Preliminary Reunion Program

The snow is piling up (see photo). That means it is time to start thinking about the next Radding family reunion. Here is the preliminary program.

When: July 9th through July 12th, 2009

Where: Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino
Incline Village, Nevada
http://laketahoe.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp

Preliminary Program
Thursday, 7/9 3:00 pm
Hotel check in available
4:00 to 9:00 pm Hospitality Suite* open
Dinner on your own
7:30 to 9:00 pm Poolside Welcoming

Friday, 7/10
All Day Enjoy the Resort and Area
8:00 am - 9:00 pm Hospitality Suite* open
Organized AM Radding Golf
Outings TBD Radding Spa Treatments
5:30 to 6:30 pm Cocktail Gathering
7:00 pm Shuttle or Drive to Offsite Restaurant
7:30 pm to ? Group Dinner at Offsite Restaurant

Saturday, 7/11
AM Enjoy the Resort and Area
8:00 am - 9:00 pm Hospitality Suite* open
Organized 9:30 to 11:30 am Brunch Cruise on Lake Tahoe
Outing (30 min drive to boat dock)
2:00 to 4:00 pm Radding Genealogy Session
4:00 pm Family Photo
6:30 pm to ? Group Dinner at Hyatt Regency

Eva and I have put down our deposit so we're intending to be there. Eva and the rest of the genealogy team are still chasing down Raddings to complete the genealogy, which, of course, is never really complete. If you have any new information, please pass it along to Eva, Pearl, or Cathy.

Pearl promises more info on the reunion in Feb.

Otherwise, hope lots and lots of you will attend.

Until then, it is cold and there is a ton of snow covering my lawn. I'll be ready for Tahoe by July (if not sooner).

Alan

Reunion Fall Update

It’s more than official: the next Radding reunion is happening July 9-12, 2009 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, at the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village. How do I know it’s real? The Hyatt has taken my credit card deposit. Now I hope the rest of you will join Eva and me.

Pearl Radding Carpenter, Auntie Pearl to me, sent out more details on the reunion: Incline Village is just 45 minutes from the Reno, Nevada airport, 2 hours and 15 minutes from Sacramento, CA, and 3.5 hours from the San Francisco Airport.

Pearl reports that the Hyatt Regency in Incline Village is an incredible resort is located right on the lake complete with a private beach, pool complex, spa, and casino. (details here--http://laketahoe.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp). The hotel is holding a limited number of rooms for the three reunion days at a group discount rate of $238/night. For those who may want to stay longer the hotel will honor the discounted rate for up to 2 nights before and 2 nights after the reunion. Raddings can book rooms by calling 775 832 1234. Make sure that you tell them that you are with the Radding Reunion to get the discounted rate. You will need to place a one night deposit to hold your reservation

Quite a bit has been happening among Raddings since the last blog posting. Probably more has been happening than is recounted here but I only know what’s happening if people fire off an email to me, alan@radding.net, and let me know.

To start, Eva, Amy, and I attended Lisa’s graduation from Syracuse University in May. David Nappi and Kathy Cragin joined us for dinner one night.. Lisa actually landed a job in her field, linguistics, within one month of graduating. She is working at Ethnic Technologies, South Hackensack NJ, as an Ethnologist/Linguist, according to her business card. Lisa is now living in Hoboken, NJ, right across the Hudson River from midtown Manhattan. Great views of the NYC skyline.

David Nappi writes that Kathy's son Doug and his wife Kim are now parents of a healthy baby boy. Donald Jeffery Cragin was born 10/7/08. He’s not officially a Radding but close enough. David and Kathy also have set a date to get married, Oct. 3, 2009. And he became a grandfather yet again in July when his youngest daughter, Amanda, had a daughter, Cheyenne Leigh Nappi, on July 2. Mazel Tov all around!

Wendy Cumpston writes with an update from the Washington, DC area about a feature in the Washington Post on the Teachers In Space program, featuring Barbara Radding Morgan, the NASA astronaut, space shuttle crew member, and surely the most traveled Radding in terms of total miles.

