Saturday, May 27, 2000:
Opened the DeMars Center in Peterson Park, Mattoon, Illinois to greet the attendees of the Sell Family Reunion, 2000. Enjoyed a wonderful homemade lunch of ham, smoked turkey, smoked pork tenderloin, potato salad, cobblers and all the fixins' prepared by Ken & Maggie Sell's daughters R. Genia Moore, Iva Erickson, Marjorie Smith, and Beverley Ray-Fleenor. About 30 people were here to join us for the delicious lunch.
Jaime Sell (Dale's son), "Activity Director", had several options available for those wanting to get together and the list was extensive. It just so happened that Dale (Rug) & Vivian's 50th wedding anniversary fell on Friday, May 26th. Since almost all of the immediate family planned to be in Mattoon for the reunion, Jaime and his sisters, Christi Cook and Connie Geilman, had their parent's anniversary celebration at the DeMars Center Saturday evening. A local restaurant catered the 'cookout-style' dinner, and all reunion-bound relatives in town were invited, as well as many local friends and neighbors. Great anniversary party!!
Sunday, May 28, 2000:
The "opening crew" arrived bright & early to get ready for the rush. When the caterer arrived we got out of her way and, especially since it was Sunday, Vaughn Sell (Gerald's son) lead the crowd in a few hymns and "America" to honor Memorial Day. By noon, the head- count had grown to 96, with more expected to arrive. Dan Smith (Marjorie's son) lead the prayer prior to the meal. (Of course the food was delicious!)
While the crowd was finishing their lunch, I had picked-up a couple of "gifts" to use as door prizes. I work for the Mattoon Chamber of Commerce and we put on lots of events, and it's always well-received when we include a door prize or two for our attendees. The first name pulled from the "hat" was Angie Williams (Otto's granddaughter, Floyd's daughter). She was given the Mattoon, Illinois woven afghan, complete with 9 of Mattoon's historical buildings dating back into the late 1800's woven into the design. I think it will hold alot of significance to Angie since she was born and raised in Mattoon, but now is living in Missouri. The second name drawn was that of Darlene Drummond (Fred's granddaughter) of Kentucky. Her "prize" was a champagne -style bottle of Genuine Organic Prairie Ka-Ka, tied with a raffia ribbon as added beauty for presentation. (Ha) I had hoped that whoever was the "winner" of the latter 'prize' was blessed with a good sense of humor and took it in the humorous way that it was intended. Yes, she did. Then at 1:30 p.m. we all twisted, turned, scrunched, and smiled while we prayed the weight of the stage would hold all 101 of us during the family portrait. (Did I mention a few came in just in time to sit down for lunch?)
A special thanks to Dick Erickson who made the "150" tags for all of us to wear during the reunion. They were to commemorate the "150" consecutive years the Sells have been in the Coles County, Illinois area! Dick and I had our photo taken by the local newspaper and they did a nice write-up about the reunion and a little of our family history.
I received many kudos for all the planning and preparation I did to make this all come together. I couldn't have done it without the gracious help of my family, both immediate and extended. It was a wonderful success only because we are blessed to have each other and, of course, our ancestors smiling down on us from Above.
Wish YOU could've joined us!!!
Sherri Pforr - sherri4@email.msn.com
