The usual fine time was enjoyed by the members of the Collett and McKay families, their relatives and friends at the fiftieth annual Collett-McKay picnic held Saturday at the old Collett homestead near Gurneyville. There were four present who had been in attendance at every one of the fifty reunions, Mrs. Robert McKay, Bernard Y. Collett, Horace Collett and E. S. Collett. A poem written in observance of the fiftieth family gathering by Frank McKay and read by the author was a feature of the reunion.

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RAIN FAILS TO
     DAMPEN ARDOR

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Of Hundreds Gathered in Fiftieth
Annual Reunion of Collett-Mc-
Kay Families.

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     The rain of Saturday morning failed to keep any one away from the Collett-McKay family reunion, held for the fiftieth time in the old Collett sugar camp. The attendance, almost as large as at any time during the past fifty years, was estimated at 400. A register was kept, as has been the custom for years, and it showed that number before the festivities of the day, had come to a close. An interesting feature along this line was the posting of the first register, a list of those who were in attendance at the first reunion, held in the same grove fifty years ago.
     At Saturday's picnic--and that is what they called it before such things became modernized and took on the title of "reunion"--there were four people present who have not missed a single one of these gatherings in the fifty years they have been held. They are: B. Y. Collett, Ed. S. Collett, Horace W. Collett and Mrs. Mary Frances McKay. Their photos were made and will be cherished as souvenirs for years to come.
     At the noon hour a big dinner was served. The coffee and tea were made in big pots hung over blazing log heaps, just as they were made at the first picnic 50 years ago. There was no set program following the dinner, but all gathered to hear an interesting poem, touching upon the two families, composed and read by Editor Frank McKay, of Logan, Ohio. It recalled that the Collett family is of French extraction, the McKays from Wales, a combination that has given to this country at large, and this section in particular, some of the noblest, most enterprising and most prosperous citizens it contains.
     No officers are elected at the Collett-McKay reunions, and this rule was not broken Saturday. The four hundred or more said good-bye until the second Saturday in August, 1917, when those whom Providence has seen fit to keep upon earth will gather for the fifty-first celebration.

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Family Reunion
Of Colletts and McKays held Saturday --
The Fiftieth Anniversary

Editor Journal-Republican:
     Did you ever attend one of the fifty Collett and McKay picnics? If not, go to some one or more of the next fifty. A picture was taken Saturday, at the fiftieth picnic, of four people who have never missed one--B.Y. Collett, Edwin S. Collett, Horace W. Collett, and Mary Frances McKay.
     These gatherings are called picnics because they began years ago, before the term family reunion was used, and they are still picnics, because they are conducted in the same way in which they started--no programme, no speeches, no election of officers, no setting of date or choosing a place, but merely going to the same woods, on the second Saturday of August each year.
     The picnic woods is on Buck Run, not far from New Burlington, in the neighborhood where the Colletts and McKays live, being half way between Andersons Fork where the McKays live, and Jonah's Run where the Colletts have their homes. It is in the northwestern part of Clinton County in close proximity to Warren and Greene Counties, where many of the names are found. The woods is a beautiful sugar camp on the farm of the late Daniel McKay Collett, a gift to him from his father and mother, who were the second ones to unite by marriage the Collett and McKay families. D. M. Collett was for many years the leading spirit of these occasions, being a fine combination of the best characteristics of the two families.
     The most conspicuous object which meets your gaze, at the Collett-McKay picnic, next to the assembled multitude, is the long row of tables, ranged under the overshadowing trees, and nearby are the immense baskets waiting to disgorge their luscious contents. The ladies gather around and explore the depths of these capacious receptacles and like magic the hundreds of feet of tables are loaded down with all that can tempt the most epicurean appetites. But, perhaps, a still more interesting sight than the overburdened tables is the manufacture of coffee for the multitudes. Hiram Poor, a colored man, has had charge of this work for many, many years. It is made in the same iron kettles that were first used, these being hung on a pole over an immense wood fire as in the olden time. One kettle is filled with coffee, the other with tea. The coffee kettle holds thirty gallons and the tea kettle, perhaps, contains twenty gallons, enough, it seems to quench the thirst of a battalion of parching soldiers. Besides these there is a wooden hogshead, from the sugar camp, of clear cold water, presided over by a squad of boys, for whom it seems to possess a great fascination.
     After the banquet is over it is just a jolly free and easy home gathering of relatives and friends, some of the finest yeomanry of the Commonwealth. There is a strong individuality apparent in the countenances of these two races. You can tell a McKay, you can tell a Collett, and it does not matter how remote the descent, you can detect the combination of the two races, if you are anything of a physiognomist, and where the two are blended, the visible admixture, if we do say it, is, by no means unhappy.
     The Colletts are of French Huguenot extraction, and the McKays from Scotland, their ancestors having landed in Virginia. The Colletts came to Ohio in 1812, and the McKays in 1818. The first marriage between the families was in 1823. Jonathan Collett and Sarah McKay being the couple. They have been fruitful, having multiplied and replenished the earth. They became large land proprietors and are distinguished for fine physical development and sterling integrity of character. According to the tax duplicate of Clinton County they own and live on 7,000 acres of land, most of which is in Chester Township.
     At the picnic Saturday they broke away from the ironclad custom of no programme for a few moments and listened to a poem that was prepared and read by Frank M. McKay.

