Good Times at the 2016 Payne-Foster Reunion

 







We had about 45 folks at our October reunion last week.  Although most were from the Buddy and Martha Payne branch of the Dr. I.B. Payne family, there were several descendants each there who came from the Helen Payne Peters and the Braxton Payne branches.  The door prizes ranged from a 2016 reunion quilt, a $50 gift certificate, jars of raw honey, walking sticks, and several other commemorative items.  A beautiful October Saturday and bountiful plate-lunch selections made this reunion a special one for many of us.  We celebrated a few recent birthdays and prayed for several Payne family members who had serious health concerns and missed this year's event.

 

Some 2016 reunion photos:

 

Remaining Buddy and Martha Payne children -- I.B. (age 90) and Laura (age 95)

Austin Rabb wins the 2016 reunion quilt (crafted by Paula Payne).

Doug Payne displays his prize with Jay Harlan in the background.

 

At the old log cabin:  Kevin Payne, Ryan Payne and son, Patsy Sharp, Deborah Payne, and Gloria Hearn

 

 

Herman Crichton and Rod Payne at the keyboard

 

 

Recent birthdays: Chester Hemperley (89), I.B. Payne (90) & Steve Payne (68)

                                   Hudson and Payne Family Update

Buddy and Martha Payne grandchild and son of Phil and Sue Leach, Don Leach, is the recently elected Winn Parish police juror for this area.  Don's great-grandfather, Dr. I.B. Payne, served in this same role as a police juror in the 1870s.

Steve Payne has been the outdoor and environment correspondent and doing a monthly column for the Piney Woods Journal over the past year.  The monthly newspaper serves the timber and logging industry and is published in Winnfield.  The editor of the PWJ is Tom Kelly, a veteran newspaper man and cousin of Clomer Kelly, deceased, who married Ollie Payne, daughter of Buddy and Martha Payne. 

In memoriam for 2016:

Marilyn Conner -- Brax Payne family branch
Ina Payne -- wife of Dr. J. Paul Payne, deceased a few years ago

                 Info on the Payne - Foster Reunion 2016

The 2016 Payne-Foster Reunion is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10:00am until later in that afternoon.  Please check your schedule, try to attend, and bring a covered plate dish to the Hudson Community Center for this long-held family tradition.

We're expecting a larger turnout for this Payne-Foster Reunion than in 2015 when we had 18 folks attending, due to the related Buddy and Martha Payne Reunion that will also be meeting that weekend.  The Buddy and Martha Payne Reunion, held in even-numbered years, will start Friday evening (21^st) at the Dodson Fish Restaurant and run through Saturday night.  The Saturday time slot from 10am to about 2pm or so will be devoted to getting together with the broader set of kin who attend the annual Payne-Foster Reunion. The agenda for the annual Payne-Foster Reunion will feature a cover-dish lunch set for about 12:00 noon on Saturday with a business meeting and door prizes afterward. 

Our reunion president for 2016 is Patsy Sharp.  Chester Hemperley is vice-president, and Steve Payne is secretary.  If you have questions or need information about this year’s reunion, please contact Steve at the addresses or numbers below:

113 Sanro Rd., Lafayette, LA  70507    [337-896-6888 (home) or 478-451-9847 (cell)]       steve-payne1@live.com                                                    

PAYNE FOSTER REUNION       OCTOBER 2015


We had about 20 individuals attend this year's reunion on the third Saturday of October.  Connie Leach received the $50 gift certificate as the door-prize winner, and several others won pints of honey.  Peggy Payne finished her Payne-Foster genealogy book, and her husband, IB, brought copies of it.  Patsy Sharp will continue as reunion president, while Chester Hemperley and Steve Payne will serve as vice-president and secretary. 

The food and weather were excellent, as usual, and we look forward to the even-year reunion in 2016, when we will likely draw a bigger turnout as the combined Payne-Foster and Buddy and Martha Payne Reunions will once again meet. 

Sue Payne Leach  (June 19, 1924 - July 1, 2014)



A faithful and long-time attendee of Payne/Foster Reunions died last month.  Sue Payne was the ninth of ten children of I.B. (Buddy) and Martha Payne.  Living in Hudson, very near the site of her father's and mother's home and community store, Sue Leach was a friend of many and a church member of the Welcome Home Church on Highway 34.  She was the wife of Phillip Leach, who preceded her in death years ago.

 

Sue Leach is survived by her two sons, Robert and Don, and two daughters, Geneva and Tami, as well as a sister, Laura Bonnete, of Ruston and a brother, I.B. Payne of Bossier City.  She had numerous grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.  The Hudson Community won't be the same with Sue Leach's passing.

 

Marilyn Pippen Payne

We received word recently of the passing in June 2014 of Marilyn Pippen Payne, wife of Dr. Jerry Payne and mother of Melissa McCollum, a previous president of the Payne/Foster Reunion.  Marilyn Pippen met Jerry Payne while they both attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and had been married 56 years.  Marilyn and Jerry Payne had five children, two sons, Maldon and Ronnie, and three daughters, Donnis, Melissa, and Jeannie, and they resided in Marshall, TX.

Dr. Jerry Payne and his children are descendants of Braxton Payne, one of the seven children of Dr. I.B. Payne and Sarah Foster Kidd Payne.  Braxton Payne was a businessman and community leader in the Dodson area in the first half of the twentieth century. 

The Old Young Cabin in Hudson

 

Although things may move a bit slower and easier in the Hudson Community, there are a few changes there from time to time.  The Buddy and Martha Young Payne branch of the family has more descendants who live in or visit the immediate area than other branches of the extended Dr. I.B. Payne family.  One special place for them is the old Young cabin that was built by Robert and John T. Young in the 1870s.  Their grandaughter and daughter, Martha married Buddy Payne in 1905, and when she died in 1954, she left it to her son Jack.  Some say that she did so, because he helped his parents during World War II by sending part of his monthly check to his parents.  Other say she left it to her seventh child and second son, because she thought that he was more likely to take care of it due to his interest and practical mechanical skills.

 

The old Young cabin was a four-room, breezeway or dog-trot style design with heart of pine logs.  By the 1950s, the place was in pretty bad shape and had not had anyone living there for some years.  Jack Payne over the next few decades worked spare time from his job as an electrician at the West Monroe papermill to restore and rebuild the old cabin.  He removed and replaced only a few of the external logs, but he expanded the south end of he cabin by creating both a room for a kichen and a bathroom.  The orginal four cells of the cabin became two larger rooms, a bedroom and a den/living room.  By frugal choices of building materials/supplies, appliances, etc., Jack was able to slowly get the place in shape so that his relatives and children could enjoy the place.  Jack Payne died in 1995.

 

None of his four children has the skills and craftsmanship interests of their father, but they have tried to preserve the cabin and keep it in reasonable shape.  The latest among several changes to the cabin and vicinity is a new roof placed on it in March 2014.  Before it had corrugated tin sheets that would rust and very infrequently leak.  Replacing those tin sheets was a chore that his son and grandson did not relish doing again.  So, Allied Roofing in Monroe undertook the task of putting an insulated, colored roof on the cabin.  The result can be viewed below.