Saturday, May 29, 2010

Schedule of Events

Ok, so I realized I forgot the schedule ...









1:30 PMRegistration
2:00 PMWelcome and Introductions
2:30 PMFAMILY Game
3:00 PMSilent Auction Opens
3:00 PMActivities

- Sheepshead

- Wine Tasting & Tours

- Horseshoes

- Volleyball

- Kids Games
5:30 PMSilent Auction Closes
6:00 PMDinner
7:00 PMActivities and Visiting Continue

Friday, May 21, 2010

2010 Brodersen Reunion

Plans are well underway for the 2010 Brodersen Reunion!! For those of you whom have not been to Cuthills Vineyard near Pierce, Nebraska, you are in for a treat! For those of you familiar with the vineyard, you know what I mean.

Cuthills is the oldest vineyard in Nebraska, and Ed and Holly Swanson have shared their home and successful and tasty business with all of Northeast Nebraska for over ten years. The winery is housed in a re-purposed “big ole barn” including a banquet hall in the haymow. This air-conditioned space will serve as our home base for the day. We can also spill out into the great outdoors for a round of horseshoes.

Of course, other family traditions of the day will continue such as the silent auction of family treasures, Sheepshead and sharing of pictures and stories. We have a few new things planned as well including a game of FAMILY, wine tasting and a tour of the vineyard and winery. And, of course we will eat well!

And, of course, there will be food …

Throughout the day, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages including tea, water, lemonade and coffee will be provided as part of the registration. Wine will be available in tastings and for purchase by the glass or bottle for those of age. (Cuthills’ liquor license prohibits other alcohol on the site.)

Dinner will be catered by Jerry’s Hilltop and includes:
Beef Brisket or Pulled Pork
Potato and Fresh Fruit Salads
Cowboy Beans
Chips and Dips
And … Homemade ice cream!

Who and Where Are Today’s Brodersens?

Part of the fun of a family reunion is spending the day together catching up with familiar faces and figuring out who those not-so-familiar faces are. At the last reunion, we spent a great deal of time learning about Anton and Anna as well as the Brodersens before and immediately after. For this reunion, we want to focus more on the “cousins”, their children, grand children and great-grandchildren.

Each clan – Ernest, Jens, Dora, Adolph, Herbert (Hap), Hilda (no descendents) and Edna – will have a small table to share photos and stories to catch us all up. We want to see it all … new babies, graduations, soccer games, family gatherings … you get the picture. Each family group will need to collaborate to make sure those that cannot be with us will be included.

As part of the effort to keep the family tree up to date and events like this going, Megan Patent-Nygren will be collecting family tree information such as births, marriages, divorces and deaths to distribute to family historians. She will also be collecting current names, addresses and emails as the current database is in dire need of an update, particularly of grandkids and great-grandkids. Grandmas, bring your address books, please!

You can email Megan your current address now!

Family Treasures Raffle

After such a success at the last reunion, we will again have a Family Treasures Raffle. Each family clan is asked to contribute one special family treasure that has a Brodersen story to go with it. Examples of items from the last reunion include a very sought after peach pie, a Brodersen Dekalb Seeds sign and much more. So, clean out the attic or dig through those boxes in the basement to add to the fun.

Tickets will be sold 5/$5 or 20/$15. Stuff the jar next to the item you want most to increase your bid and your chance to win. Proceeds become seed money for the next reunion.