• A special edition of the family is called for when your reunion is around the corner.young family image by JulianMay.co.uk from <a href='http://www.fotolia.com'>Fotolia.com</a>
  
  Family newsletters are a popular way to keep in touch--if the large number of online articles providing newsletter tips is any indication, not to mention the newsletters many of us receive from cousins. If a family reunion is just around the corner, or just wrapping up, it's a good idea to create a special edition of your family newsletter commemorating the occasion or to start a newsletter tradition in your family.
  
  

Open with Event-Specific News

• Since the newsletter is inspired by your family reunion, give readers a way to relate the newsletter to the event with a summary of event highlights if the reunion is in the past. Include first-person accounts from attendees, fun or moving anecdotes, and plenty of photos from the event. If the reunion is in the planning stages, discuss where you are in the planning and provide whatever details about time and place that you can. If the reunion is just around the corner, provide all the details about location, lodging, contact information and schedule, while also generating excitement around the event with stories from past reunions, previews, and photos.
  
  

Explore Family History

• Genealogist Barbara Krasner-Khait suggests exploring specific, often small, details in each edition of your family newsletter, such as a look at a particular ship on which an ancestor came to America. You can highlight a specific ancestor or include a story handed down by an older relative. Krasner-Khait also suggests including a "call to action" in each newsletter: a request for photos, stories or genealogical information.
  
  

Spice Up Family News

• The tried-and-true basics of most family newsletters are news items about the accomplishments, milestones and movements of family members. There's no reason not to make these items the focus of the everyday issues of your family newsletter, but everyday news should not be the focus of a reunion newsletter. Family members will be seeing each other soon enough, and it may take the excitement out of sharing big news to break the story in a newsletter. Instead, offer "teaser" stories about accomplishments, hinting that the subject will share the details at the reunion. For instance, you can write "Cousin Sam has made a big career move--find out what major company is lucky to have this talented graduate at the reunion!"
  
  

Collect and Publish Family Materials

• Collecting favorite food ideas for a family recipe book is a great family reunion activity, notes the website Family-Reunion. Rather than collect these recipes in a book, publish them in a special section of the family reunion newsletter, or at least offer a few top recipes voted on by the attendees. Other materials you can collect at the reunion and publish in the newsletter include favorite memories, advice to new graduates, and tributes to the oldest member of the family.