The Captain Family Reunion July 17 - 19 , 2026 Coming Soon!
2026 Reunion July 17-19 (You can come earlier and / or stay later if you prefer!)
Hello, Captain Family!
It is a pleasure to announce that the Fourteenth Captain Family Reunion will take place July 17-19, 2026, in Largo, Maryland, at the Marriott Courtyard just outside of DC. It is minutes away from all of the activities we have planned. The hotel rate per room is $137.00 + 13% taxes. Most of the rooms have double beds, and a few have king beds. You can book your stay at Marriott Courtyard Largo If you cannot access the link, the phone number to call is (301) 925-1400. Ask for the Captain Family Reunion block.
DC is not cheap, but for all of the activities, we negotiated the best rates that the DC area can offer.
If you know of any Captains who did not receive this newsletter, please contact me at captainfamilyreunions@gmail.com or text me at (301) 588-3406. Here is the reunion schedule.
Your Cousin Yvonne
Co-Chair
REUNION SCHEDULE Friday July 17-Sunday July 19 and with details below
If you can swing it, try to come a couple of days early and leave a couple of days late. There is so much to explore in the DC area! Again, a full newsletter with all the details is forthcoming.
Friday, July 17
6:00-9:00 p.m. Welcome Ceremony
Prayer
♫Lift Every Voice and Sing♫
Prize to the Captain under 12 years old who can cite by heart the second verse of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Know Your Cousin Game
Dancing
9:00 p.m. Retire to your hotel room for full day on Saturday!
Saturday, July 18
9:30-11:30 a.m. brief tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) https://nmaahc.si.edu/
12:00-6:00 p.m. Saturday activities at our hotel, including opening prayer
12:30 p.m. Family photo
12:45 p.m. Lunch
1:00-1:15 p.m. Business Meeting
1:15-6:00 p.m. Fun and Games, including dancing and prizes
6:00 p.m. until you get tired Excursion to MGM, National Harbor (about 10 minutes away)
Sunday, July 19
Worship Service at Metropolitan Baptist Church (MBC), Rev, George L. Parks Jr, Senior Pastor (only 5 minutes away)
9:30 a.m. MBC shuttle to pick up worshippers (service from 10:15-12:15)
1:00 p.m. Farewell dinner, place to be determined.
Each person is responsible for themselves. If possible, we recommend that you come a couple of days early and leave a couple of days after the reunion. There is so much to do in the DMV that it is impossible to experience it all in one weekend.
Facts about reunion #14:
♫Lift Every Voice and Sing♫. How many of you know this historical song? Those of us who grew up in the north or after segregation did not recite it in class. We had to learn it on our own. Well, here are the lyrics, along with some history, that you can memorize, show your awareness, and maybe win the prize on Friday night! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing .
Lodging
The official hotel is the Marriott, and they are waiting for you to reserve your room for the Captain Family Reunion.
These are mostly rooms with double beds. It is right in the heart of the District, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. You can easily get around the DMV from our hotel. We will begin with some changes to our reunions to make them run even more smoothly than before.
New website
Thanks to Cousin Lee for holding down the fort with the Captain Family Facebook Page. The new website does not replace the Facebook page. Instead, it allows us the privacy we need for the kinds of things you asked for, including making payments online. The Facebook page you are accustomed to logging into will continue, and a new website will take advantage of developments in technology. Security of our private data is important. You must seek permission to join it. Anyone related to the Captains of Hickory Flat can join.
The secure website allows you to fill out your form and pay online through Zelle or other pay options, keep permanent records available for you to review when you feel like it, and carry on lively discussions (although we still have our Captain Family Facebook page, thanks to Cousin Lee Johnson).
You asked for it, and you are getting it! Soon, you will be able to register online and make all payments at once. There is no need to send a money order via the postal service. Costs? Reunion #14 will cost almost the same as previous reunions.
Captain Caller Newsletter Before the 2026 reunion, all previous versions of the Captain Caller Newsletter will be available on the new website. Be patient!
Volunteers! More committee members. We aim to fill all available positions to ensure that reunions and events in between run smoothly. Which Captains are a part of these committees? YOU and whoever else volunteers! Don’t be surprised if you get tapped to join a committee.
Do you anticipate being hungry after 12:00 on Saturday? Well, we will take the family photo at 12:30 sharp. No food until after the photo, so get ready. Later, you can take as many small group photos as you want.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) https://nmaahc.si.edu/ is part of the Smithsonian Institution of Museums and is located on the National Mall in Washington DC. It is only a few minutes away from our hotel, but you don’t want to drive there. Too expensive and too hard to find a parking spot. There is a subway stop on the Mall, a very short walk to the museum. Entrance is free, but you must have a ticket in advance because it remains the most popular Smithsonian Museum. It is almost impossible to get tickets at the door, so advanced planning is necessary. As soon as the NMAAHC grants tickets for July 2026, we will apply.
MGM at National Harbor. We will keep the meeting room until 6:00 p.m. After that, our elders may retire, and the young at heart will go to the famous MGM Resort (https://mgmnationalharbor.mgmresorts.com/en.html)
Metropolitan Baptist Church (MBC) was founded in 1864. Until 2015, it was located in Washington DC. In 2015, it crossed the DC line and moved to 1200 Mercantile Lane, Largo, MD 20774. The senior pastor of MBC is Reverend George L. Parks Jr, and our own Cherrie Ann VanHook is a deacon at Metropolitan! If we are good, MBC may pick us up in their van to go directly from the hotel to the Church. So be good!
Facts about the Washington, DC Area:
The District of Columbia is a city, not a state. The surrounding states of Maryland and Virginia complete the DMV, and much of the commuting you will notice comes from them.
The DMV does not have a freeway. Instead, the area has a beltway that circles the DMV. The good part is that you can get to major cities in the area without too much hassle. The bad part is that traffic is always heavy around the beltway. Five miles may seem like a few minutes away, but it probably will take you 4 times as long as you think to get to where you are going! Parking is horrible in the district; that is why many visitors choose to stay in Maryland or Virginia hotels, where they offer free parking AND it is less expensive to stay.
The DMV is known for its Go-Go music, crabcakes, Ben’s Chili Bowl, the Martin Luther King Memorial, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, ♫and Rock Creek Park♫ . This last factoid is for people of a certain age who remember this song by Donald Byrd and the Blackbyrds.
If you know of any Captains who did not receive this issue of the Captain Caller, please contact me at captainfamilyreunions@gmail.com or text me at (301) 588-3406.
Until soon, family