The Hills Were Alive With the Sound of Arners

Arner Reunion, August 24 and 25, 2002

Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

by Sarah Peveler

In these early morning hours I find that my one over-riding feeling after

that fabulous and perfect reunion weekend is one of deep joy for David that

he has found his roots, and what wonderful roots they are.

– Deborah Arner, wife of David W. Arner

The first national Arner family reunion is finished and was successful beyond our wildest expectations. Over 130 descendants of Hans Ulrich Anner (original spelling) and his wife Veronica Eberhard gathered for two days in the Lehigh Valley an hour north of Philadelphia (the “other” Pennsylvania Dutch country) to honor the immigrants and, for most of us, to finally meet our cyber-cousins in real time. The tiny Swiss village of Windlach, which Hans Ulrich and Verena left in 1734 with their four small children to join the Rev. Maurice Goetschy and his Reformed Church followers, very much resembles the country surrounding their farm on Jordan Creek where we spent Saturday at what is now the Trexler-Lehigh County Game Preserve. We see why they established their new home in the shadow of the Blue Mountain.

It thrilled us to locate descendants of all three of Hans Ulrich’s and Verena’s sons – Felix, Johann (Hans) Ulrich II (my ancestor), and Heinrich [unfortunately, the three daughters are “lost”] – who were recognizable by their red, green and blue name tags containing their full lineage. Folks came from nearby and far away – Oregon, California, Utah, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, and Maine – and we’ll get the Canadians next time. Felix’s many descendants were amazed to see his house which is now a storage shed, and in which he raised 8 children.

We honored the oldest and youngest, furthest and nearest, least hair, best manicure, most pets, etc. and the one with the most Arner-like ears (the family trait we’ve identified from numerous photos). May two-year-old Tracy Motzkus carry that certificate to reunions for the rest of his life and bore his relatives silly by showing off his classic Arner ears! There were more David Arners than one could shake a stick at (five of them), some three-generation family groups, and a set of twins (the brothers Hunsicker)! We listened to talks about Pennsylvania Dutch culture and the German-speaking settlement of the Lehigh Valley. We prayed along with Carl Arner in the dialect, which a speaker of High German would recognize but be hard-put to translate. And we ate – turkey and sausage, potato filling, German potato salad, lettuce with bacon dressing, ring bologna, red beet eggs. Carl’s wife, Minerva, baked 20 delicious shoofly pies and, when she asked people to pick up their dessert first to make room for the caterer to lay out supper, many thought they’d discovered an Arner tradition of eating dessert before their meal, and gobbled down their pie. It took all of ten minutes to assemble the entire group for a photograph, which affirms that stereotype of German ability to follow directions.

On Sunday, we worshipped with the congregation of Heidelberg United Church of Christ (the Reformed half of this historic union church – said the thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch farmers, “why build two churches when the Reformed and Lutheran congregations can share one building?”). After the service, we dedicated a memorial stone to Hans Ulrich and Verena in the churchyard where they lie in unmarked graves. Because they were founding members of the church, the day was declared Heritage Sunday and the dynamic young pastor delayed his move to a new post to be with us.

The call to worship, which followed a Bach organ prelude and God of Our Fathers, sums up the sense of this event and the Arner family:

Saints have gone before us and saints are with us now.

Ordinary people with laughter in their eyes and confidence in their pockets.

Common folk with generous hands and listening ears.

Tough people with perceptive questions and passion for truth.

Holy ones who radiate love and embody compassion.

Saints before us and saints around us.

Thank God for the ones who reflect holy light on our path.

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