The Association Reunion

Walter Blenko wrote:

At the Blencowe Families Association meeting in Dayton, Ohio, on June 15-19, there was discussion of planning for the next family reunion, presumably in 2007. A number of thoughts were put forward.

Location: The overwhelming desire is for the next meeting to be held in England. In part, this is because of the wildly successful reunion which Jack ran in 1993 and also because of the family association with England as the home country. Visits to Marston St Lawrence, Blencowe Hall and Penrith would be welcome because they are significant in family history. The stay at Oriel College in 1993 was remembered with pleasure. A stay like that in Oxford, at Oriel or another college, would have to be scheduled out of term. It was mentioned sometime earlier that a stay in the Lake District would also be very enjoyable.

Time: Families with children in school in the United States tend to be limited to the second half of June, July and the first three weeks in August to avoid conflict with school schedules. It is also understood that prices are undoubtedly lower and that facilities are better available outside of the peak summer months, say in September.

Arrangements: It was recognized that a considerable amount of effort may be involved in planning and scheduling a family reunion. It was suggested that the burden could be considerably reduced by engaging a competent travel agent to make reservations for hotels, coach travel, and the like.

Daily Scheduling: Sufficient time should be allotted for discussions of genealogies and the printing out of various relationships from the existing data base. Hopefully, family members who are well rounded in the family genealogy would be available to participate and possibly lead discussions and questions. The results of DNA testing would be of particular interest.

Here are some thoughts on the above:

An English venue is long overdue and I'm sure it will be popular and that many UK members will wish to join in all or part of the event.

• Arrangements will have to be placed with a commercial tour agent; I will sound out Tappins, who did our coach trip to the north in 1993. Without any commitment I will enquire how much lead time they would need and how soon and how much deposit they would request.
• It will be necessary to decide soon whether we're shooting for a week, 10 days, or a fortnight. If it is for one week I would suggest either north or south UK, not both.
• Blencow Hall is up for sale in September and we cannot rely on more than a drive-past visit there. Nearby Dalemain Hall has Blencowe connections and is open to the public.
• Accommodation in Oxford colleges is not all that comfortable and current traffic restrictions make collection/delivery of coach parties to the door difficult or impossible. A country hotel or motel with day visits to Oxford (and other centres) would be more practical. It would be easy to have laptop computers and a printer to back-up family history chats in the evenings.
• A visit to Whilton, Long Buckby, Brington, etc. would appeal to the Blincow part of the clan. There is a small local museum at Buckby.
• I would recommend a visit to Ironbridge, near Telford in Shropshiire where there is an 18-19thC working museum on the lines of Colonial Georgetown.

Let's have some feedback of ideas on this. Can Benn set up a page on the website for members to record opinions?