Bio: Marg Family (Reunion - 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Marg, Helm

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co, WI) /2013

Marg Family (Reunion - 2013)

The Marg family reunion was held July 20, 2013, at the family homestead on Granton Road. Don Marg hosted the affair with the help of his brother Irvin, his daughter Cindy and his sister.

After grace was said by Terry Marg, an ordained minister, everyone enjoyed an excellent potluck meal that included Aunt Lilly’s strawberry jelly roll and blitz torte. Cool beverages were on ice in a galvanized tub, which many years earlier had bathed many of the cousins when they were small enough to fit into it.

Prizes were then awarded for the oldest attendee, Everett Marg, 92. The prize was Blackberry jam, reminiscent of the blackberries many of the cousins remembered picking on the farm. The youngest participant, Ivy, age 3, received a stuffed toy puppy. The first arrival received a bag of Gummi worms for being the “early bird.” The latest arrival received a Slo-Poke sucker. The one, who came the farthest from Alabama, received a cushion for the trip home. One cousin claimed to come from Virginia, then allowed as how Virginia was his mother’s name, so he was disqualified. The person with the longest hair won a prize - not Terry, whose long beard did not qualify. The one with the least hair - that was a tough vote. The one with the shaven head was disqualified. The winner received a bristle-less hairbrush.

Caroline Helm then described some old documents that were uncovered in the preparation for this reunion. The farm was in the family for 125 years, since 1888, according to the records. She also read the life lease from August and Bertha Marg to his parents, Frederich and Henrietta Marg, which included exclusive use of one room in the house, 30 bushels of potatoes a year, 200 pounds of pork, five pounds of wool, six laying hens and stable space for one milk cow (with a replacement should the cow die.)

Family by family, group photos were taken. Then a wagon pulled by a tractor took attendees on rides around the acreage. After three hours poring over photographs updating records, eating, laughing and sharing memories, the Marg’s’ drifted off for another year or two.