James
Family Reunion
James, Betts, Daniels, Evans,
Farmer, Long, Poole, Pounds, Sawyer
& Descendants
"The Reunion Spirit Lives"
June 9, 1998
Dear Family Member,
Please enjoy this final Reunion Postscript.
One hundred and two family members braved the hottest Texas summer in 18 years to attend the 1998 James Family Reunion. Life truly came full circle in many ways. Some notes:
Vonda Ragland Moorman of Atlanta, GA. learned that her co-worker Monica Johnson, is the sister of my brother-in-law Earle Nickelson of Jacksonville, FL.
Earle and Ellen Spraggins Nickelson's oldest son Bernard, who could not attend due to a Naval assignment in Haiti, has a sense of family spirit remarkable for a young person and which parallels that of our cousin, the late Charles Bernard James.
Randy McMillan, husband of Edythe James McMillan from North Carolina, is a distant relative of my cousin William Howe's wife Yvonne from Riverside, CA.
Aunt Clara James, who could not attend because she is caring for her older brother in Chattanooga, TN., is also a member of the Bonam family originally from Pascagoula, MS. The Bonam Reunion was being held in Ft. Worth, TX. at the same time as the James Reunion.
Tsepho Frances Gow Williams, of Richmond, VA. whose mother was a Daniels, has three children that performed at Southfork Ranch as part of the Christian music concert and festival there on Saturday, July 4th. Ironically, we visited Southfork on Friday, July 3rd to avoid the huge crowds.
Thursday, July 2nd
Arrival: Some folks arrived as early as 8:30 AM beating us to the hotel. We arrived about 9:30 AM in time to talk some family members out of walking over to the mall and to take the shuttle instead. With a few glitches, we got most of the T-Shirts delivered in the hospitality suite and family members later bought up the extras at the banquet. The high temperature of 102 gave family members a real baptism to Texas heat and John and Jackie Brown canceled out on the Texas Rangers baseball game later that evening. Detroit family members whose morning flight had gotten canceled due to a Northwest Airlines strike all made it in throughout the late afternoon and evening hours by flying standby on other airlines. Uncle's John Clay and George Evans "the odd couple," drove in from Roxboro, NC. and Lynchburg, VA. Larry, Patti and Jamii Pope had driven in from DeWitt, VA the day before and John Clay Jr. and son Michael Clay drove in from Albuquerque, NM. These folks showed the real meaning of courage and true grit.
Friday, July 3rd
Southfork: In spite of my driving, we made it to Southfork early Friday morning in a five vehicle caravan and were able to tour the mansion immediately upon arrival. Things went so well that we got back to the hotel in plenty of time for the picnic.
Picnic: The picnic buffett was held indoors and the temperature that afternoon (96) though cooler than the day before, compelled us to cancel the outdoor games. Instead we gathered at both the indoor and outdoor pools for the pool party. Many family members also enjoyed walking about the outdoor gardens and park area as they could retreat immediately to the hotel's air conditioning or pools to cool off.
The Ballpark: John and Jackie Brown along with two nephews and a niece went to the Texas Rangers - Seattle Mariners game.
Hospitality Suite 2: The party crowd gathered in room 902 for dominoes, cards, beer and occasionally vodka, and were quite well behaved according to hotel security.
Saturday, July 4th
Sixth Floor Museum: Four van loads went to the Sixth Floor Museum of the JFK assassination in the Texas School Book Depository building. All were quite impressed. From there we went to the stockyards in Ft. Worth, driving through rain showers along I-30.
Stockyards: We arrived at the stockyards early to avoid the crowds coming later for the rodeo and wild west shows. We went inside Billy Bob's Honky Tonk and Saloon. We all ate a snack in the Billy Bob's cafeteria then walked a block down to the heart of the stockyards to view the statue of Bill Pickett wrestling a steer. After a little souvenir shopping we departed for John & Charletta's house.
