Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Schweiss cousin reunion. I'm looking at all of you out there and I'm thinking, What a good looking group of people! I am Ann Mayhew, Ruthie and Del's second oldest and best looking child. Also, their most intelligent, if you want to know the truth.

A couple of funerals ago, Jude Bublitz said to me, It's nice to see you. Then he said, No, it isn't--I see you only at funerals. And it's true--the only time we see our cousins these days is at funerals. It used to be at weddings; now it’s at funerals. Then, last summer at Carmen O’Brien's funeral, several of us got to talking about holding a Schweiss cousin reunion and a committee was formed to see that it happened. Well, this committee has been very busy and, as you can see, very successful in pulling this off. Committee members are Carmel O'Brien Dunlop, Kathy Moroney Monicatti, Mike Bublitz and Joan Mayhew Horkey. Joanie told me that, there are 42 living Schweiss cousins, 30 of whom are here today. That seems to be a tribute to the committee's hard work and commitment to making this happen. Lets give them a round of applause.

Isn’t email wonderful? It made the communications of organizing this event so much easier. You may have heard the story about the man who went to Florida on a business trip. When he got there, he thought he’d send his wife an email, to let her know he made it ok. So, he did, but he had a typo in the address and it went to the wrong person. Instead of going to his wife, it went to a woman who had been married to a minister and the minister had recently died. The email said, Wanted to let you know I made the journey safely, but boy, it sure is hot down here.

I'm going to quickly introduce everyone here. I know many of you have kids who are not here today because they are off on advertures, but I’m just going to be mentioning the people who are here. I’ll start with Vee and Ray Sadler's family and working my way down to Carmen and Bob O'Brien's family. I’ll start out by saying what color T-shirts that family is wearing. Then I’ll introduce each Schweiss cousin. I'm going to go cousin by cousin, and when I say your name, you and your spouse and kids should stand up and wave your arms so we can all get a good look at you.

Vee and Ray Sadler's family is the group in the good-looking yellow T-shirts. Jack Sadler is here today with his daughter Susan Sadler Lucking and Susan’s husband Quentin and their daughters Morgan and Anna. Jack and and his wife Madalon live in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and Jack traveled 1,374 miles to be here today. Jim Sadler is here with his wife Marjory. Jim and Marjory live in Wayzata Minnesota.

Next we have Tony and Freddie Schweiss's family, wearing the attractive purple T-shirts. Francis Schweiss and his wife Frannie are here from Southampton, Pennsylvania—over 1,000 miles. Carol Ann says it is almost 1,400 miles! Carol Ann Schweiss Bloom is here with her husband Tom and their daughters Heather and Nicole. Carol Ann and Tom live now in Apple Valley Minnesota.

Moving on to Helen and Ben Green's family, who are wearing the cool lime green T-shirts. Mary Green Wyczawsk is very well represented today by her husband Red and ALL of their children and many of the people in their families. They are: Steve Wyczawski. Marybeth Wyczawski Murray is here with her husband Pat and their kids Tim, Catherine and Megan. Paul Wyczawski is here. Sara Wyczawski Stenhaug is here with her husband David and their daughters Susan and Elizabeth. Tom Wyczawski, Patty Wyczawski Martin is here with her husband Phil and their sons Henry and Isaac. Amy Wyczawski Cooke is here with her husband Chris and their daughters Alexandra and Sophia. Red continues to live in New Ulm Minnesota, where he and Mary lived for many years. Carol Smith is here from St. Peter Minnesota. Carol is here with her daughters, Pat Smith and Susan Smith Fort, and Susan’s son Chris. To date, Helen and Ben Green have the most offspring of all the Schweiss siblings. That's just to-date; we don't know how this all is going to work out in the end, whenever that is. There are 44 Green offspring to-date. We think it has something to do with those Smiths and Wyczawskis. Actually, there may be more than 44 Green offspring as we don’t know if Tom or Bill Green have grandchildren.

Aurie and Joe Moroney's "gang" is here, wearing orange T-shirts. I bet a lot of you didn’t know we have gangsters in the family. Well, we do and today they are wearing orange T-shirts. Kathy Moroney Manicotti is here with her son Matt and his wife Kelly and their daughter Alexandra. Kathy's husband Larry would have come today, but he had his own family reunion to attend. Maybe next time. Again, I want to thank Kathy for her efforts in making this reunion happen. Kathy and Larry live in Plymouth Minnesota. Mike Maroney and his wife Anita are here, from Fort Wayne Indiana, where, as most of you know, Aurie and Joe lived. Mike and Anita traveled 489 miles to be here.

