Big Fun At Piney Run

We had a ball! The congregations annual BBQ was held this past weekend at Piney Run Park Maryland. I highly recommend the park for it's natural beauty, good weather, fresh air and the fact that it is situated by a large water stream that connects to Liberty Dam. The ideal spot for boating, fishing, gaming and bird watching.  There are many hiking trails and seasonal festivals there as well.

The place was packed with family, friends, greats and grands. They put on quite a show for everyone. And everyone from little ones to our eldest was fully involved. The program was filled with inspiring thoughts about giving, supporting and discerning our higher purpose.

I am so proud of our young ones ages 1-16.  They were so involved. Many tended to the needs of our eldest attendees. Serving them, talking to them and entertaining them. That's the way you do it!

Brenda and I learn from each event we plan and direct. We consider what went well, why and how to be even more effective in our delivery the next time. We keep it family oriented, light and full of lessons and opportunities to express loving interest and encouragement. 

We are always on the lookout for new activity ideas.  Brenda's party favors were a big hit. The candy bags attached to the colored balloons set the pace for fun. The hanging kites were a reminder that this event focused on our young.  The Bible drama was a nice addition filling our spiritual need.  The photo table a great personal touch.  Here are a few activities you might consider:

1. A 15 Minute Bible Drama
2. An Interview With Young Adults
3. A Water Balloon Toss Contest
4. A Slide Show Of Creation (Only the most brilliant photos)
5. A Photo Display Table of Kids Growing Up

Find more ideas on my previous blog post.

Family Reunion Game Ideas

Wondering just what to do to make your family reunions more interesting, fun filled and get more folks involved? Here are some solutions that won't break the bank. First off keep in mind these two important reunion planning principles.

1. The family reunion is about unity.
2. The family reunion is interacting and enjoying all generations.

That said, it's important to be as inclusive has possible when considering activities. kids love to run, laugh, jump, dart and dash. They also like a good mystery and a mutually rewarding competition. That said put forth effort to turn your activities into interest and fun games borrowed from things kids enjoy normally. It may even be a good idea to consult them on a few things.

Many teens  and adults enjoy popular games based on television shows like Family Feud and Jeopardy or the usual games with a twist such as the following:

Water Hose Tug of War
Race Track Relay
Family Reunion Olympics  
Family Reunion Jigsaw Puzzle Race
Family Reunion Spelling Bee
"Survivor" Style Games
The Amazing Race -  A family vs. family competition
Talent Show

Introduce these games at your next family reunion and you're sure to get full participation and some very excited spectators instantly. To get more information about these popular games go to http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/family-reunion-games.html

If You Like This - You'll Love...

I believe we are at our best when we reach that point where we have found a genuine source of inspiration  and present that to others. When I write, develop applications, paint, draw or craft, my focus is not only on what I like but sending an inspiring and supportive message to the user, viewer and reader.

They relate to and believe in "the message" in each picture, story, poem, worksheet and book. In other words, the state of mind we are in has much to do with what we put into our work and therefore what we get out of it and others. 

When we take good care of ourselves it shows in our work, our play and our spirituality. We are inspired and that inspires others. We are no longer just putting out - We create a circle where good things, rewards and blessings keep coming back our way. In time we receive all these little dividends that make some of our daily tasks more meaningful and other enjoyable.

If you like mementos.
If you like making history.
If you like crafting and keepsakes.
If you like writing or reading journals or short stories.
If you like collecting recipes.
If you like family history.
If you like keeping a record of family heirlooms.
If you like family time.
If you like the poem, "Finding Our Way Back Home" by Mark Askew

If you like getting big packages in the mail I think you'll like "The Family Reunion Planner Guide & Keepsake Book."  It was written to inspire the reader and fill us with renewed appreciation for our families and the things we can do with them to celebrate our precious union.

If you're like me you love getting free stuff - when blog readers order the book they get free shipping and free access to scores of family reunion poems, fliers, invitations, banners and printable templates.

This book makes a great personal keepsake gift for dads, moms, genealogy buffs, reunion planners, family historians, family writers, committee members, family cooks, and the elders of the family.

Order the book and software package and get instant download of Fimark's Award Winning Family Reunion Planner at http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/ - A $20 savings.

