Celebrating a Century of Summer Reunions.
For one hundred years, the Whitney Family Reunion has brought generations together. This website exists to help that tradition continue — helping family members discover relatives, reconnect before the reunion, preserve stories, and build friendships that last long after the weekend is over.
Why this website exists
Only 10 family members attended this year's reunion. We believe our family deserves far more.
Help us create a 100th reunion that hundreds of relatives will want to attend.
An invitation
Help shape our 100th Reunion.
This reunion belongs to all of us. As we prepare for the Whitney Family Reunion's 100th anniversary, we'd love your ideas. Tell us what would make this a reunion you'd be excited to attend.
Questions we're thinking about
When the Centennial Survey opens, it'll ask questions like these. Not a registration form — an invitation to help shape the reunion together.
What would encourage you to attend the 100th Reunion?
Would you travel for a full reunion weekend?
Would a Sunday family brunch interest you?
Would a hotel room block make attending easier?
Would you like to meet relatives before the reunion?
Would activities for children or teenagers encourage attendance?
Would you be interested in volunteering?
Do you have ideas that could help make the 100th Reunion special?
Before the survey opens, explore the site — meet a cousin, read a story, add a photo. Then, when the survey arrives, your answers will help shape what the 100th Reunion becomes.
More than one weekend
The reunion lasts a few days. Family lasts a lifetime.
Meet cousins you've never known.
Discover branches you never knew existed.
Share stories before you arrive.
Stay connected long after everyone goes home.
We're not simply organizing a reunion. We're helping a family stay connected for the next hundred years.
A possibility — help shape it
Imagine a Centennial Weekend.
For a hundred years, the reunion has been a Sunday afternoon. The 100th could stay exactly that — or, if the family chooses, it could grow into something bigger. Here's one way it could unfold.
Friday evening
A welcome gathering for those arriving early.
Saturday
Time to explore Stratford, together or in small groups.
Sunday morning
A family brunch before the main event.
Sunday afternoon
The traditional reunion celebration.
Monday morning
An optional breakfast for those staying longer.
None of this is decided. All of it is possible — if the family wants it.
Future fun possibilities
Future ideas could include photo activities like timeless-style portraits, family badges, or playful challenges that help younger generations engage with the reunion in a fun way.
Arrive already knowing people, not meeting strangers.
One of the biggest opportunities of this website is helping relatives connect before the reunion weekend.
Discover cousinsSoon
Find relatives you've never met or have not seen in decades.
Find family nearbySoon
See who lives close enough to meet for coffee or a walk.
Introduce yourselfSoon
Break the ice before you arrive at the reunion.
Meet in personSoon
Coffee, lunch, a hike, or a beer — small gatherings build real friendships.
Local get-togethersSoon
Regional gatherings throughout the year keep the reunion feeling alive.
Family Discovery ActivitiesSoon
Scavenger hunts, hidden family treasures, and playful challenges that help kids and adults explore the website, learn family history, and meet relatives.
Younger cousins connectSoon
Pizza, games, activities — friendships start before the weekend.
Share stories before you meet in person. Arrive at the reunion already connected.
Every family member has a place here
Help write the next chapter.
Every contribution — a photo, a name, a memory — helps the family arrive at the reunion knowing each other better.
Add a family photo
Old or new — every face matters.
Share a story
A memory worth keeping, in your own words.
Record a memorySoon
Coming soon — spoken family history.
Add someone to the tree
A cousin, a spouse, a newborn.
Identify people in old photos
Help name the faces we've lost track of.
Start with one thing. That's how a hundred-year family stays alive.
One hundred summers
A century of gatherings, unbroken.
From long tables in a 1927 farmyard to string lights over a modern meadow, every generation has kept the same appointment with the family that came before them.
1927
The first Whitney Family Reunion
The first summer gathering. Long tables, warm evenings, and the beginning of a hundred-year tradition.
1948
A tradition takes root
Two decades in. Cousins who were children at the first reunion begin bringing children of their own.
1987
Cousins from three countries
By now Whitneys, Raycrafts, Orrs, Achesons and Davidsons gather from across Canada, the United States, and beyond.
2023
The family record
Neil Whitney publishes a careful, decades-long record of every descendant — the seed this website grows from.
2027
The 100th Reunion
One hundred summers. The next century begins.
Save the date
The table for our 100th reunion is being set.
July 30 – August 1, 2027 · Perth County, Ontario
The 100th Whitney Family Reunion. Every second between now and the first evening is one more hand raised in welcome.
Counting down
Until the first evening
Meet the People Who Shaped Our Family
Stories from a hundred years of Whitneys.
Founders, grandparents, storytellers, organizers, researchers, parents, and children — everyone who shaped this family's journey.
Where a hundred years of gatherings began.
Born in Halifax, he crossed the young country to build a farm at Mornington. Six generations later, we still gather because he did.
Story attribution
Imported from Neil Whitney's research
Volunteers
Everyone has something to contribute.
Reunions this large take many hands. Here are just a few of the ways family members could help.
Invitations to this reunion are personal. Volunteers may help contact family members, update contact information, and personally welcome relatives who haven't attended in years.
The long view
Building friendships across generations.
This is more than preserving history. It's about helping family members build real relationships today — and for the next hundred years.
Grandparents sharing stories with grandchildren
Cousins reconnecting after decades
Young families meeting for the first time
Children making lifelong friends at the reunion
New spouses feeling welcomed
Stories preserved for those who come next
Coming: Bring History to Life
Old photographs, carried forward by the family.
We are building a respectful way to gently restore, colour, and narrate selected historical Whitney photographs — with the story, the timeline, and the family voices that make them mean something. Every step confirmed by the family. Nothing becomes official until it does.
In the family's own words
The best stories on this website belong to the family.
As reunion memories, letters, and stories are shared, they will appear here — in the voices of the people who lived them.
Family words — coming soon
This space is reserved for the family. As reunion memories, letters and stories are shared, they will appear here in the words of the people who lived them.
Have a memory to share? Help write the next chapter.
Recent family contributions
A living record, in real time.
The next hundred years starts now
We're not just organizing a reunion. We're helping a family stay connected.
Help hundreds of relatives become friends instead of strangers. Add a photo. Share a story. Say hello. Then meet in person in July 2027.
Currently seeded from Neil Whitney's Jan 2023 research. A living record — the family keeps improving it, one contribution at a time.