It is now a few months since the first Ticktin Family Reunion was held
here in Los Angeles over the recent Labor Day Weekend - Saturday, September 4th
and Sunday, September 5th - and I am happy to report that it seems like everyone
had a terrific time.
103 relatives showed up for the dinner and picnic and it was a
great success by all accounts.The
ages spread from the oldest, Rohama Lee at 88 and her sister Gittel Labovitz at
86, to Gittel's great-granddaughter Hannah Seligman at four months, with
everyone in between.The families
that traveled the greatest distance to come were Zev
and Ruth Kossin
and Gloria,
Ancil and Shira Zeitak,
all from Israel.Virtually every
branch of the tree was represented by at least a couple of people, with the
Lewis/Siegel and Kossin families having the largest clans there.
People started to gather and run into each other early on Saturday at the
Ma Maison Hotel where most of the out-of-towners were staying.Standing in the spacious Mediterranean-style lobby, you could hear
screams of recognition as families who hadn't seen each other in ages were
starting to reunite.Hanging out
with my mother, Carol
Cleveland, one of the "Kossin twins", was a great
magnet since she had grown up with many of the people who were only vaguely
remembered faces for me.I kept
hitting her and saying "There's a cousin!" every time someone walked
by who looked familiar.Of course,
they all knew her and came running right over.Hugs and kisses abounded.
The dinner, held at Panecaldo Bistrot, an Italian restaurant in the
design district of West Hollywood with a lovely view of the Hollywood Hills and
a spectacular sunset that evening, opened the festivities and officially
welcomed everyone, beginning with introductions and champagne cocktails.Ticktin Family Reunion canvas bags containing name tags, an updated
family tree and address book, a list of participants, and the reunion t-shirts
were distributed.The colorful logo
for the bags and t-shirts, based on a Giacometti image and representing people
gathering from all over the world, was designed by my boyfriend, Alberto
Prospero.Everyone
was requested to sign the mounted family tree and the guest book.There were no complaints on the delicious meal.Cameras were out and we had a documentary filmmaker covering the event
with a video camera.
In addition to most relatives meeting each other for the first time,
there were family members who hadn't seen each other for over fifty or sixty
years.I saw Sarah Fay Silverstein
talking to Rohama Lee.The last
time they saw each other was when Sarah Fay was an infant.Zev
Kossin wrote me later that he had somehow immediately recognized his
second cousin Rivie
Gurau,
both of them now in their sixties, even though they hadn't seen each other since
they were children.Hopefully some
of the younger children who were there won't have to wait as long the next time
to see some of their relatives again.
After dinner everyone reconvened in the hotel lobby for a couple of
hours, passing around photos and albums, reminiscing and sharing old stories.No one wanted to go to bed since the excitement of being together was
keeping everyone in high spirits.
The next day we all met at the secluded woodsy Crestwood Hills Park in
Brentwood from noon til six.The
weather was sunny and mild.More
reminiscing and pouring over photos, softball games and frisbees, children
everywhere, plenty of picnic food and trying to assemble everyone for the group
photo were the events that kept everyone busy.There seemed to be more catching up with what people were doing with
their lives since last heard from and hearing news on relatives who weren't able
to attend.The filmmakers were trying to capture as many people as
possible on video and there are some wonderful, funny and touching stories that
everyone should hear.
Later, back at the hotel, people started to say their goodbyes.Everyone was saying that they couldn't wait for the next reunion, with
Toronto and Philadelphia relatives volunteering to coordinate it.There were many votes for having it on the east coast the
next time around since so much of the family is based there.Let us know, we look forward to it.
To recapture some of the glow of the weekend, I am including in this
letter copies of the articles about the party that appeared in the Los Angeles
Jewish Journal thanks to my cousin Leslie
Friedman, and a nice 5"x7" group
photo with a list of who's who.While I think I know who everyone was, we were a lot of new faces so if I
got anyone wrong, please let me know right away.
Although not everyone who wanted to was able to attend the reunion, I
received numerous calls and notes of well wishes hoping that everyone would have
a good time.Unfortunately, none of the relatives in London, South Africa
or Australia were able to make it but they sent their best.In particular, both Vernon
Katz in Sydney, Australia, and Paul Wershof in London have
requested that anyone coming their way, please look them up.
We are in the process of editing the video, trying to whittle eight
fascinating hours down to one truly memorable one.We intend to include everyone who was there as well as making it
interesting to those who weren't.Even
if you didn't attend the reunion but would like to see some familiar faces, meet
new relatives, hear firsthand some of the family anecdotes, see some of the old
photos which you have never seen, and know more about your family and background
in general, this should be a tape you will enjoy.
We hope to have the video completed and ready for shipping by the end of
February or early March and will start taking orders now.Because of the expense of the filming, editing, duplicating and shipping,
we are asking for what I hope is a reasonable amount for this commemorative,
once-in-a-lifetime video.An order
form is included in this letter.TECHNICAL
NOTE:If you live outside of North
America (U.S. and Canada), you will not be able to play this tape unless you
have a tri-standard machine.It
will be an NTSC, not PAL, tape.
In the coming year, I hope to catalogue all the names on the tree on a
special computer program so that we can register the family with the Diaspora
Museum in Israel and the Mormon Temple which also keeps lists of family trees,
as well as any other suitable place.Since
each name has to be individually logged and there are a couple thousand names
since spouses also have to be logged separately, this will take a long time to
complete.
Please continue to keep me abreast of all family announcements and change
of addresses.FYI, the address book is currently holding over 180 names and
continues to grow as more relatives let me know they want to be included.If you know of anyone who is not on the list but would like copies of the
newsletter, send me their address and phone number.This especially includes grown children no longer living at home.
It was wonderful to meet so many of you this year, and I look forward to
continuing to get to know more of you in the future.Happy holiday season to everyone and best wishes and good health in the
coming year.
103 relatives showed up for the dinner and picnic and it was a
great success by all accounts. The
ages spread from the oldest, Rohama Lee at 88 and her sister Gittel Labovitz at
86, to Gittel's great-granddaughter Hannah Seligman at four months, with
everyone in between. The families
that traveled the greatest distance to come were Zev
and Ruth Kossin
and Gloria,
Ancil and Shira Zeitak,
all from Israel. Virtually every
branch of the tree was represented by at least a couple of people, with the
Lewis/Siegel and Kossin families having the largest clans there.