BHT Reunion 2015

The Benjamin Hewitt Tolman III (BHT) Reunion was the last weekend in June. It was Aunt Louise's turn to host it, and she had it Abel park, which is just down the street from her house in Tremonton. The park was built by an individual who owns the property; it's behind his house down by the river bottom. I'd never been to the park before, and it was a little hard to find. I actually drove past the entrance to it, missing the sign by the road, because the access road to it starts as a little driveway between his house and shop, and I was looking for something more noticeable, I guess. At least I'm not the only one who missed it (I was following a cousin's car who also drove past it), but thankfully I found it on the second time down the street! 

Josh was unable to come this year, so I drove the boys myself to go to it. Since it was in Tremonton, we spent the night at my mom's house, so it was a nice to visit both sides of our family on the trip! Everyone kept saying "You came to his family reunion without him?"; yep I sure did!

When we arrived on Saturday, it was about lunch time. It was a super hot day, in the high 90's, and most of the family members were sitting in the shade of the trees or the shade of the canopies that had been set up. 

One of the canopies had pictures, books, and memorabilia in it celebrating the lives of Benjamin Hewitt III and his wife Emily Knowles Tolman. It was so interesting to look at all the photos and read about their lives. One of the binders on the table was full of announcements and photos that Aunt Louise has kept from the BHT reunions since they started 50 years ago.  

There are 10 children of Benjamin Hewitt Tolman III, and they each take turns hosting the reunion, going from oldest to youngest, before the rotation starts over again. As I was looking through that binder, I found myself remembering all the BHT reunions I'd been to, beginning with the first one in 1998, right after Josh and I got married. It was at Uncle Gerald's home in Belt, Montana (near Great Falls). I remember being smitten with this awesome extended family that I'd married into. 

(L-R): 5 of  Benjamin's 10 children in 1998:
Gerald, Ed & Joy, Rex & Beth (Josh's grandparents),
Wanona & Jack, and Louise & Joe

Josh's family at the 1998 reunion: Josh, Tiffany, Gideon, Malachi, Kathy, & Ed

When I married Josh, all of Benjamin's 10 children were still alive, Through the years, though, they have all passed away, as well as all of their spouses, with the exception of Aunt Louise and her husband Uncle Joe. Louise was the youngest of the 10.

The reunions have kept going, but the grandchildren of BHT have taken over the hosting for their parents now. I'm not sure how much longer the tradition will continue, but I've loved coming to these reunions and have only missed one since I married into this family in 1998.

After we ate lunch on Saturday, I was sitting around talking to other family members when Micah came up to me and said "I don't know anyone here", and I replied with "You're related to all of them!!! Just find someone your size! I'm sure you've played with them in your younger years, and you just can't remember!" It wasn't long before all 3 of my younger boys were off playing with their cousins, having a good time!

Ammon, however, was content to just sit by me and talk to the adults. That's a definite sign of aging!!

Because it was so so so hot (like 97*, the hottest day so far this summer), a lot of the older generation left after lunch. It got pretty quiet in the afternoon, but then Allen got out a candy cannon and started shooting the kids with candy, toys, and water, which livened things up!

And to keep things cool, Aunt Louise and Uncle Joe had ice cream ready for everyone after we sang happy birthday to Great-Grandpa BHT (who turned 135 this year) and Great-Grandma Emily (who would've turned 120 this year).

Look who was one of the first in line!!!

Sherrie kept the kids happy with her famous cotton candy that afternoon as well. She's just so stinkin' talented on that machine, I was mesmerized by her handy work!

Kanyon ate some of the sugary deliciousness before playing a bag-whipping game with some of the cousins:

The boys had a great time playing all afternoon and evening, despite the heat. I went to a Tolman cousin's wedding reception before dinner (good timing with the reunion on the same day!), and Ammon went golfing at the Tremonton course while I was at the reception. When I came back, we had hot dogs for supper, and we hung out for a while. Tammy showed a lawn movie that evening, but we went back to my parents house when it started getting dark so we didn't see it. 

The next morning, there was a family meeting, and Aunt Louise shared lots and lots of stories from her youth about her parents. It was super interesting, and nice to listen to her. She talked about places they'd lived, experiences they had, and her memories growing up. She said there will be a reunion next year (Ralph's family's turn to host), and she talked about having our family song revised to include listing the baby boy that died (Ellen, BHT's first wife, was pregnant when she passed away). The family song (to the tune of "Father Abraham") is sung at every reunion, so we closed the meeting by singing it with the new revision.  

There are almost 1,000 descendants of Benjamin Hewitt Tolman III and his two wives Ellen and Emily. There were around 175 people that made it to this year's reunion, and I saw family members representing 9 of the 10 original siblings, which is fantastic! Aunt Louise has been instrumental in keeping the reunion tradition going, and I'm so grateful for Aunt Louise and Uncle Joe and their kids for hosting the reunion this year!