By Leisha Wessinger-Hufstetler
Lindler Reunion, I’m sitting in the yard, surrounded by the delicious smell of hickory-smoked BBQ cooking. The cast iron pot is bubbling with pork and chicken to make the hash. The fellowship and teamwork to make 120 pounds of Boston Butts and hash for the Lindler reunion is always a beautiful thing to experience. On that day, we stood on the shoulders of those who had done these same tasks for almost a century. A big thank you to Lonnie Lindler, Carl David Lindler, Jimmy Lindler, and all those who prepared the food for the last 30 years. The descendants of John Calvin Linder and Mary Emma Wessinger have held a reunion for 98 years. Frank Monts remembered being around 12 years old when a BBQ pit was dug between Charlie Shealy’s house and Luke Derrick’s house. Dinner was served underneath the shade of huge oak trees, with real lemonade in wooden barrels. The reunion was a fancy affair, and they used “special bread” purchased from a store, not homemade bread. Money was very tight in those days, so bread from the store was a luxury. The “Lindler dinner” began in 1927 and is still ongoing today.
The family was large, and to keep things simple, they elected a president, secretary, and treasurer every four years. The written records started in 1937. In 1941, all the ingredients, including hogs, sugar, salt, tea, rice, black pepper, mustard, vinegar, lemons, and bread, were purchased for a grand total of $26.17, and fed 84 people. Those in attendance paid for their meal to put money back into the bank for the next reunion. They paid only 17 cents for their dinner. Incredible.
According to the documented notes written by the secretaries of bygone years, it was originally scheduled for July, but then changed to the third week in September. It was held at the old homeplace of John Calvin. The notes are quite interesting to read. In 1964, Rev Horace Lindler asked that the family pass a resolution that the Lindler reunion be held indefinitely. All agreed to this resolution, and I hope that the generations to come keep it going for years to come.
One old timer remembered that in the 60s and 70s, several families would butcher hogs they had raised specifically for the reunion. Can you imagine the work of butchering on Friday, the preparations for cooking the hogs on Saturday, and spending the night around the BBQ pit, for the dinner on Sunday?
The vegetables, rice, and desserts were brought by each family and were all organic, homegrown, and homemade, delicious food. The attendance in 1941 was 75; in 2014, 165 members were in attendance. I’ll wager a bet that at one point there were over 200 family members gathering for the reunion in the 1980s.
One Shealy reunion had over 10 40-gallon barrels of lemonade for attendees. A banner was displayed at the reunion saying, “We know who we are because they were who they were.” What a great statement for all of us to remember.
Photo by Ervin Shaw
