Minutes of 78th Snavely Family Reunion

Family Secretary Betty Davic has submitted a revised report:

The 78^th Snavely Reunion

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Morrison’s Cove Memorial Park

Martinsburg, PA

Attendance: 75

President George Snavely called the gathering to lunch at 12:15 p.m in the banquet hall and Rod Templon led the invocation. Children’s games began at 1:00 pm in the adjacent room due to inclement weather. Lots of fun was had by young and old. Thanks to Carol Snavely Zangrilli for planning and leading the games and prizes.

Dick and Joe Stacey along with Frances Snavely Woomer conducted the auction of donated items. About $400 was raised for the treasury. Thanks to all who donated items and/or cash.

Business Meeting

President George Snavely called the business meeting to order at 2:00 P.M.

Betty Davic, Secretary, noted the minutes were distributed by email and posted to the Snavely Blog maintained by Rod Templon last August. Next year she will remember to bring a printed copy.

Carol Zangrilli Snavely, Treasurer, reported expenses of $100 for the hall rental and $90 for games and prizes leaving about $409 plus what was raised in the auction today. We have enough money for next year.

George Snavely presented the Recognitions:

Most Senior Woman: Isabelle Stiffler, 90

Most Senior Man: George Snavely, 94

Youngest Child: Tanner Zachery Stroup, 3 mo.,

Born May 9, 2007 to Lisa Stacey Stroup,

daughter of Dick and Linda Stacey,

granddaughter of Babe Snavely Stacey

Largest Family: Descendants of Eleanor Snavely Smith:

Daughters Donna Smith Higginbottom and

Joyce Smith Anderson along with children, grandchildren and great-grandchild Angelina

Traveled Longest Distance: Matt Templon, from Mississippi where he is volunteering with the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Candy Jar Guess Eric Baer, age 10, was the first to record a guess of 31, the actual count was 39. Eric is the son of Debbie Snyder Baer, grandson of Bonnie Stiffler Snyder, and great-grandson of Isabelle Snavely Stiffler.

Announcements/Good of Order:

• Sadly, it was reported that Greg Wambaugh and wife Florence both passed away this year.
• Sadly, it was reported that Ruthie Boor Eckes and husband Albert both passed away this year.
• Joyously, it was reported that Babe Snavely Stacey has 43 grand and great-grandchildren with 1 more on the way J The youngest, while not in attendance, is Finn John Dressler born June 24, 2007 to Christa Arbogast Dressler, daughter of Lucy, and grand-daughter of Babe.
• Congratulations to Matthew Templon who earned his bachelor’s degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin in May.
• DATE OF NEXT YEAR’S REUNION: SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2008

The meeting closed with the singing of BLESSED BE THE TIE THAT BINDS and was adjourned at 2:20 P.M. Noted as perhaps the shortest meeting in 78 years? No one complained.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth Kidston Davic, Secretary

Daughter of Gladys Thomas Kidston, Grandaughter of Edith Snavely Thomas

Rev. 8/12/07 Corrections reported by Ada Snavely Munchak

Pictures from Betty Davic

Betty Davic just sent me the link her wonderful reunion photos, so I'm making them available for your viewing enjoyment. Click here to see her slide show. (Why are hers so much better focused than mine? Must be that cheap camera I use!)

78th Snavely Family Reunion

On Sunday, August 5, the descendants of Albert and Emily Snavely held their 78th reunion at Morrison's Cove Memorial Park in Martinsburg, PA. A good time was had by all! We had a lot of wonderful food and fellowship, and a lively auction that raised about $400 for the family fund. Best of all, kid's games were back. (Thanks, Carol!) Everybody voted to do it again next year, so put that first Sunday in August (August 3, 2008) on your calendars.

I will be posting the minutes of the family meeting shortly (by that, I mean when Betty Davic gets them to me). In the meantime, please click on this link to view a slide show of the pictures I took at the reunion, including this shot of Aunt Izzie Stiffler and Aunt Frances Woomer. More pictures will be added if folks email them to me at rtemplon@hotmail.com.

