PRESIDENT’S NOTE, Frary Family Association
FRARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION 2018 REUNION
JULY 27-28, 2018
The 33rd meeting of the Frary Family Association (FFA) was a great success. The FFA met in Deerfield, MA and had attendance of 69 members and children from all over of the United States. We had members who are regular attendees of the reunion, we had members who attended regularly as children and came back as adults and we also had many new members attending for the first time.
The weekend started with the FFA’s presentation of check to Anne Lanning, Sr. Vice President of Historic Deerfield, Inc. in the Barnard Tavern side of the Frary house. Anne thanked the association and provided a wealth of information of the Frary House and Barnard Tavern from inception to the restoration by Charlotte Alice Baker to the donation of the house to Historic Deerfield. Friday evening we celebrated with a social hour and dinner at Champney’s restaurant in the Deerfield Inn sharing fellowship with cousins and friends who attended this event. It was great to see those we haven’t seen in a while and wonderful to meet new attendees.
On Saturday we started the day with our traditional continental breakfast and business meeting. The business meeting consisted of remembering those who passed; FFA bylaw changes; A wonderful speaker, Richard Desorgher, who gave us a historical background on Medfield, MA where John Frary lived; an honoring of officers and chair persons who retired; Historian update on the new Frary book that is being written; Treasurer, Membership, Newsletter, Web updates; Nominations of new officers and directors; the Grace Adele Frary scholarship winner was announced; July 24-26, 2020 next reunion dates and we concluded the meeting with an auction performed by RJ Zawada of Frary merchandise and genealogy charts. After our business meeting we headed into Old Deerfield and had a box lunch and we received a goodie bag of information and discount coupons of Historic Deerfield; had our group photo and concluded as a group with a tour of the Frary House and Barnard Tavern. Seeing how far the renovation has happened within Barnard Tavern was special because this part of the tour was only available to the FFA. The public is not allowed access yet to the Tavern since it is not finished. Families split off to enjoy Deerfield and a group of family members met for dinner at the Whately Inn to conclude Saturday. Sunday, members were able to enjoy an optional brunch at the Deerfield Inn.
The Board simplified the due structure for membership in the FFA. We now only have two categories for membership: Household = $25 a year which includes spouse and children up to age 22 and Lifetime = $250 which includes spouse. We will no longer have a Senior Membership. Those that were in the Senior Membership category currently will be grandfathered into the Lifetime category and in the future anyone turning age 80 and above will pay dues annually unless they choose to become Lifetime members.
SEE YOU IN 2022, which will be the 52nd anniversary of the Association formation.
Jean Colehour, President, Frary Family Association