Oberg Family Reunion 2005
We had a great time!
The Oberg Family Reunion was held on Saturday and Sunday, August 27-28, 2005. We got together at the Holiday Inn in Jamestown, New York. Overall we had about 35 people attend. Included were:
  • Grand children of Charles Oberg (Waltons from Houston, TX; and Obergs from Modesto, CA and Cranberry Township, PA)
  • Great grand children and great great grand children of Althea Oberg Lawson (Crickards from Amhesrt, NY; Petersons from Jamestown, NY; Tubbs from Jamestown, NY; and Simons from Fredonia, NY)
  • Grand children and great grand children of Peter Henry Oberg (Yendalls from Tonawanda, NY; Figinis from Buffalo, NY; Stensons from Goshen, NY; Romers from Ithaca, NY; and Obergs from Snyder, NY; Jamestown, NY; and Fairfield, CA)
We had breakfast Saturday morning on Lake Chautauqua at the Viking Club pavilion. Was a bit chilly and windy (low 60s, overcast) but everyone had a good introduction and filled up on Swedish pastries and home made Saffron bread (about a month's worth of carbs and sugar in two hours :). Later that morning the historic home tour went off really well. The most fascinating house along the route seemed to be the home of Peter Magnus Mansson Rubin and Fredericka Rubin at 254 Willard Street. It was the oldest house (1850's) and had some unusual features. Bradley Oberg is an architect and explained the various construction features of each house that we visited.
One interesting stop along the way was at 21 Highland Street, former home of Axel Oberg. We got brave and went up and knocked on the door. An older gentleman came out and was very friendly and talkative about the house's history. His name is Marshall Dahlin and he is the production manager of the Lucille Ball Theater in Jamestown. He said he had bought the home from Anna Nelson (formerly Anna Oberg - Mrs. Axel Oberg) in 1953. Now we have a second married name for her to see if we can track down some more info on Axel, maybe a picture.
By the time we finished the tour it was amazing, everyone was laughing and joking, like we had all been close family for years. There seems to be a really strong family bond even though many of us were meeting face to face for the first time. We ended up at a Friendly's restaurant in downtown Jamestown for lunch. We found that the Oberg blood line has some interesting similarities. We noted strong personalities but easy going lifestyles, pretty stubborn but love to hear the ideas of others, conservative small town values but caring hearts and generous wallets, can be businesslike but love a good joke, and love to laugh. The family has a wide range of occupations including engineers, architects, electricians, technicians, draftsmen, musicians, artists, business and sales professionals, and a few professional computer geeks [like your webmaster].
Pictures from Breakfast
Pictures from the Dinner
The dinner buffet was excellent (beef/chicken/pasta/veggies/dessert) and the White Elephant Sale/Auction was great fun and a lot of laughs. Rob Yendall did an excellent job as auctioneer. Everything from a pair of handcuffs, glasses with the slinky spring eyes, to a pig puppet, to an old ceiling light fixture, to some really nice gift store type items were sold. These were all wrapped so no one knew what they were getting. Raised about $200 to kick start the treasury for the next reunion. People stayed until 10:30pm browsing the genealogical notebooks (up to 6 - 2 inch binders now) and sharing stories. Others brought their own older pictures, many of which were donated to the Oberg historical archives.
The brunch on Sunday was well attended (22) and we made plans for the next country (world) wide reunion. We decided to have them every two years, the next being in 2007. There may be some smaller East and West coast get-togethers on the even years. The 2007 reunion may include a chartered boat ride on Lake Chautauqua with dinner on the boat. One cabdidate is the 'Summerwind', which holds 70-80 people, and sails from a dock in the hometown of Lucille Ball, Celeron, NY. The exact date is still being determined but will probably be in late August.