Unfortunately, Jerry and Charlotte Schweiss's family is not here today. Dick Schweiss was planning on coming, from Tacoma Washington, but his flight was cancelled at the last minute. Dick, as many of you know, has a Schweiss family tree website. If you haven't seen this website, I encourage you to check it out. It really is quite interesting. He's done an amazing amount of work. We have a few copies of the Frederick Schweiss family tree here today, from Dick’s website, but he has done much much more than this. Please look this over and let Dick know of any corrections or additions that need to be made. The best way to keep this current is for us to do this. Mary Schweiss Weiben also had planned to attend, but had to cancel at the last minute.

The Rudy and Rosella Schweiss family is wearing the flattering grey T-shirts today. They were originally assigned pink shirts, but I guess pink got voted out. Karen Schweiss Neidlein is here. Karen and her husband Tom live in Las Vegas--1,294 miles from here. Gary Schweiss is here with his wife Carol. Gary and Carol live in Wausau Wisconsin. Of all the of Frederick and Elizabeth’s sons, Rudy was the only one to have a son—Gary—who has since had a son and, now, a grandson. So, of all the Schweiss cousins, the only one who will be continuing the Schweiss name is Gary. The rest of us, who may have been concerned about this, worry no longer! Gary has taken care of this for us! What a guy! Patti Schweiss Hall is here. She lives in St. Paul Minnesota.

Irene and Jimmy Huelskamp's family is wearing the lovely turquoise t-shirts. John Huelskamp and his wife Claudine and their daugher Jane Fimbres are here. John and Claudine live is Fresno California and, at 1,480 miles, they have come the furthest to attend the reunion. Ann Huelskamp Arndt is here with her daughters Peggy Arndt Kelly, Stacy Arndt Penk, and Amy Ardnt Fedie. Ann and her husband John live in Richmond Minnesota.

Betty and Gordon Bublitz's family is wearing the chic blue T-shirts. They are Mike Bublitz, who, again was on the planning committee. Thank you, Mike. Mike lives in St. Paul Minnesota. Jude Bublitz is here with his wife Linda, his sone Greg and Greg’s wife Kirsten and Greg’s and Kirsten daughter Teagan—who is Jude’s first grandchild. Jude and Linda live in Plymouth Minnesota. Also, thank you, Jude, for arranging for the golfing this morning. Greg Bublitz is here with his wife Lynette and their daughter Ariana are here from Oak Park, Illinois, and their Katie, her husband Mark and their son and Greg’s first grandson, who is also Betty and Gordon’s first great-grandson, Mason. Mark Bublitz, with his wife Jill and their sons Chuck and Will and Chuck’s wife Kirk and Will’s wife Lucy. Mark and Jill live in Brainerd Minnesota. The last time I saw Mary Bublitz Sharp, I said, Well Mary, how are your little boys. Mary said, Well Ann, they are not very little. Mary and two of Mary’s not very little boys--Thore and Erik are here today, as well as Thore’s wife Julie. Mary and Greg live in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Aimee Bublitz Rancour is here with her husband Tony and kids Luke and Rebecca. Aimee and her family live in Hutchinson Minnesota

Ruthie and Del Mayhew's family is the group wearing those cool red Ruthie's Bowling Team t-shirts. When we were making our T-shirts, Joanie said we should put white lettering on the girls’ T-shirts and black lettering on the boys’ T-shirts, so people could tell them apart. I said, whatever. Joan Mayhew Horkey is here with her daughter Kate and Kate's finance Chad. Joan lives in Ramsey Minnesota. Joanie, as I mentioned, was on the reunion planning committee and did an especially nice job of contacting everyone and keeping the communications going. She also gave me a lot of the material for this speech. I already introduced myself--Ann Mayhew. I'm here with my husband Art Oglesby. Art and I live in St. Paul Minnesota. Joe Mayhew, here with his wife Wanda and their kids Lauren and Ben. Joe and family also live in St. Paul. John Mayhew is here with his wife Marie and their kids Isaac and Hannah. John and his family also live in St. Paul. Paul Mayhew is here with his wife Peggy and their kids Martha, Samuel and Amos. Paul and his family live in Stacy Minnesota. Jill Mayhew Bezecny is here with her husband Rory and their sons Adam and James. Rory provided the sound system today. Thank you, Rory. Jill and her family live in White Bear Lake Minnesota.

