Knell Family Reunion....Bucyrus, Ohio.....July 5, 2014

Denny has always had a curiosity about the Knell Family Tree. A few years back he reconnected with some cousins, brothers Harvey and Floyd Knell. Their father's brother was Denny's grandfather. Every since, he's tried to go visit and attend the reunions. We visited Harvey and Peg Knell a few years back in Ohio, at that time Harvey was in the process of renovating the family farm....it was looking great, but not ready for visitors. We were graciously invited to stay across the street at Floyd's farmhouse...what a treat, we really enjoyed our time. Peg and Harv stayed there as well, Floyd and Marilyn came into town and we all went to dinner one nite, it was a delightful weekend. There was a reunion a few years back that Denny attended, and it was a special time as the Knell's from Germany were able to attend. The Knell's originally came from Germany and it was very exciting to get to know some of that heritage. One day we hope to go there and visit. We were both able to attend the 2014 reunion and Havey's farmhouse and barn renovations are complete.....it's amazing and was the perfect place for the Knell Reunion.....

Here are a few original and under re-construction pictures...William Knell built this farm in 1874...it changed a few times, but Harvey wanted to take it back to how it looked originally....as best he could....but heat and a/c have been added....of course!!!

No one can find a picture of William Knell, but here is a picture of his wife....it hangs in the farmhouse.

The barn ...many years ago.....

The farmhouse...many years ago...

Here is how the barn looked....

And this is Harvey at about age 5 on a tractor in front of the farmhouse...

And this is how the barn and farmhouse look now..........WOW.....well done Harvey and crew, it's gorgeous!!!

And the inside....one large room and this storage room on the side

And a shot of the side of the house....amazing.....

And the inside is beautiful...

 The rooms are smaller, by todays comparison but huge considering when this was built.....

Love the claw-foot tub....like it maybe used to be

In this picture I tried to capture the "wavy" glass in the window...most of the windows are the original glass....absolutely wonderful...

This hangs on the wall in the dining room....pictures, receipts, the Warranty Deed neat stuff...

Also on the wall is a bit about The German Knell's.......

It was a beautiful day and we were very happy to have been invited...

There was LOTS of work put into making this a great day. There were adult and kid games...cornhole/croquet and crafts for the little guys.

There were footballs and baseballs being tossed around and folks just enjoying each other.

Even the games were "specialized"...too cute.

As you arrived you were asked to put on a name tag....these were colored by the generation you were in...very clever....even the dog had a tag. This long "tree" was taped on the side of the garage so you could see the entire Knell tree....Kathy, Havey's daughter, has done the majority of the work to find and reconnect the family...what an amazing job considering how much time this takes.

Here you can see Denny, he is on the 3rd row of his "limb"...his parents are above him, and his grandparents above that. His first wife is next to him and I'm next to her...his sons are below him. We need to get his grandsons and 1 great grandson added....this was really cool...

There was also a table with some neat "Knell" things...Denny added his black t-shirt his "Germany" cousins sent him that has the name of the town in Germany...Frankenhausen....where it all started..

There were tents set up for the catered BBQ lunch....the tables were set beautifully and there was much attention to detail...it was wonderful. Inside the garage were all the drinks, help yourself...and the lunch was served.....

But not before a blessing ....the Knell's have a minister in the family...the wind was blowing so the recording is a little rough, but still good...

Lunch was delish...cheese and raw veggies with dip for an appetizer....then BBQ pork, and a chicken dish, baked beans, 2 salads, baked apples, mac & cheese, pickles, drinks and desserts...it was wonderful!! Denny was a happy camper....

These guys entertained us during and after lunch..they were great.... 

Harv and Peg's property is over 100 acres and in the back goes all the way to the RR tracks....it was so cool when they went by. It's not too close to be a problem, just neat to see and hear in the distance.

After lunch Kathy handed out a few "awards"...Denny won for having traveled the greatest distance....we almost lost to some folks from Jacksonville....but we're a bit further south!!!

He loved the tractor...how perfect!!

Harvey explains his windmill to Denny...explaining that an Amish Family built it without any cranes...The Amish are very resourceful people.

Denny and Floyd just pondered .....life.....

After lunch the kids got "wagon" rides...past the barn and out through the corn fields....and pulled by the John Deere....

Time for some group pictures....these are the original 7 cousins in this generation....

Floyd/Harvey/Lois/Jeanette/Judy

and seated.....Marlene and Ruth

Harvey and Peg are seated...and these are there kids and spouses and their kids....nice looking group!

Floyd and Marilyn are seated, and these are his kids and spouses and their kids....another nice looking bunch...maybe in the gene pool...huh???

There was a whole group shot taken...there were probably about 60 of us there.....big crowd. Many still live locally and some still farm the land. Some split their time between Ohio and other states, and then some live elsewhere all together, like we do.

 Then it was time to walk across and down the street to Floyd's house....

 where there was a big open area where softball had been set up...and I use the term "set-up" loosely....this was 3rd base.....hillarious!!!

They teamed up and just had fun....might have been some cheating....but nobody cared, just good fun....I'm sure there were some aching muscles the next day....Denny and I cheered them on.

As we were leaving we wandered into the garage...we found this cool old truck, have no idea if it runs, but it's neat.

After softball, it was time to go back down to Havey's for square-dancing.....these guys had thought of everything....so back down the street we went....no traffic, we just walked down the middle of the road really.........well, a tractor did go by......and maybe 1 or 2 cars....

This guy was set up and waiting on us in the barn....brought music and was a great "caller"...

Time to "square-up" and get some instructions.........

It was loads of fun.....

Swing your partner....and take her back home....

Floyd, Denny and Harvey.....Denny and Floyd played together as kids...since Harvey is a little older he was doing "big kid" stuff most of the time....

We line danced, square-danced and had a blast....then, as if all this was not enough...they brought in LOTS of pizza's for dinner....WOW!!!

As dusk was upon us...some fireworks came out and we enjoyed a lovely sunset...

The barn lit up at night was just too cool...yep, I could spend a while enjoying this place...

Denny and I were headed to Amish country so we went inside and got a few tips from Harv and Peg....then visited a bit and headed home about 1030p...we'd been here since noon and it went by quickly...we truly enjoyed every minute. 

Many thanks to everyone that helped to make this a wonderful day. We know it was a lot of work and it showed...there were lots of details and thought put into making this a truly enjoyable day.

Again...we thank you....and truly look forward to the next one