Daily Schedule
Thursday, July 31
4:00pm: Arrive at Crockett's Run, Logan, Ohio for check-in
5:00pm: Welcome Gathering with cocktails, appetizers and fellowship in the Crockett Event Lodge which will be the site for all meals/gatherings throughout the weekend.
7:00pm: Dinner followed by games and an "open" microphone session.
Friday, August 1
8:00 to 9:00am: Hot breakfast
9:00 to 5:00pm: Daily activities; everyone scatters! It is YOYO (you're on your own) for lunch
5:00pm: Cocktails, appetizers and fellowship
7:00pm: Dinner followed by games and an "open" microphone session
Saturday, August 2
8:00 to 9:00am: Hot breakfast
9:00 to 5:00pm: Daily activities; everyone scatters! It is YOYO (you're on your own) for lunch
5:00pm: Cocktails, appetizers and fellowship
6:00pm: FAMILY PICTURE
7:00pm: Dinner followed by games and an "open" microphone session. Further, we will entertain suggestions on the location of IttFest II in 2027 (More to follow on this under Miscellaneous tab.)
Sunday, August 3
8:00 to 9:00am: Continental breakfast
9:00am: Goodbyes (and some tears for certain!)
11:00am: Check-out
Venue
Nestled on 56 acres of wooded terrain, Crockett's Run enchants visitors with its secluded lodges, cabins and bunkies, cozy canvas bell tents and stunning Events Lodge. The landscape features huge rock formations, private hiking trails, two waterfalls and a serene pond for fishing and pedal boating. Crockett's Run is a 2 hour drive from Dayton in Logan, OH and just minutes away from popular Hocking Hills attractions, such as canoeing/rafting, golf, zip lines, horseback riding, boating, swimming, craft and antique shopping as well as popular state park hiking trails. The Crockett Events Lodge will serve as the centerpiece for our reunion gathering. This rustic facility can seat up to 150 people, features A/C and WI-FI, and has a small kitchen (with large commercial refrigerator) and attached bathrooms. There are 8 houses as well as "glamping" facilities on the property that can house ~100 people (see Lodging for full details). If we have a really robust response with more than 100 attendees, there are several more houses/cabins within 10 minutes from Crockett's Run.
BOOK EARLY!
This truly is the perfect location for our gathering, as we will have the ENTIRE 56 acre facility to ourselves for the three-day extravaganza!
Event Center Address:
9710 Bauer Rd.
Logan, OH 43138
Rental fees for use of the entire property and Event Lodge are currently $1,000/day, or $4,000 for the weekend. (Assuming we have 40 families participate, that would be $100 facility fee per family.) Crockett's Run is now in the midst of an ownership change and we will not know the 2025 rental/facility fees until they officially start taking 2025 reservations within the next 30 to 60 days.
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Lodging
Crockett's Run features a unique variety of housing options within walking distance of the Events Lodge, where our reunion will unfold.
Specifically, there are:
- 6 lodges (large houses with multiple bedrooms and bathrooms)
- two smaller cottages (with 2 and 3 bedrooms)
- a "glamping" (glamorous camping) area, including 4 traditional canvas tents on platforms and 3 bunkies (small wooden cabins for 2 or 3). Glamping units may be ideal for some of our younger attendees who might enjoy "sleeping-under-the-stars" with their cousins.
All lodging options can be seen in great detail by visiting the Crockett Run website. At this juncture, we do not yet have lodging prices for 2025. It is anticipated that the new ownership will begin accepting 2025 reservation sometime later this summer. All housing will be available on a first come/first served basis, and will be secured by individual families (or groups of families) directly through Crockett's Run, or in the case of the two independent home, through their owners. I suspect families will want to come together and employ some type of cost-sharing arrangement. Give this some thought, as Crockett Run has graciously agreed to provide us an exclusive 30-day reservation period to book our 2025 reunion before considering any other requests for these dates. I will contact everyone immediately when the 2025 prices and the 30-day exclusive booking period are established. Predictably, we will need to prepay the cost of our 2025 reunion now to secure this awesome venue (which is pretty much the case everywhere.)
