A steady stream of people flowed into the room at the Santiam Place events hall, stopping briefly at a table to check in and grab a name tag.

On the back side of each tag was a list of names identifying how their lineage connected them to a Lebanon-area pioneer. The lanyard holding their tag read, “100th Parker-Umphrey Reunion 1925-2025.”

In the dining hall, genealogy charts were displayed throughout, and a section was reserved for old family photos, a century’s worth of related articles and other mementos, such as an antique shotgun that may have been used in a Linn County murder (not by a relative).

As the building filled with more people on this cool Aug. 16 day, more embraces could be seen and the chatter began to get louder. The back yard of the event center began providing entertainment for the kids who played with games, blew soapy bubbles and ran around the garden.

Under a tent, Leif Olsen, a young Parker-Umphrey descendant and journalism student, spent his time recording oral histories from the family members.

More than 100 people attended the 100th anniversary of the Parker-Umphrey reunion, a tradition dating back to a warm June day in 1925 when some of Linn County’s earliest pioneers gathered together en masse for the first time.

On that day, 133 family members gathered together for a photo, surrounding the remaining eldest living members from whom today’s Parker family descended. They were Julia Ann (Umphrey) Parker and her sister, Mary Catherine (Umphrey) Parker, along with their brother Albert Umphrey.

The Umphrey sisters, you see, married brothers Allen and Moses Parker right about the same time both families moved to Linn County from Iowa in the 1850s.

They first settled in Tallman, a now-defunct tiny town just northwest of Lebanon’s current city boundary. Family members later dispersed to other areas, such as Sand Ridge and Albany.

That first reunion was held at Hiram Parker’s home in North Albany – Hiram is Moses’ and Mary Catherine’s son. It was reported that an “old-fashioned dinner” of fried chicken was served under a large tree, and entertainment was conducted by members of the family.

Today, the Parker-Umphrey reunion dinners consist of more modern fare (including fried chicken), but there is one particular family recipe they’ve been eating since the 1930s: homemade chicken and noodles.

“In the past, my grandmother Jessie Parker always brought her chicken and noodles, which she was kind of famous for,” explained Janna Wilson, great-great granddaughter of Moses Parker.

This year, Wilson and her brother, Dan Wilson-Fey, made the recipe from scratch, just as their grandmother did, using bone broth and handmade egg noodles cut according to how Jessie did it.

“She cut them on the bias a little bit; she had a particular way and a particular thickness,” Wilson said.

Reunion meals made lasting impressions for some of the family members who, now in their 60s, tried to recall their earliest memories of Parker-Umphrey family reunions. They remember when the reunions were held at the Fairmont Grange in Albany in the mid-1900s.

“In the basement we would have the potluck dinner,” said Nancy Trotic, one of the reunion organizers. “People would bring food and we would be all lined up, and the dessert table would be just groaning with all these delicious desserts. The kids were very excited about the dessert table.”

Robin Olsen, great-great grandson of Moses Parker, also remembers the dessert table. He was about 5 years old at the time.

“I remember walking along as a kid seeing all these sumptuous desserts – cakes and pies and (the like). I thought, ‘God, I want those. I hope somebody offers them.’”

But nobody gave him direct permission to partake of the delights. Weeks later, as he joined his parents for a trip to the coast, Olsen said they were having a nice time until suddenly his face “clouded up” and he was upset. His parents asked what was wrong and he bawled, “I didn’t get any cake at the Parker reunion!”

It’s a memory he describes as “vivid,” but he also recalls there being a lot of “wonderful, interesting, eccentric relatives.”

Trotic recalled the grange hall as a fun location for the kids, such as herself at the time, to run around at.

“There were four sets of stairs, one at each corner of the building, and there were two levels. So the fun thing was to run around and around and up and down the stairs,” she said.

After the potluck dinner, the family would display their talents with music, dancing, readings and the like. But, being the large family that they are, they also reserved some time to hold their “business meeting.”

The business meeting, explained reunion organizer and “secretary” Beverly Price, is a time for the family to announce births, deaths, marriages, engagements, those serving in the military, oldest attendee, youngest attendee, and to determine who drove the furthest to attend the reunion.

This year, attendees came from Norway, Alaska, Texas, Washington, California and Oregon. Over the decades, the gatherings have taken place throughout Linn County, including Albany, Waterloo, Lebanon and the Sand Ridge School.

The date of the reunions also moved.

“It used to be in June, but there’s so many farmers in the Parker family that the guys couldn’t come, so we moved it to later in the year,” Price said.

“When we were little, we had a lot of relatives that came from the Portland area, so we would have our family reunion, and then as soon as it was over, all the city kids would go out to the Parker farms in Tangent to see the cows and the chickens and the horses and all of that stuff,” she said.

But over the years, Trotic said, attendance began to decline, dwindling from an average of 100 to about 20 or so.

“The core of the reunion-goers are the ones who stayed in the Lebanon area because this was where the Parkers started farming when they came across the Oregon Trail,” Trotic said.

“This 100th anniversary was, I think, an opportunity to try to get people to come back, maybe people who hadn’t been to the reunion ever or who hadn’t been for a long time, and it worked.”

Jessie Anderson, now in her 40s and a sixth generation from Moses Parker, is one of them.

She said the last time she attended was about 14 years ago. She first started going when she was a toddler.

“I remember the ones that were at Uncle Jack Parker’s tree farm,” she said. “Those ones were my favorite. They had so much to do. We’d go play in the trees and chase the geese and tip over the swing set. We had a blast.”

Her grandmother, Jean Parker, and Jean’s twin brother Jack, were babies when the first 1925 reunion took place. They made it into that first reunion photo.

“She was super important, and these (reunions) were really important to her,” Anderson said.

And for that reason, Anderson determined herself to travel the distance from Pullman, Wash., to attend the centennial celebration.

Trotic explained that most of the attendees came from Moses’ line, likely because Allen Parker’s family moved to the Toledo area early on while Moses’ family stayed closer to Lebanon. This year, four descendants of Allen attended.

A more notable attendee was 6-month-old Parker MacHugh, one of the few seventh-generation descendants and the youngest one to carry the Parker name as his forename.

“It’s exciting to see some younger generation folks today,” Wilson commented about the attendance.

With the way society functions today, it’s understandable that continuing the Parker-Umphrey reunions for another 100 years could be at question.

Price remembers her mother doing genealogy, a hobby Price had no interest in as a child. But now in her 70s and having helped organize the reunions for 15 years, she wonders if the gatherings could go another 100 years.

“I don’t know if we’re gonna have enough younger kids the next generation to keep it going,” she said.

However, she was pleased to meet a young relative who is eager to learn about her roots.

“There’s a lady that came out from Texas that is just so excited to be here because her grandpa and her mom used to come when they were little,” Price said. “She’s really into the genealogy and that’s why she came. She wanted to find out about it.”

Another young gal, 15-year-old Amity Parker, a great-great-great-great granddaughter to Moses Parker, has attended every reunion since her birth.

“I really enjoy seeing some family that I kind of know but I don’t know them a lot,” she said.

Though she doesn’t anticipate taking over reunion organization in the future, she does recognize its value.

“I do think it is important to have this reunion keep going every year, but it’s a lot of work for the people who put it on,” she said. “Not everyone can make it every year; that’s the downside.”

Trotic, often lauded as the family’s historian and reunion pillar, also believes in the importance of family gatherings.

“It’s a chance to reconnect with roots, reconnect with cousins,” Trotic said. “And for those who haven’t attended or haven’t attended in a long time, it’s a chance to learn more about your family history.”