About 45 - 50 descendants of Owen and Mary Galusha gathered at the park in Prairie City to get reacquainted and have a good time together. The oldest attendee and only surviving member of her generation was Reata Galusha Hughes, age 98, daughter of Owen and Mary; wife of Sherman Dewey Hughes; mother of Robert (Bob), Jean and RoseMary; sister of Edwin, Frank, Clyde, Goldie, Eunice, Laura, Vera and Mary; grandmother of Eric, Gary, George Jr, Laura, Mary (d.), Dian (d.), Naomi, Reata, Charles (d.), Jean (d), Carla (d.), Dan, Sheri and me, plus beau coup great-grandkids, great-greats, and lots of nieces and nephews.

There was lots of laughter and kidding and stories and yakking and eating and fun. Laura May and Del worked hard and long to make this event a success. Those who couldn't attend missed a very warm and special time. The Galusha Reunion 2004 will tentatively be in the same location in September, 2004, coordinated by moi. Laura and Carol Morgan are the geneologists in the family. They have poured thousands of hours into researching mostly this one branch of the Galusha family tree. Laura recently learned that Owen was born in Prairie City, so it's a fitting place for extended family to gather. --Marti (Reata is my Gramma.)

I do better at immortalizing people on quilts than on film, so here are the only digital photos that weren't too grainy to make out. I took photos of everyone, but alas, some were spoiled. Hopefully Eric and Connie will scan some of their pictures for me to post here. Anyone else who would like to, can send me scanned pictures also (anderson@rollanet.org). My apologies to everyone in these pictures. You all look 15 years younger in person, at least! Let it suffice to say "The pictures don't do them justice"! There were several people present whose pictures didn't turn out, so help me out here! Let me know about any corrections to the text.

Just click on the thumbprint if you want to see a larger image.

One of the fun things going on was Del Holler and Bob Hughes
having a friendly game of cribbage.

Here they are chowing down at Sunday lunch. The food was really good.

Allan Krejci with his granddaughter, LeAnna Gordon, finishing lunch on Saturday. Al is enjoying his retirement to the fullest. He and Connie moved closer to their kids and now spend alot of precious time with the grandkids.

Here, Jane's emphasizing her point during lunch. No, that only looks like an extremely long cigarette in her mouth. It's actually the keys of the piano behind her. JoAnn is contemplating her sister's words while Ashley is wondering what's for dessert. Did I say the food was really good?

A very lively game of "Chicken Foot" Dominoes was going strong Saturday night. Dan Hughes, Jane Cleghorn, Laura Jean Corbin and Sandy Corbin were playing with all their might. Just out of the picture was Ross and Sheri
Haselhorst, plus Ashley Cleghorn.

Ross (Sheri's husband) has forgotten if he had seconds of meatballs or not, while Yvonne smiles patiently for the camera rather than be snapped while putting pasta and roll in her mouth. Gramma is concentrating on what's on her plate. Gramma / Aunt Reata lives with Ross and Sheri in Rolla, Missouri. They take good, loving care of her, and treat her with dignity and respect. Reata has short term memory lapses, but her sense of humor is as sharp as ever. She can't always remember everyone's name, but she definately enjoys being with family. She eats amazingly slowly-- you can't believe how slowly. Her favorite show is "Judge Judy", and her favorite food is chocolate, which she's allergic to. That doesn't stop her from asking for it each and every day of her life.

The Gen-Xers were represented by Georgie's daughters and their husbands, Amanda and Zachary, A to Z, and Erin and John. You can't tell in the picture, but John has a beautiful, glossy ponytail hanging down his back. Their 3 year old daughter Kaitlin was also present.

A lot of serious eating of really good food was going on. Here George Corbin Jr, Mary Corbin, Connie Krajci and Sandy Corbin were enjoying the good cooking of Laura May. Laura May got rave reviews on her meatballs and bread pudding.

In this picture George Jr, Laura May Holler and Yvonne Hughes were strategizing about US Foreign Policy, or something equally ponderous.

Sheri, Yvonne, Marti and Marti's daughter Heidi created a quilt top to commemorate the Galusha Family. There's a family tree in the center and the surrounding blocks have names such as Seven Sisters, North Dakota Star, Prairie, etc. The unfinished center will have appliqued leaves with ancestor's names inscribed. Hopefully by the next Reunion the quilt will be finished. Everyone who attended the 2002 reunion signed the outer
border of the quilt top.

That's all for now. Please resend me more photos to post as well as new ones. We suffered a computer crash and I lost some that I had stored as email attachments. These few crummy pictures show just a tiny bit of that fun day.

This webpage was created January 23rd, 2003 by Marti Anderson.
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