Jerome Radding also checked in with news of his daughter, the same Barbara Radding Morgan. He wrote: “Our daughter, who went on shuttle flight ST-118 on August 8th, 2007, was a guest speaker at her old Hoover High School in Fresno on Wednesday April 9th. She spoke at two assemblies and in addition to the school officials and teachers, there were representatives from the City of Fresno and from Cal State University, Fresno, announcing the formation of a new educational program at the high school in conjunction with the University to promote careers in Technology, Electronics and Architecture. The mayor gave her a key to the City and declared April 9th ‘Barbara Morgan Day’. It was a great day.” Jerome Radding M.D. is the son of Edward E. Radding and grandson of the original Jerome Radding..

Mark Radding invited me to join his network on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). LinkedIn is a business-focused social networking site, sort of a Facebook for business and professional people. It is free. There are more than a few Raddings on LinkedIn. Would be nice to identify their connections to the rest of us and get them to the reunion. At the least, we should invite each other to join our various networks. Maybe we can set up a Radding group?

Andrew Radding of Baltimore reports the arrival on Oct 5, 2008, of the newest Radding, Alexandra Jane Collins. Alexandra is the daughter of Andrew’s daughter Judy and her husband Chris in NYC.

Herbert Radding reported a visit to his brother Irving Radding. Irv is a much decorated WWII and Korean War vet. Retired, he now resides now in Hemet, California with his wife Joyce.

Lastly, Eva and I celebrated Rosh Hashonah, the Jewish New Year, in Longmeadow, MA, at the home of my brother Edward and Linda Radding. Joining us for a lovely holiday dinner was my brother Robert and Rina Radding, cousins Jerry and Susan Radding, cousins Cathy and John McElligott, and a last minute treat for us, the arrival of my daughter Amy Radding, who dashed up after an organic chem. test at Yale in New Haven, an hour away

Upcoming blog postings will include more details of the Lake Tahoe reunion and more genealogy findings from the genealogy team that continues uncovering and tracking down any Raddings they can find. If you know of any, pass the information along to Pearl, Eva, or Cathy. If there is more news to report, just let me know or blast it out in an email to the entire family mailing list, which all of you can take from earlier mailings.

Feel welcome to add your own comments to this posting by clicking the comments section at the bottom and following the prompts.

In terms of the economy the Jewish New Year (Sept. 30/Oct. 1) has gotten off to a rough start to say the least. Still, Eva and I wish all Raddings, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, a healthy, happy, and peaceful New Year, and (in the traditional Hebrew New Year greeting) Shana Tova.

Alan

April update

Although we don’t have another reunion in the works until the summer of 2009, connections that were initially made at the last reunion are still playing themselves out.

Cathy McElligott reports that Herb Radding is recovering from another back surgery, and will be returning to the hospital in April for surgery on his shoulder.

David Nappi and Kathy Cragin just returned from a cruise to San Juan, including Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. If you live in Syracuse, New York as they do, just one cruise doesn’t seem like nearly enough compensation for the cold and snow. Lisa Radding also spent the winter in Syracuse, much of it on crutches no less, but escaped to Savannah, Georgia for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament during spring break.

More Raddings on the move: Earl Radding is planning a trip to Costa Rica in July, and his band played a couple of gigs in Delaware during the month of March. By the way, Earl, the oldest Radding at the reunion, will turn 96 years old on April 26. The Torah tells us that a person will likely live 70 years, 80 years if they are fortunate. Earl is well into bonus time. Happy Birthday and let’s hope for many more.

Raddings in Israel: Ellen Rowles traveled to Israel and joined a Hadassah nursing mission for two weeks in March. Marsha Radding and her daughters Adrienne and Carolyn went to Israel planning to meet a cousin on Marsha's (non-Radding) side of the family whom they've never met. Two other cousins from New York and Brazil have also joined them on their mini reunion.

On the genealogy front, Eva Radding discovered some long lost cousins of Andrew Radding. She has also been hot on the trail of some Racusin cousins, apparently the descendents of Berre Racusin’s daughter Lotti Lashman. Lotti’s 90 year-old grandson, Shelley Lashman, is a retired naval officer and judge in the Atlantic City, NJ, area. Does the name Lashman ring a bell with anyone?

