Families party at reunion
More than 200 people came together as one big family in Invercargill on Saturday for the inaugural Global Family Reunion.
The Invercargill event, which was held at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was one of 32 around the world and the only one in New Zealand.
Organiser Elder Doug Harding said all humans were related and the event was a celebration of family.
Guests were entertained by musical and cultural performances, games and activities and the chance to shoot hoops with the Southland Sharks, he said.
‘‘All humans are cousins so the idea that [American author] AJ Jacobs had was that we should all get together, meet each other and have one big party,’’ Harding said.
‘‘The main event was in New York City but all the others from around the world were videoed and sections were played on the screen over there.’’
Guests also took advantage of the chance to research their family history using the church’s family history centre, he said.
The church had signed up to paid websites, including ancestory.com, to allow people easy access to information about their roots, he said.
‘‘The global family tree shows us that we’re all descended from one set of parents and there are no more than 70 steps between any of us,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re all cousins should embrace that.’’
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