Parkites will be seeing blue this weekend as the Boyack clan is visiting town 200 members strong, clad in matching azure tops to mark their grand finale family reunion. The tradition has spanned 40 fun-filled weekends over 80 years, through all of Merrilyn Hilton’s lifetime.
“There’s nothing like being together in person,” said Hilton, a Boyack by birth and Layton resident who will be attending with her husband, Roy, and daughter, Michaela Foster, and son-in-law, Bret Foster, to connect with cousins from New Hampshire, Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Utah for the long weekend.
Hilton’s maternal great-grandparents, Jane Bowen and George Boyack, married in 1897 and raised seven children: Wanda, George, Merrill, Hal, Ray, Cliff and Dean. In 1947 George and Jane celebrated their 50th anniversary with the company of their adult children and growing families.
All present enjoyed themselves so much that the seven siblings began to rotate the duties of hosting a reunion every other summer. As decades passed, their children took up the torch, while becoming parents and grandparents themselves.
“Just in my generation there are 70 people, and we’re down to the fifth generation from my great-grandparents, so it’s just gotten too big,” Hilton said of the decision to draw the tradition to a close after one more hurrah.
Fifty last names will be in attendance. Great-great-grandchildren number 356, and the fifth generation already counts 87 members. At 97, LaMyrl Sandholtz will be the oldest attendee.
“I just think it’s a very unique event because I don’t hear about too many people getting together for three or four days for a family reunion,” Hilton said. Her husband’s Hiltons hosted their first reunion in four years this June, a one-day potluck gathering.
Boyack festivities commence Thursday evening with a welcoming dance at the weekend headquarters Sheraton Hotel. Multiple forefathers were square dance callers, so the evening will include traditional dancing along with songs spanning all eight decades. Heidi Darling will be leading the dancing.
Friday morning begins with the Boyack softball game at Basin Recreation Center before further activities of the relay variety that constitute the Boyack Olympics. A lunchtime barbecue will go on into the afternoon, then come evening, the cousins will split up by generations to patronize a handful of local dining establishments before a Boyack sing-along back at the hotel finishes the night.
Saturday is a free day until the Boyack dinner banquet. If you’re going to be late, please bring the fish you caught. The Sheraton will be catering the meal, though someone will likely be opening their tartan-clad “Recipes from the Clan Pan” family cook book to make matriarch Jane’s shortbread squares for dessert. Meanwhile, young women from the Park City Latter-day Saints ward will treat the little ones to a catered meal across from the adults, in Doug and Pam’s suite, then games and activities in the Silver Mine Room.
Sunday brings one last George S. Boyack Sunday School meeting before hitting the road by noon after lots of Boyack hugs.
Knowing the tradition is coming to an end is not easy, but that fact makes this gathering extra-special.
“I’m kind of sad about it,” Hilton said. “Everybody’s so busy with life that it’s hard to get together, and I’m very grateful that we’ve had this opportunity. When people say ‘my cousins,’ they’re pretty much referring to cousins from their grandparents. When I’m referring to my cousins, I’m referring to my first and second cousins because I know them, I’ve grown up with them, and they’re closer to me than most second cousins are. My daughter has really close relationships with some of her third cousins. The generations start blurring together and we’re all one big huge family.”
2024’s reunion was in Las Vegas, and earlier gatherings coincided with the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and Ashland, Oregon’s Shakespeare Festival. Park City previously played host in 1988 and 2014.
Hilton fondly remembered long-ago reunions when the Boyacks would rent collegiate dormitories.
“At UC Davis, the way that dorms were designed is that they surrounded the pool, so during our free time everyone would come out of their rooms and get in the water, play the chicken games, Marco Polo and just have a crazy old time,” she said.
While reunions are a visible manifestation of family ties, Hilton takes comfort knowing who she can call on at any time.
“I think the bonds that families have really helps strengthen me as an individual, to know that I have all these cousins that, push came to shove, I could call and say, ‘Hey, I need help, I need support,” Hilton said. “It doesn’t matter that you aren’t in contact with them every single day, but to know that they’re going to have your back when it really counts. If I were to go on a trip across country, I know I could call on any Boyak cousin and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a place to stay,’ and they’d put us up.”
The Boyacks consider their family bonds a tribute to the exponential power of two: Jane and George Boyack.
