Catamount Hill Quinquennial Reunion via Zoom Maintains Tradition
2012 photo descendants of Major Hezekiah Smith, Jr. (1752-1843) at the stone monument marking the site of the Catamount Hill School house where Hill residents raised a flag in protest of American sailors being captured at sea and impressed in to the Royal Navy prior to the outbreak of the War of 1812. The event marks the transition of the flag from a military banner to a national symbol.
The Catamount Hill Association was organized in Colrain in 1875 and its members take a long view of their history. Descended from families of Revolutionary War veterans who were also politically active in support of War of 1812, the Association's members have reunited every five years ever since.
This year, because of COVID-19, the Association's 30th Quinquennial Reunion program will happen online via Zoom, a popular digital video conference service. As a technology, Zoom is a far cry from the steam railways and horse-drawn vehicles which brought participants to the first Reunion in 1875, held near the small caves on Catamount Hill known as "the dens".
On Saturday, August 8 the Quinquennial will be held for the first time in cyberspace. Descendants will meet at 11 a.m. EDT by using a link e-mailed to them from the Association's contact list. Non-listed descendants may send their name, e-mail address, and family affiliation to catamounthill1875@gmail.com.
The Reunion program will include a presentation of images, historic and contemporary. The business meeting of reports and elections is traditionally heralded by the ringing of a cow bell. This year, rather than echoing through Colrain's hills and valleys, it will resonate through cyberspace.
