Grand Canyon State of Affairs

A terrific trio of Regional Peel Reunions concluded ~ cousins everywhere are buzzing about these family events. We can only assume the Eastern Seaboard constituents are by now clamoring for their day in the reunion spot-light.

Committee Head-Honcho Chris Cooley (LOD: Elona Cooley, Leslie Peel) reports a fine turn out under a cool 97 degree Sonoran sun. Water guns empowered the under-age. (Jackson Tanner LOD: James Tanner, Cindi Tanner, Bob Rose, Zona Peel)

Memories of Benjamin F. & Mary Peel were shared by granddaughters Elona Cooley and sister Mary Skousen.

Two artifacts were also exhibited; a custard cup, and cut glass candy dish Mary explained used to host Grandma's favorite earrings. Elona graciously announced her current position as the oldest living grandchild of Benjamin F. and Mary Welker Peel. She was honored with a round of applause.

President "Bud" Jim Rose, Jr. (LOD: Jim Rose, Zona Peel) presided over the adult meeting, Mary Skousen shared key experiences she and brother Narvin and wife Berneice Peel had compiling their Peel book. A giant generational scroll was also unfurled for inspection. Families enthusiastically lined up to buy their Peel history books and watercolor card sets.

Roaring Roll-Call: 3 distinguished family lines were represented. The Mighty Leslie Peel clan far out-numbered a sprinkling of the Zona Peel line, but could not compete with the superior lung power of Zona's raucous Portuguese posterity. A solo family from little brother Ferril Peel (Matthew & Kim LOD: Norman Peel, Ferril) was very happy to discover how many cousins were close by since their move to Mesa, AZ.

Girl Power: Nancy Rose (Bud) and daughters mastered munitions ~ hundreds of hard to find post-season water balloons and numerous water guns locked & loaded for hostilities.

Committee Secretary: Ronni Cooley (wife of Chris) Beautiful and fearless, no detail was left unnoticed under her scrupulous eye and handy legal pad.

Site Arrangements: Linda & Kelly Phelps (LOD:Elona Cooley, Leslie Peel) bedecked in full Western regalia, this dashing couple was decoration as much as hard labor.

Reservations: Maryann Bethea (LOD: Elona Cooley, Leslie Peel) With 5 grandchildren in tow, Maryann was primed for battle; however, an abrupt double-announcement of stomach flu within the ranks forced a hasty retreat.

Shutter-bugs: Kelly Phelps, Kay & Lynn Skousen, Asia Tanner - Renlentless in the quest of photo opportunity.

(Asia & Rachel Tanner)

Live Music: Cindi & David Tanner (LOD: Bob Rose, Zona Peel) and the family band/roadies. Featuring selections from Simon & Garfunkle, The Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash, etc. in addition to original compositions by David and sons Leiland & James, the Tanners proved that babies really can fall asleep to quality Rock n' Roll.

Intrepid Traveling Peels:

1st = Bud & Nancy Rose from Woodland Hills, UT; attended ALL 3 reunions

2nd = Long, Lost Cousin Ted & Jenny Zaczkiewicz (LOD: Marolyn Dente, Manny Rose, Zona Peel) with cutie brown-eyed daughter Rebecca prevailed over whacky directions from MapQuest and drove all the way from Las Vegas, NV to meet cousins he's never seen before - AND he was glad he did. Hurray for Ted!

3rd = Randy & Marie Jones (LOD: Evalyn Jones, Leslie Peel) leaving the cool, cottonwood beauty of Snowflake, AZ to join us in the desert, bringing one of the newest little Peels; newborn Emelyn Belle born to daughter Brooke & Elliott Hinckley. Proud Army dad is serving in Iraq, and thanks everyone for your prayers and well wishes.

After all the months of preparation, promotion, planning meetings, vats of delicious BBQ pork & chicken and the resulting dehydration from the actual day, Kay Skousen (LOD: Mary Skousen, Leslie Peel) noted how the little children went nuts for a simple tray of halloween candy corn and plastic spider rings offered specially in their honor at the buffet table.

Why would someone think of the least of these? Because we remember how we felt at the reunions our parents and grandparents arranged for us 40 years ago. Considering that, it feels extra good that LeRoy Peel (LOD: Leslie Peel) went out of his way to tell me that he remembered me from all those long years ago. I think a sweet spider ring and a killer water gun just about says it all.

Thanks, Peel Family.

*To view captions, move your cursor over each picture. Sorry - but you'll need to scroll down to the next slide show & click the speaker icon to get rid of the dueling 2 songs at a time...!

Saguaros & Sunshine

Welcome to ARIZONA!

