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Peacock family gathers to celebrate history

The Peacock family gathered in Pineview for their 50th annual reunion
The Peacock family dates back to the 1700s. 150 family members gather in Pineview for a 5-day family reunion extravaganza

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In the small town of Pineview, at the small church they own, you can hear the Peacock family sing the same song they've sung every year -- for the past 50 years -- during their annual family reunion.

Family members from nine different states, as far as Hawaii, gather each year for this special event.

"We have this reunion every year, and we see each other, and it's just very special to all come here together and just reunite and reminisce with memories," 25-year-old Jessica Barker said.

But this isn't just a weekend get-together, or a simple get-away.

It's a five-day all-out extravaganza for more than 150 family members.

"Fireworks, hayrides, we have a band. The guys will go off and shoot skeet. We play football in the field. You name it, we do it all," Barker said. "We have a great time out here."

The reunion is also a time to remember some of their ancestors, Looney and Sally Peacock, who lived in Pineview during the 1930s.

They had 8 children -- and the family tree has been growing ever since.

The couple's last living daughter, Dorothy Peacock, is now 85-years-old. She remembers her parents as "sweet, kind souls who raised me right."

"People that came up and down the road during the Depression with nothing but a stick, mother would feed them," Dorothy said.

"Not a lot of people can say they know who their great-great-grandparents were, and all the way back to the 1700s," Barker said. "It's a really cool feeling to know I really did come from somewhere."

10-year-old Sarah Pyles doesn't remember too far back, but she understands the meaning behind the reunion.

"It's like my family helped shape this earth," Pyles said. "I like seeing all my relatives from all different states that I don't get to see a lot."

It's this legacy that the family says they're trying to preserve.

I mean this is a strong family," Barker said. "We're going to be doing this for another 50 years, I'm going to make sure of it."

Though some have crossed time zones to get here, it's not hard to get together for something like this.

"It has been the thing that I look forward to from one thanksgiving to another," Peacock said.

Follow 13WMAZ's Anita Oh on Twitter @anita_oh and on Facebook at Anita Oh WMAZ.

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