This Site Comes With Music!

What a great day!

The Allen Family gathered in Farmington on August 2, 2009 to celebrate their 100th annual reunion. What a great day!! Some photos of the 100th Annual Allen Reunion are now online.  Go to Photo Album Section. If you have any to add, please do!!  If you are interested in copies of photos taken by Heather Ainsworth you can contact her at heather.ainsworth@gmail.com.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make the 100^th Annual Allen Reunion such a wonderful day! And to let all of you who were unable to join us that you were all missed!

 

Special thanks to Lee Hawkins for the lovely ornaments – 125 crocheted hearts to remind us of the importance of family; Mary Phillips for the table decorations – the photo cubes were a great idea;  Mary Ann Allen for all her work before and during the reunion – from putting on all table cloths to planning for the hotdogs to getting all the food on the table to clean up;  Marion and Norm Cole and family for setting up tables and chairs on Saturday; Cindy Carbone for the great slide show. There were many other helpful hands on Sunday and be assured that all your efforts were greatly appreciated. 

 

Family displays were set up in the Common Room and included many family mementos -  the wedding dresses of Jennie (Briggs) Allen, Marion E. Hoag (Allen), and Leora (Allen) Herendeen; Carrie Allen Padgham’s diploma from the Macedon Academy; photographs of the George S. Allen Family on the 40^th wedding anniversary of the wedding of George to Nellie Padgham; photos of Dorothy Allen Lewis, daughter of Charles E. Allen; family trees of the May Allen Hawkins family and the Leora Allen Herendeen family; slide show of family pictures of the Ellery and Jennie (Briggs) Allen family; transcribed diaries of Lewis F. Allen and Marion E. Hoag; and so much more.

 

David Allen, President, opened the reunion in the main part of the church and Miriam Padgham provided a prayer of thanksgiving. 

 

It got a bit chaotic after lunch and some might say we failed to follow the program – and they would be correct, but hopefully there aren’t too many objections.  So following is some of what would have been shared with you – had we held the annual meeting, as our ancestors were so conscientious in doing:

 

Total number signing in:        149  (This has to be the largest reunion ever!)

May Allen Hawkins Family (red) – 17; George S. Allen Family (orange) – 25; Lewis F. Allen Family (yellow) – 55; Charles E. Allen Family (green) – 2; Willard H. Allen Family (blue) – 18;

Carrie Allen Padgham Family (purple) – 31; Lewis F. and Judy Allen Family (pink) – 1

Family members came from Texas, Iowa, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, and from all corners of New York State. If you did not sign the register, please let us know so that we can have a more accurate count. 

 

Youngest Person:  Sean Ellery Allen, son of Scott and Kira Allen (Willard H. Allen Family) – born 29 March 2009.  Oldest Person: Grace B. Allen, widow of Herbert Allen (Lewis F. Allen Family) - born 28 October 1913.  Family that came the longest distance:  William A. and Esther Hawkins; Jeffrey A. and Dawn Hawkins and their son Zachary, age 13 months. – Austin, Texas. William A. is son of Allen Frank Hawkins.  (May Allen Hawkins Family)

 

 

Future of the Allen Family Reunion:  The main item on the agenda for the annual meeting would have been a decision regarding the future of the Allen Family Reunion. The few that have attended the Reunion over the past few years wanted to hold on to the tradition until we could celebrate the 100th in 2009 – that has been accomplished.  We are passing the torch to the next generation (great grandchildren of the original six siblings).  If someone from that generation wishes to step forward to continue the reunion tradition let us know and we will gladly turn over the “Reunion Box” and contact list.  Perhaps the best way to handle this is to generate some

discussion using the Allen Reunion Website. For those without access to the internet, you can drop Marjory Allen Perez a note about your feelings and

we will post it on the website.

 

Website:  David Allen graciously has paid the annual fee for the third year so that the website will be up through next July. We will be posting photos of the reunion on the website as soon as we get them, so be sure to keep checking.  Please keep putting on your family photos!  If you encounter any problems, contact Marjory at maperez@rochester.rr.com and she will try to help.

 

Reunion Slide Show:  Cindy Carbone and her son Zachary did a great job on putting this together and she has offered to expand it with more pictures – family photos and old reunion photos.  If you have photos you would like included in this “Trip down Memory Lane” you can send them to Cindy BY AUGUST 31^ST at ccarbone@managed-programs.com or 4250 Tallman Drive, Troy, MI 48085.  Be sure to identify photos with names and dates (if possible). If you would like a copy of the finished CD, send Cindy your name and address. 

