Family Matters

   Second cousins, second cousins once removed,
second cousins twice removed! Cousins of all
sorts were everywhere as the Singley Family
celebrated it's 100th reunion in Zion Grove on
Saturday!
   Of course there were many, many faces I
didn't recognize. I thought, at first, that evacuees
from New York and New Jersey had just showed
up to find some food!
   It's not often that family reunions survive for an
entire century but the Singley family has done it!
   Now there's a couple of things I should point
out. First, nobody who attended the first Singley
Family Reunion showed up at this one! That
said we did have one 90-year-old attend....and...
No....that wasn't me!
    But I was there! For those who don't already
know my middle name is Singley. It was my
mother's maiden name.
    The family history goes back a lot further that
the first reunion and includes at least two
soldiers from the Revolutionary War!
     I was always told that one of the Singleys
made rifles for the troops. That's George
Washington's troops by the way!
     I know that one 'distant' second or third
cousin, I don't know how many 'removed',
played on the winning team in what was
actually the first Little League World
Series....although it wasn't called that at the
time.
     This family reunion has evolved a lot over
the last few years. And in a good way!
     It used to be tough to get the kids to
come to a meeting that involved lots of
'old folks' who spent at least part of their
annual get together discussing who died,
who got married, and how much was in
the treasury for next year.
     We still keep the records. But these
days the family moves from a shortened
'business meeting' to a huge family picnic
at the old family farm!
     The corn is picked from a field on the
property and cooked on medal grates that
look like somebody borrowed them from
the streets above New York's subway
system! There's burgers, hot dogs, brockwrust,
Wimpies,baked beans,and all kinds of home
made pies,cakes, ice cream, and fudge!
     If the Singleys have learned anything
over a  couple hundred years it's how to eat!
     And then there's "The Gator!"
     With acres and acres of corn fields and
forest at hand there's nothing that has the kids
more excited than a bumpy ride in, or on,
this four wheel drive vehicle!
     I know because I did most of the
driving. I now know how the first Singleys
must have felt as they traversed the mountains
of northeastern Pennsylvania on horseback or
buckboard!
     But the sore back and stiff legs with be well
worth it if some of those smiling kids show
up at the 150th Singley Reunion to take over
for those who have worked so hard over the
first hundred years to keep one family's
history, memories, and tradition alive!
     Have a good life cousins, however far
'removed', and may all of your NEWS be
good!