10 Tips for Planning your Summer Family Reunion
Family Reunions are a time-honored summer tradition. Chances are, you’re attending one this summer. And if not, maybe it’s time to start now and plan your family’s next reunion - complete with RV camping options of course!
My family gets together once every two years, and we’ve had some practice pulling off reunions. I thought I’d share a 10 tips and ideas for planning a RV-friendly reunion for your family.
Estimate the size of your reunion. How many people will possibly attend? How many will bring their RVs? Will you need cabins, too?
Make a list of “must haves.” For example, my family insists on a place that’s pet friendly, is on the water, and can host around 100 people in a combination of RV camping spots and cabins. This will narrow your list of potential sites.
Choose a location. You can do most of the initial research online, and find what RV resorts or campgrounds can accommodate your size group and can meet the list of “must haves.” One good place to start might be the Woodall’s Directory: http://www.woodalls.com, which includes listings of locations with both RV camping and cabins. Try to choose the most central location possible.
Choose a date. You can either let the date guide your choice of resort if there are multiple options that suit your family; or, let the resort’s availability guide your choice of date.
Negotiate. Don’t be shy about asking the resort for package deals. You’re potentially bringing them a lot of business. You deserve a break.
Make some command decisions. While it’s great to get input and ideas from a few key family members, remember that you won’t be able to please all of the people all of the time, so don’t try. Ultimately, you’ll have to make some command decisions, and there will still be something to please all of the people some of the time and that’s good enough.
Plan group activities. You’ll want a few activities for the whole group, but you’ll also want to leave lots of “down time” for relaxing and reconnecting one-on-one. Maybe you’ll plan a barbecue or chili cook off for the evening meal, but leave time during the day for just hanging out by the pool.
Share your enthusiasm. Over the years, we’ve used everything from printed newsletters to Facebook to keep everyone excited about the reunion.
Create a keepsake. We’ve offered mementos from custom Kolder Holders http://kolder.com/caninsulators/kolderholder.html to monogrammed beach towels. Looking at them inspires happy memories all year long.
Be flexible. Not everything will go just exactly the way you hoped, but don’t let that cast a shadow on the real purpose of the reunion: to spend quality time with your family!
~ Contributed by writer G. Elaine Acker
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