Jonathan Willard III Grave with DAR Marker 
REUNION 2004
--- AUGUST 20 AND 21, SACO, MAINE
On August 20th, 2004 the beautiful Down east town of Saco Maine welcomed members of the Willard Family Association of America for their 96th annual reunion
Headquarters for this year’s reunion was the Hampton Inn in Saco.
We continued our new feature of a Hospitality suite where attendees could gather between scheduled events. This proved to be very well received and was often utilized. Hopefully we will be able to continue this feature at future reunions.
Formalities began with registration and a social hour where old friendships were renewed. At 7:00 PM we all sat down to a wonderful choice of fresh Maine lobster or New York strip steak. We used a local caterer [Norman’s Cake and Catering] whose food was excellent and very tasty.
After dinner the group was treated to a wonderful talk by Charles Butler, a member of the Saco-Biddeford Historical Society. Mr. Butler talked about how the Willard’s were involved with the early settlement of the area. Rev. Samuel Willard (# 52 in the 1915 Willard Genealogy) was ordained at Biddeford Maine in 1730. His Cousin Samuel Willard (# 52a in the 1915 Willard Genealogy) a cordwainer by trade, was another early settler to the area. Both raised large families. At this period in history Maine was part of Massachusetts.
After Mr. Butler’s talk some of us returned to the Hospitality suite for more socializing and catching up on family news.On Saturday morning, the formal annual meeting began with a briefing of the past year’s happenings and the state of the organization as a whole. Annual reports were given by the President, the Newsletter Editor, the Secretary, Historian, Webmaster and the Treasurer (by Bill Willard). Motions were made to accept these reports which were carried unanimously.
During “new business,” 3rd. Vice President Julia Hendy opened discussion on the new Bylaws, copies of which were mailed out with the Spring Newsletter. The new Bylaws were written to bring the association more inline with the 21st. Century. A motion was made by members attending to accept the new Bylaws as written. The motion was carried unanimously. At the 2005 annual reunion we will be voting on the new Constitution. A very well done to the Bylaws Committee headed by Alan Spooner and Judy Hendy.
After the annual meeting Karen Willard, the WFA Computer Archivist gave a wonderful talk on using computer technology while working on your family genealogy. Afterwards many complimented Karen on a wonderful; job well done.
Next on the Agenda was a light buffet lunch by the same caterer which again was excellent.
We had planned an afternoon boat ride along the Maine coast but unfortunately one of the engines on the boat had broken down so the trip had to be cancelled.