With the theme, “Returning to Our Roots to Strengthen Our Future,” the 19th Hylton-Joyce Family Reunion was held in Roanoke this August 16 –18 Held at the Holiday Inn, Valley View.
More than 130 Hylton and Joyce relatives gathered for the occasion–making it the first time the reunion was held in the Star City since 2007. With its origins in Stuart, VA, members traveled from as far as Wisconsin, Texas and New York to participate in the weekend of events.
One of the main activities was the Saturday evening banquet, at which elders shared family history and children recited the Hylton-Joyce Core Family Values. Attendees had a chance to trace their lineage on the Hylton-Joyce family tree, a collection of hundreds of names spread across many generations, dating back to the 1600s. Research for the tree was conducted over several decades by family genealogist Dr. Robert Lawrence Hylton, and the original artwork for the tree was done by artist and family member, the late Roscoe Martin.
Catrice Russell-Miller, of North Carolina, who traveled to the reunion with her mother and her daughter, said these reunions make it possible “to learn our heritage so that someday we can teach our children like we were taught.”
The first Hylton-Joyce reunion was held in Roanoke in 1983. Since that time, the family has gathered every two years on the third weekend in August. Previous reunions have been held in Virginia Beach, Winston-Salem and Greensboro, NC, Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC, Newark, NJ, and in the Washington, DC region. The 20th reunion is scheduled to be held on the third weekend in August, 2021, in Roanoke. For more information e-mail hylton-joyce2019@gmail.com.
