100 Castleberry Descendants Celebrate 100th Family Reunion

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

On Labor Day in 1924, Roe Dolphus “Doss” and Sarah “Sally” Castleberry hosted what would become the first of 100 consecutive Castleberry reunions. Sally pulled out her cast iron washpot, made a big batch of chicken stew, and the Castleberrys enjoyed the holiday together. For many years following, a washpot filled with chicken stew served as a traditional part of the reunion.

This year, about 100 of Doss and Sally’s descendants gathered at the American Legion Post 106 Hall for a Labor Day potluck, marking the hundredth consecutive year of the reunions. (While the Castleberrys held Labor Day reunions before 1924, World War I interrupted the gatherings.)

Around 2000, Jerry Blevins (grandson of Doss and Sally) took over organizing the reunions. He kept the tradition going during the COVID-19 years by making use of Jenkins Park. “Everybody seemed to like the park,” he said, but the crew was glad to make use of the air conditioning and many tables at the legion hall.

Blevins, son of James Floyd and Marion (Castleberry) Blevins, fondly remembers attending the reunions as a kid when 100 people was the normal size of the crowd. Just about the only years he missed were when he served in the military.

Over the century, the reunions have been held at a number of locations. Blevins said, “When we were all young, we would have it at a different uncle’s or aunt’s house. Some lived on the mountain, and my parents lived down in Rising Fawn. Eventually, that got to be kind of difficult because a few people had moved away, and we wanted to always have it here in this area.”

When Blevins, his wife (Barbara), and daughter (Sarah) lived on School Street in Rising Fawn, they held the reunions just next door at the old Rising Fawn school (now the Rising Fawn Community Center). This served as the gathering place for many years.

This year, the youngest in attendance was Praisley Holland at eight months old. Although not in attendance, the newest addition to the clan was announced to cheers and applause: Eliza Blake Salmons, who will be two months old on Sept. 19, is a great-great-great-granddaughter of Doss and Sally.

At 90-years-old, Grace Shrader was the oldest in attendance, although Polly Santos is the oldest living Castleberry descendant. Santos lives in Florida and was unable to make the trip.

Shrader reported that 15 of Doss and Sally’s grandchildren are still living. She wishes the reunions could go back to big pots of chicken stew, remembering how all of the relatives would bring a chicken or vegetables for Sally to throw all together in the washpot. Shrader remembers her mother often contributing cans of corn to the meal.

Chicken still makes an appearance at the reunions in the form of fried and barbecued chicken, chicken and dumplings, and casseroles.

Other families in the Dade County area have had reunions over the years, some continuing to this day while others have disbanded. Notably, the Foresters held their 95th reunion this year. After three years without the event, Steve Forester took up the mantle and reinstated the tradition of a Forester (and friends) reunion in 2023.

Also, a much newer annual tradition brings together the Black families of the Hooker community (many of whom are related) for the “Hooker, Georgia Kinfolk Reunion.” This was the third year of the reunion, and with over 400 people in attendance, they had to venture to Chattanooga to find a location large enough for the crowd.