Two of the large homes on the property are not featured on the Crockett Run website. For further details, click the images below.
Meals
There surely is no shortage of large families (like ours) that hold regular reunions. Many seem to do it every other year. Having visited more than 50 family reunion-related websites, I have learned a great deal. (There is so much to be gleaned from the “comments” sections of these websites). In particular, I discovered three families that were most insightful: a family of 14 kids from Kankakee, Illinois; a family of 13 children from Grand Rapids, Michigan; a family of 13 kids from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. All of them have approximately 120 people in their extended families, and are nearly a mirror image of our situation. Without dispute, all of them conclude that mealtimes are the centerpiece of their reunion gatherings. Not surprisingly, they assign 5 or 6 families to provide each meal. So, for example, they will have six families prepare a meal for 120 wherein each family would bring 20 burgers or chicken breasts as well as 20 serving of the same recipe for salads, potatoes, veggies, etc. Since we will be having six meals (three dinners and three breakfasts), this approach would appear quite plausible for us as well. Each family participates in the preparation/serving of only one meal during the weekend. Other families are recruited to provide paper and plastic products, soft drinks, table decorations and ice. (Every family is on their own for alcoholic beverages). Here are some of the other lessons I learned from their reunion experiences:
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Everything used in the preparation and serving of meals is disposable. (There is no dishwasher.)
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Families organizing the dinners are expected to provide appetizers and dessert as well as the entrée and accompaniments.
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All entrées (chicken breasts, hot dogs, hamburgers, breakfast sausage and bacon) are all par-cooked (partially cooked at 75%) in advance and warmed up on site. (Keep in mind, some of these reunions are at campsites where there are no ovens or stoves and they use grills and/or campfires).
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All food items are transported in gallon size Ziploc bags which pack easily in coolers.
Below are some quotes relative to reunion food preparation from these three families:
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“Never underestimate the appetites of men and boys after a full day of strenuous physical activity. We always add at least 10 meals to our confirmed totals. Never get caught short; you can always take it home!”
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“Our goal is to eat and drink like kings and queens! Since each family only spends between $50 and $100 on food for their family for entire weekend, we have all determined to bring nothing but the best; the finest wine, the biggest shrimp, brioche buns, exotic sushi, top shelf liquor, etc. And, of course, we always prepare our favorite recipes-- many from our childhood. Since we only gather once every two years, this is a rare opportunity to pamper each other!”
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“Jell-O shots make everything better!”
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“We have two uncles who specialize in making pancakes and French toast each morning on their griddles . It is a show in itself!”.
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“We utilize roasters and/or crockpots extensively to keep potatoes, veggies, breakfast syrup, gravy and BBQ sauces warm”.
Keep in mind we will have a conventional oven in the (small) kitchen at the Event Lodge, which will allow us to warm food in large foil pans. (I volunteer at our local community kitchen and have unlimited access to these large foil pans as well as three large roasters that will also facilitate warming. I can also borrow a 60-cup coffee pot). We will have a large commercial refrigerator as well as a chest freezer for ice in the Event Lodge.
So, if we were to mimic the menu plans utilized by these families, dinners would look like this:
Breakfasts consist of pancakes, French toast (frozen products can be warmed in large foil pans as well), fruit, hard boiled eggs, cereal, donuts and bagels, milk and juices.
WE WILL RECRUIT TEAMS FOR MEALS 60 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF OUR GATHERING.
Activities
ITTfest will provide two full days of fun-filled activities of nearly every variety. Specifically:
Not to mention on-site activities like corn hole, bingo and trivia competitions. Like the old saying goes, “If you didn’t have fun here, it’s your
own damn fault!” Details regarding all these activities can be found on the website below. As we get closer to ITTfest, we will be seeking “champions” for all activities to organize and coordinate the logistics of each. (Uncle Kevin will gladly champion the swimming activities and eagerly welcomes all fellow lounge lizards! Don’t forget that baby oil w/ iodine!) Further, I believe we need to identify someone to organize the camping activities (bunkies and tents) for our younger participants. (I nominate Jim Britt and his sidekick, Wesley!)
