Collett-McKay picnic a joy

EDITOR:

     On Aug. 12 I along with my wife Osa and my daughter Florence and her husband Roy Kelly attended the Collett and McKay picnic at their grounds east of New Burlington. My mother Ella Pidgeon, who was the daughter of Tilghman McKay, attended the first Collett and McKay picnic in 1866 and took me as a babe in arms to my first in 1891. My mother almost attained the age of 96 and I think attended every picnic until around the age of 90.
     The Collett and McKay picnic celebrated its centennial August 13, 1966 with a very large attendance. Some families carried on a feud for many years but few have had such friendly relations for a period of 112 years as the Collett and McKays have had. They own their own picnic grounds, a beautiful sugar tree grove on Gurneyville Pk. in Chester Twp., Clinton County.
     It is a great pleasure to see relatives and old friends that we seldom see and make new friends. At my age, (87) it behooves me to make new friends as the old ones are passing fast. I have only two first cousins left and one is almost 97 . . .
     We stayed until many of the large crowd there had left and my wife remarked that no one left a paper plate, cup or other trash on the ground to be cleaned up . . .

OSCAR L. PIDGEON
176 Hill, Xenia

Collett-McKay family meets for 112th reunion

     Saturday, those family members coming for the picnic, to prepare tables, and grounds overlapped and met other family members coming to the picnic. In previous years, the grounds were cleaned and tables hauled in and set up the day before. This year the weather was so uncertain that alternative plans were reluctantly made to meet at Kingman School, if necessary. The tables are now stored conveniently on the Collett-McKay grounds and can be arranged in jig-time. Thus came the overlapping of preparing and picnicking as the day became ideal.
     It is fascinating through the years to observe how this group convenes annually the second Saturday of August with a boast of no organization. Apparently for many years Daniel McKay Collett was dominant and his word undisputed as this incident suggests. An interprising would-be business man decided this would be a dandy chance to sell ice cream. He was about to begin selling when accosted by Uncle Dan, who pointed out the gate and told him to use it-there would be no commercialization at this family gathering.
     Later, for most of my lifetime it was Howard Collett who was the heart of the picnic. His words were used in 1978 as part of the pre-meal prayer led by son Wallace T. Collett. The following is the complete quote as noted in daughter Henrietta Collett Miller's diary.
     Our forefathers spread their tables here in the wilderness with a menu consisting of bear meat, johnny cake and corn mush. That indeed was a strong diet, but we must remember that it fed strong men, men stalwart of brain and brawn, who ate and wrought heroically. They felled trees, built cabins, reared families, cultivated the soil, founded churches, and schools. They built up a community; and they did all this with hearts as free and souls brave as ever basked in the sunshine of luxury, and they dispensed a generous hospitality with no apologies for the crude form in which they were forced to do it. Their mantle has fallen upon us. Howard Collett, 1914.
     Those present leaders who make arrangements for interim grounds care, and such, are so modest it would require detective work to list them accurately, but Wilbur McKays received several telephone calls of inquiry Saturday morning and Donald Collett was running a lawn mower when early comers arrived.
     There is no formal finding of oldest and the youngest person present, but Mrs. Howard Magee at 91 probably takes the honor. Emily Inwood Kester was present for her 75th year, having missed only twice in her 77 years. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Pidgeon came in the afternoon, both of them admitting to being 87 in '78. Two babies, great-great-grandchildren of Edward and Hattie Nickerson Inwood, were running a close race for youngest present. Rebecca Elizabeth Crockett was born May 8, 1978 and her cousin Dylan Wengler Thompson was born May 7, 1978. Both babies appeared to enjoy their first picnic.
     Those present from out of state were: Mr. and Mrs. Norvell Crockett and daughter Rebecca Elizabeth, Minot, N.D.
     Mr. McKay Collett, Westbury, N.Y., Mr. John Mayo-Smith, Mt. Kisco, N.Y., Mr. Jonathan Collett, Brooklyn, N.Y., Sarah and Joshua Collett, Syosset, N.Y.
     Dr. and Mrs. Howard Doster, Miss Anne M. Doster, Miss Susan Doster, Mr. David Doster, Miss Cynthia Shear, Mr. Daniel G. Doster, and Miss Dagmar Clever, all of West Lafayette, Ind.
     Miss Jennifer Ames, Manhattan, Kan., Dr. Dent Ames, East Lansing, Mich., Mrs. Fred Ames, Arcadia, Fla., Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fabian, Des Plaines, Ill., Mr. and Mrs. T. Allen Inwood, Tonya and Jason of Pittsburgh, Pa.
     Mr. and Mrs. Brian H. Magee and daughter, Lena Rose of Ithaca, N.Y., Miss Ellen Magee, Mr. Ned Powell, Adam and Harvey of Madison, Wisc., Mr. and Mrs. David Baugh, Terri and Chris of Longwood, Fla.
     Mr. and Mrs. Richard Baugh, Adele, Steven, Jimmy and two guests of Rochester, Mich., and Mr. and Mrs. Everett Baugh of Bloomfield, Mich.
     Food styles have changed. No longer do complicated desserts form the centerpiece of attraction, although there is no lack of them. Salads and fresh fruits occasion more interest. Fried chicken, however, remains the perennial favorite meat.
     The exact count of attendance has not been completed, but was in excess of 280.

Collett-McKay families plan annual reunion

     The Collett-McKay Picnic No. 112 will be Saturday at the grounds on the Gurneyville Road.
     The two families were united by four marriages in the 1820's and own the grounds which the picnic is annually held on the second Saturday in August each year. Last year 230 registered. Eleven different states were represented in addition to Ohio.