We just completed our 14th or 15th consecutive, (history is a bit vague) biennial family reunion in Custer, South Dakota and it was once again, AWESOME!
THANK YOU!
What makes it awesome is YOU! All of you who take the time each time to plan your vacation to come to Custer to help celebrate our Mahnke family.
Thank you, Rodney, Roy, Mark, Annie, Christian, Brook, Kyle, Brittany, Betty Lou & Wayne, Vicki & Dan, Troy, Julie, and Velma for all your hard work to make this reunion such a success.
Please know many of you did many things but these folks stepped up early and often to make this work. It takes a complete village and you all came through.
Why Custer:
We come to Custer because it is our home, the roots of this family, and has been for several generations. The original Mahnke homestead is just north of Custer and the second one is south of Newcastle, WY just off old highway 85 which has a cistern with the date of 1921 on it. The Custer area is Home!
Price Increase:
Just a reminder, our reunion agreed to raise the price of the reunion to $35.00 per person to cover the increasing costs of virtually everything. Our team works hard to keep costs down, but as you well know, things just cost more every year.
Family Research:
I need help please. I’ve discovered many family names I have limited information on and if we research these names I believe we can increase the number of people attending our reunions. I want to meet more and more of our family… If you have the time to make phone calls, do Internet searches and send out and follow up on emails, please let me know and I will send you the list of names I have.
2019 Reunion:
At this point it appears the best date for us is July 19 – 21, 2019 so please plan on it. I do not have confirmation from the Town of Custer for which weekend Custer Days is because they’ve not set the date yet. I suggest we plan on the 3rd weekend as it has been for the past several years. Mark and Annie already reserved the Reunion Cabin….pretty cool huh?
Tours & Activities:
We will have more things to do next time. We will have someone in charge of each tour so folks know what to do and when. If you would like to be a tour guide just let me know.
Possible:
- Tour Homesteads
- Custer
- Newcastle
- Blacktail
- Hiking
- Parade if the timing works
- Mount Rushmore
- Crazy Horse
- Custer State Park Vehicle (such as a car) Tour
- Chase elephants & giraffes
- See buffalo, deer, donkeys and frequently elk, and many free-range tourists
- Other stuff we think of before we get there
Volunteers:
We will need assistance with a group of activities such as getting, setting up, taking down and returning the tent, the same with chairs and tables and so forth. The mailing in January 2019 will show more of the details so you can volunteer for those things that bring you joy.
Please stay tuned as we update and add to this site. Bookmark it as we plan on using this site as a major form of reunion communication.
Your reunion coordinator and planners.
Greg and Barb Goettsch
