Reunion and Cemetery Checklists

I. GENEALOGICAL TOOLS:

1. 3-ring binder notebook for forms and a hole punch. 
2. A basic spiral notebook or yellow legal pad. 
   
3. Plenty of sharpened pencils and an eraser.
4. Filing box. 
5. Print Fill-in-the blank Family Forms .  
6. List information needed. (Research Checklist).
7. List records (documents) and photos you have at home. 
8. List of courthouses, genealogical centers, genealogical groups, libraries, and websites.
9. Change for photocopy machine. 
10. A pair of white gloves for fragile documents. 
11. Magnifying glass.
12. Camera with new batteries or fully charged smart phone.
13. A computer laptop with a family history program is nice, but not necessary. 
14. An electric extension cord in your notebook bag. 
15. A wand scanner. 
16. Recording device for oral interviews.
    

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II. FAMILY CEMETERY:

1. Assorted sizes of soft nylon paint or dust brushes.
2. Bug Spray. 
3. Camera plus new batteries or fully charged smart phone.
4. Cemetery Map
5. Clipboard and Paper; extra pens/pencils
6. D/2 Gravestone cleaner (only kind of stone cleaner AGS recommends). 
7. Find-a-grave App on fully-charged cell phone or I-pad. Car charger cable.
8. Hand pruner
9. Large Spray Bottle and several bottles of water.
10. Lawn or camp chair. 
11. Leather gloves.
12. List of tombstones we want to visit and/or take photos of
13. measuring tape
14. Messenger bag to carry everything in to the cemetery
15. orange cuticle sticks (gently scrapes out dirt particles from carved areas)
16. Road map or GPS
17. Sexton's business card
18. Sturdy walking shoes.
    
19. Sun Protection = Straw Hat, sunscreen and/or umbrella hats
20. Trash bags
21. T-shirt rags
22. Unbreakable mirror or an automobile metallic windshield accordion-fold sunscreen (helpful to shine light to create shadows on the tombstone when taking photos)
    

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What to bring to your next family reunion:

III. PARK

1. A first aid kit.
2. Bug spray.
3. Business cards.
4. Camera - extra batteries and/or fully charged smart phone. Charger cord.
5. Cash to donate to help defray costs of annual family cemetery care, renting the park shelter and stationery/postage for reunion reminders.    
6. For Pool, if open to public = entry money, modest bathing suits, flip flops, beach towel, sunscreen, water bottle. Optional = nose plugs, ear plugs, swimming cap, flotation devices, and money for the snack bar.
7. For Potluck = main meal, sides, dessert, iced drinks in cooler, picnic tablecloth and table clips, disposable dinnerware, paper towels or napkins, waterproof matches, plastic trash bags.
8. Ideas = Want more ideas? Click on Pinterest board  over on the side menu for more!  
9. Lawn chairs.
10. Musical Instruments = if you can play a kazoo, pick a banjo, guitar or a fiddle or sing, by all means, bring it on!
11. Name tags.
12. New Address? = Bring a sticky address label with it for me! 
13. Record Station for Family Historians (Separate Table away from Potluck to share Records and Photos. No Food or Drinks Allowed Here). Family memorabilia - photo albums  or scrapbooks of memorial service leaflets or newspaper clippings that announce baptisms, births, deaths,  graduation, honors, marriages, sporting events, etc.
14. Samples of your handiwork, recipes, seeds or plant starts to share. 
15. Sign-up sheet on clipboard and pen.
16. Sun and Heat Protection = Caps, fans, hats, sunscreen, water bottle.
17. Toiletry items = paper towels, toilet paper, water in a jug, and wet wipes (in case the park’s johnny-on-the-spot runs out or if the water hydrants are shut off like in previous years).
18. TV Trays (if city double books the shelter by mistake again) = Food and Drink park.
19. Toys and Games = badminton rackets, balls, bats, Frisbees, Lawn Dominoes, Lawn scrabble, squirt bottles and Toss games. See Pinterest board for more ideas.
    

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IV. REUNION SCAVENGER HUNT GAME [I provided a printed list of fifteen or so items and a sack for their treasures. I allowed individuals to hunt and encouraged older children who could read to help the littles who couldn't. When they brought their items to me for show and tell, they selected a piece of candy for participation (ring pops were very popular). I had them throw away any trash they picked up and return the natural items back to the park.]

