Sharing history of the family or the family business doesn’t have to be dull, divisive or disregarded. It starts with a little preparation to elicit ancestral tales and delightful personal stories. A bit of creative flair can start a conversation leading to a remembrance of life lessons and values to be passed down to future generations. To keep the discussion appealing, start with the presentation. Here are some ideas:

Perpetuating family bonds into the future generations including the history, the core values, traditions and memories can be a challenge as a business family grows and time marches on. Typically, a family will keep a scrap book with pictures, but sometimes the person holding those pictures pass away before the names and story is written down. A senior family member may have spent time working on a family tree that the next generation pays little attention to. Often, I hear elder members say they should write an autobiography, but never seem to get something written down. How do you preserve all of these everyday, ordinary stories, reflecting values, traditions and keep the family bonds strong?

To understand the life stories of those who lived at Belle-Hampton and neighboring Sunnyside, we need to begin with a brief history of their ancesters. Prominent names such as De Jarnette, Shannon, Cecil and Trollinger are all buried in the Sunnyside cemetery, however, the main families we will be discussing at length are Hoge and Howe who's descendants are intertwined. Both the Hoge's and the Howe's were the progenitors of their family in the New River Valley. Joseph Howe was engaged in blazing the Catawba trail in 1750 and moved to Sunnyside shortly after along with James Hoge. But their families came across the pond much earlier.

My parents would often take the family on a vacation for a festive celebration with all of the spouses and grand-kids included.  This group would amount to 30 people which were often spotted in t-shirts that matched, a gift from the grandparents designed specifically to memorialize the occasion. Pictures from the trip with everyone in similar shirts would be preserved for generations.  We would spy other groups on the trip with a similar idea.  Most had similar themes of the family name, the trip location and year of the event.  Like us, some had a family/business logo or other symbol designed to feel the comradely among family members. Although t-shirts are great, many families are looking for more unique ways they can create a bond with their family.

Stories often die with the person and lost forever.  When I ask people about writing their story they often say that their life isn't that interesting or who would want to read it?  I truly believe everyone has a story to tell; a lesson to pass along to future generations.  The struggles, the passion, the failure and their success gives future generations perspective in this fast paced world.

One of those tall tale stories was about my Great Grandpa Adam in 1912.  He was at work at the sugar refinery and the entire factory erupted with an explosion and collapsed into rubble and fire. Wives and families arrived at the scene looking for their husbands and sons. Many were killed. The explosion threw some into St. Mary’s Cemetery adjoining the refinery. Others could not be found, including grandpa. Some five or six hours after Marie, his wife, arrived back home, Grandpa Adam walked back into the house, where he told an incredible story.