June 25, 2022

The 61st Annual Kramer Reunion was held on Saturday June 25, 2022 at Reese Park in Silverdale, PA. There were 25 people in attendance. It was nice to get back to some normalcy, as we were able to have use of the indoor facilities again this year for use of the bathrooms, and the meeting room and kitchen if we would have needed it in case of bad weather.

We visited with each other as everyone arrived and got things set up. Then we enjoyed a great lunch with all the wonderful food brought by our family members.

After we finished eating, we began the family meeting. The meeting was called to order by our president, Barry Hinkle. Secretary Bethanne Cassidy read the minutes from last year’s reunion. The minutes were approved. Next, treasurer Donna Usavage gave us the treasurer’s report. We had a beginning balance of $380.34 from 2021. We raised money from the regular auction of $43.00 and the silent auction of $145.00. Payments were made out for 2021 costs for the park rental of $50.00, postage of $28.70, game prizes of $30.00, a payment of $150.00 to Don Herb for his family history expenses, and a donation of $100.00 to Hilltown Historical Society. This gave us an ending balance of $209.64 from the 2021 reunion.

In New business, Bethanne read letters that were sent from Kurt Kramer and Ken Kramer giving us some updates on their families. They are two of the Kramer triplets. Kurt and his wife, Nancy, would be traveling to Yellowstone at the time our reunion takes place, so they would not be able to attend this year. Kurt also sent along a donation of $100 to go towards our expenses. That was very generous of him! Ken said that he would not be able to attend the reunion this year as he would be out of town. Both of them sent along some marriage and birth records for Don to record in the family tree.

There was one death to report this year – Barry Brown, husband of Sherry Knapp-Brown, passed away on February 3, 2022. Barry Hinkle said that he has an old hope chest that belonged to Jemima Kramer, and that he would like to give it to a family member, if anyone is interested, or maybe donate it to the Hilltown Historical Society. Don Herb mentioned that he has a copy of the Kramer genealogy book that he would like to donate to the Society. Eileen Bengtson made a request that she would like us to gather at some point today in order to take a group photo.

Judie Herb gave us an update on how her dad, Uncle Joe Haenn, is doing. He didn’t want to make the trip out to the reunion, but he says he misses everyone. She also said that Uncle Joe had a great time at his 105th Birthday party in April and wanted to thank everyone who came.

Donna Usavage said that the Cousins’ Weekend last year didn’t work out due to schedules, but the plan is to hold it at the end of this coming October. Doris Bossert’s grandson, Matthew Stroud, graduated from high school on May 24, 2022, and will be going to West Point to start Basic Training. Matthew joined the ROTC as a high school freshman. Don asked for everyone to please send him pictures that he can add into the genealogy book. Photos can be sent in .jpg format, or you can send photos to him through regular mail and he will return them to you. Bethanne mentioned that the yearly cost for the website hosting had gone up and wondered if the family would approve splitting the cost with her. The family decided that she should submit for reimbursement of the entire cost per year. Bethanne also noted that, thanks to Donna for setting it up, we were scheduled to have a tour this afternoon of the Hilltown Historical Society’s farmhouse and property at 5:00. She had maps available to anyone who needed them.

Next, the Election of Officers was held. All the current officers were re-elected for another year.

The reunion was then turned over to our Entertainment Coordinator, Rhonda Geyer. Prizes were awarded for the guessing games – What’s in The Box #1: actual item was gum, closest guess was Marilyn Kramer who guessed Candy; What’s In The Box #2: actual item was hand soap, a correct guess was given by Dean Fidler who guessed soap; What’s In The Box #3: actual item was pencils & sharpener, the closest guess was Dean Fidler who guessed colored pencils/markers. For the game of How Many Candies in the Wine Glass, there was a tie for the closest guess. The actual number of candies was 128, and both Joe Fidler and Heidi Fidler guessed 127.

After the prizes were handed out we took a short break in order to take a group photo.

After we re-gathered, the annual auction was led off by our returning young auctioneer, Dean Fidler, and his brother Jon, with the assistance of president Barry Hinkle and treasurer Donna Usavage. After the auction, we announced the winners of the silent auctions, held a peanut scramble and played some Bean Bag toss.

At the end of our reunion, a group of us made our way over to the Hilltown Historical Society’s Strassburger Homestead for a tour of their historical house and property, given by Bill Stahl. It consists of an original house from the 1830s, that was once also a storefront, decorated with many period authentic furnishings, and another house, formerly for tenant farmers, that serves as a museum focusing on history of the whole local area, and a barn. We did not get to see the barn, but everyone who attended enjoyed the tours of the two houses. There were even some items on display that once belonged to some of our own family members, including a piano mover once owned by Marian Kramer Hinkle and some school work done in grade school by Grace Kramer Knapp.

Those in attendance were: Bethanne & Dan Cassidy, Joe & Molly Fidler, Chris, Heidi, Dean & Jon Fidler, Donna & Greg Usavage, Janice Kramer, Don & Judie Herb, Marilyn Kramer, Sherry Knapp-Brown, Ken Knapp, Ken & Liz Knapp, Rhonda & Brian Geyer, Nancy Knapp, Doris Bossert, Barry Hinkle, Eileen & Paul Bengtson

Respectfully Submitted,

Bethanne Cassidy, Secretary