2011 Reunion News

We are back! 

Before I give the rundown of this year's family reunion, 

I would like to thank Greg and Teresa Steelsmith for taking the time to reserve the pavilion for next year. I really appreciate you saving me the trip.

Now, on to the what's what of 2011's get together.

There was a questionnaire passed out, and the chicken was voted to stay, as was the auction

(both of which are personal favorites of mine, so I'm glad you all feel the same way).

The chicken will continue to be paid for with the treasury money, and we will continue meeting 

at the Lebanon Memorial Park.

Also on the questionnaire was the question:

"Would you be willing to serve as an officer?" to which a very small handful of people said "yes."

I (Aaron Benge) was made the President, and James Benge was made the Vice President / Treasurer / Social Organizer / Public Relations Liaison / Event Coordinator / etc.

The terms of office are 2 years for the President and from what I understand, 37 years for all other offices.

Thanks uncle James for having my back. It means a lot to me.

As you can see, the website has been updated, and the counter restarted.

I apologize for not posting more often than I did last year. I will be more diligent in the years to come.

Send me your old photos! Mary Alice gave me Virgil's old presidential Cadillac bag of Benge family history, so in the months to come I will be posting Family Tree info and other interesting things I find in there.
I am still looking for the list of who won each of the titles for Longest Drive, Newest baby, ect.
The list is in the bag or tote somewhere. Wish me luck.

I will leave you with some photos from this year, and a thanks to my Great Uncle George Benge, who answered the "......how you can help" question with

"PRAY." 

...Uncle Jim and I can use all of that that we can get!

(remember, click on any picture to see the full size) 

...maybe next year Andrew will let me get a picture of him.

We Have A New Benge! Zedekiah Creed.

Meet Zedekiah Creed Benge, 

son of Aaron and Rebecca Benge. Brother to Lukas Benge, Ethan Chezem,
Noah Benge and Esther Benge.

Born Sept 23, 9lb 12.8 oz,

all digits present and accounted for!

(click photo for larger view)

His first name comes from the bible, Jeremiah chapter 29 (in Hebrew means "Righteous King"),
and Creed is a family name;
Creed was Tilford's brother
(you can read the post and see a picture of Tilford and Creed by clicking here.)

From what I understand,

Tilford was Albert's father,

who was Henry's father,

who was Cecil's father,

who was my father,

making Creed my Great, Great Uncle,

and Zedekiah's Great, Great, Great Uncle.

"The Year We Shared The Pavilion"

If you were at this year's family reunion, and want some of your pictures posted here, please email them to me at: romans833@yahoo.com.

We had a great time this year, all things considered. 2010 will be known as the "Year we had to share the pavilion." 

It was good never the less.

Thanks to Chad Benge for these photos:

Seated on the floor from left to right: Jim Sullivan, Cecil Benge, Virgil "Ricky" Benge, Sammy Benge, James Benge, and the last is Jay Copenhaver. Seated behind them from left to right, Henry Benge holding Becky Benge, Hazel Benge holding Donald Benge, Martha Benge, Albert Benge is holding Joe Copenhaver, Sally Copenhaver holding Jeff Copenhaver, Judy Copenhaver, Serrie Copenhaver. Standing in the back from left to right: Virgil Benge, Mary Benge, Mary Katherine Benge, Carel (?) "Boob" Sullivan, Linda Sullivan, Martha Benge, Eva Sullivan, Mary Alice, Sam Benge, :Louise Benge, George Benge, John Copenhaver, and Nancy Benge Stone. 

Believed to be taken sometime between 1955-1957, around christmas at Albert and Martha's just west of Granville Wells school outside Jamestown, Indiana. 

From left to right: Henry Benge, Albert Benge and Alberts half brother Theo. 

To my knowledge, Albert is holding either Martha or Mary Benge.

Thanks, and thanks again... keep'em coming!

I just wanted to thank everybody for all of the information we've been getting, 

and encourage you all to scan and send old photos if you have any!

My email is: romans833@yahoo.com

Here soon I will start putting up individual pages with each branch of the family, or something of that nature. 

I would like to put an Excel file showing the family tree if anyone happens to have it on their computer. Several years ago at the reunion, I remember seeing it all laid out on a table... If anybody knows where I could come across a copy, I'll post it online.

Some Pictures Are Coming!

I spoke with my brother this week, and he is bringing me a disk full of pictures. According to him, there are pictures of Henry and Hazel Benge, Albert and Martha Benge, Grandma and Grandpa Maddox, among others.
Keep checking back, as I will be posting them as soon as I get them.
I also have some census records containing Tillford Benge & family, and am waiting for a scanner to get them online.

...and please, if you have any old Benge family photos on your hard drive, or can scan them, send them to romans833@yahoo.com along with a description of who, where, when, etc.

God Bless,
Aaron

The Hard Drive Has Been Laid To Rest.

Well, it looks like my hard drive will never be revived. I have tried everything.
I am going to have to rely on anyone out there who may have photos of Benge family members from long ago; unless I can get together with my Great Aunt and scan some of hers.


Remember, all comments are welcome and encouraged. If you have info that needs to be posted, please email me at: romans833@yahoo.com.


Thanks again,
Aaron Benge

Still looking for photos...

So far, we're not getting any responses  - we need feedback! 

We recently have suffered a death in the family (my wife's mother), so I haven't been able to add much; I will try to be more diligent in the future, when things get fully back to normal.

On the bright side, we have however had quite a few people from outside of Indiana checking out the site.

Here's a list:

Daniels, West Virginia

Winchester, Kentucky

Batesville, Arkansas

Cincinnati, Ohio

Mason, Ohio

Mountain View, California

...and then a few from  these Indiana cities:

Crawfordsville, Indiana    

Indianapolis, Indiana   

Waynetown, Indiana  

Mace, Indiana  

Thanks for stopping by, and send some pictures if you have them - I'll see to it that they are posted. My hard drive crashed a couple weeks ago, and I lost about 5,000 pictures; including three Benge family reunions and 5 years of family photos. 

...I'll see if I can get my scanner to work.

Hello! Welcome to BengeFamily.com.

Why is there a BengeFamily.com?

At this year's family reunion, I spoke with my Great Aunt, Mary McCullough, about starting a website for the Benge family. The idea behind it was to get the family history and genealogy information online, and possibly provide an outlet where people can post their old (and new) family photos and stories. She told me to give it a whirl, so here goes...

Are you having a baby, or expecting one? This would be a great place to post it. Is there a favorite story about a Grandparent? An interesting fact relating to the history of the Benge name, or possibly a tale of an ancestor who immigrated from a foreign land? Just go to the "post a comment" section after each post and tell your story.

If there are photos that you would like to have posted, send them to romans833@yahoo.com along with names, dates and any other information, and I will see to it that they get posted.

Oh yeah, who am I? My name is Aaron Benge, son of Cecil (Buddy) and Leslie Benge. My Grandparents were Henry and Hazel Benge. I won't bother going any further, because I'll embarrass myself - yet another good reason for a BengeFamily website. I also host a few other sites, including:

www.mangdiddles.com  (www.AaronBenge.com)
www.TheCarpentersShop.info (www.CheckOutTheCarpentersShop.com)
www.theWordisGrace.com

www.TheWordIsGrace.mypodcast.com (study on the book of John); and this one, www.BengeFamily.com (www.BengeFamilyReunion.blogspot.com)

I hope you all join in. Hopefully, in the future, we will be giving updates on the family reunion's budget, and possible ideas for future get-togethers. Let me know what you think; and tell your aunts, uncles. grandparents and cousins. If this turns out to be something that people want, I will add an actual forum sometime. Let me know,Aaron