Attendees to Janice Fitzhugh’s family reunion, the Kirks family.
Black family reunions have been a staple in the African-American culture since the days of the Great Migration with relatives finding ways to stay in touch with those who moved up North. Today’s fast-paced and over-worked society often makes staying in touch with family more difficult, making family reunions even more important for staying connected. But the realities of planning an event where dozens of family members from far and wide come together can be daunting.
“Multiple reports suggest that majority of family reunions in the U.S. are held by African Americans,” said Andréa Richardson, Hilton Director of Resorts & Multicultural Marketing.
“Family reunions can attract up to 400 family members and offer an opportunity to reconnect with relatives from multiple generations. Summer is the most popular season for family reunions because it’s easier for the entire family to travel when students are on a break from school,” said Richardson.
Summer seemed like the perfect season for the Kirks family from Detroit, MI. When Janice Fitzhugh, a member of the Kirks family, set out with hopes of a Tucker family reunion after not having one for five years, she instantly became the head planner and came face-to-face with the realities of what it takes to throw an amazing shindig.
While planning a reunion is no wedding day extravaganza it still takes as much time, effort, location scouting and a host of events.
Janice Fitzhugh’s planning paid off with a successful family reunion.
“We came up with activities by going to a reunion workshop at Cobo Hall (Detroit) and learned how to engage the family, plan and use social media to get the family involved,” said Fitzhugh.
After speaking to hotels and travel agencies, the good thing to note is while family may sometimes be a headache, planning your family reunion doesn’t have to be as stressful or expensive.
“African Americans (AA) spend an average of $48 billion on travel in the U.S. each year, according to Mandala Research. In addition, the U.S. Travel Association found that majority of AA leisure travel was for a family reunion and average trip spending was $485.80, with 32 percent of trips ranging from $250 to $999,” said Richardson.
And Fitzhugh can certainly attest to the spending. In order to plan the reunion Janice’s family committee set aside a $5,500 budget charging family members 11 and up $108 and kids five to 10 years old $54, while little ones four and younger attended for free.
“We really wanted to make sure it was affordable and everyone looked forward to coming. And even if a family was having financial hardship we did not make them feel slighted, but told them to come anyway and maybe they just went to the picnic or meet and greet but we wanted all the family there,” Fitzhugh emphasized.
One of the events at the family reunion Janice Fitzhugh planned: a boat ride!
Fitzhugh could probably teach a lesson on embedding creativity into your family reunion’s theme. Since the family would be traveling to the Motown capitol instead of staying south as they’d done in the past, she beefed up the invites. She shopped at secondhand stores to buy vinyl records and turned them into the family’s save-the-dates.
“Sure, it was a bit more expensive to send in the mail, but they really looked like Motown records and it got all the family really excited and wanting to see what else we had planned,” she says.
Today’s surge is family reunions is not the first of its kind. Dr. Ione Vargus, founder of the Family Reunion Institute at Temple University has been researching the activities of Black family reunions since 1986. In the late 1980s, she held a conference on family reunions as the Dean of Social Work at Temple University and received tons of inquiries. There was a surge in Black family reunions in the 1990s.
“People used to call me and wanted to know more about what to do and reunions were growing quite fast in the 1990s. I was intrigued by that. That’s when we founded the (Family Reunion) Institute,” said Dr. Vargus. The FRI provides families with help on planning reunions as well as necessary documents, such as bylaws (a favorite) on organizing the family.
“The idea of the family reunion, I say, comes from the African tradition,” she adds. “Tribes were basically extended family and it encompassed a whole lot of kinship. I believe that people who were born into slavery carried this notion of a big family with them once they were freed and migrating across the country.”
In the beginning, family reunions were mostly held at someone’s house or farm, but hotels are becoming the best options for large traveling families.
“When we examined travel data we found that AA travelers are highly likely to select hotel accommodations over other options, such as vacation homes or a bed and breakfast,” said Hilton’s Richardson. “Family reunion planners should seek accommodations that offer built-in amenities such as all-suites brands, brands that offer complimentary full breakfasts, evening receptions, etc., to help all family members maximize their travel budgets.” She recommends her company’s Embassy Suites by Hilton and Homewood Suites by Hilton brands. Hilton has kicked off its “Count On It” program that is helping family’s plan and save for an easy and stress-free reunion.
