REUNION 2009 It’s A Party!!

July 19th, 2009

Maud Williamson State Park

Maud Williamson State Park

PHOTO DISPLAY Elma Hewitt is putting together a gallery of pictures of our oldest ancestors and of past reunions.  Bring your pictures (copies) on poster board so they can be hung in the gallery.

PICTURE COPIES Olive Merry Johnson has donated snapshots from past Reunions.  Come find yourself as a child or other memories to share with your family.  Plus, Marcia Durbin has provided a cd of photos from the 2005-2007 Reunions including group photos. There will be a copier/printer for making copies.

GROUP PHOTOS We will be taking group photos by family branches, which you will be able to download from the website after the Reunion.  Don’t be left out!!

One of Brian Hewitt's sons making the "hop-skip-and-a-jump" at the 2008 reunion

One of Brian Hewitt's sons making the "hop-skip-and-a-jump" at the 2008 reunion

THE  DANIEL MATHENY HEWITT CHALLENGE is back with age categories from under 6 to over 60.  See how far you travel in two hops on one foot and a jump from two feet, in succession after (but not counting) a running start.  This event was started last year by Brian Hewitt, great-great-grandson of Daniel Matheny Hewitt, who was a local star at this traditional Olympic event.  Last year’s winner was Toby Williams who covered 28 feet 8 inches in his two hops and a jump.  Can you beat that?! (See Toby’s jump in the June 2008 newsletter.)

WEBSITE DEMONSTRATION We will have a computer available for viewing our hmcfamily.org website for those who don’t have access to a computer or don’t have experience in navigating websites.

OREGON TRAIL GAME Play the classic Oregon Trail Game computer game, which now has a cult following.

OREGON HISTORY TIMELINE Celebrate Oregon’s sesquicentennial by bringing information on any contributions made by members of our families as citizens of the State of Oregon, the Oregon Territory, or Oregon Country (including Washington, Idaho, western Montana, and a corner of western Wyoming).  We will make cards to put up on a timeline of Oregon’s history.

STORYTELLING AREA Match memories or ask those questions you’ve always wanted to know the answers to about the family.

THE AUCTION As mentioned in the last newsletter, Brian Hewitt has come out of ‘retirement’ to be our auctioneer again! Please bring a brief description and suggested price for your oral auction donations to help Brian out. Our treasurer, Louis Rodge, will be busy with a new tracking system for the auction and raffle.

Marian Murray McClaine helping David Shelburne make ice cream at the 2008 Reunion (James Andrew Hewitt descendants)

Marian Murray McClaine helping David Shelburne make ice cream at the 2008 Reunion (James Andrew Hewitt descendants)

HOME MADE ICE CREAM!! Thank you to David Shelburne for bringing back our tradition of homemade ice cream at the Reunion! Homemade ice cream is a lot of work and we appreciate David’s generous contribution to our picnic last year.  So, this year let’s follow David’s lead and have ice cream for our birthday party.  If you don’t have an ice cream freezer, you can still join in on the fun of turning the crank.

Homemade ice cream at the Reunion was something to look forward to all year.   Elma Hewitt’s fond memories of picnics in Unionvale were of fried chicken and homemade ice cream.  Jean Kerr remembers that “Erma (Shelburne) and Elsie (Warmington) were the only ones to make it for many, many years and they had the best ice cream that anyone had ever tasted.  They had a big dairy and their ice cream was probably cream period (no milk).  Elsie was the master of flavoring it.  Vanilla was always the preferred flavor.” [Especially because we ate it on homemade pies.]

Memories of a Recipe from Elsie Warmington’s daughter, Olive Merry Johnson:

“Thought surely I could find a recipe for the ice cream but could not.  No, it isn’t a secret — BUT —–!!!  Will put down what I remember (with help from the family).  Stir up 6 eggs, add 2 cups sugar, 2 cups cream, and 1 tablespoon vanilla.  Pour in one gallon ice cream freezer and add enough milk to make it two thirds full.  Add crushed ice, sprinkling salt (chunky kind) over the layers of ice cream and turn the freezer until it is too hard to turn.  Seems pretty simple and hope that is correct.”

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REUNION MEMORIES: History of the Reunion

July 19th, 2009

“The Reunion” by Elma Hewitt, President Emeritus

Elma Hewitt at the 2008 HMC Family Reunion

Elma Hewitt at the 2008 HMC Family Reunion

The Children of Henry Hewitt and Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt decided twenty years after the deaths of their parents in 1899 they should keep in touch.  They decided to meet each year.  Since Henry Harrison Hewitt (the third child) was a lawyer and the oldest living child, an organization was formed which made the reunion an organized group which has lasted ninety years.

