The dream of establishing a Clark family reunion by the children of James and Anner Clark and Richard and Marybet Clark became a reality in 1955. A meeting was held in 1954, four years after the passing of Anner Lee (Carter) Clark, the wife of James Walker Clark, to discuss the establishment of a family reunion that would be held each year.

At the meeting, James Walker and Anner’s children Delaware, Matthew, Willie, Jim, Edgar, Benny, Percy, David, Oscar, Henry, Josephine, Emma and Lafayette, along with Richard and Mary Bett’s sons Jesse and Larnzie, made the decision to start having reunions. All the questions of where, when, who, and what were also answered and finalized during the meeting. Letters were sent out announcing that there would be a Clark family reunion on the 4th Sunday in August of 1955 at the home of Matthew and Lula Mae Clark in Chatham, VA. It was also decided that dinner would be served at 1:30 P.M. to enable people to attend church and then come to the family reunion. The month of August was chosen because James Walker Clark’s birthday was in that month, along with the birthdays of many other family members. For many decades thereafter, the reunions were held on the 4th Sunday in August.

Our Clark family reunion executive committee was formed in 1963, and the officers were Matthew Clark, chairman; Joe B. Barksdale Jr., president; Lula Mae Clark, secretary; Bernice Barksdale, assistant secretary; and Delaware Clark, Sr., treasurer. Members of the Reunion Committee were: Nannie Belle McDaniel, Kate C. Woods, Bennie Clark, and Willie Clark. There were a lot of host volunteers from the families, but everyone participated. Ice was purchased in blocks that had to be chopped down with an ice pick, and punch was made in large containers and borrowed coolers. The tobacco was harvested early that week for the preparation of the reunion. The men made tables for serving food that stretched all the way across the front yard. New paint was applied, and chairs and benches were rented from churches and funeral homes. The women cooked their best recipes of chicken, ham, cakes, pies and vegetables. Anner’s sister Clara, her husband Bill, and their daughter Virginia always brought a leg of lamb from West Virginia.

On the Saturday night before the reunion, the cousins barbecued pigs in the yard and stayed up all night. Money was collected to pay for ice cream, cones, and supplies to make punch. Roy Amos came ahead of time to help Kate, Nannie Bell, and Bernice prepare the punch. Dues were $0.50. Anner’s sister Roberta Payne, and her children Saint Clara, Edell, and Joe also attended. The children wore their best attire for the reunions. All family members made an effort to attend the reunion, not wanting to miss out on the family closeness that we shared.

At one of the reunions, Vinnie (Clark) Graves went to sleep on Friday night after arriving from Washington, DC, and fell out of her chair trying to stay awake to listen to the long-winded stories that everyone shared. Oscar Clark was laughing so hard that he woke her up. She was still on the floor just sleeping away. She then got up and said, “Good night, I’m gone.” Friends and acquaintances heard about our reunions, and used their vacation time to attend the fun and festivities. Stanford Clark, Delaware Clark, Jr., and James Tommy Clark, along with other family members, highlighted the afternoon each year with a softball game that was relaxing to sit and watch.

To our sorrow, we mourned the deaths of James E. Clark in June 1966, Osee W. Clark in September 1968, and King David Clark in April 1969. Families traveled those long interstates, winding highways, and dusty roads from north to south, east to west, and vice versa across the nation. Some traveled from Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, DC., and all corners of Virginia. Multiple times, on the night before the reunion, family members camped out at Matthew and Lula Mae’s home. Charles Johnson, his wife Yvonne, and their family camped out in the back of their pickup truck. Len’s family and James William’s family set up tents in the backyard. Family and friends slept in cars on the porch, on the floors, and in any of the spare trucks not already occupied at the barn. Roy, Henry, and Oscar would keep Matthew company as he cured tobacco, and would eventually find a place there to sleep – wherever they could lay their bodies.