This Woman Is Trying To Bring A Massive Family Reunion To Minn.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Minnesota woman says she's on track to get thousands of family members in the same spot one year from now.
Linda Drellack will spend two years planning what she hoped would be the world's largest family reunion in Hastings.
"I spend a lot of time on the computer," Drellack said.
A room in her house serves as her workspace for a couple hours each day. She has a desk with so much information that one screen isn't enough.
"I've got to have two going at all times," Drellack said.
She's surrounded by color-coded files of a family tree.
"It never stops," she said.
Drellack has dedicated the last year to finding as many descendants as she can of Christoph and Anna Bauer, of Germany, in time for August 9, 2015.
Her grandmother was a Bauer.
"It's going good," she said. "We've probably got about 3,000 relatives right now that we can identify."
It's a family reunion that, at one time, Drellack believed would be a new world record. That is, until a reunion was recently certified at 4,600 people.
"It was set in France," Drellac said. "I couldn't pronounce the name of the family or the town."
Record or not, getting thousands of people in the same place is no easy feat. A committee meets monthly at the American Legion in Hastings and a website helps to get out the message.
Drellack's been able to trace her family back 18 generations so far, but she's been amazed how many have remained in Dakota County.
"There are a lot of commonalities," she said. "I'll walk through a store and oh, I know your eyes you've got to be so and so and so's child."
The passion project began as a way to know more about her roots. It's one Drellack now believes will help others better understand themselves.
She helped to organize the last Bauer reunion in 2000. About 1,800 people attended at that time at Pioneer Village in Hastings, the same location that will host next year.
A 5K run is coming up next month and organizers are also selling a cook book to raise money for the reunion.
Find out more here.