Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

150 Attend Pye Family Reunion At Fairground

150 relatives and friends attended the Pye family reunion over the course of June 30 through July 4. 1962 was the last time there had been a Pye reunion in Prescott. Needless to say, there was a lot of catching up to do.

The reunion was held at the Nevada County Fairgrounds building. It was decorated red, white and blue to observe the national holiday.

Tables were covered with red and blue stars on white background. The center pieces for the tables were Arkansas wild flowers, Queen Anne's lace and yellow black-eyed Susans with two America flags in each cobalt blue vase.

The stage background was decorated with the theme Busy As a Bee,' sharing honey bees and sunflowers.

There was a door prize table filled with Arkansas goodies, such as Arkansas honey, Arkansas barbecue sauce and other items. Some family crafts were given as door prizes. Cousin Helen Swope of Brewerton, Wash., brought a wreath made from family history items, pictures and red, white and blue. Cousin Patsy Womble of Prescott won the wreath.

The registry table was also decorated with red, white and blue as the guests signed in and recorded their addresses. They each got a name tag, which was in the shape of a piece of pie (Pye). The color of the tag matched the color on the big Pye chart, divided into eleven sections of pie, each color representing one of the eleven children born to Ned and Mary Pye. Their individual color of tag was their line of the genealogy Pye. Also on the registry table were eleven colors of straight pins. You chose the color that matched your name tag and then stuck it in the wall hung map of the United States on the location of the city and state in which you lived.

The speaker's table was decorated red, white and blue and held old family photos, including a picture of great Grandpa Ned Pye, at one end. Current pictures of family were on the other end of the table. At each end of the table were easels, the right end holding the Pye  pie chart showing the color and sections representing the 11 children of Ned and Mary Pye. The left end easel held pictures of Pleasant Hill Cemetery, where many Pye family members have been buried.

Friday night, June 30, there was a hayride led by Gaylon and Lois Wilson. It started at Aunt Corine Brown's house in the country. The children really enjoyed the horses. Gaylon also brought horses for them to ride the rest of the weekend. These kids won't forget their good time in Prescott. After the trail ride was an ice cream supper.

Saturday, July 1, at 11 a.m. the program kicked off with special guest Rachel Dougan of Prescott singing the Star Spangled Banner, as all pledged old glory. What a great time of year to share your blessings and family news.

Following that was a delicious potluck meal. About 1:00 p.m. the program was presented. A few funny pranks were pulled on new-found cousin, Montana Man from Montana of course. Cousin Billy Ray Pye was presented with a plaque to let him know how much he is appreciated by the family. He always knows when we are sick or there is a death. He just shows up out of the blue.

Tributes were give to Uncle Rick Dye, deceased, by having his son Roger Dye of Antioch, Calif., play on his guitar for those gathered. The song Uncle Rick always sang every summer they came to Arkansas to visit was I Wanna Go Home, I Wanna Go Home, Oh, How I Wanna Go Home.

Cousin F.B. Ward from Louisiana attended school in Prescott a few years back. He demonstrated his talents on the piano. He played Chattanooga Shoe Shine Boy as a tribute to Uncle Wendell Brown, deceased, who was so very talented on the piano. It Wendell walked into a room with a piano in it, he always went over and played that tune. All four of Wendell's children and all his grandchildren were present at the reunion.

Treasured cousins who won the oldest man and oldest lady were Jerrell McCain, 86, of Little Rock was the oldest man. He received an old time radio music box. There were two oldest ladies, Gertrude Pye Firmin of Prescott and Nell Anderson of Shreveport, La. They were both born on July 4 and were 87. They received an old time radio music box, which played the tune, In The Summertime.'The youngest was baby Marissa Swope, 18 months, of Gig Harbor, Wash. She received a baby bottle filled with candy.

Driving the farthest were Bill and Helen Swop of Bremerton, Wash., which was 2,387 miles. They were awarded a Prescott Gilbert Lumber Company yard stick, which said, Came the farthest Pye Reunion 2000.' Their son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Kathy Swope of Gig Harbor, Wash. were at a close second at 2,367 miles. Flying from Montana were Kay Lee, Don Lee and Julie Jordan, who traveled 1,400 miles, and Roger Dye and Michael Dye flew 1,893 miles from San Francisco. Each of the flyers received an Arkansas Razorback coin purse with a penny in it. They were told, "We wouldn't want you to go home broke."

The famous singing fish'  Billy Bass was the prize for the best story told, which was told by Helen Swope, about the time she went hunting with her husband, Bill. After Bill had helped her line up her sights on the deer, she shot her gun. Low and behold she had shot the dear old truck  Bill's truck. (Of course there were lots of humor as she told the actual story.)

The men's hairy leg contest was won by Roger Dye. His prize was a bottle of Razor-back hair removal.

The baldest man contest was won by Gaylon Wilson. He received a comb with no teeth on the top and a hair brush with no bristles.

