STORYTELLING ENRICHES REUNION

Harriett Smith, resplendent in a white muslin dress once worn by her great-great-great-grandmother, promised to have a story even Scarlett O'Hara would have trouble topping.

Smith offered plenty of evidence to lend credence to such a statement while portraying Sarah Bollinger Frizel Dougherty during the 38th Vandivort family reunion at the Cape Girardeau Country Club Saturday.

Smith paid homage to the 193-year-old history and spirit of a woman who was called a witch by the Yankees in the 1800s, owned the first piano west of the Mississippi and wore the first wonder bra.

"Beverly, and Julia Jane and Leslie, and all the rest of you career women, I know what it is to be a business woman under the most primitive conditions," Smith said to family members while portraying Sarah.

"This was a very strong woman," Smith said with conviction. "She had musical talent and a sharp sense of business that has been handed down through generations."

Smith brought such talents alive through her storytelling.

"Since I am part of the second generation of this family, it's important that the story of Sarah be told to the third generation," Smith said before her presentation. "If we keep that tradition alive, there will be those from the next generation who will hand it down to the ones that follow."

The reunion, which spans the entire Fourth of July weekend in Cape Girardeau, included a golf tournament, skeet shooting competition, fireworks and a changing of the guard.

"This is a turning point in the family reunion because Rita Vandivort will no longer organize this event," Smith said. "She has done a tremendous job over the years, but now that she plans to retire to Chateau Girardeau, it's time for someone else to assume the same responsibilities."

The 73 who attended the reunion represented four generations of Vandivorts scattered from New Jersey to California, from the state of Washington to Florida and many states in between.

Every year the clan gathers in Cape Girardeau during Fourth of July weekend to renew a family bond, have fun and discuss business. The Vandivorts have a family farming business that includes 2,500 acres in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and Arkansas.

Although Vandivort is the common name of the family, there are many Southeast Missouri names and bloodlines represented through marriages and common ancestors: Bollinger, Sanford, Russell, Poe, Derris, Stein, Sample, Medley, Brown, Beadles, Bangert, Shepard and many others.

Sarah Bollinger was born in Salem, N.C. in 1799. Her mother died shortly after her birth. Her father, George Frederick Bollinger, left for Missouri to take Don Louis Lorimier up on his, and the Spanish government's, offer of leading 20 other families by oxcart and horseback across the new Western territory.

"Why I believe one of the families we took with us went by the name of Limbaugh," Smith said during her presentation.

Sarah was schooled in North Carolina where she became committed to the ideals of abolishing slavery and a strong daily exercise of religion.

During the Civil War she ran a flour mill 24 hours a day, providing flour for the Union troops by day and the Confederate troops by night.

When the Union Army learned of her dual allegiance it threatened to destroy her business, livestock and household goods.

"Remarkably, Sarah ultimately collected $45,000 from the Union Army as payment to replace her plundered business, livestock and household goods," Smith told her captivated audience.

The Saturday afternoon lunch included a few awards for the best and worst golfer of the family tournament and the best skeet shooter.

A cake was presented to Rita Vandivort in recognition of the work she has done the past 38 years and as a rite of passage into retirement.

"Don't forget that C.A. had a lot to do with this when he was alive," Rita shouted, referring to her husband, Charles.