Orez V. Nichols invited us to attend their reunion in Alexander City, AL, on August 1st, so we headed south the latter part of July. Along the way we visited with Cousin Link in Snellville, GA. He took us to the "Blue Willow Inn" for lunch with Charlton and Gene and members of their family. (Some of you may have seen this antebellum restaurant featured in Southern Living or Guideposts.) And since Link missed his first reunion this year, we had to show him the picture book and the video tape of the happenings. (I'll bet he will be there next year so he won't have to endure that again!)

Next we visited with J. W. and Pat in Montgomery, AL. And of course we had to go on a genealogy exploring trip. They took us to Veasey Chapel in Burnout, AL, where there are many Veaseys in the cemetery. Next we visited with Harris and Doris Atwell Johnson in Opp, AL. Doris had corresponded with me at one time and sent some information on her family group. We also visited with Florence Rathel Watkins in Andalusia, AL, who had also been in contact with me in the past. They told us about a Veasey family in Dozier, AL, and we found James Edward Veasey, his wife Annie Sorrell Veasey, and their daughter Mary Jo V. Bennett, who gave us information on their family group.

We had a delightful time visiting with the Alexander City family group on Sunday, August 1st. They had about 100 members of their close kin come together for a delightful lunch in the community building in Alexander City. We were so glad to have an opportunity to meet more members of this clan and hope that more of them will join us in Hot Springs in June. Orez is the genealogist for this group and although we are sure that they are a part of our family we have a "missing link" to solve.

At this point we took off for Arkansas to meet with Nancy, Ann and Mary and families! On our way, we stopped for a bite of lunch and noticed the sign that pointed to "Cotton Plant," Arkansas! Well now, Cousin Leroy of Kentucky had been bugging me and Ann Whitledge to contact this family and find out what our connection might be. You know how Leroy is about finding new kinfolks! So we made a phone call to Sandra Veazey and met she and her husband Billy Cliff Veazey after lunch. They had the John Chambliss Veazey (950) family Bible and we were able to plug that group right in. J. C. Veazey was a member of the 18th Mississippi Calvary from Tate County, and we have verified that he did serve under the command of Nathan Bedford Forrest.

While in Arkansas we were the houseguests of Nancy V. Barrantine and her family. We enjoyed dinner at Ann's church with extended cousins and discussed plans for the 1999 reunion. We went to Hot Springs and visited the museum in Sheridan, Arkansas. We are sure that everyone will enjoy a visit to Hot Springs in June of 1999 for our 7th reunion.