Having some 100 persons show up at a family reunion is nothing new to Loyd and Aline Bussell, who live in the East Basin north of Mannford. With six living children, 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren at the latest count, traffic going to and from their house is so large that area friends say their road ought to be four-laned.
On July 4, the family met at the Kennyville Road home of daughter Wanda Hancock and her husband, Larry. Mrs. Hancock's three brothers, Kenneth, William and Darrell, attended as did her two sisters, Sherrell Taylor and Oma Straughn. Darrell and Sherrell are twins as is Oma, whose twin, Onis, is deceased.
Mrs. Bussell was a prime mover in the reunion, the first one in seven years, while daughter Sherrell and daughter-in-law Claire Bussell did most of the planning.
With the 101 attending being asked to bring at least one pot-luck dish, the food was so abundant that with one big meal served and continuous nibbling going on, Mrs. Taylor commended that "not even a dent was made."
When rain cut short the outside activities, visiting, along with eating, proved favorites.
The Bussells will celebrate their 50 years of marriage on the next June 11 and have lived in this area for 19 years. Loyd Bussell is retired from Crane Carrier and he and his wife, Aline, share interests in fishing, camping, and gardening. At one time they sold home-grown vegetables from a large truck patch in the Silver City area and were known for their tomatoes. Aline Bussell finds piecing quilt tops a favorite cold-weather pastime.
The six Bussell children along with their families attending included: Gary and Sherrell Taylor and Chris, Lorie and Cathy, East Basin; Bill and Oma Straughn, Neosho, Mo., and Mrs. Straughn's sons, Bennie and Raymond Hines; Larry and Wanda Hancock and daughters Penny and Cindy, Kennyville Road.
Kenneth and Peggie Bussell and daughter Christine, East Basin; Kenneth Bussell, Jr. and wife Toni and son Jeremy, Mannford; Patricia Laxton and daughter Jamie Sager, Mannford; Gina, Steve and Kevin Eddy and daughter Bobbie Jo Bussell, all of Mannford.
William and Peggy Bussell and children Bonnie, Betty Jean and Donnie and grandchildren Joshua and Billie Jean, Mannford; son Tim of Tulsa.
Darrell and Clair Bussell and sons Steven, Johnny, Jimmy and Mark, of Broken Arrow.
Gene Bussell, son of the late Onis Bussell, of the family East Basin home.
Relatives of Loyd Bussell present included: Bernice Mayfield, his sister, of Mounds; Christine and Arthur Lopez and their two children, Ashley and Arthur, Jr., of Sealy, Tex.; David and Margaret Mayfield and children Juanita, Linda and Jerry, and their grandchildren, Eulonna and Misty Mayfield of Jenks; Joyce Bradshaw and family, Coweta; Jim and Betty Stephens and daughter Phyllis of Bay City, Tex.; Nora Stephens and son, Earl of Bay City, Tex.; and Helen Miller and her three children, of Castle, Ok.
Also, R.J. Bussell, Loyd's brother, and Lena Faye Bussell, of Russellville, Ark.; Jim and Judy Taylor and sons Robbie, Terry and Jerry, also of Russellville.
Relatives of Mrs. Aline Bussell attending were: Leon, Elaine, Jason and Crystal Jones, Broken Arrow and Tina and Carl Schroeder II and son Kendall Leon Jones, of Broken Arrow.
Friends attending were Michael Smith, Vanndale, Ark.; Scott Watros, Tulsa; Dave and Billie Berry, Mannford; Tammy Creekmore, Nashville, Ark.; Estaline and Chuck Autry and their four daughters, of Tulsa; Christine Hiebert, a friend of Bennie Hines, of Anderson, Mo.; Vicki Hess, a friend of Raymond Hines, of Powell, Mo.; Melissa L. O'Donnell, a friend of Earl Stephens, Jr., of Bay City, Tex.; and Keven Pumphrey, a friend of Christine Bussell, of Shamrock, Ok.
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