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Longtime Sussex County resident Amelie Sloan wishes she could see all of the members of her family at least once a year. However, arranging an annual meeting for close to 80 family members living in seven states across the nation makes it a formidable task.
Despite the thousands of miles that separate her extended family, the bond each member has with one another and the feeling that they get upon returning to their Harbeson farm is too enticing to keep them apart for long.
While the family has not been able to meet every year, they were able to reunite Aug. 9, at the Pinewater Farm community pavilion, which lies adjacent to the family property.
At the gathering, more than 50 relatives enjoyed recreation and a large cookout as they reconnected with four generations of loved ones.
“I’m glad to see everyone so happy and back together,” said Sloan. “We all feel this is a very special place.”
As Sloan sat back and watched young members of the family eagerly set up horseshoes and play basketball after their meal, she recalled the humble beginnings of her present home.
“My husband and I moved to a small farmhouse here in 1947,” she said. “We had chickens, hatcheries and steer and would grow corn and soy. When I lived here back then, we were still harvesting corn one ear at a time.”
While Sloan’s husband Sam attended to the farm, she was busy as a teacher in Millsboro and Georgetown. Though life on a farm was awfully busy, she says, a major benefit of the large plot was having a place to bring her six siblings and their families together.
Sloan’s maiden name was Anderson, she says, which accounts for why the many descendents of the seven siblings now refer to each other as “The Anderson Clan.”
The family, whose members range in age from 1 year old to 94, have now spread out across the country, seeing each other mainly at large reunions. The weekend event was the family’s third meeting since 1990, and have all been held at Pinewater Farms.
“Even though we live far apart, when we are here, we are all one big family,” said Sloan’s nephew, David Anderson. “I started coming down here when I was a kid and have only missed one or two years.”
Over the past 40 years, the landscape may have changed and the area is certainly more crowded, says Anderson, but it is still a place that the family holds close to their hearts.
“One thing that has not changed that is a blessing,” he added, “is that the members of the Anderson clan still wish to stay closely connected.”
Even though it was the first trip to Harbeson for many new members of this family, said Anderson, the location is so special that it is sure not to be their last.
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