This Saturday, Oct. 18th

Peel Family Reunion

Red Mountain Park, Mesa

7745 E. Brown Rd.

3PM ~ 6PM

WE provide: Plates, cups, utensils, napkins, drink & BBQ Pork and Chicken.

YOU bring:

* Salads, Beans and Desserts for feasting!

* Lawn Chairs/Picnic Blanket

* Check Book to purchase the Amazing Peel

History Books ($10 ea.), the custom watercolor

card set for children, and ready to frame

vintage photos.

LIVE music! Whacky Water Balloon slingshot fun!

Family that loves you!

What more could you ask for? Be there.

Directions:

Red Mountain Park between Power Rd. and the 202 on Brown

From Brown: Turn South on STERLING, go to "Saguaro" Parking Lot, "Wren" Ramada

Contact Numero Uno Chris Cooley (LOD: Elona Cooley, Leslie Peel) to volunteer like you should, or for any questions!

480-987-3148

cscooley@msn.com

California Dreamin'

California Peels found each other at beautiful Rancho Cucamonga recently, and it was a balloon-popping, puddle-making, picnic-eating success! With about 50 in attendance, Cousin Lorie Atherton (LOD: Bill Peel, Art Peel) had big shoes to fill ~ but she and her fab crew definitely made Grandpa proud! They stepped up in the Art Peel tradition and created a great family event not soon forgotten.

The Vulcan adage "live long and prosper" was almost expertly administered by this cutie-patootie:

Cross-generational bonding was amply evidenced here:

and here:

Picnic feasting and a sizzling Hot Wheel time was Triple the fun with these little guys:

Apparently as long as cold punch was in hand, rapt attention to the adult meeting portion of the day was legitimate and truly awesome:

Kudos to Cousin Pam Rose (LOD: Joe Rose, Zona Peel) for the action photos! She assisted professional photographer Don Atherton (Lorie's squeeze). Watch for his work to be displayed soon!

ARIZONA ~ look out! The Peel tradition of exciting get-togethers is taking aim at you!

Cah-lee-fornia

It's official; the California Peel Reunion is Saturday the 13th!

At the LDS Church on 6829 Etiwanda Ave

Rancho Cucamonga, CA 12 Noon ~ 3PM
Click here for Google Map

The UTAH crew put on a great time, and the CALIFORNIA team will do no less! Join the fun and renew your family connections!

MENU: Pot Luck Delight. We provide: plates, utensils, cups, napkins and drink. You may want to bring lawn chairs and your check book to purchase your 2 New Peel History Books, Vintage photos for framing, and the swell Watercolor Illustrated 100% custom Peel History Card Set.

Please contact our CA Reunion Boss, Lorie (Peel) Atherton (LOD: Bill Peel, Art Peel) with any last minute questions or offers to volunteer! lorieatherton@gmail.com ~ 909-944-4876

Splashing Success!

300 water balloons launched from giant slingshots can't lie ~ the UTAH Reunion was a HIT! Or Bulls-eye, depending upon your physical location at the time. No one was complaining about getting wet since Saturday was the hottest day of the year at nearly 100 degrees. (AZ is laughing at you, by the way . . .)
Chairwoman Extraordinaire Cathy Street (LOD: Virginia Ivins, Almira Peel) and other reliable sources report a head-count of around 98 people for the big day. A pot luck feast of plenty in satisfying variety greeted hungry, hot Peels - and they actually counted the sloppy joe buns: 90.
Cathy's "Angel" committee worked feverishly providing site arrangements, shade awnings, tables & chairs, ice, more ice, punch, and an olympianesque array of fun games & prizes, including frisbies, soft pellet guns and a clearly intellectual challenge in the proverbial 'guess how many candies in the jar' competition. Treats were on hand for all the children.

Our illustrious leader Jim "Bud" Rose, Jr. brought tables, chairs, boxes of genealogical papers, the Peel History Books, vintage photos and the 100% custom watercolor illustrated Peel Family History card set. The brief adult meeting hosted a word from Berniece Peel to explain personally about the research and creation of their Peel book, and an introduction of the Foundation Board.
Many family members arrived having no clue beforehand how many kinsmen were living nearby. Cousins introduced are now happily aware of each other. Young mothers with children attended whose husbands had to work, and other family members offered their sincere regrets at not being able to attend this time.

Well done! A great time was had by all. The posterity of Virginia Ivins (LOD:Almira Peel) in particular has set the standard for a very quality, organized experience indeed! CALIFORNIA: YOU ARE NEXT ~ the challenge is ON!

