New babies welcomed at Payne family reunion

Emily Morrison and Matthew Payne, of Vinita, Okla., attended the annual Payne family reunion with their newborn son, Brantley Dean Payne, two weeks old. The baby is the late Richard Payne’s first great-grandchild.
Emily Morrison and Matthew Payne, of Vinita, Okla., attended the annual Payne family reunion with their newborn son, Brantley Dean Payne, two weeks old. The baby is the late Richard Payne’s first great-grandchild.

Another Payne family reunion has come to an end. 2016 was a tough year for our family. Losing our youngest brother, Rick, and our oldest nephew, Dan, made the addition of five new great-great-nephews and one great-great-niece all the sweeter. Getting to meet and hold for the first time two-week-old Brantley Dean Payne and three-month-old Theodore (Theo) Audo made some new precious memories and that's what a family reunion is all about, new and old memories that we all share.

On Friday, Aug. 12, the family met in Gentry at the home of Delbert Payne and Jo Jackson for a cookout, swim party and baby shower for Kenya Payne and Paul Stride's soon-to-be baby boy. The crowd numbered around 30. Master-griller Lanny Garrett manned the fire, with help from a few able-bodied men.

On Saturday, Aug. 13, around 60 of the Payne gang, in a "Just a Kid from Gravette" purple shirts, participated in the Gravette Day parade and, following the parade, had lunch at Sue Rice's and Bill and Clara Payne's. Leif and Amy Garrett's home welcomed people for refreshments throughout the day.

Saturday night, several of the family enjoyed a cool dip in Spavinaw Creek and spaghetti dinner at Lanny and Snooky Garrett's house. I'm also proud to say that Donnie Lee Payne and Steve Payne rode their bikes in the Tour de Cure on Saturday for the American Diabetes Association.

On Sunday, we met at the Gravette Civic Center for lunch, family auction and a baby shower for Brantley and his mom, Emily Morrison, and dad, Matthew Payne. As on all days, the big draw is food. This family does love to eat. Over 70 people were at the Civic Center.

Those attending the reunion came from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and, of course, Arkansas.

Those from here in Gravette were Bill and Clara Payne, Sue Rice, Lanny and Snooky Garrett, Jeff and Lana Turner, Chuck and Lisa Garrett, Leif and Amy Garrett, Jarod and Lacey Morgan and children Katelyn and Wyatt and Tom and Deb Boettcher.

Others attending from Arkansas were Don and Nancy Payne, Steve Payne, Debbi Buckner, Donnie and Marilyn Payne and daughters Sophie and Emily of Bentonville; Tina and Chris Boling of Centerton; Mandy Payne and Al Ellis of Fayetteville; Paul Stride and Kenya Payne from south of Fayetteville; Kylee Campbell, Brian and Cheryl Bowan and sons Hogan and Hayden, Jordan Keeshna and Allie Boling, all of Springdale; Gayle Turner, Audrey Dunson with children Riley and our bonus baby Bowman of Rogers; Jo Jackson and Delbert Payne of Gentry; John Payne, Cody Payne and Haley Alyssa and son Benny of Decatur.

Those attending from Missouri were Paula Tate of Kansas City, Mo., Vinnie and Christine Audo with baby Theo who recently moved to Topeka, Kan.

Others attending from out of state were Bob and Bobbie Wineberg, Cade and Nikki Mayer of Lake City, Fla.; Andy Wineberg, son Henry and girlfriend Lydia Jarjoura of Austin, Texas; Doug Payne of Rockwall, Texas; Janet Payne, Wendy Frost, Stephen Frost, Luke Payne, Shelby Bullard, Candy Williams, Rebecka Williams, Matthew Payne and Emily Morrison with newborn Brantley and Debra Walker, all of Vinita, Okla., and Tonya Dean of Tulsa, Okla.

Community on 08/31/2016