Written by the McKerracher Family
When I started writing this blog,I was sitting in my tent trailer with a comfortable sense of satisfaction. I am home now but still basking in the afterglow of my experience. You see, here in Alberta, we have a long weekend every August given to us by the powers that be. A few decades ago, my family began to make it a McKerracher Annual Family Reunion. We call it “The Luau.” If you have any connection to the McKerracher family you can come and spend a weekend with us where there is a lot of laughs, love, and food. (mostly food…More on that a little later)
The Luau has been a fixture of the family for a long time now. The first ones were started when my parents were still with us. It was at their rustic lakeside cabin a couple of hours north of where they lived and we all were happy to make our way with our kids in tow to the fun and family. We all wore the trademark Hawaiian shirts to validate its name. They are gone now and the Luau has continued apace. Their passing left a big hole in our collective heart but things like the Luau fill it up again with wonderful memories. And we still wear the Hawaiian shirts.
The cabin went out of the family some years ago and for a while, we met at several different locations. We have used a few rural community halls and some campsites that were within driving distance for everyone and that can accommodate the tents, trailers, and whatever else people bring to live in. The presence of a community firepit is one of the essentials, for sure.
This year we had a good turnout of about forty-five people at a place called Strawberry Hall. There are six of the “The Original Eight,” of the family born to our much-loved parents. Two sisters were unable to come this year, but we think of them often, usually in terms of (mostly fictional) stories about them that come to mind in the weekend-long conversation going off in various directions and locations. (They deserve that because they aren’t here.) There is the next tier of kin in the children of the Original Eight, with their assorted spouses and kids. Even some of that generation have a kidling or two. One delight is the one great-grandchild of my brother which finishes the tally of the crowd.
I have another brother who always makes an effort to join in, though it is with some sacrifice. Many years ago, he left Canada with his wife and kids, going first to California and is now in Idaho. He once (and only once) made it with all ten of his kids. In recent years, he usually comes alone, leaving his wife to tend a vegetable farm because it needs eternal vigilance to ensure its success. This year, joyfully, leaving the farm in the capable hands of an intern, his wife was able to come with him. The two were accompanied by one son who still lives with them and another with a new wife of one year. Others arrive from different points of origin in Alberta, all looking for a wonderful family time.
Occasionally in the past, the numbers were bolstered by strange McKerrachers we didn’t know (insert own joke here about the strangeness of the rest of us), who were accepted with open arms. One year, an unfamiliar fellow McKerracher came with his wife and gave us all a copy of a homemade book of the genealogy of the McKerrachers that went back to the 1700s. It was fascinating reading! Unfortunately, he passed before the next Luau and was missed before we got to know him better. My mom’s nephew and his wife and two boys showed up from England at one of these Luaus about ten years ago. They were so amazed at the whole business that they went home, sold all they had, and immigrated to Canada, becoming a fixture at the Luau ever since.
Some of the activities that we started on a whim and a laugh have become traditions. For the Friday night meal, we usually have a cook-off featuring chilli, stew, lasagna, and other yummy dishes to the delight of all. For some Luaus we have tried to remain true to the Luau traditions, having a roast pig in a trench for the Saturday night meal. We are moving away from it presently, because of the great amount of time it takes to set that up with uncertain results, at times. Maybe the next generation will find the time to pick that up. The Sunday morning breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausages, and magic bean elixir is provided by my older brother, who has taken this responsibility for the past number of years. The common story throughout the history of the Luau is that there is always more than enough food for everyone. (actually, for everyone in a 50-mile radius)
Another tradition that is heartily enjoyed by everyone is the Saturday Night Talent Show. From the youngest to the oldest, the invitation is given to do a song, skit, poem, or whatever we want to entertain the adoring crowd before them. We have had all kinds of antics to make people laugh from pretending to be various family members in the audience with their particular behavioural oddities to stand-up schtick. This year, one of my grand-boys, aged 11, did a back flip off the stage and landed on the floor to the cheering of the whole appreciative crowd. A favourite choice for many is to belt out a song, a jingle, a show tune, or some “oldies” rock music, backed by the original recording, to commiserate with the more ripened people in the audience. The Talent Night also will have the distribution of all the prizes for the various contests. Amazingly, everybody did something spectacular enough to receive a prize. What great fun!
The Luau has been a big blessing for all concerned. Watching all the cousins running around in a posse as they reacquainted themselves with each other throughout the weekend is a main raison d’etre for this entire production. Playing frisbee golf, competing in the adjusted-to-age Olympic Family Games that we shamelessly steal from the IOC, or whatever their beautiful little heads think up is a heart-warming sight for all the older kith and kin. As they get older, some of them join with the board game aficionados amongst us who stay inside the hall to pursue the newest or the oldest board games that magically appear through some nameless contributors.
It is good for adults too. We get to catch up with each other and take pleasure in the glow of their love as they do the same back. My family is not a Christian one but there are a few amongst us who claim Christ as Lord. Fellowship is sweet. We have great theological conversations among us, sitting aside from the game-playing in the hall. There are some rare occasions when a sibling, nephew, or niece will corner one of us and engage in a spiritual conversation, much to the joy of the Christian brother-brother. (That’s the nickname my brother from Idaho and I have for each other) Sometimes there are hints of the spiritual world in the choice of talent show offering too, but it is mostly muted as there is a collection of historical confrontations over decades that are remembered, sometimes on both sides, from our less-than-gracious younger years. It doesn’t hurt to express a bit of grace now that we are older.
The Luau has been going for decades as I said before. It is so successful that my wife and I have incorporated a smaller rendition later in August limited to our kids and their kids. Well, that limitation isn’t entirely true. A couple of friends of ours married late and their parents were unable to perform any grandparenting role so when they had a son between them, they asked us to step in. What a joyful ask! Of course, they are included in our “cousin-camping.” The result is that all of us camp out in a provincial park located centrally to all of us where we talk, laugh, and share around the campfire. A few years ago, in a fit of wisdom, we purchased a propane fire pit in case there is a fire ban. Truly. Life is good!
The term “cousin-camping” is one I picked up from the Legacy Coalition. It is a wonderful ministry dedicated to coming alongside grandparents to help in the transmission of their faith to their grandkids. To accomplish this, they offer a weekly Zoom meeting with special speakers on a variety of pertinent topics. People zoom in from all over North America to attend the thought-provoking and idea-rich seminars. The Coalition hosts an annual Grandparenting Summit, live and live-streamed all over North America to host churches. Legacy Coalition also has a storehouse of videos, seminars, books, and other resources to assist in the all-important scriptural mandate of passing on our Christian beliefs to our families. Among the great ideas they have is cousin-camping. I can highly recommend the effort required to get together in the great outdoors for some camping and sharing of life with our families. It’s a time to celebrate intergenerational relationships.
