DEEP ROOTS

Roots run deep in Highlands and the ties that bind people together do so despite the years and distance between them. 
As people settled into the Highlands Community Building on Saturday morning for the third annual Descendants’ Reception a young boy busied himself with markers and toy trucks while family members representing several generations listened intently to stories being told. Stories about families who have their roots planted deep in Highland’s history. The Descendants’ Reception, which has the trappings of a good old-fashioned family reunion, is open to Highlands natives who can trace their roots back for more than 100 years on the Plateau.
“It was a great turnout,” said Tracy Foor, president of the Highlands Historical Society. “We had 78 preregister but we ended up with 93 people. We’ve never had those numbers before.” 
Foor said the goal of the gathering is to preserve family history, hence the “creating a family story” initiative. 
Participants at the reception were invited to tell their family story on video to be preserved by the Historical Society and shared on their website. 
“We had seven people leave their information on Saturday for us to contact,” said Foor. Highland’s descendants were encouraged to participate in the video series as they watched the video of sisters Geri James Crowe and Wilma James Gordon share their family story. From taking corn in the corn crib to be ground into cornmeal, to their grandfather Ed making his way to Franklin on a big black horse named Prince, to dancing to the music made by a coffee grinder, Geri and Wilma shared memories of simpler times in Highlands. 
“These are old Highlands families,” said Foor. “They represent the Jameses, the Picklesimers, the Rogers families, longtime families here in Highlands.” 
Looking at the list of attendees, Foor said there was a mixture of people living locally and those who returned for the weekend, one family traveling from New York. 
People were here to connect – with each other – and with their family history, said Foor. 
 “I had four or five people come up to me and say, ‘I learned about people I was related to that I had no idea I was related to them,’” said Foor. “So, when you have people that are in their 70s, 80s, and 90s come and tell you that … it’s impactful … they are making connections beyond their memory to their ancestry. It’s meaningful.” 

Creating a family story 
“Memories disappear in space and become lost in time if they aren’t recorded,” said Mike Thompson, secretary to the Highlands Historical Society. “Preservation procures future knowledge and is the only pathway for generations ahead to have questions answered about their family.”
Saturday’s participants got a taste of the family stories being preserved as the Historical Society premiered Geri and Wilma’s video. 
“We hope it encourages people to participate. The history of a community is best told by the families that lived that history,” said Foor. “Oral histories have been described as ‘the first kind of history.’ Their personal nature makes them a great source for people wanting to discover more about a certain event or era. We hope events like these become a catalyst for all families to begin preserving their own histories and HHS is attempting to provide the tools for that to happen more easily.”
The goal of the society is to preview a featured family each month on their website highlandshistory.com. Foor said Highlands families who have been on the Plateau for 100 plus years and are interested in preserving their stories on video should email highlands100plus@gmail.com or call 828-787-1050.

- Rachel Hoskins 
rhoskins@thefranklinpress.com