Find:

1. An autograph of a living relative
2. A ball of mud (or dried dirt)
3. A chewed leaf
4. A feather
5. A pinecone
6. A poem (or a memorized scripture verse like John 3:16)
7. A heart-shaped rock (or a striped rock or a rock with a hole)
8. A shell
9. A song
10. A spoon (or fork, drinking straw)
11. A stick
12. A Whistle
13. Something blue (or any other color)
14. Something fuzzy (or slimy)
15. Something metal
16. Something that makes a noise
17. Something plastic
18. Something rough (or smooth)
19. Something round (or another shape)
20. Something you think is a treasure
21. Something wooden
22. Two kinds of seeds (nuts)
23.Two different types of leaves
24. Rainbow colored scavenger hunt.

His Relatives' Recipes

From: Jessie B
Fried Okra


2 cups sliced small okra
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk

1 cup cornmeal
salt and pepper to taste

Slice okra in to ½ to 1 inch sections. Place 1 cup flour and buttermilk in separate bowls and combine remaining cup of flour with cornmeal in a third bowl. Season each bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Dip okra in flour, then buttermilk and then in the cornmeal mixture. Fry in 350* oil until done (2-3 minutes).

Serve with salsa or make an easy dipping sauce with ½ cup mayo, ½ cup BBQ sauce and ½ pickle relish. This is yummy dip for both fried squash and fried okra.

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From: Jessie B.
Zucchini Bread
 

3 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil, brown sugar, zucchini, and vanilla; stir well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in raisins and nuts. Pour batter into two greased and flour 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Bake at 325* degrees F. for 1 hour. Cool.

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From: Amelia Mary (WILLIAMS) CALL
Rocky Road Cookies


1 package semi-sweet chocolate morsels (12 oz).
½ cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chopped nut
4 dozen miniature marshmallows

Melt ½ cup chocolate morsels & butter over low heat. Cool. Heat oven to 400 degree F. Mix remaining chocolate morsels, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, nuts, and chocolate mixture. Press in greased baking pan. Put marshmallows on top. Bake 25 minutes. Cool slightly. Cut in squares.

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From: Rush Family Receipt – PandyCandy
Ozark Apple Cake (pudding)

Cream together 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter (or 1 stick oleo). Add 1 egg beaten, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Sift together = 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon soda. Add to wet mixture and mix.

Now add 1 cup raw diced apples (don't peel apples) and 1 cup nuts (break walnuts). Dough will be very dry. Bake in greased pan 35 to 40 minutes at 360 degrees F.

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From: Sue (KNIGHT) FLETCHER
Petite Cherry Cheesecake

Ingredients = 2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened, ¾ cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 24 vanilla wafers, 1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling

Instructions = Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Line small muffin tins with paper bake cups. Place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each cup. Fill cups 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture. Bake in 375 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or till set. Top each with about 1 tablespoon pie filling; chill. Makes 2 dozen individual dessert servings.

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From: Carla Marie (RUSH) TEMMENS
Lep Cookies -- An old German Christmas Cookie


1 quart molasses
1 cup lard
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups sugar
2 pounds raisins
2 pounds coconut or two raw coconuts
2 quarts nuts, chopped
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 tablespoons baking soda
2 eggs
1 scant tablespoon of the following spices = cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, star anise
4 pounds of flour or enough to form dough into rolls

Mix all ingredients thoroughly; roll into rolls about 2 inches in diameter and 1 foot long. Refrigerate overnight. These can be frozen and baked at your convenience. Bake at 350 degree F. for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.

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Originally from Teresa Alexander; Adopted by Dolores J. RUSH
Mini-Hamburger Cookies

I took these to the Rush Reunion one year. Does anyone remember how cute they were?

1 ½ boxes vanilla wafers

1 egg white

1 bottle sesame seeds

1 pkg. (40) Keebler grasshopper cookies

1 tube each of red and yellow icing

1 pkg. Shredded coconut meat

1 small bottle liquid green food coloring

1 double can shoestring potatoes

40 cupcake papers

For each “hamburger” cookie, stack like a sandwich:

Buns = 2 vanilla wafers (optional: brush one with egg white & sprinkle with sesame seeds, then bake like meringue)

Ketchup = red icing

Hamburger = 1 keebler grasshopper cookie

Mustard = yellow icing

Lettuce = shredded coconut tinted green (place shredded coconut into gallon size ziploc bag along with a few drops

of liquid green food coloring, close, then squish around to distribute the coloring.) Need abt. 1 tablespoon per “hamburger.”

To serve: Place each “hamburger” in a cupcake paper with 1 or 2 tablespoons of shoestring potatoes (french fries).

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From: Doris (KING) RUSH
Rhubarb Jam


5 cups rhubarb, cut fine
3 cups sugar
1 package (3 oz.) wild strawberry gelatin
1 small package strawberry Kool-Aid

Put sugar over rhubarb and let set overnight. Cook over low heat until soft. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and Kool-Aid. Mix well until all the Kool-Aid and gelatin powder are dissolved. Pour into pint jars and seal.

