The 56th Ruddy Family Reunion
July 7, 2001 The 56th Annual Ruddy Reunion was held in Burlington, VT. A total of 101 family members and guests attended the traditional reunion hosted by the Dawsons: JD & Nicole LaBreque, Jen, Jamie & Scott Lafountain, Elizabeth, and Alexandra; and the Thiesens: Kathy & Chris Gardner, Michael, Pat and Chris. As usual there was lots of tasty food, and everyone got caught up from the past year. We had a warm, breezy day over looking Lake Champlain. Bob Ruddy assisted at the Mass and told us all about his new vocation working in the prison system and encouraged volunteers. For the first time in a few years we had representatives from all of the original families. The new babies showed up in force again this year. Here's who attended their first Ruddy Reunion -- Julia Hawthorne (5.2.1.1), Lexi Greene (5.2.2.3), and Andrew Gardner (8.1.1.1). At the meeting J.D. encouraged discussion around a couple of topics. One was a Ruddy banner. Everyone seemed to like the idea. Over the next year, a committee will be working on putting together a banner for the 57th reunion. Some of the ideas discussed were the Ruddy crest or a photo of "Early Dawn". I'll post updates on the progress and illicit suggestions. Another topic was establishing a Ruddy Cup. We all have fond memories of the friendly competitions between the families over the years. The competition this year included volleyball, croquet, bocci, and tug-of-war. I'm not sure who won this year, but tug-of-war clearly went to the LaDuke women. They managed to best all comers -- including the LaDuke men and the Mark Ruddy men! Next year's reunion will be hosted by the Zagrobelnys. I'll have some photos up in a few days. I hope people will e-mail me some of the great photos I saw them taking with their digital cameras. Also, I have a scanner if you want to send me regular photos by snail mail.
Get your own Free Home Page