Friday August 6:

 9 am to 5:00 pm -     Registration.  Coffee, pastries and cold drinks provided.

 10 am to noon -        viewing of auction items; checking with historians on family history data.

 10:15 am:                  Welcome and opening remarks

 10:30 am to 11:30 -    Presentation by local historian on the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley with a surprise visit

 Noon to 1 pm -          Buffet lunch at the University Food Service.

 1 pm to 5:30 pm -      Tours to local sites.

 1 pm to 5:30 -             also a time for visiting reunion site to check on auction items, family records, and visiting if not interested in a tour.

 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm -  Buffet dinner and entertainment and closing remarks.

 7:00 pm -                    Experiencing the Schürch reunion in Chile by Betty Sherk

 Saturday August 7:

 9:00 am till 5:00 pm -  coffee, cold drinks and pastries provided, visiting and family research.

10:00 am -                   Seminars by family members.

 10:00-10:40 -               Kathryn Bullock - Advances in battery technology important to sustainable energy.

 10:45-11:30 -               Lisa Schirch - The importance of development and diplomacy in Afghanistan.

 Noon-1:00 pm -           Lunch at University Food Service

 1:15 pm-2:00 pm -       Tom Sherk and Verne Schirch - migration of the Schurch family during the past 10,000 years as revealed by DNA analysis.

 2:00 pm-2:45 pm -        To be announced        

 3:00 pm -5:00 pm -       Live auction, business meeting

 5:00 pm-7:00 pm -        Special dinner at EMU, entertainment and farewell remarks

Seminar Descriptions

As usual, members of the historical committee will be available to help anyone search through our extensive files on family connections. There will also be new information about the Schürch Family Records Online Project. So if you have questions about your family history we will have the resources to help you.

A recent questionnaire to several young family members asked, "What would you like to see at our family reunions?" One idea was that they would like to hear what family members are doing. This also resonated with several of us. We have added to our program of normal seminars and resources that deal with family history two seminars about what some of us are doing. Two seminars will be held Saturday morning by Kathryn Bullock and Lisa Schirch. They will tell of their work on the future of batteries in our emerging sustainable energy economy and solving conflicts by non-military means. Below is a brief bio sketch of these two accomplished women.

Dr. Kathryn Bullock has 38 years of experience in developing, manufacturing and applying battery technologies for industrial, utility, telecommunications, automotive, medical and consumer markets.  She began a consulting company, Coolohm Inc., in 2003 to help industrial clients and attorneys with various battery projects. She also teaches a course in batteries and fuel cells for Villanova University's new Sustainable Energy Master’s Degree program and a fuel cell course for the IEEE continuing education program.  Over the past year she has also been working with the National Academy of Sciences Committee to Review the FreedomCar® and Hydrogen Programs, aimed at developing electric vehicles. 

Dr. Bullock's experience and accomplishments include:

Ph.D. in electrochemistry from Northwestern University,

Executive Vice President of Technology at C&D Technologies, Inc.

Technical Manager of Batteries at AT&T/Lucent Bell Laboratories,

President of the Electrochemical Society, Inc., a global professional organization,

Recipient of major international awards for battery R&D

More than 60 technical publications and 11 patents in battery technology

Lisa Schirch is a professor of peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. A former Fulbright Fellow in East and West Africa, Schirch has worked in over 20 countries with communities and government leaders. She is the program director of the 3D Security Initiative at www.3Dsecurity.org, which promotes civil society perspectives on conflict prevention and peacebuilding in US security policymaking.

With colleagues in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU, Schirch consults with a network of strategic partner organizations involved in peacebuilding activities throughout the U.S., Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Schirch has written five books and numerous articles on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Her current research interests include civil-military dialogue and the intersection of security and climate change, sustainable development, the media, and conflict prevention.

She is a frequent public speaker and has TV and radio experience discussing U.S. foreign policy. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

Betty Sherk is the Editor of our family Newsletter. In early March she attended the 125^th anniversary of the Schürch reunion in Chile. The reunion was to be held on the day that the earthquake struck. Although the reunion was some distance to the south of the epicenter it did affect her getting home. Over the two days of the reunion she will show some slides of her experiences and give a short talk about our cousins in Chile.

Tom Sherk and Verne Schirch. Tom has been the guiding light of our DNA project for the past few years. During early Saturday afternoon Tom and Verne will tell how this project gives information about the origin of our family in central Asia and how they migrated to Switzerland over the next several thousand years. They will attempt to make this understandable to the average family member.

Golf Outing

Several family members have inquired about playing golf during the reunion. To plan for this I need to know how many holes and when you would like to play. So far I have some interested in playing 9 holes on Friday morning so that they can go on a tour Friday afternoon, some are interested in playing 18 holes either during Friday afternoon or on Thursday. If you have an interest in playing gold please contact Verne at vrnschurch856@gmail.com. Verne will coordinate those who are interested and try to make reservations at the golf course. The cost is $29 for 18 holes and $19 for 9 holes. You can get further information about the golf course by going to

Google and searching for Heritage Oaks Golf.