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The History of Lutz Family Reunions
For those of you too young to remember, a very brief history of Lutz family reunions may be in order. The first Lutz family reunion was held at the Art Lutz farm in Denison, Iowa in 1963. Back then, the oldest generation consisted of the children of Karl and Marie Lutz of Odebolt, Iowa. One son, Henry, had died in 1924. Those still living were Margaret, Paul, Edward, Harry and August. They were called 'the big five'. Their children did the planning and the location rotated generally between Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota with one being held in Colorado. The reunions always included members of all five branches of the family tree. The 'big five' are all now on the next plane of existence and the reunions are focused more on the generation below that. The branch that I am a part of connects to 'the big five' through Edward. Edward Lutz and Ida Franzman raised nine children (who have been affectionately named the 'notorious nine'). In 1999, my generation began to take a more active role in these events. The 1999 reunion was hosted by the O'Dells of California. It was an unmatchable, multi-day get-together that served as a fitting kick-off to a new generation taking the 'Lutz Reunion' reins. At this time, it was decided to begin having reunions every other year rather than every year. The most recent reunion, the 2005 edition, was held at the Ed and Joyce Lutz farm in McGrath Minnesota. The tradition of having a 'cousin' reunion continued this year, with Debi and Timm hosting this at their home in Andover Minnesota. Click here to read about and view pictures of past reunions. Click here to find out more about the 2012 reunion. |