Also at the end of April, Ron Bland and his wife Kay will be in Sacramento visiting their son Todd. Pearl Carpenter writes that the three Radding-related Davis (California) families have invited everyone in Northern California within driving distance of Davis for a barbecue on April 27. They are hoping to meet even more Raddings. Ron says he last saw Pearl at a family wedding in 1950 in Springfield. It quite likely happened in the backyard of my parents’ (Joseph and Eunice Radding) home, which probably was the largest backyard among the Springfield Raddings. Pearl doesn’t remember the details and I wasn’t even born yet.

Finally, Fay Radding needs your help for her work. She wants to hear stories about how retirement was discussed by prior generations. Did your parents or grandparents share their feelings about retirement? If so what were they? You can share your stories with Fay at FAYSPLACE@aol.com. Fay—here is your first retirement story. I remember when, late in my father’s life, he threatened to retire. My mother’s reply: “If he thinks he is going to retire and stay home all day, then I am going to get a job.” As it turns out, he didn’t actually retire until he broke his hip while downhill skiing at the age of 77.

The California Radding Reunion 2009 planning team is ramping up and needs volunteers. You don’t have to be in California to help out. Most of the work gets done by email and phone. If you want to help, please contact Steve Greenfield, stgreen@omsoft.com.

Send me any news you have, alan@radding.net, and it will be in the next posting of the Radding Reunion blog.

Reunion Update

[photo above, l-r: Alan, Robert, Edward Radding and Dave Nappi]

If you think nothing has happened since the August reunion, you are mistaken. Various Raddings have been expanding the connections they made at the reunion on their own. For example:

David Nappi learned at the reunion that his mother had a half-sister. The daughter of this half sister, Judie Pearson, flew to Massachusetts, where a number of visits to family took place. Edward and Linda Radding hosted a visit from David Nappi, Kathy Cragin, Judie Pearson and Cathy McGilligott.

A week later, Joe Radding and his wife Marilee from Ann Arbor, Michigan came out to San Francisco. They contacted Herb and Bonnie Radding and met for dinner. Circumstances kept other West Coast Raddings from joining them.

Also, Andrew and Bonnie Radding visited Andrew’s daughter Judith in New York City in late August. It happened that Ed and Linda Radding were visiting their daughter Jennifer in New York at the same time. The two families got together. It turns out the daughters live only four blocks from each other.

More recently, Steve and Teri Greenfield attended the UC Davis Aggies football game. There they bumped into Emily Ault, the great niece of Bernhard Radding, who Pearl found living in Davis. Her brother, Scott Radding Bland from Sacramento, was there with Emily. He and Steve had never met. Both families headed off to The Graduate for dinner together after the game. There now are rumblings of an early mini-reunion in Northern California.

More than rumblings, the direction coming out of the August reunion was that the next major family gathering will be held in California, probably in 2009. Stay tuned for more details. A survey to ascertain everyone’s various preferences is in the works.

Steve reports that he is putting on the finishing touches on that survey. He apologizes for the delay, which was due to a crashed computer and a very busy schedule. It will be on its way shortly—he promises. Keep the faith.

On another note, Pearl has recovered nicely from her knee replacement and is now bopping around Davis, no cane in hand. She is grateful for this second chance to be mobile again. We’re expecting her here to run the Boston Marathon in April. Herb Radding, in the meantime, is recovering from recent back surgery. We wish him well.

Meanwhile, Eva Radding continues to pursue Raddings around the country and back in time, pouring over various online database records, directories, and historical archives. She is hot on the trail of some descendents of the third patriarchal brother, Berre Racusin. She just needs a couple of pieces of corroborating data.

If you have Radding family news, fire it off to me in an email message (alan@radding.net) and I will add it to the next blog update, which hopefully won’t be another four months in coming.

Radding Reuinion attendees

Hi,

Here is the photo of the Radding Reunion attendees from Saturday afternoon. A small handful of people did not make it into this photo. I don't know how this happened; I thought Steve flogged everybody to get into this photo. Maybe they were in the bathroom. If you want to get the IDs of everybody in the photo, contact Steve or Pearl for the ID set of 2 files (a b&w photo and list of names), stgreen@omsoft.com or pearl@omsoft.com. DOUBLE CLICK THE IMAGE TO SEE IT LARGE

It happened!

