Silerton Baptist Church was treated with a duet from Debby and Butch Ross with our Annette Simer on piano. Prayers are requested for Richard Lambert as he is suffering from health issues.
Montezuma Community Center is having a breakfast and bake sale from 7-10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, to raise funds to help support the center. Plates will be $8 for dine-in or takeout and provides you with homemade biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, gravy, milk, orange juice and coffee. Donated baked goods will be available for sale.
The internet tells us that the most popular time to have a family reunion is during the summer months between June and September. July 4 is the most popular summer date followed by Labor Day. Two reunions of families with very deep ties to the area were held this past Labor Day weekend.
The Frys had their annual Labor Day reunion this past Saturday at the home of Vickie and Terry Gardner who reside in Humboldt. Although Fry reunions have occurred since before 1990, the Gardners have hosted the Fry reunion at their home for about the past 15 years and, as usual, did a splendid job. A total of 41 attended (Julia Burrow traveled the furthest from Maryland) and partook of locally caught catfish, hushpuppies and sundry other sides and desserts. Vickie’s husband Terry, a mechanic, haphazard Luddite, sportsman and renaissance man to the hilt, did his usual excellent work in frying up the catfish and bowling ball sized hush puppies. The Frys are very pleased to have Terry marry into the family.
Marcus (who has some sort of Lambert blood in him through his great-grandmother Sarilda Lambert Fry) and Jamie Fry were delighted to attend the three-day Lambert reunion/extravaganza this past weekend. The Lamberts have been in this area for at least nine generations. There have been 42 reunions with this reunion representing at least four generations. The reunion encompasses Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Wade family traveled from Illinois to attend the Lambert Reunion with the families meeting at Casey Jones restaurant to catch up on family news. The Wade family stayed overnight in Jackson, and their children enjoyed the swimming pool after being on the road for hours.
On Saturday night, Frankie Lambert entertained at his home in Silerton with the annual hamburger cookout. Larry Lambert brought his usual dish of venison shish kabobs. Afterwards, Bryan Lee Howell, who married into the Lambert family, entertained with his favorite Elvis songs.
Due to the heat, Sunday’s reunion lunch was moved to the fellowship hall of Silerton Baptist Church. Many thanks to Pastor Charlie for this reprieve from the heat, further proving that Brother Charlie can help anyone avoid heat in the now and in the hereafter as well. The Sunday meal had a total of 83 1/2 people attend. Relatives came from as far as Florida, Illinois and Oklahoma. The oldest and the patriarch of the clan is Frankie Lambert at 80 years old. An honorable mention to Larry Lambert at age 79. Uncle Frankie is not yet ready or willing to relinquish the title to Larry. The youngest would be the baby boy (the 1/2) of Joseph and Rachel Lambert whose delivery is expected towards the end of the month. This will be their first child and has been named Claytene Boyd. Claytene could very well be the last male to carry on the Lambert name.
The ties with the Lamberts are deep in this area, hinging on the Silerton community, Silerton Baptist Church and the old Silerton school. One of the attendees, B. J. Bullard, mentioned how her father, at the age of four or five, moved from the nearby Pine Top community to Silerton in a wagon. Others attended Silerton school together throughout the various grades.
Terry Gardner said it best at the Fry reunion with a very heartfelt, poignant prayer/statement. To paraphrase: Don’t ever take your family’s reunion for granted. For far too many reunions, the time will inexorably come when the numbers attending lessen; relatives age and leave us; the reunions get smaller, and before you know it, they evaporate into memories of things we used to do. When a family’s reunion ceases, much is irretrievably lost, and it is rare indeed when and if they can be started up again. Keep the reunions going as best you can, pray for fresh blood and interest and, most importantly, cherish every reunion as the singularly special event it is.
