The Virus Claims Yet Another Social Event
Posted on July 25, 2020 Posted by John Scalzi 16 Comments
Krissy’s extended family congregates every year in early August for a reunion, an event that a few years back had its 100th anniversary — but because of the virus, there will be no reunion this year. The family skipping the reunion has only happened once before, in concert with World War II, so if you’re looking for quotidian evidence that this pandemic is in fact a history-level event, there you are. Also, obviously, it’s the right thing to do; many of the annual attendees are elderly and possibly exposing them to this thing is not a good plan. I will miss the lard cake (which is cake made with lard, but not a cake made primarily of lard, that would be weird), but as with so many things now, I can wait a year to have it.
(Or make it myself! I could do that! But it would be strange having it outside of the reunion. Those of you who regularly partake of reunions probably know what I mean here.)
Sensible, but sad.
What kind of lard cake? I have a yeast risen lard cake in my family and anyway I am always interested in new kinds of cake.
I have no idea. I have literally had no other lard cake and was not aware there was more than one type.
Sorry to hear that, but it’s a wise decision. Today would normally be my wife’s family’s annual get together, so I know how it feels. No lemon squares for me this year.
My mother’s side of the family also, at Sqantz Pond in NY. Glad to see it cancelled; it has passed again to a younger person to coordinate, and many of the older folks would have gone.
Coronavirus is probably going to permanently end the Prather family reunion this year. It ran fifty-one consecutive years, but the attendance has been down the past few years. I remember some reunions in the late 1908’s that had over 90 people in attendance. Last year was about a dozen people. My grandmother’s generation were the driving force of the reunion, but they have mostly passed away and my mother’s generation isn’t interested in planning it.
Did they cancel the reunion during World War II due to the lard shortage? Rationing during the war was brutal.
Nash family reunion regularly has mass watergun fights. It’s not as fun just shooting yourself!
I get you about “special occasion” food. My grandfather used to make a sort of jello-and-whipped-cream-based “salad” for Thanksgiving and Christmas; he passed on the recipe to me in his last years and, although I /could/ make it any time I want, I only bring it out during the Holidays.
We call this concoction “Orange Death.” That’s not what grandpa called it, but it’s tradition now.
Sorry to hear about all the cancelled family reunions. Ours died with its main organizer, my grandmother. I was 12 so never had the reunion experience as an adult. We couldn’t do it now, they’re all literally scattered worldwide.
Have a friend who is the organizer of the games at hers., that’s how fancy it is. 😳. My grandfather organized the games, a feat he accomplished by walking around distributing horseshoes. Herdlike, the men would obediently get up & follow him to the post, horseshoes in hand.
The last time my big extended family that does reunions got together was in February at the funeral of my great grandmother, the clan matriarch. It was good to see everybody, even in the context of the funeral. I’m glad Grandma died when she did — she’d lived a good long life (almost 101 years!) and we got the funeral in before the Covid thing got bad.
But the big thing in that family that we had at the reunion was potato dumplings. They’re these huge fried potatoes with ham and lots of butter. It’s a joke that you’re not really part of the family until you ate one.
I miss that.
Lard Cake Burrito.
have some pizza and cake
We had to cancel ours too, for the same reasons. Ours is only about 35 years old, but it’s never been cancelled before, so it’s very odd feeling. A small thing in the middle of an odd season, but still unhappy.
We had to cancel our reunion, held every year over July 4 in Indiana. The house we’ve rented for the past decade told us we couldn’t come back in March or April. At the time it seemed premature, or at least I was hoping it was. Now I see it was necessary. I just wonder what’s going to happen come Christmas, when we all get together as well.
There are a lot of kinds of lard cake, one even called Lardy Cake which is particularly good, lardy, sugary, crispy heart attack material. Delicious!
If the pandemic is now up there with WWII in historical significance, what will time travelers be attempting in their futile or counterproductive attempts to avert it?