A few stories were told about the old Arkansas outhouses and the night time slop jars. Some out-of-state cousins had never had such an experience as we here in Arkansas.

Cousin Mark Ward of Missouri City, Texas, presented a wonderful presentation of the Pye family genealogy mixed with some old family stories and history. He was so informative. His cousins thanked him by giving him a jug of Arkansas honey.

The rest of Saturday was enjoyed by lots of family singing, individual talent and guitar playing (pickin-n-grinning) and joke telling. That carried through to Saturday night's potluck.

Sunday noon was potluck and in the afternoon a circle of cousins enjoyed singing and such. Several cousins went out and found cemeteries many did not know about. Some of the older ancestors are buried there.

Things slowed down on Monday and Tuesday with sandwich potluck and watching reunion videos.

Those who attended are listed below after the name of their ancestor in the line of the family where they fit in that was one of the eleven pieces of the Pye-pie.

Percy Pye - none present.

Florence Pye Bensel - Kathleen Lee and Julie Jordan of Miles City, Mont., and Don Lee of Shelby, Mont.

William Code Pye - none present.

Maude Pye Barringer - none present.

Nell Pye Ward - F.B. Ward and Joann of Natchitoches, La., Barbara McCoy of Monroe, La., Mark Ward of Missouri City, Texas, Faye Ward Anderson of Shreveport, La., Martha Rike Eckley, Gaily Barfield son and three grandchildren,all of Rowery Branch, Ga.Horace Pye - Billy Ray and Margie Pye of Malvern and Melissa, Milton, Terrye and Brian Franklin.

Mattie Pye Brown - (a) Clyda McKinnon, deceased. Her attending descendants were Thomas McKinnon of Prescott; Nancy McAteer of Waldo; Becky McKinnon Hooker of Pagosa Springs, Colo., Gracey Leamons of Arkadelphia, Autumn and Mitch Pennington of Gurdon; Mary and John Cobb of Texarkana; Mike and Tami Cottingham; Kim and Shelbi Cottingham; and Fred Joyce all of Prescott; Ralph and Belinda McKinnon, Beverly, Caitlin and Kellen Stockton of Prescott; Judy Martin, Shanda and Lane Martin all of Prescott; Mandy Joe and Brian Harris; Joan and Donnie Barton all of Prescott; Toby Barton of Conway and his fiancee Kristi Marcum of North Little Rock; (b) Naomi Brown Harris - Juantez Calley of Murfreesboro; Billie and Red McCain, Barbara and Gary Lowdermilk, Whitney, Bonnie and Bobby Smith all of Prescott; Kelli Smith of Dallas, Texas; Jon and Robbie Price of Edmond, Okla.; Jane Presley of Hot Springs Village and grandchildren Hannah, Bekah and Caleb Presley of Kingsport, Tenn.; guest Bonnie and Jill Tipton of Star City; (c) Marie Brown Wilson, deceased - Kellett and Polly May Williams of Pearland, Texas; Melanie May and Andrea Finley of Houston, Texas; Gaylon and Lois Wilson of McCaskill; Tommy, Kim, Danelle and Cameron Wilson of Prescott; Patsy and Billy Womble, Shannon Callicott all of Prescott; Jerry and Dorothy Wilson of Prescott; Frank Wilson and Margie Lucas of Prescott; (d) Wayne Brown, deceased - Corine Brown and Barbara Scott of Prescott; Larry Scott of Minneapolis, Minn.; Carrie, Richard, Jeremy and Samantha Wood of Malvern; Boyce Wayne, Missy, Michael, Jade Brown and Jill of Hope; Helen and Bill Swope of Brewerton, Wash.; Kevin, Kathy, Cassie, Michael, Marissa, Karissa Swope of Gig Harbor, Wash.; (e) Wendell Brown, deceased - John and Wendy Wesson, Whitney and Johnny Wesson of Fayetteville; Phil and Windy Brown, Brittany and Candice Brown of Ft. Smith; Larry, Rhonda, Wade, Wesley and Lee Brown of Prescott; Gary and Donna Brown of Benton; Crystal, Lunnie, Brandy Edmonson and son of Little Rock; and (f) Roger Dye and Michael Dye of Antioch, Calif.

Laure Pye McCain - Jerrell McCain of Little Rock, Lynda McCain Fausett of Little Rock; Erica McCain of New London, Minn.

Bernice Pye - Mary Pye Petty, Martha and Jillien Otts, Rodney, Cathy and Landon Petty, Nikki Lackey and Johnathan, Gary and Nina Pye, Bob Pye and Evelyn all of Malvern.

Lyndon Donald Pyle - none present.

Opal Pye Honea - none present.

Cousins Gertrude Pye Firmin and Sue Pye Thomason of Prescott and Kay Haynie Sirmon of De Queen. were present. Guests were Margaret Ivey and Gertie Meadow of Prescott.

The next Pye reunion is to be the summer of 2002 in Montana. Pack your bags.