Huntington, WV 150th Time Capsule
Huntington, WV 150th Anniversary Time Capsule
Submitted by: Sherry Mickel Parrish
Past President of the Kfeirian Reunion Foundation
The Kfeirian Reunion Foundation, Inc.: Our History, Our Story
September 7, 2021
Since the turn of the 20th century, a group of courageous sons and daughters from Kfeir, a small village in Lebanon, left their homeland in pursuit of a dream in America. They began having informal gatherings in the late 1920s to reminisce about their land and their roots. They founded the Kfeirian Brotherhood and later changed the name to the Kfeirian Reunion Foundation, Inc. and pledged to meet each year with their families, ensuring that their descendants would carry on their traditions. Although their descendants have spread far and wide, the Kfeirian Reunion continues in their memory today. The Kfeirian members come from across the U.S., Canada, and around the world. Family names living in the area were: Abraham, Basset, Bokair, Bolus, Corey, George, Ghiz, Haddad, Hage, Hanna, Hawarny, Hodge, Joseph, Michael, Mickel, Nasser, Rahal, Saad, Thabet, Thabit and Tweel.
We hold our annual Kfeirian Reunion in various cities every Labor Day weekend. Although we have had our reunions in various cities across the United States, we have always known that West Virginia is our home base and often come back to either Huntington or Charleston for major reunions.
The year of this submission to the time capsule, 2021, we will be celebrating our 89th reunion via a Zoom conference call due to the continuing pandemic outbreak of the COVID-19 virus which began in March 2020.
Over those past 89 years of reunions, Huntington has hosted more than 30 reunions including the 50th Anniversary Reunion, hosted by George Hanna, that was held at the Holiday Inn in 1982. For the 50th reunion, approximately 750 people attended the reunion from all over the United States, Canada and the British West Indies.
We have big plans for 2022, our 90th reunion which is to bring us back together face-to-face in the newly renovated Double Tree located in Huntington, WV. We will be bringing back old traditions to create new memories for those in attendance. Having the reunion in West Virginia brings us back to our roots and to the area were our founders started it all. Please visit our website at kfeir.com to learn more about our Kfeirian heritage. A history of our organization is archived at Marshall University.
We are quickly approaching our 90th anniversary in 2022, and plans have begun to gather in Huntington, WV on Labor Day weekend. I am uncertain if our forefathers expected that we would continue this tradition 90 years later, but I am certain that they would be proud we did. We are on the doorsteps of our 100th anniversary which we will celebrate in 2032.
“We are an ancestry of many names, and one heritage!”
The first photo below dates back to 1933 is considered to be from the first official Kfeirian Reunion which was held right here in Huntington, WV. Of the 82 total people in the picture, we have only been able to identify 36 of them. Of the 36 identified, 14 were from Huntington, WV.
Submitted by: Sherry Mickel Parrish
Past President of the Kfeirian Reunion Foundation
The Kfeirian Reunion Foundation, Inc.: Our History, Our Story
September 7, 2021
Since the turn of the 20th century, a group of courageous sons and daughters from Kfeir, a small village in Lebanon, left their homeland in pursuit of a dream in America. They began having informal gatherings in the late 1920s to reminisce about their land and their roots. They founded the Kfeirian Brotherhood and later changed the name to the Kfeirian Reunion Foundation, Inc. and pledged to meet each year with their families, ensuring that their descendants would carry on their traditions. Although their descendants have spread far and wide, the Kfeirian Reunion continues in their memory today. The Kfeirian members come from across the U.S., Canada, and around the world. Family names living in the area were: Abraham, Basset, Bokair, Bolus, Corey, George, Ghiz, Haddad, Hage, Hanna, Hawarny, Hodge, Joseph, Michael, Mickel, Nasser, Rahal, Saad, Thabet, Thabit and Tweel.
We hold our annual Kfeirian Reunion in various cities every Labor Day weekend. Although we have had our reunions in various cities across the United States, we have always known that West Virginia is our home base and often come back to either Huntington or Charleston for major reunions.
The year of this submission to the time capsule, 2021, we will be celebrating our 89th reunion via a Zoom conference call due to the continuing pandemic outbreak of the COVID-19 virus which began in March 2020.
Over those past 89 years of reunions, Huntington has hosted more than 30 reunions including the 50th Anniversary Reunion, hosted by George Hanna, that was held at the Holiday Inn in 1982. For the 50th reunion, approximately 750 people attended the reunion from all over the United States, Canada and the British West Indies.
We have big plans for 2022, our 90th reunion which is to bring us back together face-to-face in the newly renovated Double Tree located in Huntington, WV. We will be bringing back old traditions to create new memories for those in attendance. Having the reunion in West Virginia brings us back to our roots and to the area were our founders started it all. Please visit our website at kfeir.com to learn more about our Kfeirian heritage. A history of our organization is archived at Marshall University.
We are quickly approaching our 90th anniversary in 2022, and plans have begun to gather in Huntington, WV on Labor Day weekend. I am uncertain if our forefathers expected that we would continue this tradition 90 years later, but I am certain that they would be proud we did. We are on the doorsteps of our 100th anniversary which we will celebrate in 2032.
“We are an ancestry of many names, and one heritage!”
The first photo below dates back to 1933 is considered to be from the first official Kfeirian Reunion which was held right here in Huntington, WV. Of the 82 total people in the picture, we have only been able to identify 36 of them. Of the 36 identified, 14 were from Huntington, WV.
In 2019 for the 87th Reunion, our last face-to-face gathering before the pandemic of 2020 (COVID-19) we gathered in West Virginia, to enjoy our Kfeirian traditions.