PERRY:  The family name of Perry is exceedingly ancient. It is found in England as far back as 1156; and yet another family of the name was seated in Devonshire, England, in 1307. The genealogists do not agree as to the origin of the name, one authority making it from the French, Peret. Yet another claims that one branch of the family derived its name from Periers, near Evreux, in Normandy; while another makes it come from Periers, in Brittany. Whatever the origin may have been, it is certain that as far as Great Britain is concerned it is derived from the old name, Periers, which in turn was derived from the French. It is also gaelic for 'pear tree'.

	Tidbits: 12-12-06 newest PERRY decendant Preston James Clement- grandma Denise-great grandson Ace-great great grandson John Wesley Perry Sr. Note 9. 21. 05 from Donna Marie in Marrero,La.: "John W. Perry has a new great great grandson. He weighed in at 6lbs 4ozs 20 inches long. Of course I think he is great looking, but I am the grandmother after all. His name is  Lon Allen Fore Jr.  We already nick named him Cain short for hurricane. " ******** Our latest little cousin has been born in Louisiana.  (Two new great grandsons of John Wesley Perry Sr.) His mom Rhonda, dad and grandparents (Ronnie and Donna Perry) are doing just fine.  Trace Allen Sproles arrived at 1050 Am on July 31, 2005 also: Chase Anthony Perry son of Katie Perry , Grand son of Ace & Mary, was born May 8, 2005 in Louisiana too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ from Denise: Our June 2006 reunion completed- a huge success! Beautiful weather...no injuries or illness- Johnnie and Donna work so hard to put this special event together.   JOHN WESLEY PERRY SR. has great-great grandchildren now; our individual families are large enough for representation by everyone of his children by at least any one person for even just a few mere hours. Three of his children had not one person in attendance as a humble representative gesture in their parent's or GRANDPARENT'S honor.   Let us all try harder to get the younger generation more involved; let us not make the same mistakes as our parents and make a honest effort to show up or send a representative for one short fun filled weekend a year to keep our PERRY heritage alive and thriving. This year at the reunion we : SHARED OUR AUNT BETTY'S BIRTHDAY, SENTIMENTAL "BEACON OF LIGHT" FAMILY AWARDS, CATERED CORKY'S BBQ (yummy!), FAMILY COOK BOOK GIVEN OUT, GREAT TRIP TO THE FANTASTIC MEMPHIS ZOO, GREAT WILD KINGDOM ACTIVITIES, AWESOME DVD MADE FOR EVERYONE BY JDPG- and much more!  ************************ 6-9-06 "POST REUNION" message from JDPG: Dear Cousins – As voted on by the majority of the family this year, next year’s Perry Family Reunion will be held at Meeman Shelby Forest, June 15th, 16th and 17th.  We will be sending out an e-mail in January 2007 asking for a head count.  However, if you know for sure that you will be attending next year go ahead and let me know now. Last year when we came together, we celebrated our surviving Aunts and Uncles. “Galatians 5:22 reads “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith.”  Galatians 5:25 says “That if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”  What Beacons of Light our loved ones have been for all of us.  These Beacons of Light touched our lives in so many different ways.  So, we establish in their memory “The Beacon of Light Award”.  Given to those cousins that have followed in our loved ones foot steps.  Sharing the spirit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faith.  This award will be given to not more than 10 cousins or less than 1 cousin in a given year.  Cousins will be selected at random.  "2006 Beacons of Light” awards were given to family members Joyce & Roger Fred, Linda & Jerry Montgomery, Denise & Tim Clement, Joseph Thomas Perry, Donna & Dwayne Miller .   Also, Donna Elaine collected $70.00 for the Perry Reunion Fund and I will have to double check on the figure, but we collected $125 for the Perry Cemetery Association (I still haven’t gone through all of our Reunion leftovers and that information is in there too). For those of you that attended this year, please be sure to send the park manager a card or a letter letting him know how much we appreciate him and his staff for letting us come out to the park for our weekend retreat.  His address is as follows: Steve Smith, Park Manager c/o Meeman Shelby Forest State Park 910 Riddick Road  Millington, TN  38053 Donna and I thank all of you again from the bottom of our hearts for your attendance this year.  All I can say is that it was a blast!  Uncle Ronnie said this year’s reunion was better than last year’s.  So, that says it all.  Much love and many hugs to all.  Johnnie Diane Perry Goodwin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Message from Johnnie: "Donna Elaine has booked Shelby Forrest for the weekend of June 2, 3, 4, 2006.  All in all we thought that our first annual Reunion was a success.  There were few complaints, but just remember that no event is ever perfect.  The main thing is that we got together and had a wonderful time with our loved ones. We plan on doing things a little different next summer, but we need and want your input as to what kind of events or programs you'd like to see or have take place next year.  This is important in helping Donna and I plan so, please take the time to let us know.  We appreciate your input -- it makes our job a lot easier. You can send your ideas to me.  Donna and I will work on putting the 2006 program together for the family. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Johnnie and Donna collected $407.02 for the Perry Cemetery during our July 8-10th FIRST EVER reunion! Start planning for the Second Annual PERRY Family Reunion in 2006. Johnnie and Donna have booked the group camp for June 2,3,4 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Donna:donnabugs1@aol.com Johnnie:jgoodwin@bpjlaw.com