(Provided courtesy of Mary Lou Inwood.)

Collett and McKay clan has picnic

     Two hundred twenty persons attended the annual Collett-McKay picnic Saturday at the family picnic grounds in Clinton County. The event has been held since 1866 when the two families, united by four marriages in the 1820s, decided to have a family get-together.
     Those attending represented Ohio and seven other states and included McKay Collett of Wilmington, Del. Following a basket dinner, there was a social time for reminiscing, sharing photographs and copies of the family tree prepared by the late Howard Collett.

(Clipping provided courtesy of Jane Collett Newman.)

220 gather on venerable picnic grounds for 109th annual Collett-McKay picnic

     An atmosphere of enthusiasm and interest was evident when more than 220 members of the two pioneer families--the Colletts and the McKays--met Saturday for the annual picnic. The term reunion was not common in 1866 when the two families, which had been united by four marriages in the 1820's, decided to have a family get-together. Hence the gathering was called a picnic; and now, 109 years later, it is still known as the Collett-McKay Picnic.
     The union of the two families was graphically illustrated by the presence of Mr. McKay Collett whose great-grandparents, Jonathan Collett and Sarah McKay Collett were married April 30, 1823. McKay Collett's father, the late Maurice Collett of Tarrytown, N.Y., was the artist who drew the little Dutch lady that was on the cans of Dutch Cleanser. "Mac" is a first cousin of Wallace T. Collett of Cincinnati and lives in Wilmington, Delaware.
     The grounds were beautiful with the large maple trees furnishing ample shade and the more than 30 young oak trees and sugar maples promising beauty and shade for many years to come. The aroma of coffee boiling in the big iron kettle and of wood smoke filled the air.
     The Rev. Mr. John Beers of Toledo led the group in prayer preceding the basket dinner. Following the dinner, brief statements concerning the grounds, the new utility building, and the young trees were made by Mr. Wallace Collett, Mr. Don Collett, and Mr. Wilbur McKay.
     They expressed the appreciation of the group to Mrs. Warren (Emily Inwood) Kester for acting as treasurer and to Mr. William Doster for making a new table for the register book from walnut lumber cut on his farm.
     Of special interest were the many pictures, documents, and clippings pertaining to the families and to former picnics. Several ordered copies of the family tree which was prepared by the late Mr. Howard Collett and recently duplicated by the Kesters.
     The youngest members present were three-week-old Michelle Jolene Anderson and four-week-old Steven Douglas Pidgeon. All parts of Ohio were represented as well as seven other states. Those attending from other states were Mr. McKay Collett, Wilmington, Del., Mrs. Worthington (Margaret Collett) Mayo-Smith and her son John F. Mayo-Smith, Mt. Kisco, N.Y., Mr. and Mrs. Howard Doster, David, Susan, Ann, and Dan, West Lafayette, Ind., Mr. and Mrs. T. Allen Inwood, Tanya, Brad and Jason, Pittsburgh, Pa., Miss Marilyn Talmage, Midland Park, N.J., Miss Cynthia Rexroad, Hawthorne, N.J., Mrs. Fred Ames and daughter Miss Saundra Ames, Arcadia, Fla., Miss Karen Hauser, Elmont, N.Y., Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Rowsey, Huntington, W. Va.

(Provided courtesy of Mary Lou Inwood.)

Collett-McKay picnic scheduled Saturday

     The 109th annual Collett-McKay picnic will take place Saturday at the picnic grounds where the families have met through the years, corner of Gurneyville and Inwood roads, with basket dinner at noon.