Trip to Noble County
What a trip. In early October several cousins converged on the small town of Belle Valley in Noble County, Ohio.
Some of the descendants of the Watson and Hopps clans would meet for the first time. Most of us have been sharing family history and stories for several years via email and phone. So a lunch was planned and a group of eight, plus spouses, gathered for lunch at Patty's Place. It didn't look like much from the outside, but the food was really good.
A few of us took a wrong turn (including myself), but we all finally arrived and the fun began. Steve's wife Diane had called ahead and reserved a large table in the adjoining room. Thanks, Diane.
Well, lunch would have to wait and the poor waitress frantically tried to take drink orders amidst the towers of notebooks and printouts. It was controlled chaos. We had folks from Michigan, Maryland, Florida, Texas and locally from Caldwell, Senecaville and Cambridge. It really was a small reunion. After about 30 minutes of visiting, we all sat down and ordered lunch. Between bites, papers and pictures, phone numbers were passing around faster than the salt and pepper. We were in genealogy nirvana.
Finally, lunch came to a close (well the eating part maybe) and Sheriff Hannum made a move to the door. Poor man, he didn't have a chance as Cindy corralled him for yet another picture.
The picture below: Sheriff Steve Hannum, Ruth Milhoan, Cindy Benedict, Jean Melanko, Carol Rubiera, Daryle Watson, Tracey Gubert, Darrell Hopps
