It was a gorgeous day for the 2003 picnic, being mid to upper 70's and the humidity was fairly low. As folks arrived and checked in they received a packet which included a booklet of the Family Tree, nametags, which included the wing of the family they were descended from as shown to the right

Everyone attending (adults and children) also received a Jung reunion magnet to put on their refrigerator or other spot.  To the left is a sample of the magnet, with the familiar Jung at Heart logo and the date of the event.  The tables included crayolas again for the young and old to leave their marks on the paper table cloths.

The picnic lunch catered by Jimbo's was served at about 1:00, and of course hot dogs and chips available for the Jung at heart.  There was enough food for eating later in the day also.  Boy did we have a ton of desserts this year.  And all were so delicious (not that I sampled them all).  Everyone is to be thanked for their generosity.  

We did ask people to look through their Family Tree booklet and had a copy marked UPDATES for them to add their changes to so that they could be put on the web.  Virginia and Charlotte had a "hey day" with the Peter Jung wing of the tree.  But the updates are so important, and anyone can submit them at any time of the year either by email or snail mail.

We also had the addresses, email and other contact information for folks to check through.  We did get several updates, and again if you move you might as well send us a note, because we have ways of tracking you down.

During the after lunch meeting, we discussed the location for the 2005 reunion, and heard from Lila Miller who has agreed to taking on that event.  We discussed how as time goes on we will not always get to have free or low cost halls anymore and may be faced with a rental fee.  That might mean building in a 3 or 5 dollar charge on the adult price to make these events keep happening.  Even with that additional cost, the price is still fairly cheap for such a good time and that opportunity to meet those folks you haven't seen in a while.  Comments were made by several that although you have the best intentions of seeing each other more often, somehow those 2 years can slip by so fast.  That is the reason why the event is so important, and why we are so happy to introduce the committee who will keep the tradition going for 2005.   Lila and Dick Miller;  Marilyn Butler Robert & Elizabeth Butler; Stacy & Shawn Kennedy

Click here for Picnic INFO

We also had our usual round of greetings by various members of the family, sharing news about what has gone on.  There was a break for a softball game, but it was not as long as the previous year due to not enough players.  Maybe at the next picnic.  Later Alan Goeke set up his projector and made a slide show from the pictures on the web.  People mingled and talked and left as their obligations called them.  That is an important thing to remember.  There will always be people who will have conflicts and other obligations, no matter how far in advance you set the date.

Special Note:  This year we added something new to the event, which will now be an ongoing tradition.  The Barney Award was created as a means to carry forward that Great Enthusiasm Uncle Barney had for these get togethers.  We ended up having a pretty nice ceremony surrounding this event right after the picnic lunch and before the other items noted above.  You can view more about it by clicking the icon to the left

The Ceremony
There were very few people who had advance knowledge that this event was going to occur.  There were even fewer people who knew who the award recipients would be.  As folks were getting close to finishing their lunch, the Barney Award was brought out, unpacked, and placed on a small table.  It was covered with a pillow case like shroud so no one knew what was going on.  Alan Soder made an announcement to the group that we were going to begin a new feature for the reunion, and called up Alan Goeke to explain how the idea came about and developed.   The following may not be exact quotes, but to the best of recollection.  These quotes are being added, because they help explain to those who were not there, what this is all about, and how it works.  

Alan Goeke  

When Uncle Barney passed away it was quite a loss knowing how much enthusiasm he brought to family events and how much he loved seeing everyone get together.  I was trying to think of a way that we could honor him with more than just sending flowers.  He made us realize how important these events were and was such a champion to see that they did.  The idea of a Barney Award seemed to be such a fitting way to not only honor Uncle Barney, but to carry forward his enthusiasm for years to come.  The Barney Award would be given to those who put extra effort to see the Jung Reunion tradition continue.  I floated the idea to the reunion committee and that other Alan (great name), and it just took off from there.   And now here we are ready to have our first Barney Award presentation.  Now I’ll pass it back to Alan  

Alan Soder

This really is a significant and heartfelt idea and I was certainly glad to be a part of it.  When I heard from Alan, I started putting some ideas together and leaning toward having the award be a “traveling trophy”, which would mean that every reunion event, the trophy would find its way back to the event for the next presentation.  Each event, the winners of the trophy would have their names inscribed on the trophy, and would receive some minor individual items to keep as well.  If there were multiple winners in a year, then they would have an excuse to visit each other and keep the trophy moving from house to house.  Alan and I communicated via email a lot in getting everything finalized.  We hope you will enjoy the results.  With that, we are ready to make this years presentation of the award.  

There are very few people here who know who the recipients are.  In fact my colleague Alan (great name) over there does not even know.  It kind of came down to “If I tell you – I will have to kill you”.   So lets not keep it a top secret any longer, and here is the envelope which I will pass to Alan to open and as he calls your name, please come up to the speaker area here.

Remainder of Ceremony

Alan called up the 6 winners: Left to right in photo - Patricia Goeke, Eileen West, Alice Novak, Virginia Bachmann, Bob Novak, and Charlotte Holt.  After they were all lined up, a brief description of why the 1999 reunion committee was receiving the award was given, and then the Barney Award was unveiled.  While Virginia held the award, a photo of the group was taken.  We then had Geralyn Soder give a short talk on why they were receiving the award and she showed her additional appreciation by presenting each of them with a large ladle spoon, to depict their hard work in the 1999 picnic when the heat and humidity were through the roof.  Alan Soder then presented them each with a magnet with Barney’s picture on it and saying “I declare you have earned a spot on the Jung Family Traveling Trophy”.  See the sample one below.  Then Alan Goeke asked the recipients to each say something to the crowd, and we heard some very moving and special comments from all of them. 

 Lastly, Alan Soder told the recipients about the responsibilities that go with this honor.  They would now become the core Academy who will decide who the future recipients are.  In fact, going forward, as new recipients are chosen they also become part of this group who will decide on the future awards.  Anyone can nominate someone for the Barney Award and send that to any member of the Academy.  There is a nomination form on the web, but if you don’t have access to that, simply include your name and address (email if you have it).  List the person(s) you are nominating, and an explanation of why you feel the award should be made.

Again the committee wants to thank you for a wonderful experience and it has been a joy..