The Slusher Family Organization held it's 25th Reunion on July 15, 2018 in Floyd, Virginia. Seventy (70) relatives attended the meeting, traveling from as far away as Afghanistan!

Although the "official" meeting began on Sunday, activities actually kicked off on Saturday with Janet Slusher Keith taking two groups of relatives in a van on the Laurel Branch Road Tour, an in-depth look at the early days of our family in Floyd County including seeing Christopher Schlosser Sr.'s home (built circa 1802) and other historical properties and burial sites. The tour provides participants with a deeper understanding of our ancestry.

The Sunday meeting began mid-morning with socializing and sharing of family photographs and stories.

A pot luck lunch was served which proved all too tempting for most attendees - both young and old.

A short business meeting was held after lunch in which existing officers of the organization were re-elected unamimously.

The group traditionally recognizes the oldest and youngest attendees at each gathering. Those recognized this year were June Norris, holding Renaley Dayle Harmon.

The VFW Hall was beautifully decorated with wall and tables adorned with custom decorations by Anne de Jong and Beth Hedrick.

In appreciation for her dedication on behalf of the Slusher Family Organization since it's inception in 1970, Janet Keith was honored to receive two custom-made wood-turned pens, fashioned from antique wood found on Slusher property, presented by Beth Hedrick..

Bell Norris Woods presented to Janet, Dr. Lafayette Susher's dairy from 1905. Janet will pass the dairy, a gift from June Norris, along to the Floyd County Historical Society. Janet also received a hardbound and illustrated publication of the dairy prepared by Dr. Slusher's great great grandaughter, Sarah Woods Scott. The book is dedicated to Sarah's late sister, Nancy Virginia Woods Brock who visited Floyd in 2017.

Three presentations were made by members:

• Jeff Slusher addressed the features of the Organization's web site and presented a 'live' internet demonstration of the family history/database, noting it now contains over 10,000 individuals. He encouraged all members to request access to the database to share photos, data, and related family history with others in the Organization.
• Jeff Silverman presented his work on recording veteran status of relatives in the database spanning the American Revolution through our involvement in Afghanistan. He is working with Jeff Slusher to update the database making it more straightforward to record veteran status and linking them to specific military campaigns.
• David Norris presented a historical look at our family's long path to the Colonies beginning with Christopher Schlosser's Father (Peter) and Uncles' (Leonhardt) journey to Pennsylvania in 1732 and linking early 18th Century political and religious events to the rush of Germanic immigration that occured around that time.

Following the presentations, social exchanges continued and a group photograph was taken by Elizabeth Moon shortly before the meeting ended around 3:00 PM.

The next meeting -- marking our 50th Anniversary -- is scheduled for July 19, 2020. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Click here to download a full-size version of this group photograph