For next year, Uncle George and I are working on the details of an automobile tour to see places of family genealogical and historical interest, like the original Snavely family homestead in the southern part of Morrison's Cove, and some of our ancestral burial sites. We figure that it will take about 3 hours, and the current plan is to do it in the afternoon, once the family meeting and auction are concluded. At the end of the tour, we will depart for our homes. Don't miss this unique opportunity to hear our family history narrated by our President and oldest relative at the places where it occurred! Those interested should contact me soon for more details, and to provide planning input. Over the next few months I will post more tour information, including map links, on this site.

I am also looking for short biographies of Albert and Emily Snavely and each of their children. It would be appropriate for someone descended from each sister to provide their bios. I will volunteer to produce the one for my grandmother Eleanor. Perhaps Carol and George could assist Uncle George in getting down some thoughts of his mom and dad, although I'm sure that George's sisters will also want to have their say! All contributions will be gratefully accepted and posted on this blog.

A word about our family song, "Blest Be the Tie That Binds." Please click here for a site that will provide the words and music for this great hymn (come on folks, we all need to practice!). Appropriately, its music was written by a Swiss pastor, Hans Nageli.

Matt in Mississippi

On May 20, Matthew Templon, Son of Rod and Michelle Templon, Grandson of Joyce Templon Anderson and Great Grandson of Eleanor Snavely Smith Siebert, graduated from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Matt received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He is currently in Kiln, Mississippi (population 2,040) about 50 miles from New Orleans, serving as a coordinator for a volunteer work camp program assisting in Hurricane Katrina cleanup and rebuilding. It's a challenging job, as you can tell from the following email:

"Hey Mom and Dad,

Things are going swell down here in Mississippi. It has taken Dan (Matt's friend and fellow-Marquette grad) and I a little while to get on our feet and start to realize our full responsibilities. We are the volunteer coordinators for the camp, and thus need to place all those who come to the camp in the correct spot for the work day. Coming in blind to this was not the best, because we had (a) no idea that this would be our job, and (b) no idea about the 150 different sites that the camp is working on currently. Quickly we would figure out the progress of each house, and know where to put skilled and unskilled volunteers, and what they might be able to accomplish. Mind you that these jobs down here range from anything from laying out the foundation -- which means digging 15 3ftx2ft holes in a yard -- to finishing the fixtures inside a house. It certainly is a challenge and something that we are still trying to get down to an exact science. Sometimes though you can not have a mathematical equation for everything that is going on, but rather need to take a deep breath, go with the flow, and have plenty of back-ups in place if need be.

Like you previously said Mom: "it's hot down [here]", but luckily I feel prepared. Although this is the case, we really have not had to work out in the heat that much. Our base camp is set-up in an air conditioned building and we have been working out of there for the majority of the time. Today (Thursday) was different as a good chunk of the day was spent outside moving dirt and building a mound that would eventually turn into a wheelchair ramp with concrete, after some of my great engineering. I was so fortunate today to work with 7 young females from Missouri to help move the dirt, and boy was it a treat. They were great in helping to move the dirt and are excited about the framing of the ramp tomorrow. They reminded me of Megan (Matt's sister), but a little bit more mature. It was fun to be with them.

There is so much destruction down here; I guess I just never realized that scope of that hurricane. I am glad to be down here making a difference, and helping out. The other staff members are really nice, and fun people and we get along really well. This past Tuesday we played cabbage ball against some other relief volunteers. Out team is alright, as we lost our first game, and won our second. Cabbage ball is just a large softball that is softer than normal, and can be easily caught without a glove, which is good considering no one uses them. I hope to send pictures soon; that is as soon as I get time to go around with my camera. I also hope to continually keep you all informed. My emails will be sporadic, just like my internet.

Love Always,

Matt"