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OVER 3000 REUNION PLANNERS were surveyed to provide information for this book. The first edition of this book went through 10 printings and numerous revisions since it first came out in 1992. The completely revised SECOND EDITION came out in August of 1998. Its printed form totals 254 pages. The Introduction and the first 3 chapters are offered here at no charge by Reunion Research for your perusal on-line. Much of the subject matter will also be of interest to school and military reunion planners. For example, "how to find people," "money and finances," "keeping records," and "creating newsletters and mailers" pertain to every type of group reunion.

HOW TO NAVIGATE: To save you downloading time, this book has been divided into the first 3 chapters plus this Foreword/Introduction Section, each on its own Web page. The average downloading time for a chapter is about 12 seconds at 28.8 BPS. The Table of Contents for the entire book is at the top of each chapter. Also the content headings for a chapter appear at the front of the chapter. These are both "clickable." If that's not enough, there's a clickable chapter menu at the bottom of each chapter, too. If you STILL can't find what you're looking for, use your browser search engine (if it has one). Please understand that each chapter must be searched separately since each chapter is on its own Web page. Oh, and one last thing: the "Resources" chapter for this book appears as Other Resources. If you would like to buy this book in its real book form, see Our Products.

TABLE OF CONTENTS for Family Reunion Handbook:
Foreword and Other Front Matter (below)
Chapter 1: Early Decisions: First Things First
Chapter 2: Getting Organized: Committees and Meetings
Chapter 3: Money and Finances

(Note: Below is the rest of the Table of Contents. The entire book is 254 pages; the above 3 chapters cover the first 38 pages.)

Chapter 4: Keeping Records
Chapter 5: Family Communication: Flyers, Newsletters and Surveys
Chapter 6: Mailing/Postage
Chapter 7: Getting Ready: Services, Supplies and Special Touches
Chapter 8: Activities & Games
Chapter 9: Feeding the Family
Chapter 10: Making History: Documenting Family Memories
Chapter 11: Family Associations/Surname Associations
Chapter 12: Finding People
Chapter 13: Special Places for Family Reunions
Chapter 14: Using the Internet
Real Reunions (description & photos from 23 actual reunions)
Resources (11 pages of hard-to-find resources for reunions)

Below you will find a poem about family reunions, a Foreword by Dr. Ione Vargus of the Family Reunion Institute of Temple University, and two Introductions (one for each edition) by author, Tom Ninkovich. Scroll down, please.

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OLD ECHOES from a FAMILY REUNION

Around the festive board, old faces missed
Replace themselves with new ones: likeness-kissed --
The sweetness of a certain curve of cheek;
The tone of voice when one is heard to speak;
The grave regard of granite-colored eyes
Repeat the portraits on the wall; surprise
The senses with a spurt of memory
That answers every questing enquiry,
As potent as the scent of a pressed rose!
How does a child reflect an aunt's repose,
Who never knew her mentor, long at rest,
But read her yellowed diary, frightened lest
The pages crumble in her smooth young hand?
A boy who knew not his ancestral land
Still bears the stamp of mountains and fjords;
The music's in his bones -- the primal chords.
All that we have become, we owe the old
Who went before -- their warmth would pierce the cold
Of this year's end and grey December day,
Where past has more than present words to say.

--Jane Carpenter

Foreword by Dr. Ione Vargus

No other institution in our society has more influence on the lives of all its members than the family. As the provider of nurture and socialization, it is the basis of individual well-being. It remains the unique source of identity, and emotional satisfactions that meet basic human needs.

As society changes, the ways in which we relate and convey the family functions also change. The family reunion can be a vehicle for carrying out the extended family functions that many of us experienced when families lived closer together and in the same neighborhoods. Family reunions offer a potential structure for enhancing and maintaining the vitality and viability of the extended family concept.

Reunions have several benefits. Through the activities that are planned, reunions transmit values, foster greater communication between family members, provide a great deal of education, and recognize the talents and role models within the family. A most important factor is the confirmation of identity and sense of belonging that occurs. Families grow and develop as the extended family members play out traditional roles which have been diminished in a mobile society.