Finally, we come to Carmen and Bob O'Brien's family, looking like a bunch of German-Irish people and wearing the kelly green T-shirts. Jean O'Brien Granger is here with her son, Jeff Granger and her daughter Liz’s husband Darin Cherne—Liz was unable to come—and Liz’s and Darin’s baby Eli and Jean’s son Peter’s daughter Natalie. That is really complicated. The long and the short of it: there’s Jeanie, her son Jeff, son-in-law Darin and two grandchildren Eli and Natalie. Jean lives in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin. Carmel O'Brien Dunlop is here with her husband Scott, their daughter Katie and their son Robert. Again, we thank Carmel for her work in organizing today’s event. Carmel and her family live in Edina Minnesota. Dan O'Brien is here with his son John. Dan’s wife Lisa and son Mark would also be here except they went to Lisa’s family reunion. I guess this is family reunion season. Dan and his family live in Plymouth Minnesota. Peggy O'Brien Skulski is here with her husband John and their kids Patrick and Erin. Peggy and her family live in Chaska Minnesota. John O'Brien is here with his wife Shelly and their kids Connor and Caitlin. John and his family live in Plymouth Minnesota.

Lets give ourselves a round of applause.

I want to take a little time here also to mention our cousins who are not with us today because they have passed on. They are Frederick Schweiss, who died as an infant in 1932. He was Tony and Freddie's son. Elizabeth O'Brien, who died as an infant in 1954. Scott Mayhew, who died in 1984. Pat Maroney, who died in 1994. And Mary Green Wyczawski, who died in 2004. Additionally, Francis and Frannie Schweiss’s son Robert died in 1985. While they cannot be physically here today, they will, of course, always be with us in our memories and in our hearts.

A few interesting Schweiss cousin facts: I mentioned that Helen and Ben have had the most offspring to-date. They have 44. Irene and Jimmy are next, with 33. Then, Tony and Freddie with 29, Carmen and Bob with 25, Ruthie and Del with 22, Vee and Ray are tied with Betty and Gordon with 20 offspring. Betty and Gordon have, I believe, the most recent offspring. Jude’s granddaughter Teagan, whom I introduced earlier was born on February 11, 2008. Does anyone have a newer baby? Rudy and Rosella have 16, Aurie and Joe have 12, Jerry and Charlotte have 6, and Joe and Mary have 1.

Jill Mayhew Bezecny is the youngest Schweiss cousin. Mary Green Wyczawski was the oldest. Mary was born in 1930. Jill was born in 1966. In that 36-year span, Elizabeth and Frederick Schweiss had 47 grandchildren. And since they were married in 1901, they had 15 children, 47 grandchildren, 110 great-grandchildren, and 77 great-great-grandchildren, according to the best data that we have. That’s a total of 249 offspring.

The best years for Schweiss babies were between 1947 and 1951. During this time, 10 of the 47 cousins were born. Jude Bublitz, Gary Schweiss and Ann Helskamp Arndt were born in 1947. Nobody was born in 1948—bad year for Schweiss babies The 49er cousins are Greg Bublitz, Mary Schweiss Weiben, Jean O’Brien Granger and Carol-Ann Schweiss Bloom. 1950 was another bad year for Schweiss babies, but Judy O’Brien Jacobsen, Joan Mayhew Horkey, and Mark Bublitz were all born in 1951.

The most popular Schweiss cousin names is John. We have Jack Sadler, John Huelskamp, John Mayhew and John O'Brien.

Charlotte Schweiss is the only one of Frederick and Elizabeth's children and their spouses who is still alive. Charlotte is 86 years old and lives in New Ulm. Mary Schweiss Weiben, who sends her regrets at not being able to come today, wrote to tell us that Charlotte is aging gracefully and looks great. She wanted to be here today, but her health kept her back. She has trouble walking and the hot, humid Minnesota summer weather keeps her from being outside.

That's all I have to say. Thank you for your kind attention. You have been a most generous audience. Enjoy the day.