(Provided courtesy of Mary Lou Inwood.)

Collett-McKay Families Hold 85th Picnic

     Two-hundred and forty relatives and friends gathered at the Collett-McKay Picnic Grounds, Saturday, for the 85th family picnic. Adding to the pleasures of the occasion were "the usual cloudless skies, smiling sun, gentle breezes and immense baskets of epicurian delicacies as well as more sbstantial items of food."
     These gatherings, held each year on the second Saturday of August, are called picnics because they were started before the term, "family reunion," was used and they are still picnics because they are conducted in the same manner in which they were started, no programs, no election of officers and no selection of a new meeting place. Each year, the Colletts and McKays meet at the picnic grounds dedicated and owned for that purpose, not far from New Burlington, in the neighborhood where many of the two families live, although others come from all over Ohio and some from other states.
     The old rail fence, which includes a number of walnut rails which are known to be more than 100 years old, had been reconstructed, and two very large elm trees, not very far distant, had been cut, to prevent them from falling across the road. Both the fence and trees had provided ideal places for the children to play.
     Many of the children present for this gathering formed the seventh generation from their ancestors who attended the first picnic in 1866, when 111 persons were present. The largest attendance registered was in 1888 when 542 wrote their names. This year, as usual, the families departed declaring that "It had been the best picnic ever."