2014 DFA REUNION
First Baptist Church
Agawam, MA
June 21
June 21st was a perfectly beautiful day for the 2014 Dickinson reunion, and cousins began arriving at the First Baptist Church of Agawam, Massachusetts at 9:30am. Registration, genealogy, morning refreshments, exhibits and sales of publications and T-shirts were set up in Davis Hall which was just off the parking lot, in about the middle of the large church complex.
It was wonderful to greet old friends, cousins whom we often get to see only at these annual gatherings, and to meet the many first-time attendees, some from places as far away as Kansas, Texas and even Australia. A total of 71 attended.
Cousin Wayne Dickinson and his wife Linda, who made the long trip from Australia, were delightful people and very easy to get to know. It was Wayne who, at 11:30am, gave a power-point presentation in the church sanctuary which introduced us to his family. He started with the ancestors who lived in Granby, MA, and traced their journeys westward, mainly as gold miners. After a time in California they sailed to Australia where several generations have lived, down to Wayne and his children. It was a fascinating saga of some very adventurous Dickinsons.
Next we all emerged onto the front steps of the church for our group picture, and then made our way to the extreme other end of the complex where Bodurtha Hall had been set up for our lunch. That hall was named for an early settler of Agawam, who was an ancestor of our main speaker and host, Bob Magovern. Before lunch we had the awarding of prizes to the youngest, oldest and farthest traveled. The youngest was our president’s daughter, Anwyn, and the oldest was Dave Chipman. Needless to say, cousin Wayne received the prize for farthest. Then came the traditional roll-call of descendants of the sons of Nathaniel. All but Azariah were represented with Nehemiah’s, as usual, being the most numerous. However, Joseph’s and Obadiah’s descendants were surprisingly well represented this year.
Lunch was served buffet style and consisted of chicken francaise, potatoes, garden salad, pasta, and succotash. For dessert we had delicious fresh strawberry shortcake. Before moving back to the sanctuary we gathered in the descendants groups for pictures.
The 144th annual meeting of the DFA was called to order by President Andrew Dickinson and reports from the various officers and committees of the association were given. Minutes will be mailed to all members in January. A few items should be mentioned here. Our membership has grown from 472 to 490 during the past year. Rebecca (Becky) Passa was officially elected as genealogist; she had actually been doing the job for several weeks since our previous genealogist, Adrienne Weible, moved to Delaware. President Andrew displayed and read a plaque honoring Adrienne for her years of service to the association. Adrienne was unable to attend the reunion this year.
From the six outstanding scholarship applicants, two were chosen to receive $1500 scholarships. For the first time in recent memory, both were present to be honored at the reunion and it was a delight to meet and talk with them. They are Hayley Brant, from Durham, CT, who will attend the University of Connecticut in the fall, and Thomas Guettler, of North Adams, MA, who will be a freshman at The George Washington University. Congratulations to these two fine young people.
Andrew then introduced the main speaker, who to most of us needed no introduction. Bob Magovern has had two long terms as DFA president and has also served as vice president, historian and currently as board member. His talk was on the Indian Wars of the 17th century but he started with a brief history of how the early settlers came to New England and eventually to Western Massachusetts. He gave some background on the interactions between the English settlers and the native American tribes, leading to his main topic, the wars that took place in the Connecticut River valley of Massachusetts around the 1670s. We learned how Dickinsons were involved in and affected by these conflicts. It was a very well-constructed, informative and fascinating talk and one which some of us thought should be heard by all members of the DFA. Bob has promised to furnish us with the text of his talk and we hope eventually to make it available to all.
The singing of “God Bless America” has become a traditional close to our annual gatherings and so it was on June 21st, 2014. Watch for news of our next reunion, scheduled for June 20th 2015, which will once again be on the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst.
2014 ATTENDEES
| NAME | HOME | NO. |
| ADAMS, Roger and Emily Dickinson | Suffield, CT | 2 |
| ALLIS, Virginia | Whately, MA | 1 |
| ANDERSON, Lynn Dickinson | Naugatuck, CT | 1 |
| BOLDT, Helene and Greg | Suffield, CT | 2 |
| BRANT, Lisa and Hayley | Durham, CT | 2 |
| BYRON, Norman & Mary Ann | West Wardsboro, VT | 2 |
| COSTELLO, Nancy | Norwalk, CT | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Alan & Betsy | Wilbraham, MA | 2 |
| DICKINSON, Andrew, Anwyn | Cummington, MA | 2 |
| DICKINSON, Jean | 1 | |
| DICKINSON, Joseph | 1 | |
| DICKINSON, Linda | Granville, MA | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Patty | Granville, MA | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Ralph | Granville, MA | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Robert, Ken, Sharon, Maria | Hudson, NH | 4 |
| DICKINSON, Roderick R | Plano, TX | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Thomas K. & Regina | Agawam, MA | 2 |
| DICKINSON, Valerie | Stamford, VT | 1 |
| DICKINSON, Wayne & Linda | AUSTRALIA | 2 |
| DICKINSON, Wendy | North Adams, VT | 1 |
| FOLEY, Susan | Westfield, MA | 1 |
| FOLWEILER, Helen & Dave Chipman | S. Dartmouth, MA | 2 |
| GAUSTEAD, John & Gail | Northampton, MA | 2 |
| GELTSSEN, Clare | Bethel, CT | 1 |
| GREENOUGH, Marjorie | Agawam, MA | 1 |
| GUETTLER, Thomas | North Adams, MA | 1 |
| HARLOW, Ernest | Westfield, MA | 1 |
| HEADBERG, Elna | Marlborough, MA | 1 |
| KARNIK, Gayle | Longmeadow, MA | 1 |
| LANDOLINA, Beth, Bob, Thomas | Tolland, CT | 3 |
| MACEYKA, Jennie | Granville, MA | 1 |
| MAGOVERN, Robert | Agawam, MA | 1 |
| MALLALIEU, Richard and Peg | E. Longmeadow, MA | 2 |
| MEANEY, Sandra | Guilford, CT | 1 |
| MERCHANT, Leonard & Madeline | Scituate, MA | 2 |
| MURRAY, Caroline | Ellington, CT | 1 |
| PASSA, Rebecca & Thomas | Easthampton, MA | 2 |
| PATTERSON, Barbara | Stamford, CT | 1 |
| PAYNE, Nancy & Bob | Wellesley, MA | 2 |
| POSTAR, Marsha | Lubbock, TX | 1 |
| REYNOLDS, Deanna | Wichita, KS | 1 |
| SCHULTZ, Kathleen & Dennis | Deep River, CT | 2 |
| SIMS, Karen | Waterford, CT | 1 |
| THOMPSON, Arthur | Deep River, CT | 1 |
| WARNER, Russell and Elaine | Williamsburg, MA | 2 |
| WELCOME, Mavis and Esther Sevigne | Suffield, CT | 2 |
| WILLIAMS, Dale & Suzanne | Northborough, MA | 2 |
| YOUNG, Arthur | Delmar, NY | 1 |
| TOTAL | 71 |