Register for the Reunion
August 1 – 4, 2013, Salt Lake City, Utah
Help our family set a world record!
- This is the Place Heritage Park.
- Historic buildings to explore.
- Youth & Children’s activities:
panning for gold, pony rides, petting, corral, train rides, etc. - Admission to the park included with reunion registration.
Thursday, August 1 – Registration will be at the University of Utah LDS Institute located at 1780 East South Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112.
Friday, August 2 – Smith Descendant Gatherings
- Strengthen the bonds in smaller family groups.
- See ideas at reunion website.
- Friday night event for the whole family.
Saturday, August 3 – Joseph’s Miracle Run
Our 5K run honors Dr. Nathan Smith, who saved Joseph’s leg from the severe bone infection he suffered when he was just 7 years old. Dr. Smith founded Dartmouth Medical College in Hanover, NH. Proceeds from the run will provide a scholarship in Joseph’s name as a gift of gratitude from our family.
Race registration is already open at www.JosephsMiracleRun.com. What an incredible opportunity to have Joseph’s name be known for good!
The Miracle Run is not just for our family, so invite your neighbors, friends, and associates to participate. There is even an option to not have to run! Think of the legs and feet of your ancestors who have provided you with such a wonderful heritage. It is time to give a payment of gratitude. Participate, invite, and sponsor!
Saturday, August 3 – following Our Family footprints
The hills surrounding This is the Place will help us remember experiences of our Smith ancestors. Did you know that our family traveled nearly 2,000 miles from Palmyra to Harmony, Kirtland and Far West before building beautiful Nauvoo?
Children ages 3 – 11 can participate in group activities to honor Smith family members. Experience walking with crutches like young Joseph, training for Zion’s Camp, and more!
Youth ages 12 – 18 will learn from the Smith’s faith and blessings that followed in a fun morning activity.
Adult meetings will include updates to Smith family research and interesting perspectives surrounding the miracle of Joseph’s leg surgery. We’ll honor descendants of Dr. Nathan Smith and hear from our cousin, Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Sunday, August 4 – Music and the Spoken Word
The family is invited to attend a live broadcast of “Music & the Spoken Word” featuring the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Center. Doors open to the public at 8:30 a.m., guests should be seated by 9:15 a.m., when the doors are closed. The broadcast is 30 minutes in length and ends at 10:00 a.m. Admission is free and limited to those eight years of age and older.
Parking is available in the underground parking at the Conference Center, at no cost.
Stay Connected! Visit today at www.josephsmithsr.org and update your contact information.
This was, after all, 1813, in the most rural area of New Hampshire. The infection in Joseph’s bone (osteomyelitis) followed in the wake of an epidemic of typhoid fever that affected all the Smith children. In those days and up until the discovery of antibiotics in this century, osteomyelitis was a devastating problem. Since the days of Hippocrates of ancient Greece, the standard method of treatment had been the simple application of poultices and plasters to the inflamed flesh. This had little effect: when infection occurs in the bone, long segments of the bony shaft die, and the body, growing new bone, encases the dead material within a living layer. Inevitably, the dead bone separates and lies in the center of an abscess cavity, draining continuously or spreading infection to other parts of the body, resulting in death. Usually in the late stages the leg had to be amputated.