I just returned from Versailles finalizing plans for the reunion and visiting family. There are several exciting updates to report.  Responses from everyone have been good.  We now stand at:

Family Members Attending  =  43

Based on the feedback we have received from you we have arranged the activities listed below.

First, for those arriving on Thursday, we have planned an amazing Friday morning tour of three of the world's premier Thoroughbred Horse Farms in Woodford County.Included in this tour will be a stop by Buck Pond Farm, founded in 1783 by Col. Thomas Marshall, father of Chief Justice John Marshall and husband of our ancestor, Catherine Canfield Railey's 2nd cousin.   More information on the horse farms is available on the links below:

Winstar Farm

Darby Dan Farm

Donamire Farm

Then, on Saturday morning, we will begin after breakfast with a brief stop at the Versailles Cemetery to visit some ancestral graves.This will be followed by visits to several previously and presently owned Fishback Family Farms, including the homestead farms of George McElroy Fishback & Catherine Railey, our ancestors.  We have also included a stop-by at the elegant 19th century residence at Woodburn Stud, homestead of our distant Alexander relatives and present home of former Kentucky Governor (1991-1995) Brereton Jones and his wife Libby, an Alexander descendant.

The preliminary Schedule of Events for the Reunion is:

Friday, June 8

               9:30 AM - 12:30 PM       Horse Farm Tour for early arrivals

             12:30 PM -   7:00 PM        Free Time (Woodford Inn lunch & dinner available)

               7:00 PM -        ?             Meet & Greet (cash bar & light hor d'oeurves)

Saturday, June 9

              9:30 AM - 12:30 PM         Cemetery & Family Farm Tour

             12:30 PM -  2:00 PM          Lunch at Woodford Inn

               2:00 PM -  5:00 PM          Free Time - (naps, mingling, playground, etc)

               5:00 PM -  6:00 PM          Happy Hour (cash bar & light hor d'oeurves)

               6:00 PM -     ?                 Dinner and Socializing

In the next couple of weeks, you will receive a registration packet by U. S. Mail and will have the opportunity to select the included meals and/or events you wish to attend and any special needs you may have.  To simplify logistics for everyone, we are requesting prepayment by check for the reunion package you choose.  We are still working out the various costs, but they will be as reasonable as we can negotiate.  The registration packet will have all the details.

Some other details.  All events will originate, or be held at the Woodford Inn where there is a full restaurant and bar.  Guest breakfasts are provided by all the Bed & Breakfast establishments in Versailles.  Tours will be conducted by local guides in 15-passenger vans.  For those with children, or we adult children, Big Springs Park, just down the Hill from the Woodford Inn, boasts a very nice playground.  

If you have not secured sleeping accommodations, we strongly urge you to do so as soon as possible.  The Storybook Inn is now sold out, but we still have 5 remaining rooms at Woodford Inn.  If you are interested in one of these, please contact me as soon as you can.  We are going to have to release them soon.    

As was mentioned in the last blog, we want to set up a Show & Tell display of Family Memorabilia and are asking you to give thought to what photos and other items of interest you could bring to share with the rest of the family.  If you have something too large to bring, take a picture of it for us.  We will set up an area in the Woodford Inn to display these items.

Congrats to Fran who is off to the Netherlands to visit her new grandson, our newest Fishback family member.  That's it for now.

                 John

Please email your thoughts, questions or concerns to john@drewstl.com.