Wiggins family to revive reunion tradition

The Wiggins family had an impromptu reunion at the airport in 1969 when Brenda Myers moved back from Hawaii, where her then-husband was stationed for two years. Sister Jeanne Fincher made the sign and a passer-by snapped this photo, which was a Polaroid.

The Post and Courier

W. Carl and Adele Wiggins, known to family and friends as Big-O and Mimi, at their 50th wedding anniversary in 1974.

The Wiggins family gathered in Charleston in 1989 for the funeral of its patriarch, W. Carl, known as Big-O.

The kids in the latest generation of the Wiggins family don't know each other well.

They don't have memories of summers at Folly Beach or Thanksgiving dinners at Big-O and Mimi's house, as their parents and grandparents do.

But the older generation aims to rectify that with a family reunion at Folly Beach starting Saturday.

"The ones who are 8 or 9 haven't gotten to know each other like the ones in their 30s and 40s, who grew up going to the beach every year," says Brenda Myers of Seattle, organizer of the reunion.

The five surviving children of W. Carl (Big-O) and Adele (Mimi) Wiggins, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are gathering for their first family reunion in at least three years.

Nearly 60 members of the family — most from the Southeast, but some, like Myers, from as far away as Seattle — will stay in five Folly beachfront houses for the week. About 10 more family members live in Charleston.

"We had reunions for about five years in a row in St. Augustine (Fla.) because we had condos there," says Myers. "It's been 20 years or more since we stopped going to Folly Beach."

Wiggins and his wife married in 1924 and had six children — Peggy, Carl Jr. (Bud), Jeanne, Kyle, Pat and Sue. Peggy died of spinal meningitis in 1943, leaving behind a 2-year-old daughter, Brenda, who was 16 months older than her "aunt" Sue.

"I was raised with them as one of their children," says Myers. "I never thought of them as my grandparents."

The family lived in several towns in the Southeast before settling in Charleston, where Wiggins owned Purity Ice Cream Co. for about 40 years and later passed it on to his sons. The company has since closed. "We moved to 13 Sheridan Road (in South Windermere) when I was in fourth grade," Myers says. "Everybody knew that as home."

In fact, one year Wiggins bought a bigger house for his wife but she decided she wanted to stay in South Windermere instead.

As the children grew and had their own families, they continued gathering at the beach, the lake and Big-O and Mimi's house for the holidays.

Wiggins died in 1989, and Mimi, in 1997.

Sister Jeanne Fincher became the family historian, writing commentary for a family video in 1993, a family tree in 2004, and a book, "A Labor of Love," this year.

In recent years, parts of the family have gotten together for births, anniversaries and funerals. The last couple of years have been tough as Carl Jr. died in November 2006, followed eight months later by his wife, Bette, and their daughter, Cindy Garmon, just two months after that. Carl Wiggins and Garmon both had cancer.

In addition, sisters Pat Brock and Myers were diagnosed with breast cancer in the last year. Both are doing well, Myers says. Fincher is a 45-year survivor.

"The grandchildren wanted to celebrate life and family and felt Folly Beach was the best place to do this," Myers says.

She has been working on the reunion since November.

"It's hard to plan much for the whole group of 69 people," she says. "But the generations will break up and do things together. The nieces and nephews will probably go somewhere, and the sisters and brothers will go somewhere, too."

The entire group will gather for a couple of family dinners, and a photographer has been hired to take a photo of family members, who will wear specially made reunion T-shirts.

"We are all so excited," Myers says. "We have all talked in the last few days. It's gotten so close to reunion time, and now it seems like the clock has just stopped. We can't wait to get together."

Planning a reunion

--Appoint a reunion committee. Involving others as early as possible means help with details large and small.

--Put together an invitation and address list. Determine the size of the gathering. Identify one person from each family branch and begin assembling contact information.

--Gauge interest and availability. Reach out to a few relatives and get feedback on dates, locations and possible reunion theme.

--Create a budget. Determine how much money is needed for food and travel, and if costs will be shared.

--Choose a date. If you ask 50 people to suggest dates, you'll get 50 dates, but if you suggest a choice of Thanksgiving or Fourth of July weekend, you'll know your majority right away. Choose a date and stick to it. Changing for one family may create havoc for others.

--Decide what type of reunion to have. It could be as simple as an afternoon picnic or as complicated as a weeklong vacation. For longer reunions, you may want to provide options for day trips, sightseeing or entertainment.

--Find a location. Choices include parks, college dorms, campgrounds, church camps, homes, theme parks, hotels and cruise ships. Consider factors such as cost and location.

--Organize activities. Plan activities that will allow distant family members to get reacquainted.

Get acquainted

Here are some hints for helping people get acquainted:

--Recognize family members for "accomplishments," such as traveling the greatest distance to attend, having the most children, oldest attendee, youngest attendee, etc.

--Print a book of family history. Ask family members for a picture to include in the book.

--Make a family wall chart showing all family members and how they are related.

Planning help

Internet

--www.familyreuniontips.com

--www.family-reunion.com

Books, resources

--"Family Reunion" by Jennifer Crichton.

--"Your Family Reunion" by George G. Morgan.

--"The Family Reunion Handbook" by Barbara Brown and Tom Ninkovich.

--"The Complete Guide to African-American Celebrations" by Barbara Eklof.

--"The Family Reunion Planner" by Donna Beasley.

--Reunions magazine.

By the numbers

According to a 2007 survey of 4,000 Reunions magazine readers who organized their own reunions:

--68 percent started planning their reunions one year or longer ahead of the event.

--46 percent said their reunion lasted three days.

--27 percent of locations are chosen by members who host the reunion.

--Locations include the beach (17.5 percent); mountains (10.3 percent); theme parks (11.3 percent); cruises (almost 14 percent); and someone's backyard (more than 10 percent).

--36 percent estimated their reunions cost from $1,000 to $4,999. Almost 19 percent spent from $5,000 to $9,999, while 15 percent pay $501 to $999. Most (more than 57 percent) reunions charge for activities and meals, and everyone pays their own lodging costs.

--33.9 percent publish membership directories, 23.7 percent publish cookbooks, 17 percent publish a family history and 22 percent publish newsletters.

--85 percent of all family reunions occur in summer.

Biggest reunion

The Busse Family Reunion set a new record as the Largest Family Reunion in 1998, according to Guinness Media. The reunion was of 2,500 descendants of the six children of Friedrich and Johanna Busse, who settled 150 years earlier in Lake County in Illinois. Participants were accommodated at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grays Lake, Ill.

Brenda Rindge can be reached at 937-5713 or at brindge@postandcourier.com.