Cousin Sue Williams booked the Red Rock Resort on the western edge of the city and all the twigs on the family tree were invited to attend. Those who made it were Sue and her husband Ed, Richard and Cindy Fieg, Russell Fieg, Steven and Eleanor Fieg, Douglas Fieg (all of them the children and children-in-law of Uncle Bud - a.k.a. Lothar Fieg Jr.); Diana Doyle, middle daughter of Bud's brother - and FFN founder - V. Philip Fieg, and her friend Tish; Doris Holm, who is Bud's first cousin, the daughter of Max Fieg; Greg Fieg, son of Bud's brother Frank; and, daughter of Bud's baby sister Dorothy Roman, Samantha Theobald and her husband Chuck.
Here is Sue's travelogue of the trip, lightly edited:
The Bud Fieg family decided it was time to get together again. Too many months and years had passed them by since they were all under one roof together.
Susan decided to get her brothers to pick a date that would work for everyone to be in Vegas at the same time and Nov. 2 was picked by default. Once the date was confirmed, the balance of the Fiegs were invited to join them. Diana Doyle, Samantha Theobald, Doris Holm and Greg Fieg all RSVP'd to attend, which was three more cousins than Susan thought would confirm.
The reunion was held in Las Vegas, NV at the Red Rock Resort. The festivities of the weekend started with Doug's 60th birthday on Oct. 31, which was celebrated at Lucille's BBQ with a great meal, cake, laughs and fun down memory lane. At this point in time the only "out of towers" in attendance in addition to Doug were Susan, Doris and Richard along with spouses Ed and Cindy.
On Saturday Nov. 1, Steven and Diana flew into town and Greg drove in. The group was getting bigger! Doris hosted a great luncheon at Lucille's BBQ and afterwards she had luck on the machines. We think she was the only winner for the whole time we were in Vegas.
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The reunion began "formally" on Nov. 2 in the lobby bar of Red Rock Resort with cocktails at 4:00 p.m. This was the first time that Doris, Diana, Greg and Steven had meet Samantha and Chuck and all were so surprised at how much Samantha looks like her mother. Samantha was also excited to meet more family. Greg surprised Samantha and Doris with a beautiful bouquet of pink roses.
The cousins passed around pictures and copies of letters written to the family by Uncle Bud during WWII. Diana brought the book about William Tell that she had purchased from Europe (written in German), illustrated by Uncle Hermann.
Time went by too fast!! Dinner was at the Grand Café (Red Rock Resort) where the conversation and laughs continued. No one was ready to interrupt the happy memory-making so they all headed back to the lobby bar. This is the quietest bar in all of Las Vegas where there are plenty of seats for all to visit.
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| (Descending from top step) Cindy Fieg and Ed Williams; Russell Fieg, Richard, Doug and Steven Fieg; Eleanor Fieg, Diana Doyle and Sue Williams; Doris Holm, Greg Fieg, Samantha Theobald and Chuck Theobald |
Monday Nov. 3 we had to bid farewell to some. Ed and Susan helped get Doris off on the shuttle to the airport and Susan yelled out to Doris, "Don't take any wooden nickels!" which was a popular saying from years gone by (and a reminder of her luck at the gaming tables). Lo and behold, when Doris got home she found a 5-cent voucher in the bottom of her purse that she forgot to cash in! I'm sure it showed up because Philip was with her on that shuttle.
Ed and I went to Disney only one week after Vegas and the time got away from me… That's my story and I'm sticking to it! (Ed. note - Sue was apologizing for not sending me the details sooner. Your editor is doubling down on that apology.)
All agreed that this should be a yearly event and that Vegas was the perfect spot. It's that great destination where after two nights you have had enough! Good prices, great resorts, lots of restaurants and an easy location to get to make it a great choice.
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2 comments:
I thought I would add that I, Doug Fieg, took care of getting Doris from the Las Vegas airport to the Red Rock, and boy was it exciting! I left early to get Doris, which was a good thing, because I went to the wrong place. While that mis-step didn't delay things much, it was just the beginning of the dazed and confused trip/adventure. After getting help over the cell phone from a nice gentleman in the luggage claim area nearby Doris, I found her, fumbled back to the location of my car, and went around in circles trying to get back to the Red Rock. We eventually made the half-hour trip in a little over an hour, all in one piece.
But Doris, bless her heart, was calm through the whole thing, trying to give me helpful advice.
By the time we made it to the hotel, Doris was fighting some confusion of her own, due to low blood sugar resulting from the unexpected delay in lunch. But, hey, a little help from the hotel employees, a trip up a VIP elevator to her room, some fruit juice, and she was in good shape! Whew!
It was confusing, but nonetheless enjoyable to be reunited through this misadventure. No better way to get to know a distant relative than to work together to get through some mild adversity.
I think she made a good choice, using hotel-provided transportation to get back to the airport!
It's things like this that make for legends. In ten years, the tale will undoubtedly be that we suffered only a few dents in the car from some minor accidents, and that the doctor attending Doris was a very nice man!
But, that's how legends grow!
Hi Judy.
Yes, the reunion was so wonderful. We shared photos and memories of our history. When I got home, I began to realize that I learned too little about my second cousins' offspring. So now, I want to get together again and share the future of the family, as well as the past. I do not want to let go of anybody.
I want to thank everyone for the wonderful reception. I am still on cloud nine....Sue and Ed walked me right to the shuttle on Monday morning, and I savored being a Fieg to the last moment. Thank you all, so much.
I still have my mini-ranchhouse, with extra room for guests. The red carpet will always be out for visitors. I am half-way between Tahoe and San Francisco, and the airport in Sacramento is about 45 minutes away. So make your plans.
Love and thanks again to all, Doris Fieg Holm
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