Event Planning Genius

Event planning genius. That's what I call a software program with several essential planning, organizing and management applications.  But let's face it. While having a software program is essential to performing budget cost calculations, following an event planning calendar timeline and creating a contact database and not to mention running committee reports- an experienced event planner would also like to have printed worksheets to take along and pass out to committee meetings as well as a check off list for task and activities and worksheets for booking hotel accommodations and surveying possible locations for the event. Well it's all in there, the family reunion planner package, that is.

Many reunion planners don't realize that Fimark's Family Reunion Planner package comes in four different formats to suite your planning preference.

1. The Online application that guides you thru the planning process step by step.
2. The computer installation program, so you don't have to download a thing again.
3. The spreadsheet format reunion planner with attendee contact database and survey report compilation.
4. The large 132 page paperback workbook.

Each includes the timeline planner that allows you to find out what task you should complete in the current month.

Today Fimark is featuring a family reunion planning package that includes the popular Family Reunion Planner software program download and the Family Reunion Planner Guide Workbook and Keepsake, a large paperback workbook with all the worksheets printed and bound. And it's all for the regular price of the software program - $49. That means you save a whopping $29!

Even better, you don't have to wait for anything to come in the mail to get started. You order the book and the software program download link is provided in the online receipt statement. Is that a great deal or what? This special summer fest reunion planning offer will not last long. So get it today for yourself and tell your family and friends to go to http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/ and order their own package of event planning genuis!

Just say, Thanks Mark!

Your welcome.

Fimark Event Planning
http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/ 

Prizes Still Being Offered

The Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar went well. Missed it?  View questions/answers and add comments for prizes at http://goo.gl/9KoKm

The Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar Is Today!

You're Invited To The 2nd Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar Today at 11:00 AM PST (2:00 PM EST)
Join Us Online At:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000424995468

We believe a strong family union means resilient nation and secure world. Family commitment adds value and worth - family history preservation is the key to survival. Join us for our semi-annual live Family Reunion Planners Webinar.

Your host will be reunion planning book author Mark Askew and panelists will include co-author Brenda Askew.
Some of the questions we will discuss are:
1. How can event planners get more family members to attend the reunion?
2. What to do about family members who don't RSVP?
3. How do you handle a branch that insists on a different location for the event?
4. Who should be the event planner?
5. Where can you find free items for grab bags?
6. What makes a great keepsake?
7. What are some unique family reunion craft ideas?
8. How can we get the young adults more involved?

Make a profound comment that triggers a healthy and lengthy discussion and you may win one of the prizes below.
Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Application on CD
http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/
Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Application - Instant Download
http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/
Fimark's 132 page Family Reunion Planning Guide Workbook and Keepsake at www.lulu.com/spotlight/fimark123.
If you have any questions regarding the event contact me at fimarkhome@gmail.com

Join Us Online At:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000424995468

Family Reunion Planning Webinar

You're Invited To The 2nd Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar on June 14th 2011 at 11:00 AM PST, that's 2:00 PM EST.

Join Us Online At: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=100000424995468

We believe a strong family union means resilient nation and secure world. Family commitment adds value and worth - family history preservation is the key to survival. Join us for our semi-annual live Family Reunion Planners Webinar. Panelist will include reunion planning book author Mark Askew and co-author Brenda Askew.

Some of the questions we will discuss are:
1. How can event planners get more family members to attend the  reunion?
2. What to do about family members who don't RSVP?
3. How do you handle a branch that insists on a different location for the event?
4. Who should be the event planner?
5. Where can you find free items for grab bags?
6. What makes a great keepsake?
7. What are some unique family reunion craft ideas?
8. How can we get the young adults more involved?

Make a profound comment that triggers a healthy and lengthy discussion and you may win one of the prizes below.
Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Application on CD http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/
Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Application - Instant Download http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/
Fimark's 132 page Family Reunion Planning Guide Workbook and Keepsake at www.lulu.com/spotlight/fimark123.

If you have any questions regarding the event contact me at fimarkhome@gmail.com

Who Are The Real Clark Kents

Clark Joseph Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. A super-powered alien superhero known as Superman who acends to earth from the now-destroyed planet Krypton. Is the superman saga just fiction or a characterization of a reality we once held true? After all it was once widely believed that men were from Mars and women were from Venus. Are there men out there who more closely resemble the constant shifting roles of the briefcase toting, necktie flapping superhuman caring fatherly role model? Are the Clark Kents of yesterday a dying breed?


