Winter 2005/6

Dear Family, Friends and Relatives,

PIRC is now in its 13th year having executed its 5th family reunion in the Smoky Mountains of NC.

In the summer of 1990, three members of the Plomaritis patriarchs gathered for lunch to consider a request from one of YI YI Niki and Papoo’s grandchildren for a reunion in memory of YI YI’s passing in the spring of 1990. From there developed what has become our PIRC program, a program created to keep the 24 first cousins , Yi YI & Papoo’s grandchildren connected.

An ambitious program of three reunions, starting in Merrillville, Indiana, followed with a reunion in Springfield, Massachusetts, and concluding in Tampa/St Pete, Florida was put into motion, uncertain the first would materialize. It had been 16 years since we had last gathered, back in 1976 for Papoo and YiYi’s 50th wedding anniversary.

In spite of some missteps along the way, the program proved to be a wonderful success, thanks to the sacrifices made by all the family members. It was thought we would go ahead and repeat the cycle, but decided to try a 4th site, Wilmington, NC. We then stretched the envelope one more time , going to Nantahala Village, NC. We’re now ready to repeat the cycle, and set some limits, having learned what works and doesn’t work.

Our program has developed into a traditional three day formal affair with an informal wind down day for those who can visit a bit longer. And for those who want more, it works better to come a day or two earlier.

This last reunion was a special challenge since the host family, Cousins Mike and Missy (Plomaritis) Gottschlich live some 500 miles from their proposed location, but they wanted something special for us and the general mood was there.

Saturday afternoon, July 9th, family members started to arrive at the village, getting an early start with their wine testing chores to be prepared to greet more arrivals, to get prepared to welcome even more arrivals…you get the picture…it was a fun time…By Sunday afternoon the rest of the arrivals had joined us in the hospitality room for what we call our getting reacquainted time before we head off to our fierce high stakes bowling tournament. Then back to the hospitality room for some well earned refreshments.
………………….you get the picture, a fun time……………….

Day two is our field trip day designed by the host family. Each field trip is unique depending on the location and the imagination of the host families. This field trip was something Cousin Missy had in mind from day one. What Missy wanted was for the entire family group to experience a scenic ride through the Smokey Mountains in an open sided train car with all of us in the same car and paid for by the PIRC fund. As daunting as the task may have seemed, it was executed without a hitch. A beautiful experience traveling about 15 mph through the lush mountain side under a light warm pleasant off/on rain viewing some beautiful waterway and taking in some Civil War
Historical sites….There was no liquor allowed on our car, but that was no problem….we had plenty of, and a wide assortment of, wine and beer (including Uncle Tim’s wine) waiting for us back at the hospitality room. And when we got back we were thirsty and hungry….that’s when cousins Missy and Eunice with a support group went into action whipping up a Greek Feast. The race was on to get the Pitas and Pastichios done before Uncle slipped under the table….you get the picture….it was a fun time.

At our previous reunion in Wilmington, NC hosted by Cousins Chuckie and Bill, day three started out with a golf outing. This time we did a White Water Rafting thing for some hearty souls. Voluntary of course. You can bet Aunt Nancy and I were not volunteering. Yup Uncle Tim and Aunt Anne were right in with that 20/30 something crowd.

Everyone has their special part of the reunion they look forward to, and mine had arrived. HAPPY HOUR. Followed by our special Banquet Dinner and entertainment. And the food was a 12 on a scale of 1-10.

After dinner we had our family program where we awarded trophies for five categories from the Bowling Tournament, read our financial report, announce new arrivals and entertained ourselves through the evening….Our new arrivals this reunion were Cousin Ernie (Cousin Shally’s husband), Cousin Brendan Fletcher (Cousin Alison’s husband), Aunt Freda and Rocco, and
COUSIN RYAN PLOMARITIS (Cousin’s Alex and Alison’s third son). We also enjoyed the visit of Mike’s parents, Carl and Elaine Gottschlich and a long time family friend (Cousin Jodie).

For our five reunions, all seven family groups, as well as members from the Varkis and Mantis families, joined us for at least two reunions. It would have been more if it had not been the challenge of getting us all to agree on how we set the actual date of the three formal days of our program. While the year is set by the BOT at the previous reunion, the actual three days wil now be set by the chairman secretary in the early part of the year to ensure there is no conflict with annual commitments for those concerned. We need also to take into consideration the concerns of the host families.

Which brings us to the foundation of our successful program, not without some pain. A Greek family clan of seven family groups is bound to have an issue or two. So it was determined early on, that the PIRC program would not serve as a platform for a religious, political, or economic agenda. While hospitality activities is designed to keep us focused on why we’re there. “TO STAY CONNECTED; TO REMEMBER OUR ROOTS; AND TO CELEBRATE OUR FAMILY LIFE” !!!!

So where have we been and where are we going?

OUR FAMILY ROOTS TRILOGY
R-92: “Appreciating Our Roots”-Schererville, Indiana
R-95: “Finding Our Roots”-Springfield, Massachusetts
R-98: “Having Fun With Our Roots”-St. Petersburg, Florida

THE NEXT GENERATION ODYSSEY
0-2001: “The Ties That Bind”-Wilmington, NC
0-2005: “Climbing The Mts. Of Life Together”-Smokey Mts, NC

Under the provisions of our charter, our PIRC staff is made up of one cousin from each family group, called the Financial Committee. They have their traditional business meeting sometime during the reunion to discuss and resolve issues, financial matters and future plans. The designated BOT members are Cousins Deb, Jon, Dara. Chuckie, Mindy, David & Di.

We have a family album reflecting the history of the early years of the seven family groups. At our last business meeting, Cousin Chuckie volunteered to build a traveling album of our PIRC reunions from 1992. Any of you folks have some snapshots…please submit. Cousin Danny is our designated PIRC Historian. He recorded for us the family song composed by Cousins Mike and Missy. Mike and Danny put the words to music and is available to us on CD to enjoy along with some oral history from the patriarchs.

We anticipate a great turnout for our New England…Reunion, being the site of our family roots.

Well folks, our program is still in its infancy; it is hoped that our PIRC charter, supplemented by a growing book of By-laws will ensure the integrity of our program for our children and grandchildren generations to come.

Thank you and looking forward to seeing you all again!!!!