The Henry and Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt Monument

The Henry and Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt Monument

When the reunion started, it was held at the old family home of Henry and Elizabeth, and then at Adam Hewitt’s home which was part of the Henry Hewitt donation land claim and a little north of Henry and Elizabeth’s home.  (There is a monument on Wallace Road where the house was located.)  Now there are a few oak trees left around Adam’s house and a couple of other houses have been built in the area.

When I was a child in the thirties, the reunion was held in what was referred to as the Antrim’s Grove, across the Grand Island Road from George and Rada Antrim’s house (but was actually LaDru Thornton’s grove).  It had tall fir trees and picnic tables.  It must also have had an outhouse someplace, but I don’t remember where it was.

What remains of Antrim's Grove

What remains of Antrim’s Grove

I think the reunion was held the Fourth of July.  I know it was before watermelon season since my dad would go to the Pacific Fruit Company in Albany and get a watermelon to take to the reunion.

Jasper Hewitt (a dentist in Portland) was the first president I remember and he was it for a long time.  The next president that I remember was Roy Hewitt, a son of James Andrew and Mary Jane (Rose) Hewitt.  In his tenure the reunion had to find a different site.  From 1939 to 1941, they tried the city park in Dayton and later Champoeg State Park but neither of them were suitable.  When Maud Williamson State Park opened, the reunion moved there and has been meeting there ever since. It is on the Adam Matheny donation land claim so it is part of the family roots.  During Roy Hewitt’s tenure, the date of the reunion changed to the first Sunday in August.

The next big change was the Matheny and Cooper descendants officially joining the group which brought about the change of the name of the group to Hewitt-Matheny-Cooper Family Association.  This organization has a council of six elected members, which handles most of the business of the group and they elect the president, secretary, and treasurer of the group.  In 1996, the first council consisted of Meda Johnson and Elma Hewitt (Hewitts), Dennis Matheny and Brian Hewitt (Mathenys)(Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt descendants are also Mathenys.), and Don Rivara and Gary Burlingame (Coopers) .

At the reunion in 1991, Eleeta Hilderbrand suggested the group have a newsletter and volunteered Julie Jones, Olive Merry Johnson and Elma Hewitt (all James Andrew Hewitt descendants) to write the newsletter.  The first few newsletters were the cut-and-paste kind.  Then Walt Davies (Mathew Hewitt descendant) offered his computer skills and joined the group.  Dennis Matheny and Don Rivara published the newsletter for a few years.  Royse Kerr, our President Barbara Kerr, her brother Bryan, and Nancy Matheny Nasim have been bringing us into the computer age.

[Henry & Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt >James Andrew Hewitt > Elmer Hewitt > Elma Hewitt]

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From Our President – July 2009

July 19th, 2009

In this fast-paced life where change happens more often than we can keep track of, it’s impressive to think that our family has been gathering for 90 years. It’s reassuring to be part of something that has gone on for so long and will be there for our next generations to feel part of and look forward to each year.   So let’s celebrate!

As you read through the list of celebration activities, plan on bringing photocopied or digital copies of family pictures showing generations that are no longer with us to add to the Photo Wall or help to bring back one of our most cherished traditions by dusting off that ice cream maker. Practice your two-hops-and-a-jump and your stories for the Storytelling Area and Memory Books.  And don’t forget to fill out your family record sheet to send in or bring to the Reunion and bring a donation for the auction or raffle.

Note that we are back in our regular spot at the park, thanks to Mike Layman.

Please share the Children’s Corner articles with your young family members and let them know that they can contribute to this section of the newsletter and website to be by and for their generation, including renaming the column.

Read the heartfelt descriptions of loved ones written by family at last year’s Reunion in the Memory Books Joanne Shipley put together.  Making sure the younger generations know the role in history our families played is important.  But capturing the history we have made in large and small ways since then is important as well. We are more than just the pioneers.  Send in your stories to Joanne or bring them to the Reunion. You probably know someone who was, or is, a pioneer of a different era.

Strong heritage can makes a great family; but it’s the hands-on demonstration of that strength that makes a family association last for 90 years. Thank you ahead of time to volunteers for reserving the park, setting up, organizing food, taking pictures, doing readings, leading songs, auctioneering, keeping records and minutes, manning the storytelling and computer tables, setting up children’s activities, organizing  the  Daniel Matheny Hewitt Challenge, and cleaning up.

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