Families may not usually gather with these benefits in mind. But a well planned reunion inadvertently makes them happen. Thus the family reunion is to be encouraged and can help us strengthen our extended family.

--Ione Dugger Vargus, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus and Chair, Family Reunion Institute
Temple University, Philadelphia

Introduction to the 1st edition by Tom Ninkovich (scroll down for 2nd Intro)

More and more people are finding family reunions assuming an important role in their lives. As well as being joyous events, reunions can be rewarding in ways that modern day society seems to have lost.

For untold years, everything available to a person was to be found within a few miles and among a few people. We still long for this simple and effective type of social structure. It's no accident that family reunions awaken strong feelings of need and potential fulfillment. They provide a means of harkening back to times gone by, when aunts and uncles and grandparents were part of the fabric of everyday life, dispensing lore and psychology as required. This kind of contact is still needed, but the ways of providing it have slowly disappeared. The extended family is gone. The nuclear family is less common; a child is lucky to have two parents these days. Aunts, uncles, and grandparents are visited infrequently, if at all. The family reunion is a way of recapturing some of the warmth and nurturing of older times.

Family reunions can also provide an historical "anchor," a sense of historical continuance, especially when several generations -- ranging from great-grandparents to little babies -- are present. In essence, a family reunion can make one feel less alone in a society seemingly characterized by a lack of familial cohesiveness. Ronald Eddy Austin singled this out as one of the rewards of his reunion: "(It) gives you a sense of your place in history?a sense of belonging to a larger extended family, which in turn, is part of the world family." Elizabeth Jones echoed this feeling when describing her family's reunion: "(It) made me think about where we all come from and where we are going."

We encourage you to begin -- to start planning your family reunion. The rewards are great. You'll know just how great when that long-lost favorite cousin walks through the door or when your kids ask expectantly when the next reunion is going to be.

-- Tom Ninkovich
Miramonte, California, 1992

Introduction to the 2nd edition by Tom Ninkovich

I've researched reunions for many years now because I'm trying to figure out why they are so powerful. As I talk to more and more reunion planners, the answer has slowly changed for me over the years. With this second edition of this book, published 6 years after the first, I submit this revised introduction:

We all have a story -- the personal story of our lives -- which, of course, is intricately intertwined with our family story. Most of this story is imbedded somewhere in the misty past where truths and untruths and dreams mingle. Some of us try to find out as much as possible about this story, others try just as hard to not learn more than they already know, others try to alter it to fit their needs. Some will tell their story at the drop of a hat, others are very secretive about it. But one thing's for sure: our story is always changing. If we try at all, we can always find out new things about our past.

And with every new thing we find, we become a slightly different person -- hopefully for the better. And therein lies the secret and the power of the past, and of reunions. Each new segment of our story, as we carefully pick it up, wipe it on our sleeves, and put it in place, can help us better understand ourselves, where we've been and where we're headed. Such knowledge can only lead to a better society and a better understanding of the world we live in.

I submit that our story is the most valuable thing we own. One thing for sure: it will far outlive us. One of the strongest needs a person has is to tell this story, especially as one gets older. But before a story can be told it must first be learned. After all, we can't know our story until we know where we came from. To know where we came from we must talk with, or at least "rub elbows" with, those who came before. We must learn their story to more fully understand our own.

And of course, this story exudes from all of us at all moments, whether we wish it to or not. In fact, most people don't actually "tell" their story, they show it. But both the "told" story and the "observed" one are important. One polishes the other and a combination of the two is a closer rendering of the truth.

A reunion is like a small showcase of your family story. It's all laid out there in front of you for you to read and interpret and contribute to as you wish. Reunions are rare opportunities. I encourage each of you to pay close attention when planning one and when attending one. Future generations will be very grateful.

-- Tom Ninkovich
Auberry, California, 1998

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Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3.

These 3 chapters represent about 15% of Family Reunion Handbook (38 pages out of 254). You can find purchasing information HERE.