UTAH Kudos Count-Down:
300 Water Balloons filled & transported without incident ~ brother Tony, Becky, Colton & Jessica Ivins
Site prep & Super Games Guy ~ brother Tony Ivins
90 Savory Sloppy Joes ~ mom Virginia Ivins & Cathy Street
Shade awnings, love & moral support ~ brother Jeff Ivins
Church arrangements, signs, games, chairs & tables ~ daughter Liz (Street) & Randy Parker & road crew (children) Chris, Missy, Abby, Grace and Sam
Containers for food table, punch-maker, transportation ~ sister Leslie (Ivins) Chapman
Ice Man, water, site prep ~ Bestest Hubby Stan Street
Event Photography ~ niece Sarah (Ivins) Sorenson

Utah On Deck!

This is IT! Our first Peel Reunion of 2008 is in Utah's court
THIS SATURDAY, August 23rd!

Correction on the address:

NOB HILL PARK
950 N. 60 E.
American Fork
3PM ~ 6PM

Menu: POT LUCK DELIGHT: Family Foundation provides plates, cups, utensils, napkins & drinks. You might want to bring lawn chairs or picnic blanket and your check book to purchase your super-dooper Peel History Books, copies of vintage family photos and your very own Peel History Illustrated Card Set!

Last minute questions and/or volunteer support > Please contact Cathy (Ivins) Street - cstreet@afconnect.com 801-756-4684 or Jim "Bud" Rose, Jr. - jimandnancyrose@gmail.com 801-423-2747

See you there!

Big Time Prize-Winner

Surprise! Cousin Desiree Hopkins (LOD: Laurie Dooley, LeRoy Peel, Leslie Peel) is officially the very 1st family member to register their current contact update through this family blog! She saw the "Address Collection" link, she inputted, she conquered. Sort of like Caesar, but different. Desiree and husband Ammon have son Gideon to cheer them on; mommy just graduated from the College of Southern Idaho with her RN, and daddy is pursuing a degree in social work.

Desiree's fabulous PRIZE is the 100% custom Illustrated Family History Card Set! Wow!

Eight stories from the lives of Benjamin and Nancy Peel and their son Benjamin F. Peel are represented on 8 different cards. One side features the watercolor illustration, the reverse a kid-friendly script explaining the story.

Teaching family history to your children and grandchildren was never so fun! It will be easy to relate to ancestors as real people. It will prompt further discussion from one of the newly available Peel Books. Talking about them will feel intimate instead of mysterious or boring to young ears. Framing a vintage photo you got at the reunion and hanging it on the wall will further demonstrate to your children that we belong to these people from long ago.

Hide cards under plates at Sunday dinner; read the stories in turn without showing the picture. Let everyone match story to picture. Play "Hot Potato" by passing the cards as quickly as possible around in a circle until the signal is given to stop: pantomime the picture, or use dramatic voices in character to hint at the story in hand . . .

Challenge family members to remember the story that accompanies each picture. This card set will prove useful and fun again and again.

You also have a chance to grab this treasure for your own family!

Look for these special card sets for sale at each of our up-coming Reunions, along with vintage photos for sale. While prices will be entirely nominal, donations or "tips" will not be refused. We need your support financially as well as physically and spiritually. Are you getting excited?!

If you are unable to attend one of the 3 Reunions scheduled so far, you may contact our Illustrious Leader Jim 'Bud' Rose, Jr. to register an order for items you are interested in. (See 'About Us' link for his contact info.)

Thank you to everyone who has donated by check or on-line through this blog, and for everyone who inputted their contact updates after Desiree. You are making a difference! Please spread the word and share this blog. We need more authors, photos, comments and links to other family websites. We are in this together!

Welker Family Roots

We've been in touch with our Welker Cousins! Their family organization has a private blog. If you would like to connect with them, send an email to LaRay Welker (lrwelker@cox.net) to be added to their private family blog. The Welker group has been a very active organization. They always have something going on - and are always glad to share resources. Please do e-mail our cousin LaRay and he will be more than happy to "sign you up"!

This is a family portrait of the Adam and Agnes Dock Welker family:

Back Row L-R:
Euphemia May Welker (Zundel) b.12 May 1878
Ida Luella Welker (Bingham) b.12 Aug. 1880
Adam David Welker b. 7 Oct. 1869
John Arthur Welker b. 21 Apr. 1876
Mary Almira Welker (PEEL) b. 5 Nov. 1871
Mariam Alvira Welker (Westover) b. 5 Nov. 1871

Middle Row L-R:
James Robert Welker b. 25 Jan. 1866
Adam Welker (Father) b. 19 Feb. 1841
Agnes (Dock) Welker (Mother) b. 28 Apr. 1847
Agnes Almeda Welker (Layton) b 19 Nov. 1867
William Bamsley Welker b. 6 Mar. 1874

Front Row L-R:
Charles Delbert Welker b. 6 Aug. 1887
Elmer Adolphus Welker b. 1 Dec 1884
Raymond Alexander Welker b. 19 Jun. 1882

Peel Visual Olympics

Aunt Lois has a new toy! After a vigorous training schedule, Lois (married to Joe Rose LOD: Zona Peel) is in top-form to take our family identity to new heights. Her scanner is barely out of the shrink-wrap and we are the lucky recipients of her "play time". In the sacred name of world family peace, Let the Games Begin!

