In 1987, I (Ed Miller, Family Historian) received a phone call from Kermit T. Shoun, who lived in Mountain City, Tennessee.  He told me there was to be a Shoun family reunion in Duncan, Oklahoma, because  he had received a reunion invitation from Linda and Curtis Shawn, who lived in Marlow, Oklahoma.  Curtis was working for the Halliburton Oil Drilling Corporation at that time, and had secured the use of the Halliburton Park, located in Duncan, to hold the family reunion.  

Since I was nearing retirement and interested in my Shoun family, I opted to go to Oklahoma and meet some of my cousins.  I met Curtis and Linda at the airport and learned there were additional spellings of the family name, as Curtis' family spelled their name Shawn.

We had a social meeting and I asked them what their plans were for the future regarding the Shoun family.  I suggested they establish an organization that would be responsible for continuing the annual reunions and doing things that were necessary to increase the size of the family at each reunion.

Later that night, I decided to write down several things that would be needed to establish a family association.  I looked around and all the writing paper I could find was a "brown bag" from the grocery store with some goodies for a late night snack.  So you can honestly say that the Sh---n Family Association got started from a "brown paper bag".

Curtis and Linda Shawn, our hosts, called for a business meeting and followed the agenda written on the "brown paper bag".  That was the beginning, and it has become better organized every year.

At that meeting it was decided for the word "SH--N" to be used so we would not have to write out the various spellings of the family name.  So, all of the SHAWN'S, the SHOUN'S and the SHOWN'S are included in this Association.  Over the years we have found even more spellings of the family name.  One family in North Carolina spells their name SHOUNS, and another family in Colorado spells their name SHON.  We also have another family in Knoxville, Tennessee that spells their name SHOWAN.

Our first newsletter was mailed to 398 families and we ended up with 80 paid memberships during that first year.  These were declared Founding Members. 

The Association approved the By-Laws in March 1989, and also registered the Association in the State of Tennessee.

Officers of the SH--N Family Association have been: