A reunion, an anniversary, an engagement
Sweepstakes winner gathers with family for first time in years

When your horoscope says, “Get your friends together. When's the last time you all had a crab bake, anyway?” you should listen. Patricia Mansker, winner of the 2005 Modern Woodmen of America Gatherings Sweepstakes, read this on the morning of her event and thought it was fate.

On July 23, she and her husband Rick renewed their marriage vows in her sister’s backyard in Portland, Ore., and in front of close-knit family and friends they hadn’t seen for more than two years due to Rick’s battle with cancer. The Manskers were married in the same spot 20 years before. Back then there was no ring, no big celebration and no cake.

Through its Gatherings.info sweepstakes, sponsor Modern Woodmen of America, a fraternal financial services organization, provided most of the items the Manskers didn’t have the first time around. This time, Rick provided the ring, a family heirloom. Modern Woodmen organized and provided the big celebration and cake.

The family had a lot to celebrate, and their son R.C. added to the happiness of the day by surprising everyone and proposing marriage to girlfriend Ronni. (She said yes.)

“All of my family and friends spoke about how lucky we were to find the Gatherings Web site and win the sweepstakes,” said Mansker. “I was extremely pleased with how Gatherings and Modern Woodmen did the event. It more than met my expectations.”

Mansker’s prize, valued at $5,000, included the event planning, a catered barbecue dinner for more than 50 of her family and closest friends, an anniversary cake, a personalized grill mitt for each family and a commemorative photo of the group. Modern Woodmen included a flight from Wichita, Kan., to Portland, Ore., and a week-long hotel stay for the Manskers and their youngest son, Donnie.

”When we heard Pat and Rick’s story, we knew what we had to do,” said Modern Woodmen public relations coordinator Sharon Snawerdt. “A primary goal of the Gatherings Web site is to bring families together, and for the Manskers, that meant a trip home to Portland.”

“I really appreciate the hard work that went into this, and so does my family,” said  Mansker. “We were watching them set up on Saturday, and my sister and I commented on how it seemed so weird to not be doing anything, just watching … we are so used to having to cook and set up, and clean up too. 

“My family, especially my 96-year-old grandma, was so pleased we got to come and stay for a week and see them so much.”

Most of the family-gathering work was done for Mansker, but others can find help at www.gatherings.info.

The site is designed to give people the tools to make bringing family and friends together simple and fun. Site users can ease the stress of planning a gathering by navigating through the Gatherings Express Planner as well as tips, lists and ideas on how to organize a gathering. The site provides planning checklists, recipes, location and travel advice, 

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