Lohrmann Reunion

 Our reunion this year took place at Silver Cove resort, which is located about 134 miles south of Seattle, Washington.  To be more precise, it is near Silver Lake and the town of Castle Rock.  Our family had plans to meet last year (we meet every three years) but the pandemic toppled those plans.  Our last reunion was in Colorado in 2017, and we had a wonderful turnout for that of about 80 plus family members.  Keep in mind that I have 9 siblings, and that can be rapidly multiplied when marriages happen and babies enter the bigger picture!

My husband John (pictured above in the foreground) has adapted well into family over the years, and that is remarkable given he has only one sibling and four nieces!  The picture above gives you an idea of the cabins which most of us stayed in during the reunion.  

We always come up with some tee shirt to commemorate our reunions, they are a great reference as to what state we were in and when for each reunion.  By the way, our reunions over the years have taken place in Maine, Missouri, Minnesota, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and Washington twice.  This year our niece Cheryl and daughter-in-law Amanda worked on tie-dye shirts for everyone to wear.  Blue hands marked those working on that project!

Devotion time is important to our family group.  We even tote around a couple boxes of song books to aid us in that worship time.  As children family devotions were held frequently after supper, we have kept that tradition alive during our reunions over the years. Fellowship time usually follows after that time into the wee hours of the morning (for only a smaller number of us).  And generally there is a blazing fire and s'mores to add to the fun.

Some of our group took a hike around Silver Lake, the largest natural lake within a radius of hundreds of miles (according to an interpretive sign).  It also supports at least 70 species of plants which thrive in the shallow waters.

The nearest town to our resort is the town of Castle Rock.  It was named for a large rock towering above the Cowlitz River at 900 feet.  It was a landmark in the early 1800s for the Cowlitz Indians as well as for the Hudson Bay fur traders.  John and I spent some time walking around the town while one of our flat tire was getting repaired.  I was amazed at all the pots of flowering plants which literally covered the town, in front of many homes as well as businesses.  As I was snapping pictures a man came up to me and introduced himself as a member of the Chamber of Commerce.  He was wondering about what I liked about the town.  After I informed him that I was thrilled with the presence of all the flowers in the town he replied that they were a "Bloom" city.  The town received that honor because of its many flowers, benches and murals.  The town of Castle Rock calls itself the "Gateway to St.Helens".  Our family group planned that as an outing which we could do as a group together on the second day of our reunion week.  More on that in my next posting.

Rose Spire wildflower