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KENVIR 2003 Reunion  Report/Pictures

Reunion great success
Posted by Chris Jones on 8/31/2003 15:57:44

Reunion 2003 is now history, Had an estimated crowd of  300+  I would say, Deb may have the official count. Cars as far as the eye could see, down past the Commissary all the way to #1 camp, all in between. Only damper was the weather, Hot as blue blixie for awhile but dry, then a hum dinger of a storm and rain, things cleared out pretty fast then. Gert and I got to sing several songs, her on guitar ,and me on banjo. Other than the rain it was a super great reunion, Old Black mountain was really jumpin today, like in its hey day. Bonnie, Deb has your shirt, I paid for it, but mail the money to her, and she will give it to me. Glenn, we all took plenty of pictures, will get them sorted and lined out. We missed you all, Edna, Glenn, Bonnie and others. Pray for those traveling in the rain, and Jimmy Jones, he had to leave early, got a little ill. Annette sold 110 T shirts and ran out. I think all the souvenir bookmarks were taken. Ever bite of some of the most mouthwatering food you ever seen, gone gone gone. Bill and Joann Childers really did a great job again this year, as well as many others to make a successful reunion. ........"
 The whistle just blowed, the mine is empty now, The doors on the big store just closed, and the lock has been turned. The lights are off, The scrip machine is silent. The train has left, and Kenvir is all quite again, no Work tomorrow the sign says, Ya'll come back now, The whistle will blow again, and we will open the big 30 store come September 2004, if it be the Lords will....Chris

Kenvir Camp Site
Posted by Brenda Bailey Davis on 9/2/2003 07:54:22

What a great time we had this weekend. Friday the County workers came and hauled over 5 tons of garbage from the school grounds. A lot of the guys were up there early scraping the grounds and what a mess.When the county arrived there was a great relief. It would have been a nightmare to try to clean it up if the county had not come. Special special thanks to Curt Stallard and Milka Navendous which I am absolutley sure is not the way to spell his name. Saturday we had lots of visitors coming and going up and down the hill. The smoked catfish filets were delicious. Johnny Napier brought them from Ohio and there were no bones in them at all. Could make a catfish sandwich that was so delicious.Saturday Donald Bailey BBQed ribs and hamburgers for all of us. There were 12 tents set up and around 40 people camping .  Later in the evening Ross Pace , Jack Patterson and Frank came up and played the fiddle, banjo and guitar and sang realy good country music and a lot of clogging was going on. I estimate there were over 100 people who came up there after the dance at the school was over. During the day there were 5 four wheelers available for a ride if someone wanted to go around the tram road and up to poker knob. A lot of us walked down to the water fall but it only had a small stream running but the next day on Sunday after the rain it was running full force like in the long ago years. Some of us walked the cemetary and talked of the people who came before us and now gone. At night when it got all quiet you could almost hear in your mind the children laughing on the playground.
Brenda Bailey Davis

