|
| Home |
| Civil War Project |
| Goodenow DNA Project |
| Sudbury Cemetery |
| Membership |
| History |
| Genealogy |
| Reunions |
| Publications |
| Goodenows' Ghosts |
| Contacts |
| Useful Links |
The dates for the 2026 GFA Reunion and other details have been set, so participants can save the dates and start planning now. The official portion of the Reunion will start on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, with the Welcome dinner at 6 pm (preceded by cocktails thirty minutes earlier). The Reunion will conclude with the Farewell banquet on Saturday, August 1, 2026, at 6 pm, with pre-meal cocktails at 5:30 pm.
The optional pre-reunion ("Early-Bird") activities will begin on Monday morning, July 27, 2026, so plan to arrive on Sunday, July 26, and check in to the hotel, relax, take a swim in the hotel pool, meet other family members, opt for dinner, a drink, chat, etc. etc.
The reunion hotel is the Four Points by Sheraton near the Kansas City International Airport. The address is 11832 NW Plaza Circle, Kansas City, MO 64153. The phone number to make reservations is 816-464-2345 and we have reserved a block of rooms, with one and two beds, at approximately the same price as the last reunion - $112 per night plus tax. The hotel offers a 24-hour-a-day shuttle to and from the airport. Reservations may be made now.
Hotel amenities include a swimming pool, a restaurant with reasonable prices, a bar, and fitness center. The Four Points will provide us with a meeting space for our entire stay and the same room will be used for our group meals on Wednesday and Saturday evenings.
Breakfast is not included in the price of the room, but there is a morning buffet available each day. The article below details the 2026 GFA Reunion activities planned. Registration forms, with all costs, will be distributed to GFA members who send in a Pre-Registration form, as we get closer to the event.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact David Pendleton, 2026 GFA reunion coordinator, at PKUJayhawk@gmail.com or 913-378-3324.
Most of the details for the 2026 GFA Reunion in Kansas City were published in the August edition of Goodenows' Ghosts (pages 53-54), but I do have a couple of updates to share: the Kansas City Royals baseball team has published its 2026 schedule and they will be out of town during the Reunion week. However, the Kansas City Monarchs, an independent minor league team, has not yet published its schedule, and if they are in town, we may be able to attend one of their games in the evening that week. The Monarchs have a small but beautiful stadium with family-friendly prices.
Here is a quick synopsis of the week's activities.
Arrival day for those participating in the pre-reunion activities. Check in at the hotel, meet your relatives, and enjoy the pool, gym, or other amenities at the hotel.
In the morning, we will visit the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum. There is no entry fee, though special exhibitions do cost extra. After lunch, we will visit the Steamboat Arabia Museum>. In the 1870s, a steamboat sank in the river on its way to western Kansas. It was rediscovered and the items it was carrying were preserved. You can still watch the curators at work while seeing what daily life required on the frontier. Tuesday, 28 July 2026: We will begin our day at the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm. It was a stagecoach stop on the Santa Fe Trail dating from the 1860s and 1870s. It is a living history museum and there may be reenactors on site. After lunch, we will visit the Hallmark Visitor Center. This is free, and we will learn how a young boy with two shoe boxes of postcards arrived in Kansas City in the early 1900s and turned that into a billion-dollar business.
The day will begin with a trip to see the National World War I Museum & Memorial. This has been the #1 tourist attraction in the metropolitan Kansas City area for over a decade. We will have a two-hour tour with an experienced guide. Depending on the number in our group, we may have to split in half. After lunch, we will visit the National Museum of Toys & Miniatures. This museum is for young and old alike. Everyone, no matter their age, will be brought back to their childhood.
A Welcome Dinner kicks off the official part of the GFA reunion. The evening will begin with drinks, followed by a meal. A guest speaker, the head of the National Frontier Trails Museum, will address the group. (We will be visiting that museum later in the week.)
The GFA business meeting will be held in the morning. In the afternoon, those with stories to tell will have the opportunity to do so. The Thursday evening program is still to be determined.
The morning will be spent at the National Frontier Trails Museum. During the last reunion, we heard about the Donner Trail. Now we will learn how the Westport/Independence area was the starting point for many trails leading West - Santa Fe, California, Oregon, and others. After lunch we will visit the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, which was renovated recently. For those interested, tours are conducted at the Truman House (with limited numbers per tour).
The morning will be spent visiting up to three area cemeteries where Goodenows are buried. If necessary, the afternoon can be used for a continuation of the business meeting. The farewell dinner will conclude the reunion, with cocktails beforehand.
No scheduled reunion activities. Hopefully, no internet glitches or outages disrupting our plans!
The
city slogan of Reno, NV.
Comstock Cemetery, outside of Virginia City, NV.
Hal Cutler
points out the sign for The Delta Saloon 1876, in Virginia City, NV.
A 1907 map of Reno, Nevada. Reno will be the site of the 2024 GFA
Reunion.
