Report on the 2004 Madsen-Lauper Family Reunion

Saturday, August 14, 2004, at Wheeler Historic Farm
Sunday, August 15, 2004, at Eagle Gate Apartments

Table of Contents

A few photographs are on this page, with more in a separate Album.
Some of the shots are a bit "candid". Don't worry: we've all been there!

We need your help in identifying everyone in the photos!

In the Album, click on the Comments link below each photo to send a message about the photo. Click on Exit Album to return to this page.

If you have photos that you would like to share, by all means send them! reunion@lauper.org

Reunion Summary

Welcome Banner
Welcome Banner and Flags

Mix and Match happened!

It was a hot summer day, but not as hot as it could have been: trees, awnings and a few clouds offered pleasant shade. For the kids, the water in wading pools, water balloons and the irrigation canal also helped keep it cool.

Helen Bingham and I (David Peterson) spent most of the afternoon at the registration table (as expected), so I was unable to mingle much. From my vantage point, however, it looked like most everyone was having fun visiting and participating in the activities.

Judging from the reactions, the kids' activities and homemade ice cream were particular hits. The teens and young adults had a riotous time with the Pioneer Relay.

Thanks to those that participated in our Getting to Know You and Family Word Taboo games. I hope you came away with a little better knowledge of your family.

By the early evening, many were ready to call it a day, but a cadre of die-hards stayed on for the square and line dancing. We had great fun!

On Sunday morning, we were surprised to have our Reunion recognized in the Tabernacle. Then, we had a most enjoyable service at the Eagle Gate Apartments, hosted by Irene Buehner. Thanks to those who shared your feelings about family and your musical talents.

Many Thanks

  • to the members of the Viola Lauper Johnson family who were heroic in their labors: lots of excellent preparation work and much unsung effort in CLEAN-UP.
  • to all the family members that helped with the set-up and take-down of chairs and tables.
  • to Wilma Stocker for supervising the quilting with assitance from Paulie Hutchings.
  • to Wilma Stocker, Brad Danielson and Michael Lauper for excellent displays.
  • to Helen Bingham for creating the 34-foot chart "Descendants of Hans Madsen" that hung from the rafters, for supplying other family memorabilia, for help in identifying and contacting family members.
  • to those that brought pictures.
  • to Irene Buehner and family for hosting the Sunday service and providing delicious refreshments.
  • to Dennis Brown and Aaron Lauper for sharing their photos.
  • to Karen Talbert for our Mix and Match logo.

Special Considerations

To my knowledge, there were three people unable to attend due to serious health concerns.

Richard H. Madsen - is confined to home due to kidney failure requiring frequent dialysis. He is also recovering from a series of heart attacks.

Viola Lauper Johnson - had emergency surgery for a blocked intestine four days before the Reunion. At the age of 91, this is a particularly delicate operation and difficult convalescence.

LaMont Wardle - had hernia surgery the week before the Reunion. An unexpected, adverse reaction to the surgery has placed him in a coma and he continues to be in a very precarious condition.

Our prayers are for well-being of these stalwart individuals and their families.

Reunion Events

SATURDAY, August 14

2:00 PM
  • Arrive, Sign-in, Receive Name Tags, Get Oriented
Games
Water Balloon Toss
2:30 PM
  • Start of games on the lawns (for both young-in-age and young-at-heart)
    Several games will include water, so bring a change of clothes.
  • Children's games: Ice-cream-roll, Water ballons, boat races, etc.
  • Teen games: Ballon toss, Pioneer Relay
  • Adults: join in or cheer for the above
Throughout the afternoon
  • Chatting in the shade
  • Small snacking food and drinks (provided)
  • Quilt-tying project (those who participate are eligible for a later drawing to win the quilt!)
  • Time to explore the Wheeler Farm and historic buildings
    (Those who would like to explore and hike in the further reaches of the grounds, may want to come earlier in the day)
4:00 PM
  • Begin set-up of indoor displays (please let us know your interest in displaying something)
  • Continued afternoon activities
4:45 PM
  • Begin browsing of indoor displays
  • Video slide-show
  • Get-acquainted Activity
  • Games and activities upstairs, for the kids
5:30 PM
  • Dinner (provided - except for dessert)
    Barbecued Beef on Buns, Hot Dogs, Salads, Veggies, Chips, Fruit, Lemonade & Root Beer
6:30 PM
  • Family Meeting
    Issues of family interest
    Perhaps a reivew of our recent Denmark trip
    Family Trivia Game, for adults and teens
    Videos upstairs, for the kids
  • Dessert: cookies (brought by family members) and Homemade Ice Cream (provided)
7:30 PM
  • Square Dancing

SUNDAY, August 15

Due to the efforts of Irene Buehner, we have secured the use of the meeting room at the Eagle Gate Apartments, on the corner of State Street and South Temple.

