2022 Annual Meeting and Reunion Report

2022 DELANO KINDRED ANNUAL MEETING and REUNION

The 2022 Delano Kindred Annual Meeting and Reunion was held in Delano, Minnesota, on September 16th and 17th. This was the first meeting the Delano Kindred has ever held in a town named "Delano."

Delano was a railroad town. Originally named Crow River, it was platted in 1868 when the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad completed the extension of rail lines to the settlement. The general superintendent of the railroad at the time was Francis Roach ("F.R.") Delano, and he is credited with planning and completing that rail segment.

Unhappy with the name "Crow River", residents voted to change the name of the village to "Delano" in honor of F.R. Delano, Delano Kindred President Tom Delano's great, great grandfather. Delano was incorporated in 1876.

For a brief report on our 2022 Reunion and Annual meeting, click here; and click here to check out the front page article about the Delano Kindred in the September 23, 2022 issue of the Delano Herald Journal.

The two-day agenda was as follows, with links provided to video recordings of each session:

1. WELCOME TO DELANO, a Reunion Introduction session presenting the overall agenda for the meetings and events of the next two days. To view the Reunion Introduction video, click here.
2. WHO WAS FRANCIS ROACH DELANO and WHY IS THERE A TOWN NAMED FOR HIM? Click here to veiw the video and get the full story on "F.R." from his great, great grandson, Delano Kindred President Tom Delano.
3. THE EARLY YEARS of the ST. PAUL & PACIFIC RAILROAD, presented by Duane Swanson, retired Archivist of Manuscripts for the MN Historical Society. This was the railroad that started it all for the village of Crow River, known now as the City of Delano, MN. Click here to view Duane's presentation.
4. THE HISTORY of DELANO, MN, from 1860 to DATE is a brief history of Delano presented by local historian Kathy Workman. Click here to learn the history and meet the movers and shakers that made Delano the city it is today.
5. THE DELANO KINDRED ANNUAL MEETING was held at 10 A.M. on September 17, 2022, in the Delano Community Room in Delano, Minnesota. A video recording of this session is available to logged-in members of the Delano Kindred.

There were no recordings made of the Walking Tour of Delano or of the dinner presentation on Saturday evening by Becket Soule.