The91stannual McNamee Reunion was held at the Dysart Community Building on Sunday, June 1. Forty-two descendents of the original Iowa McNamees who came from Ohio in the late 1900s and settled in Dysart and Waterloo were in attendance. There were 30 from the George McNamee family and 12 from the Amor McNamee family.

A delicious potluck was enjoyed by all, followed by the business meeting. The meeting was opened by the singing of “America” and President Kendall Crawford presided. The secretary’s report and treasurer’s report were given by acting secretary, Kimberly Beebe and treasurer Pam Whitmore.

It was decided that we would give a $200 donation to the City of Dysart for their current project of renovating the Community Building and building a bandstand in the park. Everyone stood and told where they were from and which family they belonged to. We talked about deaths, marriages, and births to add to our family lists. The meeting was closed by singing “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”

After the meeting the guests enjoyed home-made ice cream which was brought by Kenny Bahr. They reminisced, took pictures, told stories, and looked at picture albums and records from previous reunions.

Entertainment was provided by 87-year-old Glenn Krug who told us how Mooreville had been when he was living in Geneseo Township in the early 1900s. He said there were lots of Irish families living there – some such as McKinleys,Irvines, Mitchells, and of course the McNamees. .There was a church, a school, a sawmill, a tavern, and even an in-ground family – one who had just dug a hole in the ground to live in during the depression because they had no home.

He went on to say that his Grandpa George McNamee lived across from the quarry, and there were five young men that he worked with, cutting ice blocks from the quarry, none of whom could swim. They had to saw the ice and get it out without cutting so deep that they would cut what they were standing on. They used big tongs and took the ice to the ice house and covered it with sawdust, and it lasted all summer long.

He then went on to tell tales of “maintainers” in Benton County for which he worked and told how he had interested his little cousin Kenny Bahr in maintainers. Kenny is today driving one for Benton County. He concluded by sharing some “clock tricks”with clocks that he had made and later shared with his younger cousins.

We sang “Happy Birthday” to Wilma Krug who was turning 86 that day.

Cheryl Burrows passed out some fancy, colorful scarves that she had been knitting.

The next years reunion will be again at the Dysart Community Building on the first Sunday in June.

Those attending were from Ankeny, Independence, Buckingham, Mt. Auburn, Hudson, Melbourne, Dysart, Toledo, Tama, Vinton, Waterloo, LaPorte City, Shellsburg, Grinnell, Swisher, Cedar Falls, Marshalltown, North English, and Barrington, Ill.