Collett-McKay 127th family reunion thought to be 'best yet'

     "Please write something for the newspaper," Wilbur McKay smiled. I wondered, "After 126 write-ups, what is left to say?"
     In his welcoming remarks, the venerable Wallace Collett inquired, "How many here remember the old water barrell?" A few hands went up. "How many here remember Hiram Poor making coffee in an iron pot over an open fire?" More hands went up. "How many here can guess what will be remembered about today, 50 years from now?" No hands.
     Around me people were bustling from their cars with card tables, camp chairs, picnic baskets. A youngster asked: "How did this picnic start, anyway?" A parent asked, "I wonder how they got along before card tables were invented."
     In the early 1800's there were several McKay/Collett marriages. Siblings from one family married siblings from the other. Some 50 years later, after these marriages produced children and grandchildren, the first picnic was held so all the cousins could get acquainted. That's how it started.
     Betty Magee remembered people brought small paper pouches of ground coffee, to put in Hiram Poor's kettle. She also remembered the huge wooden hogshead her grandfather brought from Cincinnati, after it had served it's original purpose of bringing Spanish olives half way around the world. That was the barrel she helped pump full of well-water each year, so it could be hauled over to the picnic grounds. It took two pumpings to fill, evening and morning, because the dug well didn't have enough water to do it all at once.
     Esther Doster, who has attended 63 of these picnics (that's half of them) remembered people didn't used to sit down so much, so they didn't need card tables. "It made for more moving around, more socializing," she said.
     Ed Wengler's young picnicker-friend from Ghana was tickled. "My family, 6,000 miles away in Africa, are required to go to annual family reunions or they pay heavy fines. I didn't think, until today, that family reunions are also important in this country, even without the fines."
     I looked for John Browning, a long-time fixture at the picnic and a kind and friendly cousin. He had a serious speech disability, which made him memorable, since not many family members are hindered with any disabilities nowadays. Alas, he passed away this year of cancer at age 74.
     Nicole McKay, at 3 1/2 months, the youngest cousin present, was proudly chaperoned by her parents Tim and Julie. Helen Skimming Feike, 90 years her senior, needed no chaperon ... in fact is regularly seen on volunteer duty at the local hospital.
     So they come and go. What will be remembered 50 years hence? Who knows? The shoes maybe. Popular today are the nylon web "reef runner" sandals, and the expensive Nike sport shoes. Very few polished black leather hightops, so popular yesteryear. The visitors register, for another instance. Our book has a column headed "Representing" as well as "address, city, state, etc." and goes back many years. According to the book this year, Jane Keppler, age 11 was at the picnic representing Jesus Christ.
     Forty five of the 237 people in attendance this August, were from outside Ohio. They were here not just for the day but for several days of family reunion events, both large and small: Edward Sackui, Ghana, Africa; Marilyn, Timothy, Carina Talmage, Mesa, Ariz.; Gene, Margaret and Eric Graham, Fort Smith, Ark.; Gene Collett, Escondido, Calif.; Cherrie Luby, Travis AFB, Calif.; Robert Miller, Fairfield, Calif.; Erin Johnson, Littleton, Colo.; Marjorie Ames, Arcadia, Fla.; Bart, Robin, Chad, Karen, and Chuck Fabian, Des Plains, Ill.; Patricia Giesting, Palatine, Ill.; Neisan, Tajilli and Ann Collett Greengus, Evanston, Ill.; and Howard and Barbara Doster, West Lafayette, Ind.
     Also, Megan Risinger, Richmond, Ind.; Edward and Bessie Terrell, Silver Spring, Md.; Seth Moeller, Boston, Mass.; David, Cynthia, Ashley, Drew, Adam Doster, and Matt Schneidewind, of Novi, Mich.; Lena Rose, Silas, Brian, Bernice Magee, Dryden, N.Y.; Bradford Inwood, Carn, Pa.; Karla, Allen, Nathan, Tonya Inwood, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Henrietta Miller, Gwynedd, Pa.; William Miller, Arlington, Va.; Max Magee, Madison, Wis.; and Ellen Magee, Edgerton, Wis.