A FAMILY TRADITION: CHURCH IS FOCAL POINT OF VANDIVORT REUNIONS

When 92-year-old Julia Vandivort was growing up in Cape Girardeau, she said it was small enough that you knew just about everybody, and the Vandivort family name was just another name.

"We didn't have any special authority because of our name," she said. "We're all equal."

On Saturday, Vandivort meant something more when approximately 80 relatives traveling from New Jersey, California and other states gathered at Christ Episcopal Church for a family reunion.

The reunions have brought relatives to the church for more than 100 years, said Vandivort, who lives in Kirkwood, Mo.

"My grandmother had them, and my mother continued to have reunions," she said.

Linda Vandivort has been coming to Cape Girardeau for reunions for 31 years, one year more than she has been married. The first time was a test, she said.

"The family was probably checking me out more than I was checking them out," she said.

The church has been a focal point for family members for generations. As Vandivorts or those who married into the name took turns telling stories of family history Saturday, most were centered on the church.

Martha Poe changed her religion to become a Vandivort. She was a Methodist until she met Russell "Bucky" Vandivort.

"I fell in love with the prayer book, and I fell in love with the boy," she said.

Julia recalled her mother gathering her six brothers and sisters for church every week. No one missed a service, she said.

Midnight services on Christmas eve were special, said Paul Stein, Julia's son. Children in the family were not allowed to attend the services until they were teen-agers. The church made coming of age more special, he said.

Marty Johnson, a son of one of Julia's sisters, keeps a photograph of the church in the foyer of his Michigan home.

Even the Vandivort dog, Spot, attended church in the 1910s.

As relatives recall, the dog would jump on the running board of the family's Nash Roadster to ride to church, much to the disgust of C.A. Vandivort, Julia's father.

When the family attended church in Jackson, Mo., one Sunday, the dog got out late and walked to church. Stein said he was told how Spot took his place under the family pew and growled at anyone who tried to take a seat.

Martha said she still enjoys hearing about Spot.

"I've heard that dog story so many times now, I believe it was true," she said.