Pioneer Skit for Family Reunion

I wrote this skit for a family reunion, so the pioneers are all my husband's ancestors. Feel free to adapt it for your own purposes.

[Just a side note about writing this skit:  I had a bit of a geneaology poltergiest thing going on.  My mother-in-law asked me to write it back in October.  I wrote it, and I thought I saved it.  When I went back to send it to my mother-in-law, more than half of what I wrote was gone.  I wrote it again and sent it off to her, but she didn't get the whole skit and it wasn't on my computer.  So I wrote it again today.  I must have done it right this time because here it is.  Weird, huh?]

Family Reunion Skit

[On one side of the stage sits a modern-day parent with teenager.  On the other side of the stage are people dressed as pioneers.]

Teen:  Do we have to go to the Crandall Reunion?  It’s just going to be a bunch of old people talking about family history.

Parent:  There’ll be some young people too, but what’s wrong with talking about family history?  We have a great heritage.

  I get so tired of hearing about the pioneers.  They’re so depressing.

Teen:

Parent:  The pioneers definitely had some hard times. Still, I’m sure the pioneers wouldn’t want us to remember only the sad times from their lives.

[Pioneers stand one at a time to share what they would want their descendents to remember about them.]

Melissa Jane Guymon Metcalf:   My name is Melissa Jane Guymon Metcalf and I want my descendents to know that my days crossing the plains were some of the happiest days of my life.  About every evening we would sing and dance.   I met my husband shortly before we left on our journey.  We courted while we were traveling and were married after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.

Thomas Guymon:  My name is Thomas Guymon.  I want my descendents to know that I crossed the plains because of my testimony.  When I learned about the church, I knew it was true and that it was what we had been looking for all our lives.

Tryphena Bisbee Crandall:  My name is Tryphena Bisbee Crandall.  I want my descendents to remember that we pioneers learned to love and serve each other as we crossed the plains.  I was expecting a baby during the trip West.  My husband brought a rocking chair and small cook stove for my comfort.  Our daughter was disabled, so he hung a hammock in the wagon for her.  Our journey was very difficult but it helped to have my husband looking out for us. Life is sometimes hard and depressing.  The best way to get through it is to love and serve each other.

Mary Louisa Metcalf Crandall:  My name is Mary Louisa Metcalf Crandall. I want my descendents to remember that I had a testimony of the Church. “I am a real pioneer.  I have seen the trials and hardships they have passed through also the good times which have been many.  I have been happy and contented with my lot.  I have a testimony of the Gospel that has made me contented and glad that I was here with the saints and every year makes my faith in my Heavenly Father grow stronger.  I sure know Joseph Smith was a true prophet.  If we will only live as the gospel teaches us, we will have to work and not be idle here.  The only thing I hope for is that all of my children down to the very least will be strong in defending the right and doing the right.

James Guymon:  My name is James Guymon.  I want my descendents to remember to have faith in God and in the gospel.  He is the author of our existence and can help us through our trials.

Teen: I guess the pioneer storeis are okay, but I wish there was something more exciting—like something you’d see on T.V.

Parent:  Would you be interested to know that Myron Edgar Crandall was killed by a train or that Levi Gregory Metcalf came west because of the Gold Rush?

Myron Edgar Crandall:  I am Myron Edgar Crandall, so you can thank me for having to come to a reunion today.  I was only two years old when we crossed the plains in 1850.  My parents were faithful and taught me to obey the word of the Lord.  I’d like people to remember that I had a testimony of paying tithing, living by the Word of Wisdom, and following the leaders of the Church.

Levi Gregory Metcalf:  I set out for California looking for gold.  On the way, I found a greater treasure, my beautiful wife.  I also learned about the gospel, the greatest treasure of all.

Teen:  You didn’t know any of those people did you?

Parent:  No, but my great grandmother lived and knew the pioneers.  I got to meet her.  She lived to be 102.

Bertha Tryphena Crandall Woodward:  My name is Bertha Tryphena Crandall Woodward.  I was married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1905 and lived in Franklin, Idaho.  My family and my religion were always the foremost in my life.  I am so proud that my eight children have all stayed active in the church.

Teen: My ancestors sound like awesome people.  Maybe it’s not so bad to learn about them and go to reunions.

Parent: Don’t forget that there’s usually a lot of great food at reunions too.

Teen:  There’s food?  Why didn’t you say so?  Let’s go.