This is a picture of one of the original Ariail Reunions held about 1948 in the backyard of James Claude Ariails home

This is a picture of one of the original Ariail Reunions held about 1948 in the backyard of James Claude Ariails home. I can vividly remember those reunions because of the extreme poverty of most of the people living in the area at that time. We always seemed to have food for the table but all the items were grown on the farm. Anything not grown on the farm such as sugar salt spices etc. was purchased utilizing a barter system with peddlers who traveled around from place to place i.e. the Watkins Man. Mother would make butter collect eggs etc. and swap with the peddler what she had for the items she needed. You will notice the picnic baskets in the photo that were utilized for the ladies to bring the food in. The well shelter covering the well that grandfather Ariail used to draw water from for his house. The well was approximately 90 feet deep and the water was clear and sweet. Such wells were also utilized as ancient refrigeration for food. Perishable items would be placed into the well bucket and lowered just above the water level in the well. The cool temperatures within the well would help preserve the perishable food until it was eaten by the family at subsequent meals. We never had store bought bread or bananas or any of those things we considered good eating during those days so when our aunts Mildred and Imogene came from Atlanta and brought these items we children gorged ourselves to the point that sometimes we had stomach aches from overeating. It seems sad that we can never go back to those days and re-live the memories that are so deeply engrained into our very heart and soul. Grandfather Ariail had a large family 12 children. Ten of them lived to maturity 9 boys and one girl my mother Lillie Blanche Ariail. So you can understand with such a large family the reunion had its beginning as the birthday party for my grandfather James Claude Ariail and it has continued on an annual basis for over 70 years. After a few years it was decided to conduct the reunion at Nails Creek Church because it had outgrown the backyard of the home place. These reunions were held behind the church until a fellowship hall was constructed and from that point forward were held in the fellowship hall of the church.