Hommel Mangas
When a gallon of milk was 52 cents and a gallon of gasoline was 11 cents — when my late grandfather Ralph Steven Hommel of Franklin was a mere 13 years old — the Hommel family had their first family reunion that was recorded in the worn black ledger in 1924. Ralph was the youngest of 11 children born to Alonzo and Margaret Victoria (Casteel) Hommel and by 1930, he married Ima Florene (Florence) Lambert. They had six sons and five daughters. The reunions flourished.
Our forefathers and foremothers had their annual reunion unwavering ever since — and as I wrote in 2011: “Our forefathers thought it was important enough to get together through the Depression in the 1930s, through WWII in the 40s and even when Province Park was closed because of the flood in 2008, when we had a make-shift reunion.”
After the 2013 reunion I wrote that, “My Dad at the microphone, (Frank Hommel) was obviously mad at me for something, and volunteered me three times to be on the planning committee for the next year’s 90th reunion … so I began to collect ideas that would surely get me thrown out of the Hommel Reunion planning committee almost immediately.”
My brilliant 2013 ideas included: renaming the Hommel Reunion an uppity “Hommel High Tea,” accompanied by a strictly enforced dress code with khakis and white short-sleeved shirts with collars. And to ensure that our High Tea has a healthy menu, we’d only accept in-season fruits and vegetables to be placed on the shelter house picnic tables.
In 2017, I watched the late Lorene Sloop, who was attending her annual Vandivier/Sloop Family Reunion the same day as the Hommel Reunion in Province Park in Franklin, ask a question to my 5-year old niece Faith, who had just started kindergarten two day prior.
“Faith, can you count to one hundred?” she asked. When Faith answered yes, Lorene directed, “Well, start counting to 100, and I’ll stop you when you get to my age.”
Confidently, Faith began counting, but looked at me with saucer eyes when she counted past the 30s, 40s and 50s. When faith finally counted into the 90s, Lorene clapped her hands and said, “That’s me, I’m 93!”
It was at the 2017 Hommel Reunion when I first learned the term “Hommeling.”
As a few cousins stood around sharing stories and chuckling explosively, my cousin Angie Logsdon kindly informed us that we were “Hommeling.” The word was originally coined by Cousin Kenny Neumann’s wife Glenda, and has yet to be officially entered into the Oxford English Dictionary by lexicographers. In case you’re curious, the definition of Hommeling is when two-or more Hommel family members get together and laugh in a loud, contagious deep hearty manner — while sound amplitude and frequency varies, Hommeling often breaks 120 decibels.
And again this weekend, at the 100th Hommel Reunion in Province Park, we will eat, play games and reminisce over those we miss and have passed on. We will share life’s disappointments, and we’ll rejoice over new opportunities and family members. The kids will play games, win prizes and get to know their second and third cousins.
And life, love and family will be celebrated — like it has been for the last century.
Janet Hommel Mangas grew up on the east side of Greenwood. The Center Grove area resident and her husband are the parents of three daughters. Send comments to [email protected].
