On June 11 and 12, the Walker family, descendants of Thomas Granville Walker and Mary Jane Vaughan Walker, held their annual reunion in Mountain Grove.
The Walkers first lived in Ozark County when they came to Missouri, and reared their 10 children near the Brixey community.
From there, the children married and migrated to other areas, and their descendants now live in several Midwestern and Western states.
More than 40 family members and guests met at the First Baptist Church in Mountain Grove for a carry-in lunch, visiting and picture-taking. Although most of them were from Mountain Grove and nearby, some drove long distances to be present.
The weather lent itself to outdoor amusement for the children, and many of them took full advantage of the day to play outside.
The family, young and old, enjoyed the time of distribution and opening of door prizes, amid a lot of laughter. There was some trading of the prizes won, when an adult won a gift better suited to a child, and that, too, was a cause of a lot of laughter.
Following the luncheon and the distribution of the door prizes and an afternoon of visiting and catching up on the activities of the family since last year, the party disbanded for the day.
On Sunday morning, many of the Walkers got together again for breakfast and more visiting at the home of a Mountain Grove cousin. It was a time family members look forward to each year, before they part to go their separate ways.
Family members always feel a bit sad, as they depart for their homes, because everyone knows they may not meet some of the cousins again for an entire year. All of them, however, vowed to meet again next June.
The 2012 reunion will be held June 9-10 at Mountain Grove.