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Antique Shopping
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Swimming
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Biking
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Horseback Riding
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John Glenn Astrology Park
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Zip lining/Canopy Tours
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Golf
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Pickleball and Tennis
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Canoeing/Kayaking/Rafting
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Boating on Lake Logan
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Hiking
Miscellaneous
Below are some additional items of interest regarding ITTfest:
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The “Live Chat” button on this website should be considered and utilized like a large group text. Please leave your comments! Simply login as a guest. You will only need to login one time. Remember, all comments are visible to the world!
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The “Get in Touch” button is intended to make accessing birthdates, addresses, etc. easier. I believe Buck was the originator of the spreadsheet back in 2016. I can only open it in protected view. I am hopeful we can open it up such that everyone can go in and update their respective information, to reflect all of the new babies and weddings since 2016.
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Arrangements are being made to have a professional photographer take a family photo at 6 PM Saturday evening. PLEASE WEAR SOLID COLORS. (Yes, of course, I know this sounds exactly like Barb!) As of now, the plan would be to take a photo of the entire group, and then one for each of the 13 families. (It will likely cost each family ~$10.) More information to follow. I suspect aunt Pattie's magic lens may be out 'n about that weekend as well.
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We will all need to ponder where to hold ITTfest II in 2027. Two of the three families I followed did a Survey Monkey to determine their peoples' preferences on future destinations. Their findings were remarkably similar. Specifically, both families identified 1) accessibility (meaning driving, not flying to the event); and 2) affordability as their top priorities. In both cases, they determined they would focus on state parks within 4 hours drive from their respective hometowns. If we were to adopt a similar strategy, we would be well served to consider Kentucky, where there are 17 state parks that are rated among the nation's best. I looked very carefully at several of these before discovering Crockett's Run.
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Each evening will feature in “open mic” session. Please be prepared to share your favorite memories and stories of our first 40 years together. (EXAMPLE: Recollections of that first Christmas Eve when Barb and Dick divulged that they were a “couple”; or when Gorman dropped his britches at Adult Night!) You get the picture…
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If anyone is interested in Karaoke, we will be ready!
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Did we establish that Jell-O shots make everything better?
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As my late friend, Neil Grogan, was fond of saying, “everything is more fun with a little action (wager). We will be employing this philosophy during ITTfest, so please bring those $5 bills as that will be the standard entry fee for games such as corn hole, bingo, trivia, etc. Winner(s) take all!
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Mary and I made a reconnaissance visit to Crockett's Run in May. It truly is perfect for our purposes. The homes are large and will easily be able to accommodate several inflatable mattresses to maximize occupancy. There are several couches for sleeping bags as well.
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I researched extensively the possibility of holding this function at a hotel/resort. Specifically, I looked at the Marriott World Center Resort (Orlando) and the Omni Hotel and Conference Center (Asheville). In both situations the facilities and services are excellent and there are a ton of things to do in those locations, but the costs were very high, largely driven by the food costs. (EXAMPLE: Continental breakfast $28.95 per person; dinner buffet $69.95 per person, and that is before they add-on their 23% to 25% service fee! (And, of course, alcoholic beverages were astronomical as well!) I calculate the lodging and food costs for the 3 days at a resort would have been ~ $725 per person, while that same calculation for Crockett's Run will be ~ $150 per per person (almost all of which are lodging costs).
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I regret to report that pets are not welcome. (Well, okay, not really!)
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Finally, let us never forget that none of us would be walking this earth if it were not for Thelma and Jim. So, while this event is a salute to Barb and Dick's triumph-over-tragedy (and the infinite blessings that followed), ultimately this is a celebration of our FOUR GLORIOUS PARENTS!