Mark Your Calendar for Next Year!
Regular Harper Reunion—May 28, 2006
To: All Harper Descendants
From: Harper Cemetery Association Board of Directors
Subject: 2005 Harper Reunion
Date: Sunday, May 29, 2005
Dear Family and Friends:
Our Family Reunion is approaching and will again be
on the Sunday of
Memorial Weekend. This year it is on May 29, 2005, as usual at the
Harper Pavilion located on the Harper Farm located 2.2 miles East on US
Route 33 from Harman, WV. Turn in at the Jacob C. Harper Cemetery sign
and continue on a gravel road bearing right to the white farm house.
The pavilion is located to the right. If it is dry, parking is anywhere
around the pavilion. The cemetery is located on the road to the right
of the big barn. Follow the gravel road through the gates (4) and you
will arrive at the cemetery. The gates are generally closed to maintain
livestock control but they are not locked for your access. In late
winter and early spring the road to the cemetery is sometimes in poor
condition until it dries. We put gravel on it a week or two in advance
of the reunion to try to maintain it for your ease of access. You are
welcome to come at any time. If you find the gates closed, please
return them to that same position as you go through. Thanks and enjoy
your stay.
The picnic lunch is a covered dish dinner to begin
at 1:00 pm. Bring
your favorite dish and an appetite to join in great fellowship in
renewing our family ties. If you are traveling and cannot prepare
anything, come anyway. There is always more food than we can eat from
some of the best cooks in the world. When you arrive, please register
and get a name tag and a door prize ticket. The door prizes have been
graciously donated every year by Nela Manning. If there are changes in
your address or if this is your first time, it is essential to get your
complete address recorded. For those of you with email addresses the
newsletter will be sent electronically in order to cut expenses in
postage. We have a web page that can be accessed at
www.fred.net/mfuller . Marsha Fuller, a member of the Board of
Directors, is maintaining this site and has been responsible for
collection of the family history and pictures that are on that site.
She also prepares the annual newsletter.
The Board of Directors will meet later in the
afternoon to discuss the
business of the family. Donations are accepted for the care and upkeep
of the Cemetery, Pavilion, and road. We are working toward making the
Jacob C. Harper Cemetery a perpetual care cemetery with donations going
to expenses and investment annuities. Descendants are encouraged to
consider the Cemetery in their estate planning. If you cannot attend
the Reunion and wish to make a donation, you can mail your donation to
our treasurer, Eleanor Nestor, HC66 Box 10B, Hendricks, WV 26271.
We have ordered pretty weather for this year’s
gathering but we know
that sometimes it gets rather chilly so keep in tune with the weather
forecast for the area . We hope to see you there and know that it will
be great to visit and find out all of the news of the family.
Harpers Around the World
From Wilma (Montoney) Lund in Southern
California: “My daughter and son-in-law and I leave Christmas Day
for a cruise through the Panama Canal and to a few Central American
locations and a couple of Mexican cities. The cruise ends January
12 in San Diego. They plan to celebrate 30½ years of
marriage while on the trip.”
From Doug Harper in Biloxi, Mississippi:
“Travels for the year were two that I was really excited about.
Went with Overseas Adventure Travel to China and Tibet for a 20 day
trip in July. Was amazed to see very few people in native dress.
Most people wear western style clothes, have cell phones and drive
cars. Course there are still lots of bicycles. Tibet was
the icing on the cake and very interesting including visits to homes,
temples and also the Potala Palace, seat of the Buddhist religion in
Tibet. There were four nights on the Yangtze River through the Three
Gorges including a tour of the new Three Gorges Dam, the largest in the
world. We ate many Chinese and Far Eastern dishes and rice seemed to be
more of an afterthought in the servings. The second trip that had
been high on my wish list was a 10 day trip with Lindblad Expeditions
to the Galapagos Islands, 600 miles west of Ecuador, South
America. That is where there are huge tortoises, land and sea
iguanas, seals, sea lions, penguins, sea turtles and many birds, all
fearless and we got ‘up close’ sightings of them. With the Humbolt
Current from Antarctic the temperature on the islands sitting on the
equator is quite comfortable and dry at this time of year. In
February, I visited with Ginny and Hank Martin from Niles,
Michigan. They come to south Alabama each year for about 3 months
in the winter.”
From Larry Ferguson in Elkins, West Virginia:
I’ve been very busy with the Odd Fellow’s Lodge again this year.
In March, I flew to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for eleven days and
attended the Grand Lodge Sessions at Red Deer. I had a great time
and Wes Nelson, a friend of twenty years, was my host. In May, I
attended the ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington
National Cemetery. In June, I attended the Grand Encampment and
Department Council in Wheeling. August found me at the Sovereign
Grand Lodge in St. Louis, Missouri. In October, our Grand Lodge
session was held at Flat Woods and I was elected the Grand Treasurer
for three years.”
From Jan and Tom Bell in Southern California:
“We took an RV vacation this year up to British Columbia. We’ve
started to look at places we might consider moving to when we
retire. I have at least 8 or 9 years before she can fully retire,
but it doesn’t hurt to start looking now so we know what we like and
don’t like. We visited the part of British Columbia that is
mostly fruit orchards due to the mild climate—towns called Peachland,
Summerland, Penticton and Vernon—all along a very large lake. I
think we’d have to visit this area in December or January to make sure
we could handle the cold weather. My blood has thinned out too
much living in California for so many years!”
