MEMORIES OF THE FISHER REUNION, 2002

From Elaine Pardoe

Janet and Kathy hatched the idea, and Elaine said “Why not have it in Wilmington since that was the family seat?” Then months of emailing, phone calling, and growing excitement.

Jan and Cathy were the first out-of-towners to arrive, on Tuesday evening. Jan was put to work Wednesday making Aunt Lyddie's pound cake and penuche icing. (A commentary on how beloved that cake was: Susan White made it for us again on Sunday.)

Wednesday evening Kathy's friend Carol delivered her to our doorstep, and from then on we had “C-Cathy” and “K-Kathy.” It was late so we postponed conversation and shuttled her to the Hotel John White, which was rumored to be quite comfortable, with extensive renovations even then being completed.

While Jan and Cathy were sightseeing in Washington on Thursday, the rest of the gang was arriving, but first Kathy took the time to go with Elaine to help with the momentous decision as to what color plates and utensils to get (actually an excuse to get that delayed conversation going) and to scout out a place for us all to have dinner. Janet arrived in the afternoon and joined Kathy at John's. Next Mimi, Shelley, and Travis found their way to their room at the Wellesley Inn with the friendly help of the GPS in their rental car. Susan, Amy and Cindy arrived at the same hotel and Elaine was able to walk over from the restaurant to pick them up and have another happy meeting. We had a late dinner, manufactured by each of us to suit our own peculiar tastes, at the Mongolian Grill. Too bad Mimi and gang couldn't have put their GPS to work to find the restaurant; they had to give up and feed poor Travis at another restaurant but joined us at the end to complete our number. Now there was another nomenclature situation to deal with: Susie/Suzie/Susan, complicated further when Susan White joined us the next evening. (Speaking for one of us, I'd gladly have that problem year round!)

On Friday we were game (insane?) enough to brave the heat for a tour of the Baltimore Inner Harbor. We caravanned to Richard's for a “historic house tour,” and leaving Janet, Jan and Cathy to continue enjoying the cool, we drove to Fells Point. Kathy and Elaine got interested enough in their conversation that they failed to notice the absence of Amy's and Mimi's cars behind them, but thanks to Amy's cell phone and a convenient pay phone we managed to reunite quickly. After doing some of the funky shops on Thames Street some of us grabbed some tables at Jimmy's while the others collected the crew from Richard's. After lunch John nobly went to pick up the Fisher reunion T-shirts commissioned by Janet and designed by himself, while the rest of us rode on a water taxi to Fort McHenry. We all enjoyed the film about the origin of the Star Spangled Banner, and then some of the intrepid ones explored the grounds while the rest stayed indoors in the cool. Coerced back to the cars by Elaine, we went home to catch our breaths, then to the Pardoes' for a Maryland crab cake dinner prepared by Chef Dave, featuring also Aunt Lyddie's and Aunt Margaret's potato salad and herbed tomatoes, and lemonade from Jan's and Cathy's lemon tree. Here Kem, Susan, Andrew and Danny, and Richard and April, joined us for the first time, making our number almost complete. We spent the evening eating, going through old family photographs and mementos, and talking, talking, talking.

With five cars in our caravan Saturday morning, and sporting our beautiful T-shirts, we made it up I-95 to St. Mary Anne's Episcopal Church in North East, Maryland, to see where our many-times-great grandfather William Burke was married and buried. Next, we were off to Hagley Museum (where it all started for the Fishers) in Wilmington. Owing to some confusing signs we took an unscheduled tour of one of the Wilmington neighborhoods, but some skillful map reading by Kem got us to Hagley with time to spare. We were joined by Becky, Robert, Colin and Natalie, (and later by April and Richard who had gotten caught in traffic) and picnicked on Dave's chicken pasta salad, melon and the pound cake—and cold lemonade-- before getting on our tour bus. We split into three groups and were shown a typical foreman's house, a school, and some of the working mill buildings, including the machine shop where James Fisher must have worked. Afterwards we had a little time at the museum before again forming our caravan, now eight cars strong, for a tour of sites on the Fisher family's home grounds. We stopped at Walker's Bank, the row of mill homes where W.J. Fisher was born; Mt. Salem Cemetery, where James and Mary Ann Fisher and Mary Elizabeth Clarke were buried; 2610 W. 17^th Street, built by Mary Ann and still owned by Fisher descendents; and 2312 Willard Street, where the parents of us five first cousins grew up and where we took LOTS of pictures. Along the way we saw another house on mill property where James Fisher lived and the church where W.J. and Bessie Jane Fisher were married, and had a glimpse of the steeple of the Greenhill Presbyterian Church where Mary Ann Fisher's parents were buried. (It had been a unanimous decision that we were too tired and hot to grace one more cemetery with our presence.)

Miraculously we arrived at Buckley's Tavern, on the Kennett Pike across the street from the building where Harry and Mary Moren Conner's general store had been, fifteen minutes before our dinner reservation. Waiting for us were “Cousin Christine” and Bob Foulk, their daughter Carrie and son Matthew; later their daughter Kristen also joined us. Elaine and Christine had corresponded but not met; Kem figured out that he and Carrie were fourth cousins! Of course these additions only increased the din and confusion, but we managed not to get thrown out of the restaurant. Afterward our fearless travelers no longer felt the need of a caravan, and we all arrived home safe, tired and hoarse.

After some time to recover Sunday morning we drove to Kem's and Susan's for lunch and a delightful ending to the official part of our reunion. Again there was a collaboration of good cooks past and present, with Kem's tabouli, Janet's raspberry gelatin salad, and two versions of Aunt Lyddie's cake baked by Susan. Five hours of spirited conversation in a most hospitable setting. Eventually we tore ourselves away, only to take up again at the Wellesley Inn pool and continue far into the evening. Janet and Elaine, each the only sister the other had, had their own mini-reunion back at John's apartment. Then there were reluctant farewells all around.

Mimi, Shelley and Travis managed to go sightseeing in Washington Monday with Susan, Amy and Cindy and still make it onto a plane home the same day. Janet and Jan and Cathy left Monday morning. Susan and girls left Tuesday, but Kathy made the letdown easier for Elaine by spending the day with her before leaving Wednesday morning.

The universal sentiment seemed to be: “WHEN CAN WE DO THIS AGAIN?”