Features

August guests — family reunion time

ESCANABA -- It's almost August and that means company is coming!

Pack up the picnic basket, bake up a raspberry pie, it's family reunion time.

Fair week is fast approaching, crickets chirp louder at night now, and the short Upper Peninsula summertime is starting to wane.

So go for a ride!

It's time to visit the relatives back home. Great Aunt Erma and Uncle Fred are on their way to your house. The old homestead, family farm, camp or cottage are good gathering places.

Part of the day will be spent at the cemetery viewing gravestones of kinfolk long passed.

An afternoon will be spent at the beach, or "old swimming hole" or the local park.

Almost August also means ice cream!

Whether it is a large family reunion that's planned with invitations, rented halls or pavilions, and color-coded tee shirts, or just a little get together with a distant cousin, late summer is the time to do it.

I will never forget the awesome Wils family reunion in August of 2014. Aunt Pat's photo boards told the story of a large pioneer family, a Civil War veteran, loggers, farmers, a tailor, WWII heroes and many decades of love.

Eight branches of the Lydia and Andrew Wils family gathered at the Lodge, each branch had their own color of tee shirt to wear. Relatives from two to ninety-two shared stories, laughter, great food and even a few rain showers that day.

My kids meet distant cousins they didn't even know they had. The family group photos from that day are treasured as are the wonderful memories.

Almost August is a great time to socialize. The roads are snow-free, the mosquitoes are few, school is still out and mother nature run Neth over with sunflowers, corn fields, meadows of wildflowers and wildlife.

Wonderful places like the Delta County Historical Museum and lighthouse, historical markers, buildings, museums, trails, waterfalls, campgrounds and scenic overlooks are perfect places to bring the whole family.

Company is coming. It may be the grandkids or nieces and nephews from the big cities coming north to enjoy the U.P. State Fair or a night at camp.

So, bake some cookies or toss a garden-fresh salad.

As I page back through the old family photo albums, I come across pictures of my ancestors four generations ago gathering in the summertime for a picnic. The women folk prepared the food in the "summer kitchen" (a small shed off the back of the house) so that the house would not become unbearably hot. With no refrigeration the icebox got a workout. Fried chicken, cold salads and lemon aid were packed up into picnic baskets.

Even though the weather was sunny and warm, the extended family gathered in their Sunday best, long skirts, white shirts and bonnets.

It's almost August and company is coming. Put the coffee pot on!