9:30 AM
  • Attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir broadcast as a family group
10:00 AM
  • Walk the two blocks to the Eagle Gate Apartments
    Northeast corner of State and South Temple
10:30 AM
  • Church service of music and testimony-sharing (approx. 1.5 hours)
    Note: This is not a Sacrament Service.
    Sunday "go-to-meetin'" attire is encouraged, but not required.
  • Light refreshments served afterwards.
Quilt
Quilting

Quilt

We had a sheltered spot set up on the lawn where family members could participate in tying a baby quilt. Those who helped had their names entered in a drawing for another quilt, made beforehand by Viola Lauper Johnson and displayed nearby. I failed to do the drawing in front of everyone, as planned, but I later did it in front of several witnesses ("in the mouths of two or three...")

The winner was Marc Blocker (8 years old; great-great-grandson of Emma Lauper). The patriotic red-white-blue quilt will be sent to him.

The baby quilt will be donated to the Carmelite Monastery Humanitarian Project.

Getting to Know You

Here is the list of the descriptions and the people that fit them. Some of these descriptions are rather "unusual"!

  1. Bonnie Goodliffe, Ping Pong Champion as a youth
  2. Lawrie Greene, Showed Arabian horses
  3. Christopher Phillips, Served a mission in Albania
  4. Shane Mylar, Earned a Black Belt at age 11
  5. Amy Greene, Has broken jaw twice
  6. Richard Ahlgren, Leaves this month to serve mission in Santiago Chile Mission
  7. Glade Goodliffe, Played violin in BYU Symphony Orchestra
  8. Helen Bingham, Voted Woman of the Year in her city
  9. Marc Ellison, Has survived a bone marrow transplant
  10. Irene Buehner, The oldest living descendant of Hans AND Maria Madsen
  11. Norm Stocker, Learned to bake pies in high school
  12. Stevie Gates, Likes to read dictionaries & encyclopedias
  13. Lamont Wardle, Has an airplane in his driveway
    GetToKnow
    Getting to Know You
  14. Dennis Brown, Has traveled to Aruba
  15. Marc Lauper, Has read 13 books on military history this last year
  16. Max Davis, Has won two poetry contests
  17. Julie Lauper-Cook, Has lived in 4 foreign countries
  18. Drew Hooper, Earned a frequent flyer travel award before age 4
  19. Tom & Julie Bradley, Attended dedication of Cochabamba Bolivia Temple
  20. Crawford Gates, Is an arithmomaniac .
  21. Richard Bushman, Has driven for over 40 years but doesn't own a car
  22. Gabe Davis, Is learning to ride a unicycle
  23. Marilyn Hunsaker, Is a foster parent
  24. Brooke Storheim, Studied in London, England
  25. Doug Peterson, Recently threw an alley-oop to an NBA player
  26. Ashli Storheim, Has Hawaiian ancestry
  27. Barney Madsen, Is a lawyer with a felony charge
  28. Maddy Peterson, Usually refers to herself in the third person
  29. Lanae Hooper, Has eaten turtle casserole
  30. Sloan Hutchings, Always has to carry a gas mask while at work
  31. Jed Madsen, Attending BYU on academic scholarship but has no high school diploma
  32. Tiffany Greene, Has hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim
  33. Robert Ahlgren, Is a graduate of the Marine Corps
  34. Georgia Gates, Has danced the can can
  35. Dave Lauper, Has visited every Swiss town/area with Lauper name in its title
  36. Jack Bingham, Delivered a baby outside the delivery room
  37. Truman Madsen, Has spent 5 years in the Holy Land
  38. Sage Cook, Walked at 7 months
  39. Connie Madsen, An accomplished water color artist
  40. Claudia Bushman, Was written up in "National Enquirer"
  41. Grant Davis, Likes to surf in Central America
  42. Frank Madsen, Worked with President Reagan
  43. Summer Peterson, Teaches a volleyball class
  44. Danielle Blocker, Has been chased by a moose
  45. Laura Hutchings, Enjoys reading Harry Potter in Latin
  46. Kathy Bingham, Won cutest baby contest in Kamas, Utah
  47. Erik Storheim, Toured Australia with a rugby team
Buffet
Buffet Dinner

Attendance

Here is our best effort at counting who was there. Not everyone checked in at the registration table, so we may have missed some or made other mistakes. In particular, we failed to note down most of the names of children under the age of four. Please let me know if you have a correction. reunion@lauper.org

The names are divided into the three main branches, then by family unit. Total numbers include both adults and children.