Your challenge - should you choose to accept it - is to correctly identify the following vintage competitors. Good luck, we're all counting on you. Break a leg - or an eyeball or something.

Photo #1:
This mystery line-up represents

a Peel winning team.
Name them correctly from left to right
and gain our fond esteem.

Photo #2:

A handsome family,

to be sure!
So who is that
holding his purse?
(Oh just kidding - you make it rhyme, OK? Name them L - R.)

Photo #3:
Now this is a dapper trio,
posing in the bright sunshine.
We know they're really smiling
~ on the inside.
(name them L -R)

Photo #4:

These girls are looking cute,
though startled, they are at that.
Extra points
if you can figure out

whatever that thing is
in her lap...
(Name them L-R)

Photo #5:

And finally,

here is a young couple
spring of '55
in their BYU prime ~
waiting for baby #1
Once Upon a Time.
(Name them)

Research Results R Us

Over the past 35 years, John L. Peel (LOD: Ferril Peel) has been working on the Peel family line, along with many collateral lines and lines of those who have married into the family. If you are interested in these data please feel free to contact John. He has also offered his generous free services for anyone who needs help getting work done on their lines.

~John L. Peel
E-mail: jlpeel800@gmail.com
Phone: (951)333-1648 or (951)654-2019

Playing Tag

One of my favorite activities at Peel Reunions in the 60's, was goofing around with my cousin Jonny. You much older cousins might remember sweaty little whirl-winds stampeding by you for no good reason, hanging from a tree or laying pennies on the train tracks at Chatswork Park; that was us. You might recall two little kids hoarding ice cold Shasta soda pops from those big green ice-filled barrels. I don't know who that was . . .

Now Jon is all grown up and quite respectable. He probably never hears anyone say "Jonny" to his face. However, today, this will change.

Thanks to one of my best growing-up friends-cousin Jonny (who was a year younger and had to endure my lording that over him), we have a fun excursion of familiar faces. Tag, Jonny ~ you're it!

First is a handsome family of growing, hungry young boys who belong to Jon (LOD: Jim Rose, Sr., Zona Peel) and Judy Rose - what, early 90's?

Just look at that little guy with his tie! So cute.

Here is a great BSA line-up at a Scout Court of Honor.

Somewhere in between proud Scout Mother Judy and Jon Sr., are Jon Jr., Joe, Justin and James. (Tourniquet anyone? Need a tent pitched? An axe sharpened? A trout gutted ~?)

These unsuspecting Rose boys seem defiantly unaware of middle-earth danger looming directly behind them . . .

The Campfire Kids of Jim (LOD: Zona Peel) and Norma Rose:


L-R: Norm & Diane, Jon & Judy, Joe & Kathy Sorg, Jim Jr. "Bud" & Nancy
(apparently 6 people failed to get the memo re: matching orange shirts)

Stayin' Alive

We did it! The Peel family organization is not dead ~ but reawakened and full of life.

YOU give it life when you respond to requests for contact information,

when you share your Peel Newsletter with your family, when you call a sibling, a cousin or a nephew and tell them they've just got to see this new Family Blog!

YOU bring it to life when you pull out forgotten old photos and retrieve memories that live a-fresh posted on this blog. YOU inject energy when you offer a current glimpse of your 2008 world; the grandchildren playing in the sprinkler, the college graduate, the toddler who decided to dump a bag of flour, the picnic in the canyon . . .

YOU physically animate this effort when you send a donation, or call your local Reunion Chairman and offer your help for the big day. YOU create the gift of curiosity in children and grandchildren when you talk about who their "people" are, and open one of our new Peel history books to point out the names, pictures and stories of those gone before.

YOU can explore together a watercolor-illustrated card set designed to teach your children about their own family history in a creative and easily interpreted way!

Peel history coloring pages are an additional support to moms and dads who want to add to the great, vintage photographs they might download here, or purchase ready to frame at the reunions.

YOU feel the power of that tangible connection through time and space as we become acquainted with the personal sacrifices and toils they experienced.

YOU may feel the generosity of spirit to pray for our family members who serve our country here, and on dangerous ground. Because of our newly re-organized family effort, we now can know about them, and send an encouraging thought to their families left behind.

YOU are part of this wonderful, living thing. This is where you belong.

~ Cindi Tanner (LOD: Bob Rose, Zona Peel)