by Rev. Robert Lewis
This issue of the Clough Bulletin contains the news about this year’s reunion, to be held at St. James Episcopal Church, Greenfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday, August 21, with Cousin/Brother Dave Lewis as our host. The Board of Directors meeting will be at the church from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. the previous evening. A reservation form for the reunion is included in this issue of the Bulletin. Please note that the reservation deadline is July 31. Each year our reunion is a learning experience. The following list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. We learn what each other has been doing during the previous year, or since we last saw each other. We learn what we as a Society are planning to do in the near and the more distant future. We learn more about our history and heritage as Clough descendants. We learn how closely or distantly we are related to each other. And we learn what other family connections, what other common ancestors, we and others share. I hope you’ll learn so much at this year’s reunion that it will take you a while after returning home to digest all of it. Among the stories we share this year, let’s share some stories about what you’ve done with our new two-volume genealogy. Many cousins already have reported delving into it as soon as it arrived, while they were at last year’s reunion, or immediately after returning home. What have you learned about your Clough ancestors? What have you discovered about where others fit into the family? And have you found connections between Cloughs and your other lines? More than likely what you hear at this year’s reunion will send you back to the new genealogy to see what else you can put together. Will last year’s reunion be a hard act to follow? Will the attendance we achieved be the beginning of a new trend, or will it turn out to be a flash in the pan? This year’s reunion won’t be the same as last year’s, but it can be equally good. It can stand on its own as a grand event. And you can help to make that happen. Elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin is more information about what will be happening on August 21. You won’t want to miss it.