(Clipping provided courtesy of Jane Collett Newman.)

Over 200 gather for 126th annual Collett-McKay picnic

     The day awoke threatening, this second Saturday in August, 1992. Lightening split the air over Chester Township and the hallowed picnic ground. It looked like, for the second time in 126 years, the picnic would be rained out. Wilbur McKay and Don Collett, trustees of the family gathering, had to make a decision by 9 a.m. so an alternate site could be cleared and the 158 feet of walnut tables set up. The radar screen showed ominous. They cast the die.
     Promptly at noon, over a hundred cars rolled down Gurneyville Road, to the venerable brick pillars marking th official four acre picnic ground. The grounds were manicured to perfection. But the eager picnickers were waved a half mile down the road to the new McKay barn, 3,000 square feet of shelter from the dreaded rain.
     As it turned out, the rain stayed south and the day was beautiful. But would the rain have stayed south if we had gathered at the other site? Many of the picnic regulars noted an advantage to the unfamiliar surroundings: the people did not gravitate to their old familiar groups, in their old positions. There was more mixing, making new friendships, finding surprising new things in common.
     It isn't easy to hand paint trees on 22 Tee shirts, and inscribe thm with with the time, place and wearer's name. That's how Barbara and Ann Doster honored the occasion for their branch of the family.
     It isn't easy, in your late twenties, to give up jobs, home, and possessions. That's what the Glazes did, making this picnic their first stop on a year long seeking around the USA. That's why their address is listed below as "unknown."
     Dorrie Holtry came from Florida, to join with siblings from Vermont, California, and Pennsylvania, just to fluff up their roots, and say "Hey" to cousins they never knew.
     Video cameras were nearly as plentiful as potato salad recipes, and meat loaf. Among the displays at the memorabilia table were curious panoramic photographs of early picnics. No doubt some day videos will be included.
     A little boy, curious about a piece of farm equipment in the McKay barnyard, approached a likely fellow-admirer (and cousin) sporting a farmer style ball cap: "Are you a farmer?" "Not even close, son. I run a car rental franchise company in Los Angeles." "What's that?" And so worlds are expanded in the friendly surroundings of a family picnic.
     Many generations come "home" to this picnic. The newest are Kayla Browning, born last October, and Hannah Geyer, born last September. Steve Pigeon, now 17, was the youngest attendee in 1975. And Helen Skimming Feike, who attended the 38th annual picnic, could be a contender for the title "Eldest Cousin."
     Fifty of the 210 people who attended were from outside of Ohio:
     Ann and Dick Baugh, Gunterville, Ala.; Carina Talmage, Mesa, Ariz.; Virginia, Charlotte, Richard and Quentin Haigh, Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Marjorie and Sandra Ames, Arcadia, Fla.; Barbara and Jack Deppner, Indiatlantic, Fla.; Linda, Jessica and Joshua Snyder, Oldtown, Fla.; Earl and Dorrie Holtgrefe, Orlando, Fla.; Bart, Chad, Charles and Karen Fabian, Des Plaines, Ill.; Patricia and John Giesting, Schaumburg, Ill.; Tom Trauthmein, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Adam, Drew, Cynthia, David & Ashlee, Richmond, Ind.; Barbara and Howard Doster, West Lafayette, Ind.; Allen and Karla Inwood, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Clark and Jane Moeller, Towanda, Pa.; James Miller, Chalfont, Pa.; Tonya and Nathaniel Inwood, McKees Rock, Pa.; Richard Koehler, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ann and Travis Glaze, unknown; Kay Davenport, Orem, Utah; Elise and Vernon Tuxbury, S. Burlington, Vt.; Lois and Gerald DeMasters, Salem, Va.; Jane and Debra Strecker, Medical Lake, Wash.; and Robert Miller, Buffalo, Wyo.