A family reunion honoring
Hans Ulrich Arner and Verena Eberhard
Gathering Their Far-flung Descendants
Are you an Arner or Orner (other spellings are possible -- see genealogy links below) or descended through many other surnames of those who married into the *rner family after Hans Ulrich and Verena arrived in Philadelphia from Switzerland in 1735?
WE WANT YOU to share an extraordinary weekend of family and festivities with your cousins, most of whom you don't yet know, around Schnecksville in Pennsylvania's beautiful Lehigh Valley near Allentown, an hour north of Philadelphia.
Saturday, August 24, 2002
A DAY OF GATHERING
Trexler Game Preserve, site of the original Arner farm
www.gamepreserve.org
Possible activities (coordinators needed):
Share photos, genealogical records, and memories with relatives you didn't know you had. (Can YOU attest to knowing your 9th cousins?)Join a caravan to sites, including churches and cemeteries, connected with the early Arners.Participate in a tableaux or other re-enactment of our ancestors' ship The Mercury's arrival and help edit a 1735 newspaper reproduction and reunion program. Enjoy a real Pennsylvania Dutch luncheon (catered, of course).Plenty of "zoo things" and other activities for kids.Sunday, August 25, 2002
A DAY OF DEDICATION
Heidelberg Union Church
www.heidelberg-lutheran.org
Worship with the Reformed Church congregation (now United Church of Christ) of which "the immigrants" were founding members; a traditional church luncheon follows.Dedicate a stone to their memory in the historic churchyard. Contributions are being accepted for the stone to be carved in the old German style by Bucks County, Pennsylvania master stone carver, Steven Snyder (www.stonesculpture.net).For further reunion information, check out and join the Arner Listserv (Arner-L@rootsweb.com)
or contact the "locals":
Judy McElderry (judyd@netcarrier.com) or (215) 348-1774,
Minerva Arner (mini2sew@juno.com) or (215) 679-2668, or
Sarah Peveler (sarahinphilly@juno.com).
Judy is handling stone contributions. All donors will be listed in a memorial book placed in the church.
Want to know more about your *rner ancestors?
Visit Joe Erner's website at
www.geocities.com/~erner/gen/arner,
or contact Jeff Minnich at
KRAME526@aol.com
for an introduction to the world of *rners and where you might fit in, or post an inquiry on the Listserv.
