This year, we were blessed to have another "long lost" relation attend!  Cindy Talbot (with her husband and son) joined us this year.  We were all very happy to meet Cindy and her family!  Cindy is the Granddaughter of  Henry Earl Comins and  Mary May MacDonald Comins from Hatfield, MA.  Cindy grew up in Hadley across the street from their farm. 

Cindy wrote, "I'm Cynthia May Talbot, Wife of Daniel and Mother of Carolyn and Christopher.  I have two very old photo books I'll be glad to bring next fall.  I always wondered who those people were.  I am so excited that after 30 years of searching, it has paid off.  Can't wait for my small family to be added to the family tree!"  And, we could hardly wait to meet them, either! 

We feasted on all of the specialty dishes each family brought... chatted with our newest members and each other, catching up on the happenings of the past year... Stewart presided over the Family Meeting...

Another perfect day!

Irv, June & Kirsten were just finishing setting up the room in the basement of the church when Ernie & Betty arrived.  Soon, other members of the Family began to arrive and the room took on the smell of good food wafted around the rooms where lively conversations were taking place...

Soon, the food tables were full and the swaps tables groaned under the weight of the things we'd all brought.  Greetings were heard between cousins who had not seen each other in a year... time to catch up with each other! 

Old Family Photos were arranged on a table at the back of the room, and there were heard comments such as: "I remember this!" ... "Who is this person?" ... "Could you  make me a copy of this photo?" ... "Now I know where so-and-so got his looks!" ...

Abbott Cummings arrived to astound us with his most recent findings of Family Genealogy and to hear what some of us had uncovered within the past year... As in every year since he found this branch of the Family, Abbott seemed to always be surrounded with inquiring cousins, eager for the latest news!

We were all very pleased to greet Robin Unger and her daughter, Nichole, who have recently moved to the area from Kansas... Robin is the Granddaughter of George Lester Comins, Great-Granddaughter of Paul Chauncey Comins.  Robin "found" our Family via this website!  What a joy it was to meet Robin & Nichole!  We were reassured that they will be attending all future Reunions!

Soon after all had arrived, we helped ourselves to a great selection of homemade foods and settled down at the tables to eat and chat... The food, as always, was hearty and good... the chats fulfilled our appetite for news of each other...

As we all settled back in our chairs, satisfied in many ways, Stewart rose and launched the Family Meeting.  Stewart told us about his book, newly finished and ready for a publisher, recalling his childhood.  We are all very pleased that this project is complete, and very much enjoyed reading bits of the work & looking at the photographs that Stewart chose to illustrate his reminiscences.  We hope to see Stewart's book published soon, so we might all have a copy!

News about those of the Family who were unable to attend the Reunion:

Ruby is now in an assisted living apartment, and doing fine, as is Roland... Hazel is doing well out in Albuquerque... Stephen & Shirley were unable to attend, because Shirley had a prior commitment... Esther & Arthur were unable to attend, as Arthur was not up to the long trip... Bill & Evanne Hubbard also could not make the long trek "up country"... Gretchen & Clarence had gone to The Big E for the day...

Stewart asked Robin to introduce herself & Nichole, and she did, giving us a little bit of their family background.  How nice to have Robin & Nichole among our little group!

The Family finance report was brought up and, since the report was displayed on the table with the photo albums, for all to view, there was no need for discussion.. the report was accepted.

Next, the Comins website was mentioned and we were asked for news, photos and the like, to include in these pages.  Abbie & Stan White shared their web address, www.whitesfieldsfarm.com ... We are going to try to upload more old photos, as the past fascinates all & many wish to view old photos that may not be in their scrapbooks...

June asked about the Pillar House, and Margie stood up to tell us how the project is going...  The two houses are in the stages of being joined!  Margie had brought her laptop to give us a Powerpoint slideshow of the stages of the project... We were told that there is to be a wedding in the finished home next September!  Someone mentioned that it would be wonderful to have the next Reunion there, and Margie was delighted with this suggestion...

There was mention of our numbers attending the Reunions dwindling, and that perhaps more people would attend were the Pillar House to be the next location.  We will wait (with baited breath!) to hear how all goes with the completion of the building project!

With the Family Meeting closed, small groups gathered around Stewart's book,  others filtered to the kitchen to wash dishes and divide the leftovers, while still others wandered outside to enjoy the peaceful day and chat a bit more or went to look at the old photos and albums...

Family Photo time!!  We all gathered together as Virginia ("Ginny") set up, then focused her camera and began to set her camera's timer for the Official Family Photo... Others in our group ran out of formation to Ginny, asking her to snap a couple of shots with the cameras they'd brought, which Ginny gladly did... finally, she set the timer, ran to join the group & Voila!  We were once again captured in time!  We stood as still as we could as the timer was set once more, for a second shot (just in case)... Ginny's Photographs are absolutely beautiful, and we all happily wait to see those Perfect Family photographs!!

With reluctance, tables and chairs were folded and set back against the walls... leftover food split up into containers and packed away to take home... leftover swaps packed back into car trunks, to wait for 2006 perhaps... Hugs & Kisses were shared... it was time to part company... Jim had the longest journey, having to be back in Washington (and he'd already driven to join us from the far reaches of upper Vermont!)... Abbie, Stan & Evan were going to stop to visit with Abbie's sister, Tammis Coffin, who is a Park Ranger up on Skinner Mountain...

Despite having Stewart’s printed directions, a map from Mapquest, and additional notes from the Family… quite a few of us got lost on our way to the Reunion this year.  Being lost was not as bad as one would imagine, as the day was lovely so we got to see much of the beautiful countryside around the town of Lincoln! 

As we crept around a curve of Old Sudbury Road, at odds about what type of landmark we were looking for, we caught a glimpse of the white pillars of the “Historic Pillar House” at the end of a long drive… Whoopee!!  We’d finally located our elusive destination!!   

We drove slowly up the dirt road toward the massive pillars, bowled over by their pure white color, the pristine lines of the architecture and the wonder of the great achievement of Margie’s family in putting together the myriads of pieces that formed the massive mansion! 

I could not help but imagine having all the pieces of a disassembled Antebellum plantation brought into a yard on which already sat a 100 year old farmhouse.  This was a most unusual kind of puzzle to be assembled!  The pieces of this particular puzzle are colossal in size and nature.  Imagine this, then contemplate that your experience with puzzles has only been with hand-held puzzles (such as the handmade wooden puzzles that Stewart Coffin is World Famous for creating).  Think about it.  Seriously! 

The food everyone brought was, as always, delish!!  Tables had been set up  outdoors, under the shade of tall trees, and in the finished & unfinished rooms indoors.  Whether were sitting in the breezy shade of the trees or in one of the rooms, the seating was quite comfortable and there was plenty of room to move about.  Talk during lunch ran the usual gamut of "what have you been doing" to marveling about the house, recipes, our hosts and so much more...

Stewart brought copies of his book for all the families to take home, and let us know that he is working on another book... We shared email addresses and promised each other to share the photos we were taking (see "2006 Reunion Pix" for Margie's and Kirsten's photos)...

Most everyone brought "swaps" and I'd brought the rest of the glass negative cd's and prints of Bob Coffin standing at Sunderland's Famous Button Ball tree By the way, if you have not seen this ancient giant of a tree, it is well worth the trek to Sunderland, MA!

Nigel tossed a few stink bombs around the side of the building as we all sat for the Group photo... typical of a pre-teen's prank... snickers turned to guffaws, and everyone stopped wondering "who did it", as he poked his head around the crowd as his younger cousin yelled out, "stink bomb!"