1980

The children of James Henry Yarborough organized the first family reunion on a Sunday afternoon in July 1980 at the home of James “Mike” and Addie Yarborough in Middleburg, North Carolina. Needless to say, when there was a large gathering of this sort, my father’s sisters and brothers and their families were all invited to participate in the event – in addition to neighbors and friends.

 

Years earlier, many family members had relocated to New Jersey, New York, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Virginia and other cities and states where employment was more available. Everyone always looked forward to the summer months, when family members returned from other states, cities and towns for their summer vacations. Popular summer gatherings included attending Homecoming at Red Bud Baptist Church and St. James Christian Church, in Henderson or St. Paul’s Christian Church or St. John’s Baptist Church in Middleburg. Summer vacation was a time when you got to see old schoolmates and friends or visit from house to house with relatives.

 

The families in attendance were – Uncle Moses and Aunt Verdie Davis’ older children, to name a few – Wilbert, Bettie Elizabeth, Cora Frances, Joseph and perhaps more; Aunt Ida’s children, to include – Sam, Willie and others; James Henry Yarborough’s widowed wife, Isabella (Miss Nook) and his children, including – Big Annie and her daughter Geraldine, Harriett and her children – Bernice, Sonny Boy, Gilbert, Randy, Sylvia and others; Verdie Mae and her children; Big Son and his wife Gracie and their children; Delores (Tully); Lester Ballard and Hattie Lee and their children – Sonia, Sedatrist and Halecia; two of Ballard’s dear friends – Marion and Clark came from Washington, D.C. More in attendance, were Scales and Bullock family members, the late Annie Scales Yarborough and her family members, to include her sisters’ husband, William Bullock and his son; as well as many from the Reid family (Addie Yarborough’s sisters and brothers) and a host of neighbors and friends in the Middleburg, Henderson, Oxford, Drewry, Manson and the surrounding areas from Vance and Warren County.

 

At our first family reunion in 1980, our cousin, Sam Yarborough, came home for this occasion – from Long Island, New York with his wife and two daughters, Peggy and Cynthia – and had the task of barbequing the pig. Sam was well known on Long Island for the best minced barbeque on the island! Sam grew up in the Mobile area of Henderson, where the former Warner-Evans Barbeque became so famous. Sam often worked with Mr. Evans when he was barbequing and he used this experience to cook the pig. Meanwhile, Addie and her daughters helped to prepare an assortment of other foods for the family reunion for that Sunday afternoon and evening. The menu consisted of fried chicken and fish (cooked in the large black wash pots), an assortment of home grown vegetables, homemade pies, cakes and ice cream, a wooden barrel of lemonade fit for a king, as well as other homemade spirits and tubs of beer, wines and sodas! Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship – reuniting with family members and friends, some of whom you may not have seen for several years.