The 128th Cunningham Family Reunion
August 11 & 12, 2018
Registration starting at 4:00 pm Saturday
Hot Dog Supper Saturday Night
Cowboy Breakfast at Dawn on Sunday
Mountain Creek Homestead Open Sunday morning
RSVP your family by filling out our form HERE
Calling all Millennials – Mid-morning Brainstorming session under Pavilion
Business Meeting at 11 AM
GREAT BBQ Lunch at Noon on Sunday
All hands on deck for clean up of reunion grounds afterwards
Events: Sybil Holmsley, sholm@totelcom.net
Genealogy: Janice Hays, radiojanice@gmail.com
Invitations and Contacts: Beth Fairbrother, bfairbro@gmail.com
Business Meeting: Stan Smith, smitsta@att.net
Campsites Information: Doug Perkins, perkinshhp@gmail.com
Be sure you are on FACEBOOK GROUP: Descendants of Capt. James and Susannah Cunningham
Bring bathing suits and towels for kids’ water activities.
Bring ‘old clothes’ for craft activities for the kids’ and the young at heart.
PHOTO ROUND-UP: Please bring any old black and white photos that have never been digitized and we will work on them!
LOCAL LINKS
A Brief History of the Cunningham Reunion
Captain James and Susannah (Tate) Cunningham settled in Comanche County in 1845. They have 12 children who all lived to adulthood and had their own large extended families. Many stayed in the Comanche County area with a few moving to the Texas Hill Country, or the areas in and around Abilene and San Angelo. In 1889, the family contacted all the extended family members and held the 1st Cunningham Family Reunion at one of the brother’s property 9.1 miles south of Comanche on Hwy 16 in a grove of oak trees along Mercer’s Creek. In 1989, we held our 100th reunion at the same location with approximately 650 in attendance. In 2014, we held our 125th reunion at the same location with approximately 450 in attendance. We have a mailing list of 500+ families.
We continue to have the family reunion the second weekend of every August in the same location. Originally the families came by wagon and camped. Now we have RV hookups on the grounds, some tent campers and lots of cousins in area hotels.
We have committees to take care of the grounds and organize the food. We plan an education presentation, reenactment, storyteller, memorabilia exchange etc. Another group prepares a kid craft that has to do with honoring our heritage as well. We prepare a hot dog supper on Saturday night. Musically talented individuals will sing and play about dusk. On Sunday morning, we have a true COWBOY breakfast with fried steak, gravy, biscuits and coffee. Then we have a family meeting conducted by our current president and review our financials and any other issues or concerns. Then we award the youngest and the oldest, and we take pictures of all kinds - those there for the first time, those over a ‘certain age’, all the new additions (by birth and/or marriage), and we remember those who have passed. Sometimes we have other special events but it culminates in a huge barbeque dinner on a picnic table that is 144 feet long.
We all make donations, contribute to a silent auction, purchase updates to the family genealogy, and/or purchase other special memorabilia that families have contributed.
We are requesting the following
Application to the state for a non-profit entity and to the IRS for a 501-3c entity called the CUNNINGHAM HEIRS ASSOCIATION. This would be a private association for the purpose of collecting donations from the member heirs to fund the annual reunion, maintain the grounds and add improvements as needed. Donations will be 100% used for this purpose.
The purpose of the Cunningham Heirs Association is to serve as a private association to collect donations from the member heirs to:
- Educate the member descendants about the family history,
- Fund the annual Cunningham Reunion and honor the founding ancestors,
- Foster fellowship between Cunningham cousins, and
- Maintain the grounds and add improvements as necessary.
Donations will be 100% used for this purpose as has been done – informally – for the last 127 years.
We will establish bylaws naming 7 directors from the 7 most active families and set term guidelines from that list. We will elect the President, Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer from the membership with terms specified in the By-Laws.
Ready to join in?
Donate now to help preserve our heritage.
