Front row, L to R: James Shorter Grimes, Clem, Spurgeon, Morgan and Malissia Tillis Grimes. 2nd row: Mary Blankenship, Eugene, Cynthia Meacham. 3rd row: Surley, Fannie Wilson, Toby, John, Julia Smith, Buddy Grimes and Lillian Redmond. James Shorter and Malissia Tillis Grimes and 13 of their 14 children gather for a family portrait. Ellie, the youngest, was not born when this photo was made. My grandmother Fannie is 2nd from left on back row.
I have such fond memories of going to the Grimes family reunion. Always on the lst Sunday of October we would gather under the big oak trees at my Grandmother Malissia Grimes' home in the country at Curtis, near New Ebenezer Baptist Church, to celebrate her birthday. She had 14 children and most of them lived close enough to make the trip in one day. We lived with my grandparents until I was in the 6th grade and I remember that my mother and grandmother would cook and bake all week, getting ready to go to the
reunion. My favorite foods at the reunion were banana pudding, banana sandwiches and grandmother's tea cakes or homemade fig newtons. The men would stretch a long roll of fencing between the trees to form a table for the food. The fencing was covered with white starched and ironed tablecloths that smelled so fresh when they spread them out. Then the food would be placed along the "tables" and you can imagine the aromas when lids were removed from pots and bowls.
The "cousins" had fun exploring and playing under the scuppernong vine, finding a few scattered scuppernongs to eat. Or taking a walk to the big woods nearby looking for grandmother's turkeys that stayed in the woods. Most of all we spent time getting acquainted since we all attended different schools around. After WWII ended, families moved away, and interest in the family reunion waned for several years. Grandmother Grimes died when I was a senior in high school in 1952, in her 90's. I went away to college and forgot all about the reunion. Football games were more important. After a period of not having reunions, my Aunt Mattie Lena, invited the "first cousins" to her house for a cousins reunion sometime in the 1970's I think. And the reunion has continued since that date. Now it's a 2nd cousins and other kin who make up the reunion crowd.
Each year someone from one of the 14 families is responsible for the reunion. This year it is the family of John and Mae Grimes, and their daughters Hazel Lee and Eva Deal. They send out cards to remind people, put notices in the papers, get supplies together, etc. and then there's clean-up and disposal of trash afterwards. Nobody looks forward to being host/hostess but then that family usually has more attending and to help out and they have fun getting together.
The reunion is held at New Ebenezer Baptist Church under the covered pavilion that the Curtis School alumni built a few years ago for their reunions. My grandfather James Shorter Grimes was the first person buried in the cemetery there. He died at a young age with typhoid fever, before their 14th child was born. The front part of the cemetery is filled with Grimes families since many of the 14 children are buried there, along with their families. We have our plot reserved, next to my parents Lawrence and Ruth Smith Wilson.
The next time you are invited to a reunion, whether its family, school, work, etc. don't hesitate for a minute to go. You'll have so much fun "remembering" and if it's a school reunion, you'll be amazed at how your classmates have aged!
