The Family Reunion Trip: It's All Relatives

Many had married and taken new surnames: Belle, Cauthen and Crockett, among others. But most still had the broad noses, dark caramel-colored skin and spiritual bearings of Orange and Berry.

"We're just 'come as you are' kind of folks," said Lisa Crockett, 42, the reedy, affable Atlanta computer systems specialist who chaired this year's reunion committee. "We tried to make the tent here big enough that everybody could feel comfortable in it."

When just about any family member spoke, it was clear that the strongest thread that bound them was a respect for family ties. "My grandaddy always talked about how we should all find our way back to be in one place together," said Sammy Fisher, referring to Orange. "In some ways, this is the fulfillment of his dream."

"Berry was a kind man who was devoted to his family more than anything else," added Gertrude Fisher, his 72-year-old granddaughter. "I think we all took some of that spirit from him."

The dinner was followed by an evening of dominoes, blackjack, poker and other games. Saturday would start with the official family meeting, then a sightseeing excursion and, in the evening, a formal dinner and dance. Sunday's centerpiece: a family-led worship service.

Most three-day-weekend reunions are based on this model, according to Lydia Douglas, an official with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau who helps families plan get-togethers. Some have fashion shows, others genealogy sessions, picnics or other events, she added.

"What special touches a family brings to these events can really make a difference between a memorable occasion and just another gathering," Douglas said.

By the end of the Fisher reunion, I saw what she meant.

The New Wave

African American multi-generational gatherings are hardly a new fad. "They date way back, probably to Africa, to the concept of village gatherings," according to Ione Vargus, professor emerita at Temple University and director of the Family Reunion Institute. "There is a natural tendency among people in the [African American] community to come together, swap stories, devote time to bonding," she explained in an interview.

Criswell, the University of South Carolina professor, said the legacy of slavery most likely contributed to the reunion tradition. "So many families were divided and dispersed in the antebellum years," he said. "The tradition of regrouping grew out of that period and has continued -- and grown -- ever since."

Sociologists agree that Alex Haley's 1976 novel "Roots" was a strong catalyst. The story that traced a family's legacy back to Africa inspired a generation of African Americans to connect with their broad base of relatives.

My family answered the call, too. Beginning in the late 1970s, my maternal grandparents, their 13 children and dozens of grand- and great-grandchildren gathered every other year or so at the family's rambling cotton and peanut farm in central Oklahoma. Grandma Hill would spend a week making okra stew, platters of fried chicken, biscuits as big as your fist, and an array of desserts. Grandpa Hill would sit at the end of a long table and lead the family in grace and feasting. In the afternoon, we'd head down the dusty road for a service at Lone Tree Baptist, a one-room clapboard church. As with many other families, our gatherings fell off in the 1990s.