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From: Ileen (CARRENDER) RUSH
Wilted Lettuce


4 strips of bacon
½ pound leaf lettuce, fresh from the garden and rinsed
¼ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon bacon fat
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

1. Fry bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of fat; (the rest of the hot fat went into a little lidded bowl); crumble bacon when cool.

2. Shred lettuce into large bowl.

3. Combine remaining ingredients in a skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Pour hot vinegar mixture over lettuce and crumbled bacon. Toss until lettuce wilts.

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From: Milda Amelia (HAGER) RUSH
Oatmeal Cookies


1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
½ cup lard
2 eggs
¾ cup raisins
2 cups oatmeal
6 tablespoons sweet milk
1 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoons salt
2 cups flour
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Recipes of Marie RUSH
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From: Minnie Emma (WINTERS) RUSH and Hazel (WHITTLE) RUSH
Chocolate Sheet Cake


Sift in large bowl =
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Melt in sauce pan =
2 sticks oleo
1 cup water
4 tablespoons cocoa
Mix and bring to a boil. Cool slightly and pour over dry ingredients.

Add =
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat well and bake on a cookie sheet (jelly roll pan) in 350 degree F. oven for 20 minutes.

Icing =
1 stick oleo
4 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 box powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spread on warm cake.
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From: Minnie Emma (WINTERS) RUSH, c. 1944.
Ginger Cake

½ cup shortening or ½ cup cooking oil
½ sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon jinger (ginger)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup sour milk
½ cup molasses
1 ½ cup flour

Put all together and beat well. Bake in a flat pan.

Cake Frosting

Step 1:
5 tablespoons of flour
1 cup milk

Cook together till it get real thick, stirring all the time. When done, let get real cold, cover it up to get cold.

Step 2:
1 cup Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all three ingredients real well. Then add the cold flour mixture to it and beat real good. Take a little in the fingers & rub together. If you don’t feel no sugar, it is done. If you do feel sugar, beat some more.

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From Minnie Emma (WINTERS) RUSH, c. 1944.
Ginger Cake

 ½ cup shortening or ½ cup cooking oil

½ sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon jinger (ginger)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup sour milk
½ cup molasses
1 ½ cup flour
Put all together and beat well. Bake in a flat pan.

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Cake Frosting

 Step 1:

5 tablespoons of flour
1 cup milk
Cook together till it get real thick, stirring all the time. When done, let get real cold, cover it up to get cold.

Step 2:
1  cup Crisco
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all three ingredients real well. Then add the cold flour mixture to it and beat real good. Take a little in the fingers & rub together. If you don’t feel no sugar, it is done. If you do feel sugar, beat some more.
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From: Minnie Emma (WINTERS) RUSH c. 1944.
Oatmeal Cookies


2 cups new speedy rolled oats
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
½ cup lard
¼ cup hot water
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon allspice

Mix the sugar and fat then add the eggs, after which add the flour, new speedy rolled oats, salt & spices. Dissolve the soda in the water and add to the mixture. Raisins may be used in this or nuts and raisins together. Drop in small teaspoonfuls on an oiled cookie tin. Bake in moderate oven until brown.

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From Nannie Marie RUSH

Chocolate Gravy (an Ozark specialty)

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoons flour

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

butter

In a large skillet, add enough milk to moisten sugar, flour, and cocoa. Stirring slowly, add more milk and cook over medium heat to desired thickness. Add a big tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of vanilla. Serve hot on buttered biscuits.

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From: Zerelda Ruth RUSH
Apple Cheese Salad


1 cup hot water
2/3 cup (6 oz.) red cinnamon candies
1 package (3 oz.) lemon Jell-O
1 ½ cup sweetened applesauce
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
½ cup diced celery
½ cup mayonnaise

Pour hot water over cinnamon candies. Stir till dissolved, add gelatin and dissolve. Add applesauce—pour half of mixture in 8 inch glass layer cake pan and set in refrigerator until firm. Blend cream cheese, nuts and celery. Add mayonnaise. Spread over firm apple gelatin layer. Pour remaining apple-gelatin mixture over top and chill until firm.

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From: Vianna Louise (FARLEY) STEEN
Dirt Cake Recipe


1 large pkg. Oreo cookies
8 oz. Pkg. Cream cheese
½ cup margarine
½ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. Vanilla extract
6 oz. Pkg. Vanilla instant pudding
3 cups milk
8 oz. Container Cool Whip

Crush Oreo cookies, put half of crumbs on bottom of 9" x 13" inch pan. Mix together cream cheese, margarine, powdered sugar and vanilla; beat well. In a separate bowl, mix pudding and milk. Combine with cream cheese mixture. Fold in cool whip and pour over crushed cookies. Top with rest of cookies. Refrigerate. Cut into squares to serve.

