Paul Family Reunion ~ 1931

 Paul Family Reunion ~ 1931

The third annual reunion was held at Arthur's home, Big Falls, Minn., Aug. 21-22-23, 1931.

Those present were, Arthur, Lillian, Harriet, Florence, Charlotte, Melvin, Bess, Eugene, Ernest, Evelyn, Naomi, Betty, Grace, George, Paul, Clara, Bertha, Philip, Maud, Walter, Ralph, Bernice, Alice, Kenneth, Frances, Andrew, Gladys, Dorothy, Adella, Elaine, Duane, Margaret Ann, Marjorie, and as special guests, Cousin John Brookings, and his wife, Maud.

Much regret was expressed because of the absence of Margaret and Freeman, Florence and Wave, and Emily and Arthur, as well as their children, but we hope to have them all with us next time.

As the folks arrive from their various homes, the greatest interest centered around John Brookings and his wife who had come from the east to be with us at this time. They fitted into the spirit of the occasion from the start and as we all became better acquainted with them we came to feel that they were really one of us. John was always ready to entertain us by the hour with remininsces of the Paul and Brookings family life in New York State years ago, as well as with stories of his own personal experiences since we came west.

The first day, Friday, was taken up largely with greeting new arrivals, getting the most urgent of the visiting done, then the younger folks went up the river beyond the railroad bridge for a swim. While in the water they were robbed of some of their belongings which were left on the shore, by some boys who sneaked up in the brush nearby. The thefts were not discovered until the party started home again. Arthur was notified and immediately started out on the scent. In the course of an hour or more, he had the culprits rounded up, a confession from them, and all the stolen property returned to its rightful owners.

We ate a picnic dinner under the pines on the north side of the river in the tourist camp grounds. A large table served the entire party. Immediately after dinner some group pictures were taken for future reference, then some of us returned to town, while others went down to the river and clambered around among the rocks in the river bed, as the water was very low.

In the early evening we put up some tents in Arthur's back yard and made the beds in them before dark, after which everyone gathered in the house for a short "business" session and program. Several musical selections and readings were given, and Paul gave us some new tricks. For our business session, Melvin was appointed Chairman. It was decided that we should have some sort of organization to continue these gatherings in the future and as a step in that direction Melvin was elected President and Walter Secretary. It was decided that in ;the future our reunion should be held each year commencing the third Friday of August. The Secretary was asked to keep the minutes of each meeting with a record of the most interesting events during the reunions. He was also asked to make up some sort of a family history covering some of the most important happenings in our family back as far as any reliable information could be found.

Bed-time came about 11:30 PM. Most of the men folks slept in the tents while the rest occupied the beds indoors or made up beds on the floors. It took a large amount of talking and joking to get in the proper mood for sleep, and often someone would express a desire to know how George and John would fare in the M.E. Church, where they had gone to sleep. After everything was quiet and most of us had dropped off to sleep,, Paul and Ernest decided the day was not complete without ringing the church bell to celebrate our coming to town. They crawled out of the blankets, put on their clothes, and went to the church to ring the bell, only to find that the door was locked and they could not get in to pull the bell rope.

Next day was rather quiet, with the time mostly taken up with visiting. In the afternoon the party commenced to break up, with the purpose of meeting again at Northome the next day, Sunday, when John was to preach. His sermon proved to be a most interesting and inspiring one and everybody who heard him was deeply moved.

After the reunion John and his wife spent a week or more visiting at Faribault and Duluth, before returning to their home.