After having virtual Gardner/Coleman family reunions for three years due to COVID-19, interest and attendance online was declining. Few kids, teenagers or young adults were ever in our virtual reunions. In addition, we lost matriarchs, patriarchs, and several other family members during those three years. Well, we all felt and knew in 2023, it was time to come back together again, but who would take it and where would we have it? Well, one of our family historians/genealogists hosted the reunion…and, of course, there definitely was no other place to have our 44th in-person reunion than back to where it all started: our roots in Pulaski and Elkton, Tennessee, and the old Gardner home-house.

We occupied both the Giles Hotel Inn & Suites and the Hampton Inn in Pulaski. Our 44th reunion t-shirts were purchased and printed by C & C Printing Factory & Office Supplies of Pulaski. The Thursday evening meet-and-greet fish fry was provided by Post #60 Legionaries Auxiliary & Sons of the Legion and held at the Pulaski Event Center.

On Friday, we toured downtown Pulaski with our tour guide, John Lancaster. Highlights were the Antoinette Hall opera house, the historic courthouse, and Reeves Drug Store…. The five-cent cokes and $1.00 scoops of ice cream were a hit by all!!!!! Then it was off to Soda Pop Junction in Lynnville, Tennessee, just up the road, for lunch and one of their famous milkshakes. Oh no, we did not forget to drop in on Lynnville's Fried Pie Company for some old-fashioned fried pies-- peach and apple were the favorites.

Saturday started off at the Matt Gardner Homestead Museum (our home-house where it all started), where we shared so much history, heritage, and culture with new family members and our younger generation…it was awesome! There was a stop at the Gardner family cemetery for some of us on the way to Wolf Gap History Nature Education Center in the Tarpley Shop community, where lunch was provided by Da Rib Crib of Elkton, along with some fun and games. After a short rest it was time for the reunion banquet at Legion Post #60, where there was more family fellowship, history, acknowledgments, and good banquet food provided by Select Foods Pulaski.

On Sunday morning, there was a delicious breakfast again prepared by Select Foods, followed by a brief church service with family singing, scripture, prayer, and a sermonette by one of our very own. Then it was time to say goodbye with a traveling grace prayer, lots of hugs and “see you next year,” and then we were all gone. It was a busy, fun-filled weekend. We called it, “The Gardner family invades Giles County.” It wasn't the first time, and we are sure it won't be the last…but it's always a good time.

Photo slideshows from the Family Reunion 2023

Attendees Friday Night Meet and Greet Chilling at hotels Saturday Downtown Tour Sunday Soda Pop Junction Wolf Gap Center Banquet & Goodbye Video from Reunion