Müllerleile Family Global Reunion Strengthens Family Ties
The 5th Müllerleile Family Global Reunion on June 24, 25 & 26, 2011 around Madison Lake, MN. was a great success. 148 members of Müllerleile families took part, among them seven from Germany and four from Canada, the others from the USA.
Many immigrants from Müllerleile families in Germany settled in Minnesota, especially near Mankato.
Several committees under the leadership of Marianne Muellerleile had prepared the reunion weekend that will be long remembered by all who participated.
The program included get together sessions, excursions into the Müllerleile history, sightseeing of two farms and Mass on Saturday.
It started on Friday night in St. Andrew Parish Church Hall in Elysian with the check-in and the viewing of the posted Genealogy Charts. Many photos and memorabilia were on display. The family tree is updated by Susan Berberich.
On Saturday the program started with a visit to Lyle and Phyllis Daschner's Muellerleile Centennial Farm in Janesville, built by immigrant brothers Georg and Wendelin Müllerleile in 1876.
From there the participants went to Bray Park in Madison Lake where a sack lunch was served and the family photo (see below) was taken.
Very impressive to all was the following Madison Lake Calvary Cemetery Living History Tour. Eight family members read 14 first person accounts of those ancestors buried there. All 26 monologues written by Marianne Muellerleile were published in the Reunion Brochure. Some used the cemetery tour as an opportunity to do tombstone rubbings.
This was followed by a Polka Mass at All Saints Catholic Church in Madison Lake with Chuck Thiel and His Jolly Ramblers playing and Fr Robert Schneider preaching. A Parish Festival was on, so all visitors got to enjoy it.
After the dinner at Elysian American Legion Hall Marianne Muellerleile gave out certificates of appreciation to the volunteers involved. The German delegation handed over the Muellerleile Reunion Plaque which remains with the organizer of a reunion until the following comes.
The next reunions are scheduled for 2014 in Schuttertal (Germany) and in 2016 in Oregon or neighboring Washington, USA.
On Sunday some of the visitors took part in a farewell brunch at St. Andrew Church Hall and then joined a tour to the Roger Muellerleile farm in Elysian. Some of them spent the afternoon at the Carlton's farm in Janesville.
The people responsible for the reunion were Reunion Founder and Chair Marianne Muellerleile, Genealogy Chairs Susan Berberich and Robin Tupper, Family Directory Chair Gayle-Elizabeth Blomberg, Farmville Coordinator Mary Ellen Baker, German Chair and Website Chair Christoph Müllerleile, Food Chair Darlene Carlson and Mary Lee Androli, Location Chair Darlene Carlson, Living History Chair Brad Carlson, Volunteer Chair/On-site Coordinator Kathleen Muellerleile, Memorabilia Chair Barbara Muellerleile Butchart, Print & Media Chair John Mark Muellerleile. Bill Fasnacht provided extensive Muellerleile family research.
The program of the reunion can be downloaded here.
The official Family Photo, taken on June 25, 2011 at Bray Park, Madison Lake, by John Mark Muellerleile