Saturday, August 31, 2002

Hello to All;

It has been over one (1) year since our 2001 Vines-Keeling Family Reunion last July. I hope you and your families have had an enjoyable summer of 2002. I will say it has certainly whisked by for Terry and I. As you can imagine, I have been putting this update off for several months already, so please indulge me while I do my brain dump of the ideas I have regarding the upcoming 2003 Vines-Keeling Family Reunion. But I must say that the Vines-Keeling Family Tree Website had 955 visitors as of August 31, 2002. A special thanks to all who have visited and I invite all of you to visit the site at http://www.vines-keeling.com/. And please everyone give us your feedback on how to improve the site for future visitors.

The 2001 Family Reunion was a wonderful success!! The final tally was between 200-225 family members attended the gathering at El Dorado Regional Park in Long Beach, California. You can see the group photo on the Family Website under Family Photos. You will recall our Host was the High & Greta Vines Family in Compton, California. Once again thanks to High and Greta and especially their daughter Michelle for her fine leadership in pulling all the pieces together. The family elder in attendance was Roger Vines at 75 years old. We had relatives traveling from as far away as Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and Texas. Also, there was a fair mix of both Keeling and Vines descendants in attendance. I will say, the best mix we have had since the 1999 Reunion when the name of the event was formally changed to the Vines-Keeling Family Reunion. We certainly hope the trend continues into next year.

The 2003 Vines-Keeling Family Reunion is scheduled for July 2003 in Los Angeles, California. Our local host in 2003 will be Evelyn Carradine. Many of you may know Evelyn as the daughter of Leomie Keeling and Toy Franklin of Los Angeles. Evelyn has graciously agreed to arrange for having a site for the picnic and banquet in July 2003. The exact dates will be set in January 2003. The new format will include the Traditional Picnic on Saturday afternoon with this years addition of a Saturday evening Dinner Banquet at a local facility. The intent of the banquet is to formally launch the Vines-Keeling Family Foundation and provide a venue whereby we can give honorable mention of the talented and accomplished youth from among the Vines & Keeling descendants who are in attendance. The evening will also include a fun-filled family member introduction and linkage to Cipual Vines and Lewis Keeling Descendant Trees. The dinner (probably buffet) will follow and we will end the evening with a $1,000 Stipend Fair, which will grant various amounts to those children with demonstrated accomplishments in academics, music, sports or special projects. I encourage you to save those report cards, certificates, pictures and other documentation that can easily demonstrate the child’s specific talent or achievement. The formal program and picnic activities will be made available in January 2003.

So, please join me in giving Evelyn and her family the utmost support in making the 2003 Vines-Keeling Family Reunion a grand success. If you have any questions or input, please contact me.

Love & Respect;

Charles Lee Vines

(530)677-9349