Family · Faith · Fellowship · Fun
Honoring where we come from. Celebrating who we are. From the red clay of Humboldt to the shores of Lake Erie — we are still one family.
Whether you’ve been to every reunion or you’re just now finding your way to us — you belong here. Add your name and help us build the Ballard family record that lasts for generations. Takes about 5 minutes.
Add Me to the Family →No perfect families required. We just want to claim our own.
Red clay hills, long roads, and Sunday best. The faces that planted what we’re still standing on.
Come for an hour, come for it all. There’s a place at the table for everybody.
“We’re going down home” — that was the call. A death, a graduation, a singing, something important — and the whole clan loaded up and headed back to where our roots were planted and sunk.
Red clay hills. Fields of cotton. Hundreds of miles in car caravans with fried chicken wrapped in foil and pop on ice. We took the long trip because family was worth the sacrifice. We didn’t always understand exactly how everybody fit together — but we knew it mattered, and we knew it felt like home.
Black families have always distinguished ourselves by fighting to keep our ties strong. The place may change and the rituals may shift, but a reunion is recognizable wherever our people have landed. Our land, our heritage, our blood ties and our stories are what make us one.
So this is our charge: claim our own and treat every member as the gift they are. We bring honor to the Ballard name simply by being family. Perfection was never the requirement — love, acceptance, and showing up are. Let’s love out loud, stand tall in character, and never let mishandled secrets divide what generations fought to hold together.
— adapted from “Honoring the Ballard Name,” by Dr. Gregory Ballard
Claim the unclaimed. Welcome the estranged. Nobody gets left in the cold.
Character is built in the distance between where you start and where you stand.
A good family is worth fighting for. We strengthen what remains.
What we build now, the next generation inherits. We’re building it to last.
From courthouse portraits to Sunday best to the children coming up behind us.
The ones who carried this name before us are never far from the table. Help us remember them by name.
If there’s a Ballard you want honored on our family Memorial Wall, add their name when you fill out the roll call — or send a photo and a few words to the family.
Remember a Loved One →Every dish, every dollar, every photo makes the weekend richer.
Donations for food & Family Fun Day go a long way. Anything helps.
Cash App · $Butterscotch8Post your pictures in Messenger and on Facebook so we can gather every memory in one place.