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Every year, five generations (and sometimes six) of the Porter
Family return to White Lake. They come from a
dozen states to reminisce, exchange pictures, and brag about
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The Porter Family
House Party is held every July at the FFA Camp, and began with a
reunion of eight siblings in Kelly in 1941. See the story below.
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Porter
House Party a big annual event
By JEFFERSON WEAVER, Staff
Writer
The Porters
invaded White Lake last week, as they
have for decades.
Descendants
of the eight children of Preston and Mary Porter
originally met at the family home in Kelly. They later moved the
event to White Lake, where it’s been held ever since.
“Some of
the family from out of town felt it was too much of an imposition on
the ones who lived at the home place,” said
Linda Henry Robins, whose mother, Rubye,
was one of the eight. “They offered to rent a cottage for a week at
the lake, and the rest is history.”
What
started at the family farm, then at a small rental cottage, grew to
fill the N.C. FFA Camp facility.
Around 150
of the 200 known descendants of Troy, Alton, Hugh, Leslie,
Bunny, P.S. and Julia now attend the event every year. Relatives come
from a half-dozen states as well as Kelly and White Lake for a week of cookouts,
fellowship, and family fun.
The first
Porter Family House Party was held in 1941. After a brief
interruption due to World War II, the event became a regular, then
annual event.
“We’ve done it consecutively for probably 60 years,” said Bernice “Aunt Bunny” Porter, 91, the last
surviving member of the original family.
“The
children especially seem to enjoy it,” said
Robins. “They meet cousins they would probably never see otherwise.”
The event
is organized with the precision of a military camp. Boats carry
families to Goldston’s and other locations
around the lake, and daily trips and activities are posted on the
walls of the dining hall. Other activities included a trip to the White Lake Water Park, and plenty of time
in the water at White Lake.
Adults enjoy
golf, day trips, boating and skiing, and an auction that helps fund
the family Web site, among other events.
Earlier
house parties weren’t quite so elaborate,
Aunt Bunny said.
“I remember
one time we decided to have a barbecue,” she
said, “and my brothers decided to cook it in the ground. We were
worried to death it would never get done, but then he eventually
pulled a bone out of part of it, and it was the tenderest
meat you ever saw.”
Many of the
house parties hearkened back to the family’s
rural roots.
“One year
we cooked chickens,” she said. “We killed
and cooked all the chickens right there at the cottage.”
Sign-up
sheets for talent shows, trips to the family farm, and other
activities are posted at the end of the serving tables in the dining
hall, and each family member is expected to take a shift at cooking,
cleaning, or other duties.
“Once you
turn 60 you can retire,” Robins said, “but
everyone else does their part.”
Before the
group leaves, Robins said, next year’s
committees will be organized, and work will be under way on the next
event.
“A lot of
people thought when the older generation died out, the house party
would die out, too,” Robins said. “Even Aunt
Bunny thought she might not make it this year. But it keeps on
getting stronger and bigger.”
The house
party is an important part of the family’s
close ties, despite being scattered across the country.
“We always
have a lot of fun,” Robins said. “It’s just a good chance to get together, where
you can reminisce and meet new people at the same times.”
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