The first Radding Family Reunion actually did happen Aug. 2-5 at the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, CT, and it was great. Thanks to everybody who made it happen, including Pearl Radding Carpenter, Fay Radding, Cathy Radding McElligott, Eva Radding, Steve Greenfield, and Edward Radding. My apologies in advance to anyone else I should have named but inadvertently forgot.

We initially thought 50-60 people might show up. A week before the event, it looked like 75-80 people would come. By Saturday afternoon, 95 people had arrived! The sudden rush did cause a few logistical complications, but everything was resolved.

Mark your calendar for the summer of 2009, the likely date of the second Radding Family Reunion. A survey will be circulating to determine preferred dates and locations. Judging from the preferences expressed at the breakfast on Sunday morning, it looks like it will be held on the west coast. Those who want to volunteer to help organize the event—and help definitely will be needed—please contact Steve Greenfield (stgreen@omsoft.com).

For those who couldn’t attend, here is a brief and highly subjective recap. Feel welcome to add your own impressions of the reunion in the comment section directly following this posting. To post a comment you will be prompted for your name (your email address) and your password (give yourself a password and remember it).

The children liked the ice cream social on Thursday evening while many adults avoided the extra calories. But it kept the children busy while the adults talked and mingled. Jacob Knop, Julia Radding Knop’s son, took on the much appreciated task of assembling name cards and badges; at that time there were about 85.

Friday was an unusually hot and humid day for the Berkshires, even in August—a perfect day for relaxing in the shade, at the pool, on the lakefront, or in the water. In the evening we switched ice cream for alcohol and had a cocktail party which flowed right into a buffet dinner. We all shook so many hands we must have looked like a pack of presidential candidates campaigning in New Hampshire. The cocktail party also provided an opportunity for those who wanted to gather and welcome Shabbat (the Sabbath) with candle lighting, wine, Scotch, and challah.

The hot and humid weather moderated a bit by Saturday. It turned out to be a great morning at the lakefront. By mid afternoon everyone had gathered for the genealogy session led by Pearl and Cathy. With the arrival of the day trippers our numbers may have climbed past 95. Earl Radding, the oldest Radding present at 95, drove up from Delaware with his son Peter from South Carolina. As it turns out, every family there was descended either from Joseph or Jerome Radding, both of whom arrived in this country around the turn of the 20th century. Eva Radding had tracked down an earlier common ancestor to them—Wolf Rakishki, from Zagare, a small town in what is now Lithuania. We can refer to future reunions as the gathering of the Wolf pack.

The centerpiece of the genealogy session was the Radding family tree produced by Edward Radding on two long strips of vinyl, one representing the line of Joseph and the other of Jerome. The strips were spread, side by side, across five tables, allowing people to view each tree. A PDF file of the family tree will be sent to everybody on the mailing list once Eva makes the corrections collected at the reunion.

After the genealogy session people gathered for a group photo and later assembled in a tent for a cookout. This was followed later still by a bonfire at the lake. Fire toasted marshmallows and Smores (toasted marshmallow, chocolate, and graham crackers) were the fare for that event. The sky over the lake was crammed with stars, which provided the opportunity for those who wanted to end Shabbat with a brief Havdallah program including more candles, the sweet smell of spices, and wine.

The next morning those who weren’t dashing off to catch an early flight enjoyed breakfast together followed by the family meeting that recommended the summer of 2009 and the west coast for the next gathering of the Wolf pack.

Check out some photos from the reunion in the following blog posting.

Photos from the reunion

Here are some photos from the reunion. More will be coming. Stay tuned.

Click on the photo to view it in a larger size.

Top left--Earl Radding, the oldest Radding at 95 (Edward and Peter Radding behind, l-r)

Top right--two beautiful women, each named Lisa Radding

Lower right--Yes, those are assorted Radding cousins on the float on the lake

Lower left--Dustin Peters, Sue Peters, Melanie Greenfield, Josh Greenfield view the family tree