Fitzhugh’s family used the hotel conference room to show off past reunion memorabilia.
Hotels, location and dates are of the utmost importance when it comes to the basics of planning a great reunion.
“Set up a date, location and begin to think about ways you’ll correspond with the family because there is a big part of communication, also the list – who are you sending this invite to?” said Dr. Vargus.
Fitzhugh said her family utilized everything from conference calls and emails to the beloved Facebook groups. And while 94 people showed up, the average number of attendees to African-American family reunions happens to be anywhere from 125 to 200 people.
“When you say family reunion – you must define who the family is – is it grandma, grandpa and the kids? Than that’s easy. But if it’s one of those reunions where you’re going back a generation or a couple of generations there all kinds of branches that jump off that family tree and that takes a bit more work,” said Edith Wagner, Editor of Reunions Magazine.
When it comes to thinking about all generations, Wagner notes that it is important for the planning committee to include all generations, so that teens and other age groups feel engaged as well.
Fitzhugh’s family did a large picnic and a three-hour boat ride where the family ate, laughed, prayed and danced together and where planners had minimal responsibilities and could just enjoy the activity.
And when the family isn’t eating or dancing, both Wagner and Dr. Vargus agree that family ancestry and oral storytelling is an important part and purpose of family reunions. Much like the griots in Africa who recorded a tribe’s history, there is often one person in the family who has collected photos, family trees and ancestry paperwork and can engage the family in history they would never know.
“I think we’ve been a lot more conscious about our family reunions and that’s been part of the goal for the institute – to help and strengthen those reunions and make them have some real meaning,” said Dr. Vargus.
Bringing together a ton of kinfolk, bridging generations and mixing fun with a bit of education may not be a walk in the park but we’ve realized it’s manageable and with the right committee even fun (DIY Motown invites!).
After speaking with Hilton, The Family Reunion Institute, Reunions Magazine, Liberty Travel and three African-American families who planned reunions this summer here are the best ways to plan and save:
- The Basics: Secure a date, location, budget and multi-generational committee very early on and give yourself one year to 18 months to plan.
- Location, Location, Location: Even if your reunion is in your hometown, contact the City Visitor’s Bureau. The CVB often has relationships with hotels and caterers that will bid on hosting your reunion, which will save money make planning easier.
- Fundraise: Host pre-reunion fundraisers to begin paying for events that need early down payments. Think bake sales or yard sales.
- Clear Communication: Use social media, emails and conference calls so family near and far stay in the know.
- Save Some Pennies: Consider all-inclusive resorts, cruises, hotels with accommodations, ranches or even planning the reunion around a city’s festival, which takes care of some entertainment. And if you’ve decided to DIY, cook or have a potluck for at least one of the events and cut catering costs.
- Speaking of Entertainment: Create cross-generational activities such as hustle dance classes, ancestry story telling, boat rides and talent shows.
- Know Your History: Be sure there is a higher purpose connected to your reunion by providing ancestry, family trees and genealogical information.
- Easy Does It: Friday evening meet & greet. Saturday morning breakfast, free afternoon, Saturday evening banquet & talent show. Sunday morning church and afternoon picnic. We just planned your reunion, now you get the details.
- Clean up Crew: Many families forget to actually plan for the clean up. This is a great way to have out-of-town family who could not help with planning feel like they helped out. Secure their help in advance!
- Have Fun: At the end of the day, this is about you and your family creating lasting memories!
“It’s important to just build memories and know about your family heritage. Family is really the backbone of America and not just the African American family. Knowing the generations, because you might end up marrying your third cousins – you need to know who they are,” Fitzhugh said laughing. “ My children went to every reunion and they get to have those memories.”
“Family left wanting to come back together again and that’s the magic, that’s what we did. Now it’s time to see how we can top this!” said Fitzhugh tired, but full of love and great expectations.
