The Year of the 1st Family Reunion

Nan Hill and Marg Heater helped write this:

The first Moynihan Family Reunion was organized by Ron Brooks (son of Lena Moynihan) and Nan Hill with help from Marg Heater (daughters of Gwen Moynihan). A picnic was held at Aurora Park, on the first Sunday after Labour Day, September 1958. Nan remembers that Ron was the instigator but because they were close, they took on the challenge together.

As Marg recalls, the idea for a Moynihan Family Reunion happened after the funerals of Jim Brooks and Bessie Moynihan: She says, “we had all gathered in the stairwell after Uncle Jim’s funeral, telling jokes –especially John Watson– and we were all laughing and Grandma M. gave us hell; then the same thing happened following Aunt Bessie's funeral. We were all out on the front porch at the farm and I can still see Grandma's face through the screen door, giving us hell. It was decided then and there that we had to get together more often!”

They both remember that the picnic was only for the descendants of Cora and Con (Cornelius), and there was to be “NO ALCOHOL: it was STRICTLY A FAMILY DAY”. It rained and got very windy that day at Aurora Park, and that broke up the event. “Some folks went to Lena’s and some to Gwen’s and Mike’s, and goodness knows where else”. So the following year, the picnic was moved to the Mount Albert hall, just in case of rain. Eventually, in the late 70’s, I think, the families decided to move the picnic to the Zephyr community hall because, as a township resident, Nan could get a discount.

From those sad, loving, funny (and soggy) beginnings, a committee and the idea of an annual Moynihan Family reunion was formed. For several years the committee was made up of one member from each family, with Lena and Gwen being in charge of the funds and coaching everyone along. Ron Brooks was a major stalwart. Sadly, they’re gone from us now. But not forgotten!

I put out a call to the aunts & uncles & cousins and you answered! Having access to these memories has been really exciting – and enlightening. Though of course, they just stimulate more questions. What were your lives like, then? Do you remember those years? Hurricane Hazel was just a memory, Marie and Lena were widows; Marie, Blanche, Jim, and Cora had lost their mom; Margaret, Ron, Jack, Rosemary and Barb had lost their dad. The baby boom ended and hula hoops were the rage. The Chevy Impala came on the market; the British Empire Motor Club (BEMC) formed Mosport Limited and began designing a track; baseball catcher Roy Campanella was paralyzed in a car accident. BOAC introduced trans-Atlantic jet flights, Sputnik fell from space, and the Avro Arrow made its first test flight. JFK had just won the Pulitzer and beatniks were reading Jack Kerouac. Mao was implementing the Great Leap Forward and Nikita Khrushchev became Soviet Premier. John Diefenbaker called a snap election and won a majority government, even sweeping Quebec. This was the year of the first Moynihan Family Reunion.