Sudbury, Massachusetts – 2018

The 2018 GFA Reunion marked the 380th anniversary of the arrival of John, Thomas and Ursula Goodenow in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It has been 30 years since the first GFA reunion. Dorothy Goodenow Ruddock came to Sudbury Plantation in 1639 as the wife of John Ruddock.  The GFA’s 30th anniversary reunion also celebrated the 380th anniversary of the Goodnow immigrants. The 46 folks who attended all or part of the gathering enjoyed visits to Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth Rock, Lexington and Concord, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, a welcome dinner at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury, a day trip to Kennebunk, Maine, and sites in around Sudbury related to the 1638 immigrants and their descendants. Thanks to Reunion Coordinators Hal and Betsey Cutler. See the August 2018 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts for details.

[photograph: group in front of the Goodnow Library in Sudbury, MA]

Grand Rapids, Michigan - 2014

A group of 32 family members visited Goodenow sites in Lundington, Hart and Grand Haven; the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and Albion, MI; the Frederik Meijers Gardens and Sculpture Park; the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum; and a “Dutch Heritage Tour” in Holland, MI. Six couples opted for a “bonus” add-on tour of Upper Michigan, visiting Carol and Bob Goodenough’s cottage on Lake Charlevoix and on to Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, and the Whitefish Bay Lighthouse and Shipwreck Museum. Thanks to Reunion Coordinators Carol and Bob Goodenough.  The August 2014 issue of Goodenows’ Ghosts includes more details and photographs.

[photograph: group shot in front of gazebo]

Sudbury, MA - July 2008

The GFA’s 20th anniversary reunion also honored of the 370th anniversary of the arrival of the immigrants to Sudbury. Those who attended visited area sites and attractions such as Lexington and Concord, Sturbridge Village, Boston’s Freedom Trail, a whale watch, the Lamson & Goodnow factory in Shelburne Falls,  and the Goodnough Dike at Quabbin Reservoir. Thanks to Reunion Coordinators Hal and Betsey Cutler. See the August 2008 issue of Goodenows' Ghosts for details.

[photograph: group shot at boulder etched with “Goodenough Dike”] 

England - July 2007

Twenty four GFA members traveled to England to visit some of the sites associated with the Goodenow immigrants in the 1600's.

Places visited include Arundel and Old Wardour Castles, churches in Ebbesbourne Wake, Donhead St. Andrew, Donhead St. Mary, Semley and Shaftesbury, Salisbury Cathedral, Old Sarum, Stonehenge, Isle of Wight and museums in Dorchester and Chichester. The Early Bird program included a double decker bus tour of London and tours of Hampton Court and Windsor Castle.

A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to meet Jenny Potter, GFA's U.K.-based genealogist, and hear first-hand of her activities and progress in finding traces of our English forbears in the 16th and 17th centuries.

See the August 2007 issue of Goodenow's Ghosts for more pictures and essays contributed by the travelers plus an in-depth account of Ms. Potter's research in England.

[photograph: group shot in front of Parliament building] 

South Africa - August 2003

Eighteen GFA members plus five family friends attended the Great South African Adventure in August 2003 hosted by Stanton Goodenough, GFA president. Stan, who lives in the Howick area of South Africa, led the group on a trek across the country from Cape Town to Durban to Kruger Park, visiting landmarks such as Table Mountain, Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for nearly 27 years), the Cape of Good Hope, battlegrounds in Natal where the British and Zulus clashed and a Zulu cultural center. Highlights of the trip included a tour of the oldest black township near Capetown and a memorable visit to Adams Mission (now a school) where Stan's great-grandparents were missionaries to the Zulus in the 1880's.

Four days were spent at the world-famous Kruger National Wildlife Park where the group quickly spotted the big five (buffalo, elephant, lion, rhino and leopard) and a host of other wild creatures in natural habitat. Some of the group continued on to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe for an additional adventure.

See the November 2003 issue of Goodenows' Ghosts for a detailed account of the tour.

[photograph: group shot at Cape of Good Hope] 

Seattle Reunion and Alaska Cruise - July 2002

More than 60 GFA members gathered in Seattle for the "North by Northwest" Reunion in July 2002. Sightseeing excursions were arranged to notable Seattle sites such as Mt. Rainier, Pike Place Markets, Snoqualmie Falls, the Space Needle and Mount St. Helens. After the reunion, half of the group journeyed together to Vancouver to board Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas for a 7-day cruise up the Inside Passage to Alaska. Three ports of call were visited -- Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan -- as well as the Hubbard Glacier and the Misty Fiords. See the November 2002 issue of Goodenows' Ghostsfor pictures.

England - 1996

The Goodenow Family members embarked on the inaugural trip to the West Country of England to visit the ancestral home of the Goodenow immigrants.

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