Tew Reunion in Salt Lake City

Last Saturday, on June 12, descendants of William Thomas Tew / Clara Elizabeth Snow Tew (my paternal grandparents) enjoyed a day together, renewing old friendships, and, in many cases, developing new ones.  The cool, rainy weather prevented us from meeting outdoors, as originally planned, so we met indoors in the recreational area of a large LDS church building, the one that Patricia (my niece) and Dan Potts regularly attend.  All in all, there were about 130 attendees.  We had plenty of food.  Brad Berntson (my nephew) and his wife, Jane, brought  a large commercial scale grill to the event in a trailer, and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs outdoors.  Louise Tew (my sister-in-law) and her daughter, Patricia, did most of the work preparing for the reunion, handling invitations, program agenda, facility reservations, decorations, name tags, meat and condiments,and so on.  They did an outstanding job and are to be commended for their effort.  There are others who substantially contributed.

We had descendants representing all but one of Grandpa and Grandma Tew's seven children who are long since deceased.  My father, 2nd youngest, died 32 years ago (1978), at age 78.  At age 62, I am the youngest living grandchild of Grandpa and Grandma Tew.  At this point, only 15 of 44 grandchildren are still alive, so this reunion was of special importance to those 7 who were able to attend.  Three of Uncle Will's 7 children are living, of which Roy and Dean were in attendance.  All of Aunt Reba's 6 children are deceased; this was the only line not represented at the reunion.  Only one of Uncle Warren's 9 children is living, namely Vivian Dredge; she and several members of her extended family were in attendance.  Three of Uncle Bird's 7 children are living, of which none were in attendance.  Two of Uncle Bryan's 7 children are living, of which neither were in attendance.  Six of my father Burton's 7 children are still living, and Burton Jr., Norma, Carolyn, and I  were in attendance.  Aunt Melba had one child who is deceased. 

We set up a large family tree for attendees to put their family pictures/information on.  Highlights of the reunion for me included the terrific lunch, a great group picture, the family tree, senior member(s) of each of the seven family lines bringing us up to date on their own family lines, and a pinata for the kids at the end.  My main regret is that I didn't get a chance to visit with my niece Heidi, who I was later told was actually at the reunion for a short time with her mother, my sister Norma.  I was also disappointed that neither my brother Fred, his wife Sandra, nor any of their 10 children were able to attend the reunion.  From our family, in addition to myself, Julie and Matt and their three children (Plymouth, IN), and Neal (SLC, UT) attended.  Alan (SLC) was in Portland and Lori and James (Loveland, CO) were unable to attend.  Judy stayed in Louisiana; we couldn't financially justify both of us going.