2008 Durben Reunion 4

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2008 Durben Family Reunion 3

2008 Durben Reunion 2

2008 Durben Reunion 1

Paul and Nora Durben Annual Family Reunion 2008

The 2008 Paul and Nora Durben Family Reunion has come and gone. You couldn't have asked for better weather for July 19th in Chilton, Wisconsin. The reunion was held at Hobart Park which is "not" by the Hospital as some of us were told but actually by the Fairgrounds. (This is an inside Joke for some of us.) My Mother went to two other parks first and she accidentally found a Biedenbender reunion while searching for us. She said if she wouldn't have found us, she'd have gone back there.

The grills were hot (just like the stuffed jalapenos that my Uncle Mike made) as Dexter and Don fried up the various types of meat (including meatloaf) to perfection. The serving line of dishes-to-pass which were offered were great but far too much for a group our size to devour. It was very tough for someone like me who should lose about 5 pounds to control myself.

The Diedrich Girls (Lynn, Jeanette and Lori and their families) did a great job planning the event. There was a memorial for members of our relation that were in the Military. In today's world, we should all stop and take a few moments once in a while to reflect on the issues at hand as well as in the past. They had a game to guess the number of M and M's there were in a pint jar. This may sound simple but they threw in a bunch of W's to throw me off. (Very crafty them Diedrich girls.) There was a poster with pictures of old people on it and we were supposed to guess who they were. (Actually I used the term loosely to get a smile but these are our ancestors and the reason for our annual reunions and why us younger ones are here. Many of the relatives attending put me up there with the old people. Believe it or not... I think there were more young people than old people this year.)

The cameras were flashing and I wish I had a dollar for every pixel that was burnt that day. I think between Mona and I we took about 250 or so photos. I promised photos to a few individuals and if anyone else wants to exchange photos please contact me via email at chilihead@frontiernet.net. We are going to be out of state for a few days and hopefully it won't take us long to get back into the groove once we return.

All in all it was a good time. If I had to guess how many attended I would guess around 50. Out of state attendees that I know of came from Minnesota, Texas, Alabama and Ohio. We appreciate seeing you.

You can click on the photo above to make us grow. Pictured there is Mona, Dorothy my Mother and myself. Thanks to my Aunt Carol Durben for taking the picture. Again, once we get back home next week and back in the groove I hope to post more photos here. Ya'll come back now... you here?

Rainy Lake Sunrise

This is a photo John took of the Rainy Lake sunrise he and the rest of the guys in the trip woke up to on Sunday Morning June 8th. Pictured here they are attempting to get the houseboat turned around and out of a small channel that they spent the night at. Once that was completed they attached the two small boats behind so that they could tow them back.

Rainy Lake Walleye

John caught and released this walleye the first week in June at Rainy Lake in Northern Minnesota. It was about 23 inches long. Rainy Lake has a slot limit where fish between 17 and 28 inches have to be released back to the lake. You can keep one fish over 28 inches and eat the fish under 17. Needless to say we did not eat much walleye - the Northern Pike was good though.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will also see his glasses and his jacket are all wet. That's from running with the boat. The lake was rough and the waves were coming over the side of the boat as they moved from spot to spot. It was worse than when it was raining out, at least they were dressed for it.