Jay Wilson, in the The Decatur Daily, wrote a good article about how important family reunions are, and some of the problems they face (the younger family members aren’t always as enthusiastic about them as some of us older folks). The article mentioned that around 82% of people in the South (USA) attend family reunions (it could be a smaller number who happen to attend multiple reunions).
Excerpt from the article:
Reunions allow people to catch up on family news and strengthen family bonds, but people are learning that successful events require more than covered dishes and fellowship halls. To protect traditions, families must overcome challenges and attract younger generations.
Reunion season runs from summer into fall, according to one food manufacturer’s Impulse Research survey. To keep a reunion alive, a family must attract as many relatives as possible.
About 73 percent of families gather in summer months when more people can attend, according to the survey.
Warm, sunny weather provides ample opportunity for outdoor activities. Children are out of school and time from work is readily available. However, these factors force reunions to compete with vacations and other summer fun.
One thing that is helping with family reunions is the internet. You don’t see it mentioned often, but keeping in touch online is leading to a lot more interaction between distant family members (whether distant because of actual physical location, or distant as in “from another branch of the family tree”.