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MINUTES OF THE 46th ANNUAL GERKING FAMILY REUNION
August 14, 2005 — Francis Xavier’s Restaurant, Portland, Oregon Originally scheduled to be held at Ft. Vancouver, Washington, the meeting site had to be changed at the last minute. Thanks to Florence and Larry Bowe’s great help, the 46th Annual Gerking Reunion was held August 14 in a meeting room at Francis Xavier's Restaurant in northeast Portland, Oregon. As both Florence and Larry are having health problems, we were all very happy they could attend and take part in the reunion. Following are those in attendance:
As people gathered for lunch, we got acquainted/reacquainted with family members and looked through material Florence Bowe and Janelle Jackson had produced through their work on the line of Jonathan Rice Gerking's wife, Nancy Ann Myers. Others had brought pictures and items to share, including “Descendants of David M. Taylor,” provided to Florence Bowe by Sarah Olsen; a picture of David Taylor’s warehouse showing horse teams, sacks of grain, and many family members, which was donated to the Gerking archives by Nancy and Lynden Gerking; a copy of Effie May Gerking Tolle written by Paul Lewis; pictures scanned by Beth Johnston from an album that had belonged to Darrell Leabo; and copies of the last Newsletter and Minutes from the 2004 Reunion. All enjoyed a wonderful lunch, following which a business meeting was held. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the future of the annual Gerking reunions, and that discussion was held first. The basic topics were (1) Future Reunions — Should They Continue? If So, What Shape Should They Take? and (2) Looking Ahead to our 50th reunion in 2009. Should There Be Future Reunions? Except for the early years of the reunions when attendance ranged from over 100 to 200+, attendance at reunions has varied over the years from small to quite large. Recently it has become difficult to find a location acceptable to all, few younger family members have shown an interest in attending reunions just to meet their cousins, and many older members are reluctant to drive too far away from home. In addition, there has been no outreach to the various Gerking lines to draw them to the reunions. Beth will do a zip code breakdown to see where family members we know of live. The group felt that focusing on drawing younger members must have a high priority if the reunions are to continue and agreed to work hard to attract new, younger members by holding reunions either at places that have family attractions or in areas where family attractions are nearby. Other ideas included being sure there’s something for younger members to do at the reunion — a good playground, entertainment geared to a younger age group, etc. The idea should be for the kids to have fun and be comfortable around their family members rather than for them to pay strict attention to lessons in family history until they’re ready to do so. It was also suggested that selecting a different date might help, and that the reunions should have themes. Lynden and Laverne Gerking recounted how amazed they had been to discover first cousins they’d not known about living in such close proximity and how much that had meant to them. Lynden said he really would like to see the reunions continue, and the group agreed. 47th Annual Gerking Family Reunion — August 12-13, 2006, Walla Walla, WA After consulting among themselves, the families of Lynden and Nancy Gerking and Laverne and Helen Gerking offered to host the 2006 reunion in Walla Walla. They will get together after returning home and decide on the place, theme, and other details. It was envisioned that the Walla Walla families will provide all the food so travelers will not have to worry about keeping food cold. RSVPs will be required in order to make proper meal and space arrangements. The group gratefully accepted their generous offer. In order to support the reunion, the group agreed to broaden the mailing list (in the past it had technically been reduced to those paying the family fee or had shown an active interest in the family), and to “put more words” in front of everyone through post cards, reminders, emails, and the newsletter. Beth noted that the family savings account contains $1,346.41, which will draw down fast with postage and copying costs, and it was suggested fundraisers be instituted, while at the same time conserving as much of the treasury as possible. It was suggested that we have everyone bring their favorite recipes to Walla Walla and produce a family cookbook to sell. Another suggestion was to have a white elephant auction. Looking Ahead to our 50th reunion in 2009 It was agreed the 50th anniversary of the reunion’s founding should be very special, and the fundraisers noted above, plus the additional mailings, would be a good start to getting funding for it. The group felt Cascade Locks had been a good meeting site that drew family from both sides of the Cascades and would be a good place for the 50th anniversary reunion. Beth will check out availability and cost and report back. Correspondence: Prior to the meeting messages expressing regret at not being able to attend had been received from Bev Rowland, Betty Gerking Roach, Ruby Wells Ifversen, Julia Gerking Hammond, Richard and Frances Bowers, Lori Roberts, Ardis Gerking Heien (from Iowa!). Other correspondence received included news of family passages and will be presented in the Newsletter. Minutes of 2004 Meeting: Minutes of the 2004 family meeting were distributed and their highlights commented on by Beth. Financial Report as of July 31, 2005: The July 31 balance ins the savings account was $1,346.41. Income during the year of 8/1/04-7/31/05 was $242.57, and expenses totaled $138.20 for newsletter printing and postage. Beth reported that the pages in the original reunion guest register were used up at last year’s reunion, and she was authorized to buy a new guest register for future reunions. It was moved by Lynden, seconded by Larry, and passed by the group that the 2004 Minutes and the 2004-2005 Financial report be approved. Old Business: Updates on Projects in Process • DNA Research Update — The suggestion to use DNA methods to determine whether or not relationships exist between this family group and the “North Carolina” Gerkin group, as well as our German cousin Karl Gerking had been brought up at the 2004 reunion, and Dan Hebert had volunteered to spearhead this project.. He had brought several handouts for the group including “Genetics & Genealogy - An Introduction with Y-DNA Case Study Examples;” “DNA Presentation,” giving details of the work being done by the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation; and “Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS),” from the World Families Network. He explained that costs vary depending on the type of tests ordered and the company performing them. He will get more information on costs and report back to the family next year. • Getting “The Book” on a web site — We heard from Dan Hebert on the progress of computerizing the information in The Gerking Family in America, and potential methods for archiving Gerking historical material. Dan Hebert has registered the domain name GerkingFamily.org, and the material might be placed there. It was pointed out that the family currently has a free web site hosted by RootsWeb.com. Dan will pursue costs over the next year and come back to the group with that information. It was moved by Lynden, seconded by Paul, and passed by the group that Dan pursue information about getting The Gerking Family in America on the web and also about archiving Gerking historical material and come back to the group next year with that information and costs. New Business and Discussion Topics • Family Fee — After discussion the group agreed the family fee of $10.00 per year should be dropped and other methods of raising money pursued. • When people request reproduction of family picturees, should we charge actual expenses or a flat fee? No decision was reached. • Where to store Gerking historical material — With Janelle Jackson’s resignation as historian, the family records, pictures, documents, etc. given to her by Florence need a new home. Beth has some room at her house and is willing to store the historian’s material there. Lynden suggested that if it becomes necessary the group might want to look at renting storage space. It was moved by Lynden, seconded by Paul, and passed by the group that the Historian material currently in Janelle’s custody be transferred to Beth’s house. Any Other Business Florence had brought along a ceramic covered wagon cookie jar, which she had stickered with the words "Gerking Reunion" and "1862" (the year the family arrived in Oregon). She made a gift of the cookie jar to the reunion group for use in collecting reunion donations, and the gift was gratefully accepted. Election of Officers Following discussion, the assembled group decided that rather than electing officers, it would constitute itself an executive committee to guide the reunion group through the coming year. Beth agreed to continue the duties of secretary-treasurer and newsletter editor during this period. Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Beth Johnston Acting Secretary |