The Pidcock Family Association will hold a virtual reunion Saturday, Aug. 1, rather than its usual in-person annual gathering in Washington Crossing Historic Park.
In a normal year, the family holds its summer reunion along Pidcock Creek on land that John Pidcock settled in the early 1680s. This year, however, “the lingering threat of COVID-19 prompted the cancellation,” said Alan Pidcock, association president. “This was a hard decision to make, but we didn’t want to risk anyone getting sick.”
So far, about 25 Pidcocks and Pidcock descendants have signed up for what promises to become an international meeting. In addition to Pennsylvania, participants live in Florida, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon, Washington State, Ohio, Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey. One very distant cousin lives in England.
The virtual reunion will have many features of the organization’s conventional reunions, such as recognition of the youngest participant, the oldest, the member who has attended the most reunions, and the most distant member.
The session will also emphasize genealogy. As part of her presentation, Karen Pidcock Price, the association genealogist, plans to show and discuss an image of a 1701 real estate document signed by Pennsylvania founder William Penn that mentions John Pidcock by name.
The association began in 1913. The Pidcocks haven’t canceled a reunion since the hurricane-induced flooding of August 1955.
“We began working on plans for a Zoom reunion when we realized that COVID-19 would still be prevalent in early August,” said John L. Moore, an association officer who is coordinating the event.
Active members include grandchildren and great-grandchildren of its founders.
The virtual reunion is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m., Pennsylvania time, and will last about an hour. The session will go live at 1:30, so participants will have ample time to join.
“If all goes as planned, our session will span eight different time zones, from England in the east to the West Coast of the United States,” said Moore.
Association members who want to participate should send an email to pidcock2013@yahoo.com no later than 10 a.m. Saturday. They should list their email address, the name of the city or town in which they reside, their cellphone number, and their connection to the Pidcock family.
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