Even the cynical editor of the Daily Planet would have to agree that in times past large numbers of men and women had to juggle their professional identities with family reponsibilities in an effort to save the day on behalf of the family. But what of today? In the mainstream entertainment media of the late 1990's weren't most fathers figures slow, bumbling awkwardly concieved whining idiots so often portrayed in the mainstream entertainment media? In her article, "Undercover Moms" Shellenbarger included a personal comment that would trigger a storm of truth. She said, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a dad changing from a suit to soccer shorts in a parked car.” That statement sent a ripple effect across a nation. Suddenly men of all walks of life responded to quickly deflect her reality. A flood of e-mail poured in from dads who spoke of another kind of dad. 


The responding fathers reported living a life that required something of alter-ego switch. A Clark Kent/Superman mentality. A quick-change routine if you will. After work they find themselves changing roles and clothes “not only in parked cars, says one responder, "but in moving cars, behind dumpsters, in airport lounges, in portable toilets, at highway rest stops and gas stations.” It's not that we think we are super, but rather we're attempting do something  very much human and neccessary in order to keep family life in first place."


In the eighties and nineties the media made it crystal clear that every stay-at-home mom and working woman was the girl wonder. She took on the roles of dietician, transporter, health care agent, tutor and guide in addition to other roles making it obvious that she was and still is something extraordinary. But now it is becoming evident that the persona of Superman, (the man that does it all) is not so fictiticous either. An interesting article written by the dads at fathers.com says "Some dads started it years ago—leaving work a little early to coach baseball, and scrambling to make the attire match. But today, kids are busier than ever, and more dads are becoming experts at role-juggling as they expand the definition of what it means to be a father."


That said, by their own admission, committed fathers acknowledge that they are more often than not the center of their young child's life and at the core of their adult aspirations. 

Nothing comes close to the deep impressions committed family life makes on our hearts and minds.
Deliberately choosing one another bespeaks validation, love and approval.  Learning to value family matures us and can thereby help us value life itself.  It helps us put things in perspective, humbles us and with some guidance gives us an understanding of our core being no other experience can.


"What, is that a pink note hanging from the refrigerator door? Hmmm, Peculiar....  'Don't forget to meet me and the kids at the recreation center by 6 P.M'  Good work Carol.  This looks like a job for SuperDad! Quick, to the Dad mobile!"


The real Clark Kents have been among us for millenia. It's the science fiction movies and comic books that have had to catch up with that reality and tell our story. A story about ordinary people in the form of hard working mothers and fathers who know how to willingly commit and put their all into their life's work, family. Thanks to all Wonder Women and Super Dads the world over.

 A tribute to amazing supportive dads everywhere!

SuperDad greeting cards and gear for your next mission.

 http://www.zazzle.com/zzibcnet*/gifts?cg=196556463413048665

Summer Reunion Planning Task Reminders

If your family reunion is scheduled this summer read these important June reminders from Fimark's Family Reunion Planner:

1. Contact participating vendors to finalize service plans and coordinate them with activities.

2. Review your itinerary with each department head and ensure follow thru of each task assigned.

3. Remember to view your family reunion planners Timeline Planner and followup with reunion action items.

4. Calculate average outstanding dues payments and contact those attendees for fees owed.

5. Share your reunion planner worksheets on the web using
Googles Docs and Spreadsheets viewer/editor and work from anywhere.

Don't have Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Software yet? Get it here.
http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/

Your Invited To The 2nd Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar

The first Live Family Reunion Planners Webinar was a rousing success! Scores of attendees provided hundreds of questions and comments that helped all planners with common and uncommon event planning challenges. 

Most questions were answered on the spot. Instant solutions were offered. Great planning and activity ideas were exchanged and folks just did not want it to end. That said we are planning another Live Webinar on June 14th 2011 at 11:00 AM PST, that's 2:00 PM EST.

Among the Panelist will be reunion planning book author Mark Askew and co-author Brenda Askew.

Prizes include: Fimark's Family Reunion Planning Application on Cd and Fimark's 132 page Family Reunion Planning Guide Workbook and Keepsake on paperback. To view prizes go to www.lulu.com/spotlight/fimark123. To preview the guidebook go to goo.gl/gVsY6.

Mark your mobile and paper calendars now so you won't miss a moment of this enlightening event.