Over the 4th of July weekend a crew of 37 Babbs descended on a small town with a big history; in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. You couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful weekend, with sunny skies and 80° highs. On Saturday afternoon, we gathered for the opening mixer on the patio of the lobby bar at 4pm followed by dinner around 7pm in Marty’s Lounge, which is attached to the host hotel the 72-Room Voyageur Inn and Conference Center. We caused a bit of a stir when 20 people descended on the hotel restaurant, but that’s just part of being a Babb.
On Sunday July 3rd, we were the guests of honor at the Founders Day picnic and our speakers Marjorie Rhodes, Anna Crooks, Jean D’Angelo & Myself had the audience both laughing and crying along with our history.
After the festivities were over, we were treated to some wine & refreshments by the John Schmitt family, who are descendants of Reedsburg Founder, James Wilson Babb. Of course, no reunion is complete without a visit to those who came before. So, we paid a visit to the Babb Family Cemetery and ended up lingering for a good while, before convening at J’s Pub for dinner, which is located across the street from the host hotel. After dinner we continued to chat in the hotel lobby until late in the evening.
Monday July 4th, everyone toured on their own, but a big group of us ran away to see the Circus World in Baraboo and had a great time clowning around!
In the afternoon we had a long visit to the Reedsburg, Pioneer Log Village which has over a half dozen historic Log Homes from around the area. This museum also houses the rim from James Wilson Babb’s covered wagon, that he used when moving to Reedsburg.
Our reunion ended with a bang! Actually, quite a few of them. After all, it was the 4th of July and we were once again honored at Freedomfest in Nishan Park before John Schmitt & I lit up the city with the countdown to start the fireworks display. It was spectacular and we had the best seats in the park with Old Glory bathed in light by the fireworks behind it. It was truly proof in the night that our flag was still there.
This town isn’t large. It isn’t even included in the ATT coverage map. But that didn’t stop this rowdy bunch from having a great time. I can’t thank Cheryl Schwarzenbart enough for her help in pulling all of this together and connecting us with John Schmitt & Linda Borleske and the rest of Reedsburg. They made my job easy and so enjoyable!
A full set of the photos of the reunion is available on my OneDrive here: https://1drv.ms/a/s!AqxbCeIXsUU4kPgAcDCmie4HWb6xGg
