You’ve now identified members of your extended family through your research, but how do you put all that work to practical use? If you are planning a family reunion or even just thinking about one, this workshop will provide numerous ideas and suggestions to make the planning process easier and lead to a more enjoyable experience for all. JGSGB members, Beverley Olsberg and Sheila Green, will share what they learned when they planned successful family reunions. Beverley will transport you to Zambia, her birthplace and the site of her 1996 family reunion, as well as provide information from her 2015 reunion in Minneapolis. Sheila will share the methods she used for planning her family reunion in Chicago, including the use of recently available technology.

Sheila Green grew up in Chicago, went to high school and college in California, and lived in Anchorage, Alaska before moving to the Boston area. As a result of her relocations, she lost contact with her extended family. After she began her genealogical journey and found most of her first cousins, who had also lost contact with one another, family members asked her to organize a family reunion. The result was a three-day reunion in Chicago attended by over 80 relatives.

Beverley Olsberg was born and raised in Livingstone, Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia). She moved to London when she was 18 and lived there until she and her husband moved to Boston a couple of years ago. She remained in touch with most of her extended family, who, due to unrest in Central Africa, had dispersed across the globe. In 1996, she organized a family reunion at the Victoria Falls that included five generations, with 108 descendants from 8 countries. Last summer, Beverley helped plan a reunion for the other side of her family in Minneapolis.

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Admission is free for members, $5 for non-members. Refreshments will be served.