Reunion Updates

Reunion Update: Registration Deadline, Price Increase & Picnic-Only Option

We are getting closer and closer to what is going to be an incredible reunion in Charlotte, NC & Lancaster, South Carolina — and we want to make sure every single one of you is ready to be there!

As we enter the final stretch, please take a moment to read these important updates carefully and share them with any family members who may not yet be registered.

Registration Prices Have Increased

Effective immediately, all registration fees have increased by $50 for both adults and children. If you have been on the fence, now is the time to lock in your spot.

Payment arrangements are still available for those who need them — please reach out to us directly to get that set up. (blackmonexecutivecommittee@gmail.com)

All final payments are due by 11:59 PM on July 9, 2026. Registration officially closes on July 9, 2026. There will be no extensions.

FULL REUNION REGISTRATION

Picnic-Only Registration Is Now Open

The Executive Committee is pleased to announce that family members who are unable to attend the full reunion weekend now have the option to register for the picnic only.

The picnic will be held at Preston Park in Lancaster, South Carolina from 1:00 PM – 7:00 PM.

Picnic-Only Pricing:

Age Group	Price
Ages 13 and up	$45
Ages 5 – 12	$25
Ages 4 and under	FREE*

*Children 4 and under must be accompanied by a paying adult. Limit of 3 free children per paid adult.

Please note: Transportation to the picnic is NOT provided for picnic-only registrants.

These registrants are responsible for arranging their own transportation to Preston Park.

To participate in the picnic, you must register and pay in full by July 9, 2026. No exceptions.

PICNIC ONLY REGISTRATION

A Word on Access

We have worked hard to plan something truly special for every registered family member, and we want the experience to be seamless and enjoyable for everyone. Out of fairness to all who planned ahead and completed their registration, access to food and festivities will only be available to guests who have registered and submitted full payment. We will not be able to make on-site accommodations for those who have not completed the process in advance.

We say this with love — because we want YOU there, fully registered and ready to celebrate.

The deadline is July 9, 2026. Don't let it pass you by.

If you have questions about registration, payment arrangements, or anything else, please don't hesitate to reach out. (blackmonexecutivecommittee@gmail.com)

We're Going Live!

Have questions about our upcoming Blackmon family reunion? Having issues registering? Want to know about the details and itinerary of our reunion? See what new items and events we are showcasing this year!

Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 7PM EST

WATCH IT HERE

Watch the replay of our 2026 Reunion Live Q&A

Friday, February 20, 2026 at 7PM EST

Need More Information?

Would you like to know more details about the reunion? Did you misplace the mailed copy of the registration?

Click to Download More Information

As we approach our 2026 W Mack & Emma Blackmon Family Reunion, our goal is to keep you informed and up-to-date with any changes and releases that may occur between now and then. Listed below, you will find our latest updates for the site and our reunion.

Click to play

Your WM Mack and Emma Blackmon Family Executive Committee are proud and excited to host your 2026 reunion at home and in the Queen City!

Lancaster, SC & Charlotte, NC

July 30 - August 2, 2026

Please spread the word to other William Mack and Emma Blackmon family members and encourage as many of them to join us.

A formal email will be sent momentarily to those who are on our family email list.

We will update you with more details shortly. We will post additional information here, on the family Facebook group, and through the email list.

Previous Reunion Updates

Take a peek at where your 2024 Blackmon Family Reunion will be held.

Oxon Hill, Maryland at National Harbor!

04/28/2023

A letter from your 2024 Blackmon Maryland Local Committee:

We are pleased and excited to present to you the next Blackmon Family Reunion to be held on July 18-21, 2024, in Oxon Hill, Maryland at National Harbor! The exciting event and accommodations will be held at the new Hyatt Place Hotel -Waterfront.

“Where Our Legacy Begins and Love Never Ends”

Hotel & Location

Hyatt Place National Harbor

123 Waterfront Street
National Harbor, Maryland, 20745
1-800-233-1234
301-686-1120

HOTEL ROOM PRICING

King Bed Deluxe Room with a Queen pullout sofa at $239 per night.

Two Queen Bed Deluxe Room with a Queen pullout sofa at $239 per night.

Waterfront and city view rooms are available.

Please note: An additional refundable hotel incidental fee of $50.00 will be charged per night and required to hold on a credit or debit card at booking. The fee is refunded at checkout. Booking will be available July 25, 2023, via a link that will be provided by the Hyatt at that time. The booking link will be posted on our reunion Facebook and Instagram pages once available.

Parking at the hotel is at a daily rate of $24 with in and out access.

You may also contact the hotel on 1-800-233-1234 to reserve your rooms. Please mention that you are booking through the Blackmon Family Reunion block.

The 7-story waterfront hotel is located at National Harbor, which is situated along the banks of the historic Potomac River. Hyatt Place offers an idyllic destination to explore the nation’s capital.

The picturesque Waterfront district makes for the ideal location that is easy to get around and access nearby festivities and attractions, like the MGM casino, DC Museums and monuments, Tanger Outlets, Topgolf, top notch restaurants and fine dining and so much more….

