At one'ish o'clock, the church bell rang summoning the most hardy and awake to the sanctuary for the annual taking care of the family business meeting. Young Kyle Bennett took charge at the pulpit and asked Bobby Cleghorn to open with a right well-crafted invocation. Then came the singing, led by David Mueller and violently accompanied by Alisa Collins who banged out a window-rattling version of Rock of Ages that drowned out the singing, after which all agreed that was probably a good model for the future.
First report was a cemetery update from John Bennett, who reported the family plots were similarly arranged this year as they have been in years past, and they were in as good a shape as he's seen. He solicited a group for guided tours, but there were no immediate takers.
The immediate buzz was about the family photo taken out front of the church, which may have been the first since the first gathering in 1937. Debate raged as to whether this should be an annual event, or once every 50 years, as suggested by Sarah Sue Cleghorn. It was settled that maybe picture-taking was an ordeal worth doing about every five years.
On to the business of lists, there was a quite a bit of repopulation to report over the year previous, to wit:
- Jackson Liam Maxwell born to Shane and Tanya (Collins) Maxwell
- Katherine Michelle Travis born to Kristin and Jacob Travis (great grandaughter of Yteva Frye)
- Joseph Collins Wise, Jr., born in Birmingham, AL May 1
- Elizabeth Hastey, born to Scott and Janet Hastey
- Alden Jackson, born February in Chicago (in the line of Francis Collins)
- Brett Collins Stancil, Jr., born September 25 to Kim and Ricky Stancil
- Hadley Lynn Merritt, born in November to Mark and Heather Merritt in Asheville, NC
- Kamila Anna Collins, born to Wayne and Hanna Collins, June 24 in Chattanooga, TN
Unfortunately,
there was one passing to report, Silas Collins on December 1, at 93 years of
age.
The
mantle of the most long-lived member of the family went to Howard Collins at an
impressive 91 years of age. He retorted
that it was always better to be seen than to be viewed.
The man-mile award went to a woman this year, Tanya Collins, who hauled in all the way from Naples, Florida, thus keeping the award in her immediate family.
There were some impressive anniversary milestones to report. Both Terry and Kathleen McFarland and Anna Lee and Ronnie Moss had strung together 35 consecutive years of love and tolerance. There was no move to strike a limited edition 25 cent coin in their honor, but there probably should have been.
A bit of history was made when it was reported that the grandchildren of Lou Collins was in attendance for the first time – the Baxters, the Jennings and the Lowes. DeDe Campell was reported as a business meeting rookie.
Clan attendance award went to the family of Arch Collins by a landslide. The Andrew Collins clan quickly claimed the position of quality over quantity.
The pre-reunion dinner wrap-up was reported by Ann Collins Merritt who said that 37 heads were counted at Williams Brothers in Canton the night previous, and that the general feeling was that we should continue to patronize that restaurant until such a time that the family tires of all-you-can-eat barbeque.
Back to the whole photo thing, it was mentioned that there was a copy of the very first reunion photo on site for viewing pleasure, and that it was also conveniently available on DVD if you ever wanted to view it at home in your spare time. Out of nowhere, a debate ensued over whether the picture in question may or may not have been a picture of a reunion, as it was a birthday party for Grandma Collins, and thus not yet officially established as an actual family reunion, but merely a family gathering. No final determination was made in the matter, but there was general agreement that too much time was spent talking about it.
In all the photo hubbub, it was forgotten that the whole passing around the offering plate tradition had yet to be accomplished, and it was plenty important to do so as funds were about dried up and the current residents of the cemetery, not being in position to earn their own keep, were pretty well dependent on the generosity of those still able to draw a breath. Plate was passed and a nervous moment of counting ensued before the treasurer announced that the Collins family was solvent for another year, and would not require a government bailout.
With no further business, Alisa Collins attended the piano and David Mueller crouched beside the pulpit to avoide the musical onslaught as she belted through a version of Blest Be the Tie that called to question whether or not the 140 year old sanctuary could survive. Square nails and sound construction won the day and the 77th annual Collins reunion was adjourned.
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