Salter Family Reunions Revisited
Whenever the Salter clan gathers en masse, it is by nature an international event. This amazing family that I’ve been a part of for more than four decades originally hailed from the upper regions of the Midwest. But from Kit’s generation on, marriages have expanded the family’s lineage geographically so that Salters now reside in or have ties to Pakistan, Spain, Switzerland, England, China, and the Philippines.
Our grandchildren—Nico, Inés, and Catalina—grew up in Madrid but have since ventured far and wide. They are all fluent in Spanish, French, English, Nico a bit of German, and in Cata’s case Italian. They are Spaniards as well as Americans who, like their global cousins, embody the spirit of hope and promise.
On the cusp of a family reunion about to convene here in Nevada City, CA, my thoughts travel back to two earlier Salter gatherings that took place a decade apart. Here are a few mental snapshots from those reunions past.
A multi-generational kaboodle of Salters and their exuberant families arrived the first weekend of August 2008 to celebrate Kit’s 70th birthday. The host site was Bishop Farm Bed & Breakfast—a century farm located in the rolling foothills of the White Mountain region of New Hampshire between the towns of Lisbon and Littleton. It was lovingly restored by Kit’s brother Joel’s children and wife as a wedding venue.
Our grandson Nico had flown solo from Madrid to Missouri for his 13th birthday in time for the three of us to make a four-day road trip across parts of the Midwest to this New England event. We packed for warm days and cool mountain nights with the excitement of three kids heading off to summer camp.
Day two of our adventure sliced diagonally along I-71 from Louisville across the Ohio River to Oberlin, southwest of Cleveland, Ohio. Oberlin College, the first American college to admit women and blacks, was celebrating its 175th anniversary that year. Kit, his mother Katharine Hayden Salter and father John T. Salter all graduated from Oberlin. As part of our pilgrimage, we visited the Salter family plot at Oberlin’s Westwood Cemetery where young Nico bent down and traced the names on each of his Salter ancestor’s gravestones.
We spent the following night in the wooded countryside near Albany at the home of Kit’s niece Liz, her husband Gene, son Matthew, and chocolate standard poodle Cody. Kit’s niece, Katharine and her husband Patrick rounded out the circle that evening. That evening we looked out at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains dotted with the lights of distant homes. Nico and I entertained ourselves photographing the bulbous eyeballs of croaking bullfrogs that had surfaced on a nearby pond until Liz’s two-fingered whistle signaled that steaks were being grilled and NY wines poured up at the house.
The following day, we finally arrived at Bishop Farm and were greeted by Nico’s father Hayden and his two little sisters who’d just flown over from Madrid. That day, Salters arrived from points all over the map—California, Oregon, Wisconsin, Missouri, Chicago, Switzerland, and Spain. After unpacking in our assigned cottage—one of six on the Bishop Farm property—we headed for the 1876 white framed farmhouse to greet the other arriving guests while Nico took off for a badminton game with his cousin Natalia. Our terrific trio, simpatico and inseparable since our departure from MO, was about to experience the wonders of extended family in a mighty big way.
In 2018, Kit and I renewed our wedding vows during another Salter reunion that also took place at Bishop Farm. The ceremony was held in a Holstein Cattle barn converted into a wedding chapel. The wedding chapel was furnished with dark walnut pews from a decommissioned Catholic church in Maine, oriental carpet runners, antique hanging lights and two dramatic 16 x 4-foot-stained glass windows from a church in Exeter, NH illumined by late afternoon light.
Dressed in our cool summer whites, Kit and I exchanged vows and rings, then walked up the aisle and outside as an arch of water bubbles blown through tiny wands rained down on our heads. In a grand repurposed barn, we sat down to a delicious catered Brazilian BBQ dinner with wine and lively toasting. The ceremonial cutting of the wedding cake followed, along with homemade rhubarb pies.
Lit by three grand crystal chandeliers from an old hotel and anchored to solid barn beams high above the ballroom, the Salter wedding party danced long into the night. The reunion was a fabulous mix of meals, toasting, dancing, singing, skee-ball matches, literary readings, and a wedding none of us will ever forget. Libations flowed each evening, and pots of morning coffee and tea were ready in the kitchen for early risers and late sleepers alike. Off-property activities included tubing on the nearby Ammonoosuc River, a tram ride, explorations in local small towns, hikes on nearby trails, naps as needed, quiet reading time, and bonfires after dark.
After renewing our wedding vows in a converted cattle barn, I can’t wait to experience what our daughter Heidi and Kit’s niece Heather have planned for the 2022 Salter reunion taking place this weekend here in Nevada City, CA. Boy howdy, it promises to be a doozy.