think the movie we chose (we’re keeping it a secret for now so you won’t go out and rent it before the reunion!) does a better job of reflecting family dynamics generally and many of our family dynamics specifically.

Saturday morning will start with some mixers, contests and “gimmicks” to help those in attendance get acquainted with other people at the reunion as well as with our forebears.  Then there will be a brief “business meeting” and free time for browsing among the displays.  (More about the business meeting below.)

Saturday afternoon we will board buses and tour significant family history sites: the site of the first farm Archie and Esther bought, a couple of cemeteries, the site of a church that was so full of Van Dykes it folded when they moved away, places where some of the “kids” were employed, etc.

Saturday evening will be a banquet with entertainment provided by various family members and a keynote speech by Gage County historian, Laureen Riedesel, on what Gage County and southeastern Nebraska were like when the Van Dykes arrived.  The reunion committee has met this person and heard her speak and we believe you will enjoy her.  Besides knowing a lot about Gage County, she already knows as much or more about the Van Dykes than we do--even though she is not one of us!

Sunday morning we will attend the worship service at one of the three Beatrice churches with significant ties to our family.  (The other two churches no longer exist!)

Following church we will head for the “Filley Stone Barn”–that historic old barn I mentioned earlier–for a catered “pioneer picnic.”  The Gage County Historical Society will conduct a program following the meal and we will formally close the reunion following the program.  This portion of the reunion will cost $10.00 per person.