All The Food at a German Lutheran Family Reunion

URRRP!!

Sorry …

The German Lutheran potluck-style family reunions my mom’s side of the family have been having, well, ever since I can remember, have always been comforting, filling, satisfying, all those “-ing”‘s that make breakfast the following morning seem like a waste of effort. We had another great one yesterday afternoon and it’s always worth the drive. Everyone brings their best dishes, with the fried chicken on the left being an old standby, and my sister Janet’s broccoli and cauliflower salad getting more and more popular through the years. We know less and less of the people who show up, but they’re all family, so all are welcome!

The idyllic setting for these reunions has become the pavilion behind St. Paul Lutheran Church and School up in Millington, Michigan:

With the majority of the Saeger side of the family still residing in and around Millington, and still attending St. Paul’s, the reunion always ends up conveying the distinct feeling of “going to the old homestead for a visit”. Mary’s only been attending these reunions for three years now, but as so many of my relatives now seek her out, she’s been made to feel as though she’s been going to these reunions for decades.

There’s an inconspicuous little building just south of the pavilion:

The historical marker temporarily leaning against the front of this building reads as follows: 

The First St. Paul Lutheran School
This 16’x24’x12′ frame building was the first school of St. Paul Lutheran Church, originally built on Buell Lake Road in Arbela Township on the George Keinath farm. It was dedicated April 19, 1905 by Rev. Theo. Wuggazer, who served as the first teacher with 15 pupils. It served until 1930 when a larger one-room school was moved from Frankenmuth to the Arbela schoolgrounds at the corner of Buell Lake and Millington Roads. This original building was moved next to the larger school to serve as a confirmation instruction classroom. In September, 1979, parish volunteers moved it to this site.

This marker donated in memory of
Emmanuel Weber, Jr.
by the family
1989

Here you can see the kinds of foods that have a tendency to stuff us all to the gills at these events:

But still, it’s all about staying in touch with all our peeps. For example, a couple years ago Uncle Art & Aunt Luella, the two at the left of this picture, celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Sure, good question … how often does that happen? 450 people were invited to that party, and almost all of them showed up!

Yeah, my family’s pretty cool. We already can’t wait to see them next year at that next food blow-out behind the church.