Tarantula Train: Larry, Patti and Jamii Pope rode the Tarantula Train and said it was lots of fun. It departed the Grapevine Station at 8:30 AM and was later "held up" by outlaws prior to reaching the Ft. Worth Stockyards. Apparently the outlaws hadn't been to outlaw school yet because Larry reported that instead of robbing passengers, they were handing out money.
John & Charletta's: Stopped by the house on the way back from the Stockyards for a pit stop and to pick up a few odds and ends. I invited all 25 family members in and asked them to spread out on their own throughout the house to find a seat and also invited them to sit on the living room and den floors. Luckily, the door to the bedroom was closed. Charletta, who I didn't know was home and who didn't know we were coming, had just stepped out of the shower. I peeked in and alerted her just in the nick of time. The high temperature today was only 94.
Banquet: The banquet was lots of fun, and the food excellent. We gathered together for group photos at the outset.
The next James Family Reunion is tentatively scheduled in four years in 2002 at Uncle Charlie H. James' place in Halifax, VA. (Formerly Bernard's). Some family members came forth after the banquet to indicate they might be willing to host a reunion in two years. Per their request, we will keep their names confidential to allow them the discretion to make an announcement if and when ready.
The family member that traveled the farthest was Bessie Evans Coleman of Bronx, NY.
Bessie was also the first to commit to the trip to Texas back in February followed closely by Doug & Beatrice James Brown and family.
The oldest family member was Uncle John Clay of Roxboro, NC. at age 77.
The youngest family member was our granddaughter, Alexandra Symone Jones, age 6 mos.
The tallest travel tale was won by all the Detroit family who received the loudest applause, edging out Uncle John Clay and George Evans.
Fireworks were not clearly visible from the banquet room so there was a short intermission to permit folks to relocate to higher floors in other parts of the hotel. Vonda Ragland Moorman reported seeing all three fireworks displays with the best view from Lake Grapevine.
Dance: After a Country Line dance demonstration by Dana Knox and Lynn Sharp, the dance began with the DJ, Bobby Willis playing our theme song, "Family Reunion" by the O'Jays. He followed up with "Get Here" by Oleta Adams, and "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge. He received many accolades from the family for the good music and remained standing for the entire dance. The dance floor stayed busy until about 11 PM then thinned out until the last folks quit at about 11:30 PM.
Afterwards, some of the younger folks headed for the nightlife of the West End Marketplace and Greenville Avenue in Dallas. All returned safely in the wee hours.
Sunday, July 5th:
Farewell Breakfast: The Vineyard Restaurant was quite crowded as a large number of family members (about 30) attended the breakfast.
Church Services: The Rev. Sonja Walton went to Mt. Olive Baptist Church with us. She was warmly received and felt at home.
After Party: About 25 family members came to the house in the early afternoon to eat barbecue and swap reunion tales. At about 4:15 PM, we all pulled out and sped back to the hotel and airport to see family members off. Today's high was only 93.
Monday, July 6th:
Howe Farewell: After getting a good nights sleep, (I slept about 12 hours and Charletta about 10) we met Bill, Yvonne, Alice and Lillian at the IHOP in Bedford for breakfast. After saying final goodbyes and getting some final photos Bill followed me back towards the Alamo rental agency. I veered off towards the hotel and gave him a final salute. My eyes got watery as I realized that the 1998 James Family Reunion had concluded.
Thanks: Thanks to all of you for the support and great response. The donation Charletta and I received at the banquet was totally unexpected. We were and are still overwhelmed. Occasionally during private moments we still get watery eyed and sometimes tears will flow. Post event stress? Not a chance. You see we already miss you all very very much!
Photos:
Posted below. If you have some favorites, please send us
copies to post.
Enjoy!
Love,
John & Charletta Jones
4813 Boulder Rd.
Ft. Worth, TX. 76180-7821
Home: (817) 281-3038
Fax: (817) 788-4736
Email: johnjontx@earthlink.net
Web: http://home.earthlink.net/~johnjontx/