|
Springfield, IL Celebrating Our Family in “The Land of Lincoln”
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Sudbury, Massachusetts – 2018 The 2018 GFA Reunion marked the 380th anniversary of the arrival of John, Thomas and Ursula Goodenow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It has been 30 years since the first GFA reunion. Dorothy Goodenow Ruddock came to Sudbury Plantation in 1639 as the wife of John Ruddock. The GFA’s 30th anniversary reunion also celebrated the 380th anniversary of the Goodnow immigrants. The 46 folks who attended all or part of the gathering enjoyed visits to Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth Rock, Lexington and Concord, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, a welcome dinner at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, a day trip to Kennebunk, Maine, and sites in around Sudbury related to the 1638 immigrants and their descendants. Thanks to Reunion Coordinators Hal and Betsey Cutler. See the August 2018 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts for details. [photograph: group in front of the Goodnow Library in Sudbury, MA] |
 |
|
|
|
|
Flagstaff, Arizona - 2016 The GFA’s 2016 reunion allowed attendees to explore classic American West landscapes, including the Wukoki Pueblo, Sunset Crater Volcano, the Grand Canyon, Walnut Canyon, Sedona and its Red Rocks and Vortexes, Meteor Crater, and Winslow, Arizona. Thanks to Reunion Coordinator John T. Goodnough. The August 2016 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts includes more details and photographs. [photograph: group shot at Grand Canyon overlook] |
 |
|
|
|
Grand Rapids, Michigan - 2014A group of 32 family members visited Goodenow
sites in Lundington, Hart and Grand Haven; the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and
Albion, MI; the Frederik Meijers Gardens and Sculpture Park; the
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum; and a “Dutch Heritage Tour” in
Holland, MI. Six couples opted for a “bonus” add-on tour of Upper
Michigan, visiting Carol and Bob Goodenough’s cottage on Lake
Charlevoix and on to Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks in Sault Ste.
Marie, and the Whitefish Bay Lighthouse and Shipwreck Museum. Thanks
to Reunion Coordinators Carol and Bob Goodenough.
The August 2014 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts includes more
details and photographs.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Washington, DC - 2012 This reunion attracted 49 family members, who bore
through the July heat and paid visits to such landmarks as Mount
Vernon, the Clara Barton National Historic Site, the National Museum
of Civil War Medicine, Fort McHenry (“birthplace” of the
Star-Spangled Banner), a historic home (Cherry Grove) that was
likely part of the Underground Railroad, Lincoln’s Summer Cottage,
and the Arlington National Cemetery. A small group made an excursion
to Antietam Battlefield. Thanks to Reunion Coordinator John T.
Goodnough. The August 2012 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts includes more
details and photographs. [photograph: Top - group photo Bottom - ClaraBartonHouse |
  |
|
|
|
|
Salt Lake City - 2010 A total of 44 family members and friends explored
sites in Salt Lake City such as the Latter Day Saints’ Family
History Library, Temple Square, Conference Center and the Joseph
Smith Building; Kennecott Copper Mine, the Golden Spike National
Historic Site in Promontory, Utah, and enjoyed a concert by the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Thanks to Reunion Coordinators Shawn and
Virginia Doyle. The August 2010 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts includes
more details and photographs. |
 |
|
|
|
Sudbury, MA - July 2008The GFA’s 20th anniversary
reunion also honored of the 370th anniversary of the arrival of the
immigrants to Sudbury. Those who attended visited area sites and
attractions such as Lexington and Concord, Sturbridge Village,
Boston’s Freedom Trail, a whale watch, the Lamson & Goodnow factory
in Shelburne Falls, and
the Goodnough Dike at Quabbin Reservoir. Thanks to Reunion
Coordinators Hal and Betsey Cutler. See the August 2008 issue of
Goodenows'
Ghosts for details. [photograph: group shot at boulder etched with “Goodenough Dike”] |
 |
|
|
|
England - July 2007Twenty four GFA members traveled to England to visit some of the sites associated with the Goodenow immigrants in the 1600's. Places visited include Arundel and Old Wardour Castles, churches in Ebbesbourne Wake, Donhead St. Andrew, Donhead St. Mary, Semley and Shaftesbury, Salisbury Cathedral, Old Sarum, Stonehenge, Isle of Wight and museums in Dorchester and Chichester. The Early Bird program included a double decker bus tour of London and tours of Hampton Court and Windsor Castle. A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to meet Jenny Potter, GFA's U.K.-based genealogist, and hear first-hand of her activities and progress in finding traces of our English forbears in the 16th and 17th centuries. See the August 2007 issue of Goodenow's Ghosts for more pictures and essays contributed by the travelers plus an in-depth account of Ms. Potter's research in England. [photograph: group shot in front of Parliament building] |
 |
|
|
|
South Africa - August 2003Eighteen GFA members plus five family friends attended the Great South African Adventure in August 2003 hosted by Stanton Goodenough, GFA president. Stan, who lives in the Howick area of South Africa, led the group on a trek across the country from Cape Town to Durban to Kruger Park, visiting landmarks such as Table Mountain, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for nearly 27 years), the Cape of Good Hope, battlegrounds in Natal where the British and Zulus clashed and a Zulu cultural center. Highlights of the trip included a tour of the oldest black township near Capetown and a memorable visit to Adams Mission (now a school) where Stan's great-grandparents were missionaries to the Zulus in the 1880's. Four days were spent at the world-famous Kruger National Wildlife Park where the group quickly spotted the big five (buffalo, elephant, lion, rhino and leopard) and a host of other wild creatures in natural habitat. Some of the group continued on to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe for an additional adventure. See the November 2003 issue of Goodenows' Ghosts for a detailed account of the tour. [photograph: group shot at Cape of Good Hope] |
 |
|
|
|
Seattle Reunion and Alaska Cruise - July 2002More than 60 GFA members gathered in Seattle for the "North by Northwest" Reunion in July 2002. Sightseeing excursions were arranged to notable Seattle sites such as Mt. Rainier, Pike Place Markets, Snoqualmie Falls, the Space Needle and Mount St. Helens. After the reunion, half of the group journeyed together to Vancouver to board Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas for a 7-day cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska. Three ports of call were visited -- Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan -- as well as the Hubbard Glacier and the Misty Fiords. See the November 2002 issue of Goodenows' Ghostsfor pictures. |
|
|
|
|
England - 1996
The Goodenow Family members embarked on the inaugural trip to the
West Country of England to visit the ancestral home of the Goodenow
immigrants.
| |