I Survived the Reunion, I Think...LOL.
Posted by Deb on 9/2/2003 15:11:43

Hello Everybody, I think our Kenvir 2003 Reunion was a huge success! At last count there was 327 names on the sign in book. Joanna Childers is going through her video looking for some that may not have gotten a chance to sign in. She will then get me the list of names and I will post them on here for all to see. Once the names are posted, please feel free to let me know if you know of anyone, all kids included, that we may of missed. We are already making plans for next years reunion. As I have said before, I think each year, through trial and error, the reunions will continue to get better and better.
Bill and Joanna arrived at the park site around 6:00 a.m. along with Chris Jones and were busy getting all the tents and tables set up and the signs hung on the fence. Everything looked really good when the first folks started to arrive. The food tables were all spread out with all kinds of food imaginable. It started out hot, then we got a quick down pour, enough to get everyone soaked really good (you should of saw poor Joanna, she was working so hard, then got soaked from head to toe). Then out came the sun and dried up the rain, then it got hotter and more humid than you could imagine. We had plenty of cold soft drinks and ice cold bottled water for all to enjoy. I just wish I had known that Jimmy Jones was needing something to drink because of dehydration, I sure would of made sure he got all he needed. Sorry Jimmy I did not even know you were there until they left to take you to the hospital. So glad you are feeling better.
Everyone seemed to enjoy getting together meeting, greeting and hugging and talking with each other. Only problem I could see was that you were not able to talk to one person very long at one time, because you wanted to get a chance to talk to everyone. We would talk with one person for a minute, then move on to another, on and on until we got back around to the one we started with. LOL. But on what fun we all had doing that. Nick Burkhart and his very lovely wife Iva (Turner) and their beautiful little grand-daughter was there, but Nick’s mother Margaret Burkhart was unable to attend this year because of health problems, but we will look for her next year. Next year we also hope to see all our friends and family that were unable to be here this year. I got to meet our sweet little Charlene and her husband Bruce, they are both wonderful people and I really enjoyed talking with them both. Charlene brought me a gift, a plaque that stands or hangs with Jesus calming the waters, it is beautiful, thanks again Charlene. I talked with Susie Q. Sumner briefly and was able to purchase one of Bobby's beautiful coal cars. Gert and all family arrived and I was so glad to see them all again, however, we missed Gert's son Jimmy this year, he wasn't feeling too good and was unable to make it. Gert brought me a beautiful quilt that she had made for me along with other wonderful items, including a baby quilt for my little nephew. I loved it all. Thanks again Gert. Also thank you so much you sweet little Peggy Sue for the beautiful hanging bird house, I will put it with my collection. Also the bags of kids clothes and toys will be appreciated by the little ones, I will see who can use them. Thank you all so very much.
There were so many wonderful folks here, it is still unbelievable that we had that many of you together at one time here in Kenvir.
The food consisted of in part, Soup Beans, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, meat loaf, kraut and sausages, chicken~n~dumplins, Kentucky Fried Chicken, potato salad, pea salad, corn bread, rolls, biscuits (and more that I don’t remember), and so many desserts, too many to remember them all.
There were drawings for all the many donated items. Thanks to everyone that donated, you helped to make our Kenvir 2003 Reunion a success. There were also games and little gifts for all the kids.
We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time, despite the weather.
Will update more on the guest book names when they become available.

Take care and God bless, Debra Petra


Gertie's          2003 Reunion Pictures

Sue's               2003 Reunion Pictures

Canady           2003 Reunion Pictures

Jean Ginn's    2003 Reunion Pictures

Name List         2003 Reunion

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A letter from the city Of Harlan+++

Posted by: Gert - 2/27/2004 (14:05) - 152.163.252.68

Mrs Gertie E,Eachus. Dayton,Ohio 45403 Feb 25 ,2004, Mrs Eachus, Its with good pleasure that I take the opportunity to commend you on your recent article in the Feb,edition of the KENTUCKY EXPLORER magazine concerning the Kenvir,Ky Reunion held here in Harlan County,Each year hundreds of former residents of Harlan County come home to enjoy the reunions at their former schools and communities,These reunions beside creating great enjoyment and fellowship also help Harlan County in promoting our on going tourism endevors.Those returning home to Harlan County can enjoy the wonderful attraction Harlan has to offer..such as the Martins Fork Lake and recreational area or the Kingdom Come State Park.Your article and others like it help circulate the news and create interest that could potentially draw more of our former residents back to their native County and respective Communities, Again let me take the time to Thank you.and show our appreciation for you taking the time to promote positive and beneficial information concerning our County and one of its many Communities. Sincerly your's D.E.Howard, I thank you Mr ,D.E.Howard My note I sure hope everyone got a Kentucky Explorer to read our article for Feb 2004 of the Kenvir Reunion,Gert ps he also sent me maps one of the City of Harlan streets and one of Harlan attractions Like the Benham coal mine museum