Cousin Marg has sent out the reminder!

The descendants of Jacob Emanuel and Susannah (Schluchter) Merner are gathering for the 63rd annual reunion. (Yes, you read that right – the family has been gathering annually now for 63 years!)

This year the reunion will be held at Merhaven Farms, the home of descendants Larry and Louise Merner in Zurich, Ontario on Saturday, July 11th where there will be games for all ages, swimming, a buffet potluck dinner capped off with an evening campfire. The reunion festivities kick-off at 1:00 p.m.

This family reunion draws together some of the many descendants of Jacob and Susannah who left their native Switzerland around 1837 and headed to British North America. The Merners settled on a farm in New Hamburg, Ontario, just west of present day Kitchener.

Over the years, subsequent generations moved further west, populating Oxford and Huron Counties in Ontario, eventually moving into the United States and Cedar Falls, Iowa, in particular.

Ellen and I attended the 2013 reunion and had a great time mingling and meeting new cousins. Ellen is a 3X great granddaughter of Jacob and Susannah so she had a wonderful time connecting with her  previously unknown cousins. I was simply introduced as ‘The Genealogist.’

Ellen (Wagner) Hadden (centre) at the 2013 Merner Family Reunion with two of her cousins – Liz on the left and Marg on the right

My genealogy database currently holds information about almost three thousand four hundred Merner descendants. I hope that there are a good number of them that have a chance to get together on Saturday!

Please feel free to email me at ian.hadden@rogers.com for reunion contact information.