The Life and Times of Cassy Gardner: Henry George Mathis Reunion

I had the opportunity to go to St. George for the Henry George Mathis Reunion. It was so much fun! I got to meet a lot of relatives I didn't know. Unfortunately, I don't remember their names. The good news is we are having another reunion in June 2020. That will be held in Price, UT.

On Thursday we drove down. We were suppose to get there for the 4pm Temple session, but we didn't make it. We had some other obligations come up. Once in St. George we spent some time chatting with Aunt Ann, Uncle Lee, and Anna. Later, Mandy. Mary, and I went swimming. The water wasn't very warm but the hot tub felt great. Funny story from swimming: There was a little boy, I would guess to be around 3. I don't think he realized how wet he was going to get while swimming. Pretty soon he was trying to strip off his swimming trunks and underwear. I could here a family member of his telling him, "Well they're suppose to get wet." They ended up taking off his swim trunks, but left his underwear on. Aunt Mary and Uncle Boyd joined the party while we were swimming.

Friday was a busy day. We started out at the cemetery, where we learned about our ancestors and visited their graves. We then went and visited the pioneer homes of Casper Bryner and Wallace Brigham Mathis. We could only visit the outside because the homes are no longer in the family.

We had a break for lunch. The Murray Mathis Family went to Icebergs for lunch. My family was the only ones who had heard and been to Icebergs before. Uncle Wayne couldn't get over how big the shakes and his onion rings were.

After lunch we went to the St. George Tabernacle for a tour. It was really interesting. John Menzies MacFarlane held a Catholic Mass their in it's early years for the early catholic settlers because they did not have a place to worship. The organist also played a hymn for us so we could see the pipe/shutter movement. We requested Dearest Children, God is Near You. At first I don't think they thought it was a hymn until we told her the page number and she was able to turn to it and play it. At the end of our tour we got to listen to a piano/organ duet. It sounded fun!

We had some more free time after the tour. My family went back to the hotel. Mandy, Mary, and I went swimming. The water was still cold. It needed to be just a few degrees warmer. The hot tub still felt nice.

We then went for the dinner/party at Mathis Park. Wallace Brigham Mathis donated part of his land for this park. We got to here some more about our relatives and what life was like for them. I chatted with a cousin (I can't remember her name either) who is currently in a French immersion school. We had a fun time chatting in Franglais. Someone brought photo albums and there were several pictures of Grandpa Mathis and his brothers. It was fun to see them! Another funny story was there was this really cute photo of one of my grandpa's brothers and a girl hugging. It was a really cute photo. The daughter looked at the photo and said, "Well, that's my dad, but that's not my mom."

On Saturday we were suppose to go to Brigham Young's winter home, but due to the Iron Man Race, it was cancelled. Many of us went to Silver Reef and visited the museum there. H.G. Mathis was a teamster there. I even learned that Joseph Ellis Johnson had a pharmacy there. He is the brother to George Washington Johnson, my Great, Great, Great Grandpa . Aunt Mary, Uncle Boyd, Mandy and I did the walking tour. We got to see the sites were buildings and houses were, including the pharmacy.

On our way home we stopped in Beaver at this little Mexican Taco place that was tasty for great prices. We then went to the creamery and bought cheese, honey and ice cream. Mom accidentally got a coffee flavored ice cream called the Jolted Cow. Aunt Ann and I enjoyed ourselves finishing it for her.

It was a great trip and I can't wait for next year's reunion.

The St. George Pioneer Cemetery