 

The Courtship Years:  Diaries of Marion E. Hoag and Lewis F. Allen, 1897-1899: Copies of this book can still be ordered.  It tells the story of the courtship years of Marion and Lewis through the entries in their diaries – arranged side by side.  Through the diaries, we get a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors in the final years of the 19^th century.  Lewis was the first of the six children of Ellery and Jennie (Briggs) Allen to marry.  Six months later George S. Allen married Nellie Padgham and the other four children were all married by 1906.  Cost of the book is $20, which includes cost of mailing.  If you want multiple copies sent to the same address, we can lower the price a bit – just depends on the cost of mailing.  Contact Marjory by email (maperez@rochester.rr.com), phone (315-946-4562) or by regular mail – 16 Culver St., Lyons, NY 14489.

 

Family Statistics for previous year: 

BIRTHS:

19 Feb 2009                  Nina Caroline Geist, daughter of Marcus and Lisa (Capron) Geist; granddaughter of James Capron; great granddaughter of Mildred (Allen) Capron.  Lewis Allen Family.

19 Mar 2009                 Silas Isaiah Greenman   , son of David and Jennifer (Hirsch) Greenman; great granddaughter of Elizabeth Allen (Padgham) Bowerman. Carrie Allen Family

23 Mar 2009                 Sean Ellery Allen, son of Scott and Kira Allen; grandson of Ken and Mary Ann Allen; great grandson of Parke Allen.  Willard Allen Family

 

MARRIAGES:          

3 May 2009                   Andrew Jonathan Brouse to Christa Betts.  Andrew is son of Henry and Alice (Herendeen) Brouse; grandson of Arthur and Leora (Allen) Herendeen; Lewis F. Allen Family.

23 May 2009                 Deborah Joanna Hartosugh to Justin Bullington.  Deborah is son of Dan Michael and Maria (Morris) Harstough; granddaughter of Gordon and Margaret (Herendeen) Hartsough.  Lewis F. Allen Family.

DEATHS:

17 Dec 2008                 George M. Herendeen, son of Arthur and Leora (Allen) Herendeen. Lewis F. Allen Family.

 

GRADUATIONS:

Michael Bayer              Son of John and Sylvia (Allen) Bayer, graduated from Warsaw High School, June 2009.  Will attend RIT in the fall.  Michael is grandson of Herbert and Grace (Bowerman) Allen.  Lewis F. Allen Family.

Mary Donovan              Daughter of Tom and Laura (Allen) Donovan, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, NY) in January 2009.  She is now attending Oswego State finishing up a degree in vocational education. 

Jaclyn Mahoney            Daughter of John and Lucile (Lewis) Mahoney, granddaughter of Dorothy (Allen) Lewis; graduated summa cum laude from Iroquois High School in Elma, NY and will attend Cornell University in the fall.  Charles E. Allen family.

Jason R. Stouffer          Son of Jonathan and Karen (Brouse) Stouffer; grandson of Henry and Alice (Herendeen) Brouse.  Lewis F. Allen Family.  Will be attending Penn State at Harrisburg.

 

 

Think this summarizes the 100^th Annual Allen Family Reunion.  Again thanks to all you were able to join us.

 

PAST REUNIONS 

As we approach another Allen Family Reunion - the 99th - thought you might like to see what happened at some of the earlier reunions.

1921 - The family met at the Grange Hall in Farmington and "after a bontiful [sic] picnic dinner served in the basement, numerous sports were indulged in by the younger set in the school yard while the older members spent a pleasant social hour in visiting."  

The president Dr. George Allen called the meeting to order and the following officers were elected:  Ellery G. Allen, Jr, President; Leora Allen, Vice President; and Allen Hawkins, Secretary & Treasurer.

The highlight of the reunion that year was  a program presented by the grandchildren.  Ellery G. Allen, Jr. played a violin solo.  Clarence Padgham made a recitation.  Dorothy and Lucile Allen performed a vocal duet.  In all there were 16 performances.  That must have been one long afternoon!

1922 - The family once again met at the Grange Hall in Pumpkin Hook. "After indulging in a well planned dinner in the basement, shports in the fields and school yard and conversations thruout, the regular meeting was opened in due form."  The committee apointed the previous year to give the reunion a name reported their recommendation of "Ellery & Jennie Allen Clan Reunion"  Those attending voted to accept the recommended name and authorized purchase of a register for the minutes of the meetings.  The family decided it needed committees - one to make arrangements for reunion; one to plan for entertainment.   There were only eleven performances that year.