BranchSaturdaySunday
Lauper8640
Madsen-Sorensen6321
Madsen-Tetzner470
TOTALS19661

Lauper Branch

BlockerNathan & Danielle
Marc
Tanner
Karina
BrownDennis & Shirley-Ann
Barbara
BrownEric & Karen
BushmanRichard & Claudia
DanielsonBrad
Abby
EllisonDon & Susan
David
EllisonMarc & Yvonne
Aaron
Ashley
Crystal
Justin
Sarah
GatesCrawford & Georgia
GatesStephen & Nancy
Stephen
GoodliffeGlade & Bonnie
GoodliffeStephanie
HooperLanae
Drew
Clayton
Maryn
HutchingsGib & Paulie
HutchingsSloan & Laura
KennedyElisa
Rachel
Tanner
Christian
Nate
LauperDave & Judy
Michael
Jenny
Aaron
Adam
LauperFrances
LauperJane
LauperMarc
LauperTroy & Angelina
Lauper-CookJulie
Cassandra
MinerPaul & JoAnn
MylerShane & Alyson
PetersonDavid & Linda
PetersonDavid (Jr.)
PetersonDoug & Summer
Maddy
Eliza
RodgersNatalie
Andrea
SmithJeff & guest Amy Sullivan
SmithRoger
StockerNorman & Wilma
StorheimErik & Brooke
Sam
StorheimMatt & Ashli
Isaac
Luke
StorheimSteve & guest Emmy Maloutas
WardleBecky
WardleMargaret
Lynette
Whitney

Madsen-Sorensen Branch

BinghamJack & Helen
BinghamKathy
BuehnerIrene
CornabyBrice & Stacey
Kaitlyn
Steven
DavisGrant & Mindy
Max
Molly
Gabriel
GordonRobyn
Jamison
Sequoia
Sibhana
Daemien
HuletBrian & Debra
MadsenBarney & Cynthia
Jed
Kelly
David
Caroline
MadsenBen & Jeanetta
MadsenMelanie
MadsenJ.R. & Mavis
Chris
Jeremy
MadsenTruman & Ann
MerrillMark & Alexis
Ava
MerrillPenny
MerrillScott & Robin
Allison
Erin
Jenna Marie
MerrillTaylor
MerrillTom & Nancy
Andrew
Zachary
Amelia
ShermanDarrell & Jane
Samuel
Joseph
Mark
Daniel
SudweeksMindy
McKennan
Michaela
Mitchel
TerryConnie
WhittleTrent & Susan

Madsen-Tetzner Branch

AhlgrenRalph & Michelle
Ashley
David
Jennifer
Richard
Robert
BagleyThomas & Julie
DensfordKaren
JacksonElizabeth
JacksonRichard
JacksonSteven
JacksonChristopher & Jennifer
GreeneRobert & Lawrie
Amy
Eric
GreeneRyan & Tiffany
HunsakerLawry & Marilyn
HuntsmanDavid & Michelle
Allison
Sarah
David
Annie
Mae
Elle
Daniel
JensenKent & Lisa
Zachary
MadsenFrank & Connie
MadsenDavid
MadsenDoralee
MorrillKathleen
Brie
Maddie
PhillipsChristopher & Emily
RawlingsMary Lou
RawlingsStephen & Julie

Future Reunions

In conversation with Truman Madsen and Mavis Madsen, the subject came up: "when will we do this again?" They also noted that you shouldn't "ask a woman when she's having her next child just after she's given birth"!

My response and advice is that it would be wonderful to have a get-together in the future, but on a much simpler scale. Perhaps just a dinner and a mingling activity. Anyone who wishes to step forward and take on such an activity has my support! I would also recommend that each branch have their own reunions, but offer an open invitation to members of other branches that may wish to attend.

The Laupers, without a doubt, will continue their tradition of Family Reunions. In our regular rotation, responsibility for next year's reunion falls to the Dennis Lauper Branch, headed by Marc D. Lauper. As soon as information about that reunion is known, it will be made available.

Of course, if there is to be an open invitation, there has to be open and ongoing communication. I continue to volunteer my services as a webmaster for the family website and framework that I have established. I hope that we can continue to expand the resources for family history and information that it can provide. I hope that it can be a focal point for communication and sharing.

I have created a database of addresses, but in this mobile day and age, those can quickly become obsolete. In the case of the Lauper Branch, especially, I will be actively working to keep the "arteries" open and clear (with much assistance from Georgia Gates' Lauper Family Directory). I will, of course, continue to share information with any and all members of the other Madsen branches who are interested. Perhaps there are volunteers among the Madsens who wish to also volunteer as a "Branch Manager" and focal point for family contact and/or history information??

If we wish to have strong family bonds, then we have to be willing to define the nature of those bonds and willing to make the effort to maintain those bonds. I welcome and encourage constructive suggestions and efforts to keep our family connected.

Come Again!

Please return to this site for regular updates and more items of family interest.

Upcoming items will include:

  • more reunion schedule details
  • more and better pictures
  • more items of family history
  • registration to attend the reunion
Check the What's New page for a listing of what has changed.