WEST PALM BEACH — For Kathy Groover, a retired Palm Beach County teacher, family reunions have always been about more than gathering around a table.
They are about reconnecting the generations, preserving a family’s history and making sure relatives of all ages have the chance to know one another.
So when Groover helped organize the Lumar-Young family reunion this summer, she wanted to bring together as many relatives as possible, including some who had never met before.
More than 300 family members traveled to Edgard, Louisiana, about 30 miles northwest of New Orleans, for a weekend filled with meals, stories, fellowship and celebration.
For some relatives, it was the first time they had ever met members of their extended family.
“They were getting
to know each other,” Groover said. “It had been over 30 years since we had seen so many of them.”
300-plus members of teacher's families stage reunion near New Orleans
Planning family gatherings is familiar territory for Groover. She has traditionally organized reunions on her grandfather's side of the family, the Youngs.
This year, however, she decided it was time to bring together both sides of her family — the Youngs and the Lumars.
“We've always had reunions for weddings, baby showers, bridal showers and deaths,” Groover said.
The gathering gave relatives an opportunity to reconnect after decades apart and gave younger generations a chance to meet family members they previously knew only through stories and photographs.
“We were joined together by the roots that we came from,” Groover said.
Groover, who lives in Palm Beach County with her husband, Jerome Groover, a track and field coach at Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, helped organize the reunion and coordinate the many details that come with bringing hundreds of people together.
One of the weekend's highlights was honoring four of the family's oldest members. The four relatives, ranging in age from 92 to 96, were crowned the kings and queens of the family.The celebration also included a prayer led by a minister who is part of the family.
After decades of distance, the Lumar/Young reunion brought the family back together in the place where many of its roots began. Groover said it was a celebration of what makes her families unique: "Love and connection."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 300-plus members of teacher's family gather for Louisiana reunion
