Fallsburg — A branch of one of Appalachia’s most notorious families gathers for four days in Fallsburg each year to celebrate its heritage and strengthen ties between generations.

This Hatfield Family Reunion includes the descendants of Russell and Angie Hatfield and their children Ronald, Henry, Patsy, Anna and Janet Hatfield, who can trace their lineage back to a brother of the famed patriarch of the Hatfield family, William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield.

The long weekend is full of big family meals, games, hayrides, a live auction, karaoke, a costume party and competitions including the Hatfield Olympics and some type of show. Last year the family staged a Hatfield Idol competition. This year, a film of re-enacted scenes of the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud was to be screened.

Carey Moore and her brother, Rusty Hatfield, and his wife ,Stephanie, all of Ashland, plan the annual reunion, which has taken over the entire Fallsburg Creekside Cabins and RV Park for four days each year since 2006. The trio are grandchildren of Henry Hatfield.

Attendance averages between 40 and 65 family members spanning four generations. They come from all parts of the country when they are able.

“We love it,” said Moore. “It’s a lot of fun.”

She and her brother started the event so the five siblings, whom they call the elders, could spend time together and bring their families closer.

“We look forward to it every year,” said Rusty Hatfield, noting he never imagined the reunion would grow to what it has become.

Young cousins play on the inflatables while older male cousins pass around a jug of homemade “lemonade” while grilling and three generations of women sit in the shade laughing and talking.

“Our kids took off with it and have never ended it,” said Patsy Hatfield. She said many of her peers envy the family’s event and the kinship it has created.

Added her sister, Janet Hatfield, “It’s the only time you see everybody. We really have a good time.”

Without the reunion, said Rusty Hatfield, cousins that he and his wife are now very close to probably wouldn’t have even met. “We didn’t know each other,” said Moore.

“We started going to the beach together and weddings,” added Stephanie Hatfield.

“It has made the family closer for sure,” said Moore.

A lot of the weekend is spent poking fun at the family’s “hillbilly roots.” Take this year’s hillbilly luau, which included trash bag grass skirts and more than a few sets of “bubba teeth.”

The entire extended family is proud of their family name and its place in American Folklore, even though there are parts of the past they aren’t so proud of, said Ernestine Hatfield, Moore’s mother.

The national attention the family is getting based on the release this year of History Channel’s miniseries “Hatfields and McCoys” and its companion documentary “America’s Greatest Feud: Hatfields and McCoy’s,” have only heightened that sense of pride, say family members.

This year, they even created a family T-shirt with the slogan: “Hatfield Family Reunion. It’s all about the pig,” featuring a stereotypical straw hat and overall clad Hillbilly with a big spotted pig.

“"I think a lot of us watched the shows, we don't know if every part of it is true, of course, and we always think the Hatfields were right, obviously, even though they may not have been made to look like it during the movie. We still think they were," said Moore.

"We saw a lot of similarities between the movie and our relatives," said Jill Burton, Patsy's daughter.

"Kevin Costner's role, I thought, really looked like all the pictures we see of the old Hatfields. I thought his accent was dead on. And the pipe smoking —­ all the Hatfield's smoked pipes," she said.

Anna Robinson, Patsy's sister, said she believes the feud is an important piece of history to pass down to younger Hatfields. "I think it’s really important. That is our heritage,” she said, adding, “Now with this sort of national attention on it, it is sort of fun being a part of it.”

CARRIE STAMBAUGH can be reached at cstambaugh@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.