(Clipping provided courtesy of Jane Collett Newman.)

Colletts, McKays hold 124th picnic

     If you paused at the narrow brick gateway on Gurneyville Road, in Chester Township, you could read the bronze plaque: "In Memory of Our Immigrant and Pioneer Ancestors: Stephen Collett from France; Robert and Margaret McKay from Scotland."
     If you drove through that gate last Saturday, you would have been among 238 descendants of those immigrants marking the occasion with delicious food, thrilling sports, and exciting conversation. It has happened every second Saturday in August from 1866 to 1990. Some things change, some stay the same.
     Still the same: the venerable 4-acre glade, shaded with stately maples, used for no other purpose but this picnic; the 158 feet of beechwood board tables supporting enough food for twice the attendance; the displays of genealogical memorabilia; the friendly and informal opening prayer to God, led by Howard Doster.
     Different: New baby faces; car parking problems; T-shirts that say things like "Who's in your family tree?" and "I've got Irish roots" and "Napa Valley Polo Club."
     In a tight race for who's the youngest, Jonathan Robert Graham, born in July, squeaked past Jewelian Billingsley born in April and Billy Doster born in May. Another tight race for the (not-so-coveted except when you consider the alternative) oldest honors was between Paul Beam (Aug. 25, 1894) and Elton Haines (1897). Thus baby Jonathan and mellow Paul came face-to-face, related by blood and marriage, overlapping (so far) 25 of the 35,000 days spanning their lives.
     This is the stuff of family picnics.
     This is what has brought Wilbur McKay to 65 of the 66 picnics in his life, and why he is so proud to open the procedings with the ceremonial clapping of hands to get everyone's attention.
     This is what brought Stanley and Dorothy Walker from Alabama for the first time in their lives. "Moses McKay begat George, who begat Samuel, who begat Irving, who begat Beatrice, who begat Stanley."
     And when a 6-year-old, like Eddie Mothersole, becomes lost and frightened in the milling crowd of unfamiliar people, who holds him up for a sign or recognition from mom? A cousin! What could be more comforting?
     The second most popular topic of conversation this year, after comparisons of family ties, was the million Iraqi troops threatening Saudi Arabia and the price of gasoline. Wouldn't our forefathers have been confused by such discussions: Iraq? Gasoline? And who knows what the next generation of Colletts and McKays will be discussing?
     For sure they will be discussing something on the second Saturday in August, on the four acres in Chester Township: "Remember when they used to have gasoline?"
     Fourty-five people came from outside Ohio, from 16 other states. They were:
     Dorothy and Stanley Walker of Folet, Ala.; Karen and Shawn Dunivant of Mesa, Ariz.; Stephen Doster of Tucson, Ariz.; Gene Collett of Escondido, Calif.; Steve Baugh and Denise Collins of Golden, Colo.; Marjorie Ames, Saundea Ames and Martha Guest of Arcadia, Fla.; Jennifer, Nancy and Steve DalPian of Port Charlotte, Fla.; Bart, Chad, Charles, Karen and Robin Fabian of Des Plaines, Ill.; Ann, Fag, Keiran and Neison Greengus of Skokie, Ill.
     Barbara and Howard Doster of West Lafayette, Ind.; Ann and Richard Baugh of Bowling Green, Ky.; Adele Baugh of Rochester, Mich.; Shannon Hynd of Apple Valley, Minn.; Jeffrey Kired of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Susan Doster of New York, N.Y.; Diane Doster of Eugene, Ore.; Paul Gibson and Allen, Bradford, Jason, Karla and Tonya Inwood of Pittsburgh; Anne and Travis Glaze of Carrollton, Va.; Michael McKay of Winchester, Va.; Roger Magee of Buckley, Wash.; Richard Selmut of Seattle, Wash.; Ellen and Max Magee of Madison, Wisc.