The Great Reunion
of the families COMPARET - PAQUELIER - GUDEFIN
- and many other relatives,
on Saturday the 26th of May 2001
On the initiative taken by the descendants of Joseph Comparet, one of the 13 children of Aimé Comparet and Marie-Louise Bados (my grandparents on my Mother's side), it was planned to reunite all the descendants of those ancestors which had celebrated their golden wedding anniversary back in 1935 in Chateaurenaud, assembling their already numerous descendants as can be attested in the attached photo of the period.
To Enlarge in 700x326 = 71 kos
Since then, the family had scattered all over France,
retaining however most of its members in the Burgundy, Franche-Comté and Rhone-Alpes regions.
Several genealogists that have studied the family trees, have discovered a very old ancestry, and an imposing tribe
of descendants. There are still a few components of the family tree missing, but essentially it is all there, displayed
under a rather large Excel file...
On the initiative of Sylvain Gras one of our very young family member whom is the great -great grand son of our
elders, the necessary planning for this reunion was put into effect. The Community Hall of Saint-Usuge was chosen
as the location for our reunion, which is the area where Joseph and Angèle Comparet reside.
Hence, on Saturday May 26th, here we were 205 cousins (among the 580 indexed cousins) from four different generations reunited in Saint-Usuge. The ambiance was very emotional, getting re-acquainted with old cousins missing for many years and meeting all the young, mostly unknown family members.
Each member received a nametag of a different color according to his own family name. We could see each one, leaning to read the name of those they did not seem to known or remember! So many surprises! So many exclamations…of ahs, and Yeahs! "But of course, I know your dad, your grandfather"…or "Do you remember?"
It took over two hours for each one to make a brief acquaintance
or re-acquaintance of those present at the meeting, with a sangria glass in hand.
Then, came lunch time, a copious menu as we are used to in the Bresse region, served with great vintage white,
red, and Cremant wines. Then coffee and after lunch Brandy of course!
The ambiance was exciting, and the voices grew louder and louder.
Each family had to come up to the podium to be presented in group to the others.
The songs and the sketches followed. We also had the chance to hear a couple of hunting-horn blowers, playing a
very unusual and exceptional music.
The valiant announcer relentlessly brought us his wit and kept the party fun and lively.
When lunch was over, we went outside to take a group photo of the family clan.
What a great opportunity to put together on film this imposing assembly. No one was omitted.
As for me, I did my best composing the panoramic picture below. If some one is absent or unrecognizable, don't
complain…although I must admit that I managed to do some trick photography to appear in the photo.
There it is, the group picture. It was reduced to (76 kos), but by clicking on the picture, you can discover and
register it with a better definition (1940 X 610 pixels - 385 kos)
Furthermore, if you are interested you can request from me the file (.xls) of our complete genealogy that you might have seen in print this Saturday. This family tree represents a brief illustration of the Paquelier ancestry. (It can be downloaded from here (155 kos)
In my name, and in the name of all the members present at this reunion, I would like to thank young Sylvain Gras for his dedication in making this successful project possible. Many thanks also to all that have helped him.
Marcel Paquelier
