A Granddaddy of Family Reunions : Ancestors: The Ragsdale clan--about 200 strong--has rented out a hotel convention center to renew acquaintances. Everyone wears name tags, and there’s even an opening ceremony.

It’s really a convention disguised as a family reunion.

About 200 members of the Ragsdale family are having what they call a traditional reunion in San Diego this weekend.

But how many family reunions entail renting out a hotel convention center for four days? This family get-together is so elaborate that it has opening ceremonies, keynote speakers, a 16-page newsletter, souvenirs and name tags. And it’s an event so public that it calls for a media day, a speech from Mayor Maureen O’Connor and a visit from Gov. Pete Wilson.

“We’re basically handling it like a small convention,” said Don Hertel, convention service manager for the Hanalei Hotel, where the event is being held through Sunday. “As far as family reunions go, it’s certainly the most unique I’ve ever seen. A family reunion in my family would be 25 of us--and that would be big--having dinner, looking at old photo albums.”

But not the Ragsdales. To them, a family reunion means having to register a month ahead, buying T-shirts and sweat shirts or baseball caps that say “Ragsdale” on them and wearing name tags so they can identify each other.

Juande Ragsdale-Blevins of San Diego, chief organizer of this year’s occasion, calls it the “Ragsdale Summit.”

The event, which is held about every two years, gives Ragsdales a chance to see other family members and meet new ones, she said.

It’s also a chance to publicize some of the achievements of a primarily African-American family that boasts a history of community activism nationwide. “The world needs to know about Ragsdales,” Ragsdale-Blevins said.

Ragsdales have traditionally been a big name in the mortuary business--at one time the three-generation mortuary family owned seven businesses in several states--but members have since gone on to success in law, education, professional sports, science, entertainment, the military, ministry and medicine.

In San Diego, family members have operated the Anderson-Ragsdale Mortuary since 1955. Juande Ragsdale-Blevins hosts and produces a weekly talk show on Cox Cablevision. Other family members are active in the church community and politics.

The family, which is primarily African-American, but includes some American Indians and Anglo-Americans--can trace its roots to the early 1800s, when a white family of Ragsdales from Wales settled in Jacksonville, Tex., according to genealogical research done by Ragsdales.

The original Ragsdales owned a plantation with black slaves, and it is assumed that the servants adopted the surname of their owners.

San Diego, home to about 50 Ragsdales, was selected by the family last year as the next site, and traditionally Ragsdales in the host town put together the reunion, Ragsdale-Blevins said.

This year’s event is probably the biggest because more time was available to organize it than in past reunions, she said.

A 10-member executive committee and a year’s work have culminated in a busy weekend schedule for the Ragsdales.

Thursday, a reception was held at the Hanalei Hotel. On Friday, there was an opening ceremony that included a short speech by Mayor O’Connor, to which reporters were invited, plus a children’s carnival and a dance on a chartered boat.

On today’s schedule is the family’s business meeting to select the next site and a black-tie dinner, open to friends and the public, that will honor the older members of the family and feature a presentation by Gov. Wilson. Closing ceremonies and church services will end the “Ragsdale Summit” on Sunday.

During every event, Ragsdale family members will all sport plastic tags with their name and hometown. Twenty-eight states are being represented this year, organizers said. Because many Ragsdales are avid genealogy researchers, new Ragsdales are being discovered all the time, Juande said.

“A lot of conversations begin with, ‘Who was your father? Who was your grandfather?’ ” said Gwen Ragsdale, 36, of Philadelphia. “Eventually you find some kind of connection, and, for black people, that’s really important, because we don’t know our real names and we don’t have a sense of who we are. Being a Ragsdale means that, ‘Hey, I actually belong to something. I am somebody.’ ”