We believe the location of the hotel will alleviate the need to use your vehicle to get around.

Registration & Fees

The registration fees per adult is $235; children between the ages of 17 years to 12 years is $125; and for children between the ages of 11 years to 5 years is $50. All children under 5 years are free!

The registration fee covers the all-white banquet, venue, catering, services, and Sunday reunion give-a-ways at breakfast.

Attractions

African American Museum: Free, tickets must be reserved on the registration form.

Capital Ferris Wheel:

$15.00 General Admission
$13.50 Senior
$11.25 Child

Paddle Boats: Prices Vary

The Carousel:

Child: $7.00
Adult: Free

TRANSPORTATION

The fare for the bus is $1.00 for regular tickets and .50 cents for seniors who are 65 and older. The Metro bus which runs to the DC museum’s fare is $3.25. All day pass is $17.50.

The National Harbor has local transportation services. The National Harbor Circulator bus runs between the hotel, to shops, restaurants, MGM, Tanger Outlets and Capital Wheel.

MAIL-IN REGISTRATION

We prefer that you submit your registration and payment online. However, if you would like to mail-in your registration, you can send it to the address below.

Blackmon Family Reunion 2024
P.O. Box 31684, Baltimore, MD 21207

Please make all checks and money orders payable to Kent Vaden & Ron Shorts

Registration payments must be received no later than April 30, 2024. No registration fees will be accepted after this date. No exceptions!!!

The Maryland Reunion Committee

Betty Eanes
Kent Vaden
Karl Vaden
Kordell Vaden
Ronald Shorts
Irma O’Neal

2021-22
2020
2018
2016

07/06/2021

Your Executive Committee is excited to host a historic Virtual Family Reunion. To learn more, please click here.

09/23/2020

Your Executive Committee is excited to host a historic Virtual Family Reunion. To learn more, please click here.

07/17/2019

A letter from you 2020 WM Blackmon DC Local Committee:

Since the announcement of the location and dates of our 2020 W Mack & Emma Blackmon Family reunion, there have been various questions and concerns raised. Some have been in reference to the large crowds and security in the city during this weekend and the cost of hotel, flights and parking.

We would love to address those concerns now.

We appreciate your concerns and have addressed each question below. Should you have additional questions, comments, or concerns, please contact the committee directly at blackmonreunion2020@gmail.com.

Large crowds – The location of the hotel is close to the National Mall, making it easier to get around and access nearby festivities, monuments, and museums. During the summer months, DC usually attracts large crowds, but our city can accommodate.
Higher airline tickets – Ticket prices are normally higher during the summer months. Advance ticket purchasing will help reduce the stress of this issue.
Higher hotel prices during the holiday season – The room rates for the weekend of the 4th are actually lower than any other date quoted for this Hilton Hotel location during the summer months, and were actually the deciding factor for why we chose this particular weekend.
Road closures – To our knowledge, road closures will only occur on the day of the 4th.
Trump supporters – The city is full of Trump supporters year round, we are unaware of any violent encounters where they were the aggressor. This should not be a concern.
Advance reservations for African American museum – We have this covered.
Driving and Parking within the city – We believe that the location of the hotel will alleviate the need to use your vehicle to get around. Other options will be provided for parking.

The DC committee is working on the family’s behalf to ensure a memorable reunion. Let’s keep the positivity flowing as we prepare to come together in love and unity next July.

For further questions, comments, or concerns, again please contact us directly at blackmonreunion2020@gmail.com

Thank you,

The DC Committee:

Joshua Chapman
Al Bennett
Ronald Shorts
Sharisa Shorts
Sophia Shorts

07/11/2019

The Blackmon Executive Committee and the 2020 Blackmon Local Committee are excited to announce the location and dates for the 2020 W Mack and Emma Blackmon Family Reunion.

The reunion will be held in Washington, DC from July 2-5, 2020!!

More information from the Local Committee will be distributed by the end of this month.

Please stay tuned!

If you have not already done so, please join our Facebook group.

8/10/2016

Here is the video played during dinner at our 2016 Blackmon Reunion banquet.

8/9/2016

It’s Here! Your 2016 Blackmon Family Reunion DVD is ready for you to order.

All 3 days of our fabulous reunion has been professional documented on DVD and you can have your own personal copy. The DVD is $20. This fee included the DVD, shipping and the convenience fee.

To purchase your DVD, click here!

We have more 2016 Blackmon Family Reunion T-shirts! We do not want to keep this inventory away from those who may have not been able to come to the reunion.

We have sizes 3XL and XL left. There are only a few left. So, make sure you pick yours up now! Click here to purchase your t-shirts.

7/6/2016

Registration is Closed

The date for registration for our 2016 Blackmon Family Reunion has passed and we have maxed out our availability. Unfortunately, we will not be able to accept any more registrations or payments, except for t-shirts.

We will not accept any payments at the door on the weekend of our event.

However, if you would like to pay for your 2016 reunion t-shirts, please click here. If you have any questions or concerns, please click here to send a note to your committee.

6/19/2016

IMPORTANT: REGISTRATION FEES WILL NOT BE COLLECTED ON THE WEEKEND OF OUR FAMILY REUNION

This fabulous reunion has been 2 years in the making. To make this event a success, deposits, head counts and accommodations needed to have been made ahead of time so that we can receive special rates, secure orders and our location. So, we will not collect registration fees during our family reunion.

Accepting payments at the door or during the weekend, would not allow us to guarantee accommodations for you and your family. For this reason, we are not accepting any payments after July 10th. The online registration will be closed and no longer available.

We want all to be involved in our reunion. We want nothing more than to see you and enjoy being around family. We urge you to send your registration and your payments, whether online or by mail, as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, please email us at: Info@WMackandEmmaBlackmonFamily.com

6/7/2016

Want photo or video souvenir from our wonderful time together? GREAT! We want you to have one. There will be professional photos available for you to purchase and take home. Also, there will be a giveaway of 2 DVD’s from our July 2002 family reunion.

The price list is as follows:

5×7 = $7 (available on site)
8×10 = $12 (available on site)
DVD of Saturday night program = $15 (to be mailed)
DVD of 2002 Reunion = $10 (to be mailed)

You can pay for your photo and/or video souvenirs the reunion weekend pay cash, check or credit/debit card.

6/7/2016

It has come to our attention that some persons have mailed or submitted online their forms for registration and have not paid. Or they have paid and have not mailed or submitted their forms online. Both are essential for us to make our reunion a success.

If you are in either of the above categories, please follow the instructions below.

If you have paid but have not submitted your forms:

Click here to register online
Click here to print your forms and mail

If you have submitted your forms but have not paid:

Click here to pay online

6/7/2016

Are you running a little late in getting your registration in? Worried that you missed the deadline for our reunion? Worry no longer! The deadline for your reunion registration as been extended until 11:59pm EST, Friday, June 10, 2016! This will include online and mailed registrations.

We encourage you and your family to, please, make sure that you complete your full registration (forms and payment), as soon as possible! We would love to see you in July.

If you have not done so, please visit our Registration page to register online. Or, visit our Reunion page to print out all 3 of our forms to submit by mail.

6/3/2016

All blocked hotel rooms for our family reunion have been reserved. We have asked the University Hilton Hotel to block more for our momentous reunion and those have been reserved as well. At this time, we are unable to secure any more hotel rooms for the discounted rate that we were able to obtain.

So, any rooms that are reserved from May 31, 2016 forward will be at the regular hotel rate. There are no more rooms available for our discounted rate.

If we are able to refer you to any other hotel or offer an alternative solution, we will update you here.

5/22/2016

The deadline for registration and for hotel reservations are closely approaching. We want all of our family to join us in celebrating our past, rejoicing in our present and embracing our future. The deadline for registration and reservations is May 31, 2016.

If you have not done so, please visit our Registration page to register online. Or, visit our Reunion page to print out all 3 of our forms to submit by mail.

We hope to you and your family’s smiling faces in July!

2/1/2016

Were you trying to make your hotel reservations online and the dates were wrong or your reservations weren’t accepted? We sincerely apologize! The Blackmon Family Reunion Committee is aware of the issue and have been in contact with Hilton Hotel. There was a glitch in their system and they have been unable to resolve or correct the issue.

What should you do to reserve your hotel rooms? Please do the following:

Please call University Hilton at 704-547-7444
Ensure that the dates are correct (July 22-24, 2016)
Use reservation code: blackfr

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience.

9/09/2015

You can save $10 off your registration!

If you submit and pay your registration by November 1, 2015, you can save $10 off your total registration. Isn’t that amazing?!

If you are submitting your registration & fee by mail:

Fill-out your registration form (click here to print registration forms)
Pay your total registration fee (minus $10 off the total amount)
Mail your information before November 1, 2015 (the postmark must be before 11/1/2015)

If you are submitting your registration & fee online:

Click here to access online registration
Pay your total registration fee
Enter code: blackmon10

9/01/2015

You can now reserve your hotel rooms through Hilton Charlotte University.

Please make sure to use the code: blacfr

Or you can register online here: http://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/C/CLTHUHF-BLACFR-20160729/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG

If you do not use the code mentioned above, you will not receive the family rate that we negotiated.
If you want to arrive on Thursday, you will be charged the regular hotel rate. Our family rate includes Friday-Sunday.

Please remember: The deadline for your reservation is May 29, 2016 at 12:00AM

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Reunion Update: Registration Deadline, Price Increase & Picnic-Only Option

We're Going Live!

As we approach our 2026 W Mack & Emma Blackmon Family Reunion, our goal is to keep you informed and up-to-date with any changes and releases that may occur between now and then. Listed below, you will find our latest updates for the site and our reunion.

Previous Reunion Updates

Registration is Closed

IMPORTANT: REGISTRATION FEES WILL NOT BE COLLECTED ON THE WEEKEND OF OUR FAMILY REUNION

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