Another Dingler reunion went into the history books tonight. With approximately 50 people in attendance this year (about the same number as gathered in Huntsville last year), everyone agreed that Little Rock was a great place to host the reunion. The Clinton Library was the main destination for most people today with groups of Dingler descendants touring the facility at various times today. Folks also toured the Old State House as well as visited the shops and merchants in the River Walk district.

The banquet and annual meeting were held at the Central Church of Christ Fellowship Hall, located just a few blocks from our hotel. After a meal of fried chicken, ham, and several sides and salads (and some great desserts as well!), Terry Cowan kicked off the meeting. Everyone went around the room and introduced their families. Afterwards, Terry had a short presentation on the Dingler migration to Arkansas, highlighting the large number of families that made the move from locations such as Georgia and Alabama.

We also discussed locations for next year’s reunion, suggesting that it was Mississippi’s turn in the rotation. Both Vicksburg and Jackson have been put forward as sites. We’re doing some checking to ensure we won’t b e competing with other events for hotel rooms, and will post more once we make a selection. Even though we’re still working out the where, we already know the dates. Be sure to pencil in the third weekend in July, July 18-20, on your calendar for next year!

A big part of this year’s success can be attributed to the efforts of our hosts, Glenn and Jessie Dingler. They did a fantastic job, and we want to thank them for taking the time to make all the arrangements. Thanks for sharing your home, Little Rock, with us. Great job!

Stay tuned for reunion photos!

Just a quick post to let you know the reunion has started! We’re here in Little Rock and although attendance is expected to be on the lighter side, we still have a great group here this year. People have been stopping by the meeting room, and we’ve already spotted a few first-timers (whom, we hope to convert to regulars!).

Tomorrow a number of people are heading over to the Clinton Library and Museum and down to the River Market to do some shopping and enjoy the city. Of course, tomorrow evening we’ll all gather for dinner and the annual meeting.

If you aren’t here in Little Rock, here’s the greeting you would have received from the Downtown Little Rock La Quinta, the official Dingler Reunion hotel for 2007.

Reunion Central, the Downtown Little Rock La Quinta Hotel

Reunion Central at the Downtown Little Rock La Quinta Hotel

 

The 2007 Dingler Reunion is this weekend, so we hope to see everyone in Little Rock. We’re hitting the road tomorrow, so I thought I’d post some photos from 2006 to get everyone in a reunion mood.

Visit the 2006 Reunion Photo Gallery to see all the photos. If you see question marks in the photo comments, that means we didn’t have a name for the person in the photo. If you see someone I couldn’t identify, let me know.

I apologize for the brief newsletter. Surgery for prostate cancer and the subsequent rehab have limited my extracurricular activities this spring. I am doing just fine now, though, and look forward to seeing everyone in July.

The Dingler family reunions are now in their 28th year. There have been many changes since Martha, Margaret, Edith and I first met in 1979, not the least of which has been the advance in technology. When I published the Dingler book in 1983, I typed the proofs on a small Olivetti typewriter. Today I am in the slow process of transferring that data (as well as much later research) into my laptop, with the eventual aim of linking it all on our web site. So please continue to visit and submit information to the Dingler Family History web page (https://dingler-family.ladewig.com/).

I am also attempting to transition from regular mail to email for the newsletters. This year, I will be forwarding the newsletter by regular mail to 260 people and by email to 75 recipients. I would like to reverse those ratios. If you receive this letter by email, you will probably not receive a hard copy in the mail. If you receive this newsletter by mail, yet also use email, please forward your email address to me at tcowan@jcowaninc.com. If you know of family members who should be receiving the newsletter, then forward their email addresses, as well. As long as we continue to put out the newsletter, there will remain some copies sent by regular mail. But with stamps now at 41 cents (probably even higher by this time next year), it only makes sense to keep our regular mailings to a minimum.