The Lynd Lovers

Met up with the Vanstroms again Friday who are Lynd residents for one week of the year. Four women, ages 93 to 100, used to live there and their daughters and daughters-in-law and granddaughters ate lunch at the Landmark Bistro Friday afternoon and then went to the Lyon County Museum.

Ellayne Conyers, the museum’s director, told them about the history of Lynd, about James Lynd the fur trader and about Lynd being the first county seat. They were fascinated and said it was interesting to know the background of this place where they have come back to for many years. Ellayne spoke to them enthusiastically, as if she were giving the information out for the first time.

The families love getting together every year at the big house in Lynd. This year there are 45 of them in all, ranging in age from 10 months to 100.

The patriarch of the family, Frederick W. Vanstrom, used to be the bank president in Lynd in the early 1920s.

Ellayne and I drove out to the house Friday night so she could see the house and I could take photos. I’m writing a story which will be in the Aug. 1 paper.

I wrote about the Vanstroms six years ago. A group of them came to the paper wanting information about when the new Lynd golf course was going to be open. I went over and started chatting and ended up writing a story for the paper.

One of the Vanstrom children, Peggy, called me again this week and suggested I do a follow-up. I thought that was a good idea because the extended family come from all over the U.S. to this little town in Lynd. They have a family Web site where they keep in touch and they call themselves the Lynd Lovers. They are a lovely family, so it was a fun story to do and it was fun hanging out with Ellayne.