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From: Denise (R.) W.
Blueberry Jello


2 (3 oz.) pkg. Grape jello
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
1 (8 oz. ) cream cheese
1 (8 oz.) sour cream
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Mix jello with 1 cup boiling water; cool and add pie filling and pineapple. Pour into 9 x 13 inch pan to set. When firm, mix remaining ingredients and pour on top. Chill and serve.
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More to Read:
Cookbooks

Compiled by Dolores J. Rush. Updated: 10/6/2019.

Rush Reunion 2015

Tis the season again. I'm addressing Rush Reunion reminders to go out snail mail for this year's reunion. Hopefully, there won't be any snafu's with the city like last year (double-booking the shelter), as we have had the same time, same day of the week and month for many years in the same ole spot, paid in advance. But, just in case we run into the same problem, it might be wise to bring lawn chairs and a card table to hold your contribution to our family potluck or a TV tray to eat from because we're having it there again!

If you haven't gotten a reminder in a while, it could be that you have forgotten to send me your new address when you moved, so if you would like to be reinstated to the list, please drop your current name/ address in the comments below along with a statement about how you are related to the Rush family. I promise I will not publish your address on this website. Please note that spam ad comments WILL BE DELETED. 

If you have never been on the Rush reunion reminder list and would like to be, please drop your current snail mail address in the comments below and tell me how you are related to the Rush family. Again, I promise I will not publish your address nor sell or rent it to any advertisers. I don't like spam in my mailbox anymore than you do!

If you have a question about the reunion, drop it into the comment box below and click on "notify me" checkbox before publishing your question or return in a couple of days for my reply below your question. If you want to keep your identity private, type in only your first name or a nickname. 

By the way, here's a FREE template pattern for the fan above. David's grandmother had a wooden shingle fan with three blades which I traced around to make my blue and white rubber-stamped paper fan above. 

See you at the reunion! 

Weekend Ramblers

One habit that remains with us is the learning lifestyle from our former homeschooling days. Long extended vacations remain out of reach of our pocketbook, so we watch armchair travelogues on our three channels of the local PBS TV station KCPT of faraway places and take weekender holidays to explore our home states of Missouri and Kansas.
 

Kansas City's Passport to Adventure



Locally, there is a Passport program called "Kansas City’s Passport to Adventure" we have participated in several years in a row (fully completed one year), the Missouri state parks had a passport patches program we almost completed, and the Missouri Conservation Department had a Lewis and Clark Passport Pin Program we completed two years running. My husband would like to do a Orienteering geo-cache program next.

Missouri State Parks Passport Program

We pack in as much as we can in one weekend, visiting historical sites and cemeteries for family research as well as hitting thrift stores along the way. I take a journey bag with me which includes a travel diary (spiral notebook) and pen to record when and where, a camera, state and county maps, passport program booklets, scissors to trim the grass around flat gravestones and a large paintbrush to brush it off. Also included are mosquito and tick spray, bottles of water, our laptop, and change for photocopies if we happen to stop in a library or historical/genealogical society to do a little research. It is fortunate for us that most of my husband's family resided in central Missouri and some have only recently began to emigrate to the larger cities of Missouri.

2005 MO Conservation Louis & Clark Passport Program





If we are planning a weekend jaunt, we usually make a trip up to the Missouri Tourist Welcome Center off of I-70 highway (Exit 9, 4010 Blue Ridge Cut-off) above the Kansas City Ball Stadiums for FREE tourist brochures along our route and to pick up a new Missouri Vacation Guide. There are a couple of little free advert-papers like "Discover Mid-America" that cater to shopping locations that we also take. Recently while attending an Order No. 11 Memorial Marker Dedication at the Butler, Mo courthouse lawn (3-22-2014), we learned of a new tour guide by Diane Eickhoff and Aaron Barnhart called "The Big Divide." It features historic and Civil War sites in the Missouri-Kansas Border Region. We found a hard copy that we can order through our local library, but I also found a couple of copies on eBay for sale. 

2006 MO Conservation Louis & Clark Passport Program



And speaking of weekend jaunts, the annual Rush Reunion is coming up the second weekend of July. We still snail-mail out reminder sheets every year to the event. If you aren't on the list and would like to be, please leave a message in the comments below. I have comment moderation set up on this blog so unless I have your permission to do so, I will not publish your home or email address under this article.

[Postscript: I found this article on cleaning gravestones along with a list of supplies needed.]