     The following verses, written by Frank McKay, of Logan, were read by him at the fiftieth annual reunion of the Collett and McKay families, Saturday, August 12, 1916.

For half a century under these trees
Have met the clans of Collett-McKay
And of annual gatherings like to these
The fiftieth we celebrate today.

And to the great giver of all our good
Our thanksgiving and grateful praise
Here in His temple in this leafy wood
Our voices in his tribute raise.

From the old French Huguenots came the one-
Other from Scotland's rock-bound shore;
Through time's cycle a century a run
Since forefathers looked these lands o'er.

Stalwart indeed, and staunch and strong were they,
Blazing the path through wood and plain,
And built and sowed, preparing the way
That their lives not be lived in vain.

First came the Collett, then the McKay,
In the days when the state was young;
They came blazing the trail-making their way-
Their guiding star o'er these lands hung.

Fifty years! For us how quickly they fly!
Yet changes vast indeed are these;
How many are absent that you and I
Once loved to meet under these trees.

Here's to the Colletts, may they prosper still,
And here's the same to the McKays;
Whether French or Scotch, may it be His will
Many more meetings like today's.

At last when the reunion for us all,
And Nations tread the heavenly ways,
O, may there be none by the wayside fall
From clans of Colletts or McKays.

BIG FAMILY REUNION
          SET FOR SATURDAY

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     All arrangements have been completed for the fiftieth annual reunion of the Collett and McKay families at the Collett homestead, between Guerneyville and New Burlington, on Saturday, August 12.
     This will mark the fiftieth year of these reunions. No other families in the county can lay claim to having held reunions for so long a period. Each year sees between 400 and 500 people assembled to enjoy the day, and Howard Collett, a member of the committee on arrangements, announces that this year will be no exception. He looks for an attendance of fully 400 people.

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     The fiftieth annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held at the usual place August 12, 1916.

REUNIONS

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COLLETT - MCKAY

     The 50th annual Collett-McKay picnic will be held at the usual place on the 12th of August.

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HISEY-WILLIAMSON

     The Hisey-Williamson family reunion will meet at the home of J. W. Hisey, 2½ miles east of Waynesville, Thursday, August 17.

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STEDDOM

     The annual reunion of the descendants of Henry and Martha Steddom will be held at Turtlecreek Friends Meeting House near Oregonia, Ohio, on Tueaday, August 15, 1916. All relatives are urged to be present.