Friday, October 19th, there was two tours to choose from:
A) HIDDEN HISTORY BUS TOUR
A full day's tour of the Lehigh Valley's "Dreisbach Country", viewing the areas where 1743 immigrant Simon Dreisbach and his sons lived, worked and worshipped. Met the 3 groups who preceded the Dreisbachs in the area: the Lenape Indians with their peach-orchard and gardens, the first European settlers (the Ulster Scots), and the Moravians with their experiment in communal living.
Tour historic sites with expert representatives of 3 historical societies:
Whitefield House built 1740-43 and its 1740 log house neighbor; the newly restored Jacksonville settlement; an authentic, fully furnished Pennsylvania-German homestead from 1756, the Troxell-Steckel House.
Buffet lunch of traditional foods at Harmony Grange near Zion Stone Church, then went to the lower reaches of the Lehigh Gap to see the path many of our ancestors took when they moved out of the valley.
We learned about the area's recently identified prehistoric "sacred landscape", about cheated Indians who wailed on a mountain-top through the night, about massacres and abductions, not to forget the PA governor who had a Dreisbach mother-in-law.
Leave - 8:59 AM. Return - 5:00 PM. Included in price: bus, lunch, admissions, gratuities and a 'Dreisbach map' made especially for the tour.
B) LANCASTER COUNTY BUS TOUR
"Experience the Amish"
That's "ah mish"; not "ay mish". A spectacular journey with the Amish through time. An insider's look: view the farm lands where the Plain community lives. We learned why one-room schools, the horse and buggy, the plainest of dress and life without electricity continue to survive. We explored our common Pennsylvania Deutsch heritage.
Leave - 7:59 AM; Return - 6:00 PM. Lunch included.
Dinner on your own. Hospitality Room open!
Saturday, October 20th
Morning: A varied general meeting full of information and fun. Participants from abroad included a Dreisbach from our ancestral Wittgenstein! Information about newly discovered Dreisbach/Dresback/Driesbaugh lines, and about our still unsolved mysteries. Repositories that have been established to preserve our history, and about our new CD-ROM. Planned our future activities.
Afternoon: Free time for the use of hotel facilities (indoor pool, sauna, physical training area, lounge, etc. Opportunities for genealogical inquiries and exchanges. Do-it-yourself tour of points of Dreisbach interest within about 10 miles of the hotel.
Evening: A main banquet for everyone, including entertainment, Dreisbach stories, a Dreisbach choir, white elephant fund raiser, and a distinguished guest speaker whose specialty is the relationship between economic history and local history.
Sunday, October 21st
Morning: A special service provided by members of the Zion Stone Church in Kreidersville (only five miles from the hotel) with a light lunch at cost, and guided visits of the graves of many Dreisbach ancestors from the 1700s. This service was the highlight for many at the 1995 Reunion.
The Worship Service began at 10:15 AM. DFA Choir members sang with the Church Choir.
A light lunch served for a modest charge following the service.
Two Old Graveyard Tours; the first one at 11:45 AM and the second one at 12:45 PM. All activities over before 2:00 PM.