It’s A Small World
Dan Harper at the University of Kentucky
writes: “ I recruit people into our Environmental Health degree
program by going to 2 year college science programs. I did some
recruiting at the Lexington Community College last year and we have
some students in our program now that heard my recruiting
message. One of the students who was in my class stopped by to
ask a question. I saw that her last name was Harman. I
remarked that my relatives were from around Harman, West Virginia, and
she lit up and said that is where her dad and grandpa were from.
To make a long story short, her grandma was a Harper and she and I are
cousins. We got out our The Harper Family History and found her
father’s and sister’s names in it. Since she came along later,
her name wasn’t in the book yet. Her name is Erin Harman.
SMALL WORLD!!”
[Erin is the granddaughter of Carroll Harman of Weirton, WV. Her
great-great-grandmother was Elmira (Harper) Harman—the 12th child of
Jacob C. & Susan Harper.]
Changes in Our Family Tree
Deaths:
Evelyn (Harper) Ruddle on February 14, 2004 in Sebring, Florida.
Born in Macksville, WV, she was the daughter of Neil & Mabel
(Hedrick) Harper.
Harper
Reunion 2005
Canaan Valley Resort
August
5-7, 2005
It’s going to be fabulous! Three days of
Harpers coming together to reminisce, experience their heritage, and
have fun on the land the Harpers started from.
Canaan Valley Resort in Davis, West Virginia is
headquarters.
Bring the kids and grandkids to meet their cousins
and see Pendleton County—there’s plenty for them to do. During
Friday night’s BBQ and bluegrass music, they can walk down the hill and
swim in the heated outdoor pool (lifeguard on duty), or play miniature
golf. On Saturday evening, they can spend time in the game room.
You can fly into Pittsburgh and rent a car to drive
the 3 hours from there, or you can take a commuter into Clarksburg, WV,
and make the 45-minute drive from there.
We have assembled the best bluegrass musicians in
the county to play for Friday night’s BBQ, we’ve designed special
Reunion T-shirts and ball caps, and planned a tour of Harper sites that
will knock your socks off. Join us!!
Questions:
contact Dan Harper
(814)694-1111
dan.harper@eku.edu
HARPER OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT
Friday, August 5, 10 am—Canaan Valley 18-hole Golf Course. A
plaque will be awarded to the winner at the evening BBQ.
Things to Do While in West
Virginia:
Rock climbing at Seneca Rocks
Flat Water Kayaking
18-hole Golf Course
Backpacking, hiking, caving
Horseback riding
Smokehole Caverns & Seneca Caverns
For more info, contact Tucker County Visitors
Bureau at 1-800-782-2775 or at
www.canaanvalley.org
REUNION SCHEDULE
Friday, August 5, 2005
10 am—Harper Open Golf Tournament
6 pm—Registration & Cash Bar (beer & wine only)
7 pm—Outdoor Barbeque (BBQ Chicken and Ribs,
Corn on the Cob, Baked Beans, etc.)
8-10 pm—Jeremy Wanless Band
Saturday, August 6, 2005
Breakfast on your own
8:30 am—Bus Tour leaves for historic Harper sites
motor coaches have A/C and rest rooms)
12:30 pm—Catered Lunch at Franklin Town Park
5 pm—Return to Canaan Valley Resort
7 pm—Cash Bar (full drinks)
7:30 pm—Banquet (Top Round of Beef, Roasted
Chicken Breast, Smoked Ham, Potatoes, etc.)
8:30 pm—Presentation by Greg Adamson on the
Dr. Eli Akim Harper Papers
Sunday, August 7, 2005
Breakfast on your own
10 am—Harper Hayride—tour Canaan Valley’s
6,000 acres of pristine wilderness (first 20
people to send in registration forms accepted)
10 am—12 noon—Tours of: Jacob C. Harper
homeplace, Joe Harper’s farm & Eastern
Continental Divide, Jacob C. Harper Cemetery,
Allegheny Mountaintop
12:30 pm—Catered Picnic at Harper Reunion
Pavilion
Dress: casual
dress and comfortable walking shoes throughout the Reunion. Friday’s
BBQ will be outdoors under a canopy. When the sun goes down, the
temperature will drop considerably. Bring a sweater or jacket
with you.
Diet: if you
require a special diet, you must make your own arrangements with the
resort.
Refunds: money
will not be refunded after July 15, 2005.
Rooms: make your
own reservations by July 1 and tell them you’re with the Harper Reunion
to get the special rate.
Canaan Valley Resort
1-800-622-4121
www.CanaanResort.com
Reunion registration and a deposit of $25 per person must be made by
June 30, 2005.
Final payment is due by July 15.
Mail to: Harper Reunion 2005, 524 Park Ridge Drive, Richmond, KY
40475.
NAME
______________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS
___________________________________________________________________________
CITY/STATE/ZIP
______________________________________________________________________
TELEPHONE _______________________________ EMAIL
___________________________________
Reunion Package - $104 (includes meals, bus tour, live
music, insurance) Total Enclosed $_______
I will only be able to attend selected events. Please advise as
to individual costs. _______________
I am interested in the Harper Open Golf Tournament
__________
I am interested in purchasing a Reunion 2005 ______
ball cap _______ T-shirt (size _____)