 Lion�s Park Picnic Shelter #5 |
 Happy Creek Fantasyland Playground |
| (McKay-Sowers-Kerfoot) |
Click on this link to see how much time is left before the next picnic. Sunday 27th June 2010. |
There were 31 people present this year. The oldest attendee was Helen Burch and the youngest attendee was Emiliegh McKay. The farthest travelled were Chuck & Kate (Hackney) Luby of Wilmington, Ohio. The playground once again proved to be a hit for all the children present of which there were six.
A basket luncheon was served and Wallace Shipp gave the invocation. The sky was overcast for most of the day with the sun coming out occasionally but we never experienced any rain. As before we didn't hold a business meeting of any kind. Some present remarked on how they felt about the destruction of the Robert McKay Jr. house five miles north of the picnic location. I believe everyone present had a good time and I will try to get the shelter reserved once again as soon as I am permitted next year.
Attending this year's picnic were: Susan Jeffery (great-granddaughter of Oscar C. McKay) of Front Royal, VA.; her mother Minnie Randall (granddaughter of Oscar) of Front Royal, VA.; Michael LeHew McKay of Winchester, VA; Jay Keller of Front Royal, VA; Dawn Perrero of Front Royal, VA; Mala Bansal of Front Royal, VA; Mike Bansal of Front Royal, VA and a guest; Maurice Bowen of Front Royal, VA; Ed & Kate McKay with children Tommy, Mary & Will of Winchester, VA; Fred & Joyce McKay of Winchester, VA; Archie & Cathy McKay of Winchester, VA; Jeff & Heather McKay with children Logan & Emiliegh of Winchester, VA; Chuck & Kate Luby of Wilmington, OH; Helen Burch & son Greg of Charles Town, WV; Wallace & Dorothy Shipp of Broadway, VA; Donna Alliata and daughter Dorothy Lynn of Broadway, VA; Phyllis Gardner of Middletown, VA;
The latest edition of The Robert McKay Clan Newsletter is almost ready. As reported last year, due to increasing costs in postage and printing we must ask that everyone who wants a printed copy of the family newsletter to please send a donation of at least $5.00 or more to help cover the costs involved. Any additional donations will be used to help fund the costs of maintaining the website and other efforts we support.
The Newsletter can also be viewed free of charge online by logging in to the Yahoo! Group that it is hosted on. If you would like to receive the Newsletter as an electronic file please go to this URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/robertmackayclan/join. You will need a Yahoo! ID in order to join and view the Newsletter online.
I apologise for the need to ask for donations in advance but due to the changing economic situation it is the only way we can keep a balance in the treasury and still be able to send out our annual Newsletter without it becoming a financial burden to those of us who publish it.
Last year�s picnic was such a success and the kids really enjoyed it so we decided to try it again. If it continues to be successful we will make it a permanent change. This year�s annual reunion will be held on Sunday 28th June 2009. In keeping with the plan to have the reunion within the vicinity of the old McKay related sites in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia I have again selected the Lion�s Park Shelter # 5 in Front Royal, VA. This is the same location for last year�s picnic and is the largest shelter they have and can seat 150 people with 23 picnic tables and 2 handicap picnic tables. The shelter has electricity, BBQ grill, a drinking fountain and restroom facilities. The Happy Creek Fantasyland Playground is right next to the shelter and is an excellent place to entertain the children. A volleyball court with sand & horseshoe pits are also on the grounds but you have to supply your own pegs and shoes.
The park also includes ball fields, the Claude A. Stokes Community Swimming Pool, tennis courts & basketball courts. I have photos of both the picnic shelter and the Happy Creek Fantasyland Playground displayed below:
Lion�s Park Picnic Shelter #5 |
Happy Creek Fantasyland Playground |
As this is an informal picnic, please bring a covered dish and drinks to share with everyone. There are supermarkets with delis and take-out restaurants in the vicinity of Front Royal and Winchester if you have any problems preparing a dish to share with everyone. If you are having any problem in finding any of these please get in touch with me from the contact information provided below.
Please bring something of interest to share with the rest of us. Tables will be set up for display of photo albums, genealogy records, and other family related items.
Dinner will begin at 1:00 p.m. with some brief announcements and a blessing. I will be at the site around 12 noon to greet early arrivals. A sign-in sheet will be present to record the names of all of those present. Name tags will also be distributed as well.
Plan to come early and stay later to meet and socialise and to view the items on display. A reunion attendance form is located at the bottom of this page for your convenience. Please fill out the form no later than 15th June, whether you are planning to attend or not. This helps keep the addresses in our mailing list accurate. This form is also being used to help determine who wants to receive a printed copy of this year�s Robert McKay Clan Newsletter. Once I have enough responses by the 15th of June I will begin mailing out the copies of our Newsletter.
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To get to the picnic site, from Interstate 66 take the U.S. 522/340 exit (# 6). Go south on U.S. 522/340 (Winchester Rd.) into Front Royal. Follow the main traffic of U.S. 522/340 left onto 14th Street at the stop light. There is a Jimbo�s Restaurant on the left. The main traffic turns south onto Royal Avenue. Follow U.S. 522 left onto Commerce Avenue at the stop light. Turn left at Warren Avenue. Picnic site parking lot is on the right as you turn onto Warren Avenue. To get to the parking lot on the other side of the picnic grounds continue south on U.S. 522 (Commerce Ave.) to the 8th Street intersection. Make a U-turn and head north on U.S. 522. Turn right at the entrance to the parking area on the right side of the picnic grounds. A map to the picnic location is available to the right. Also an aerial photograph of the picnic grounds appears at the bottom of this page. The star with an �A� in it marks the location of the picnic shelter. For those of you who are interested I will be available after the picnic to conduct tours of some of the nearby McKay related homes, churches and cemeteries. If you need to get in touch with me for any reason my contact information is as follows: Michael L. McKay |
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We hope to see you at our annual gathering on the 28th of June 2009. As always please let us know of any births, marriages, or other relevant news of your immediate family or other relations that you keep in contact with that we can put in our Newsletter. (You could put this information on the enclosed card along with your reservation.) Our gatherings provide an opportunity for folks to get re-acquainted with relatives they don't see very often to catch up on news and other events and the chance to meet new cousins. Be sure to mark on your calendars our next major family gathering of the year, The Collett-McKay Picnic, held on the family owned picnic grounds in Clinton County, Ohio on Saturday 8th August 2009. Details about this event are in the Newsletter and on our website at: http://www.geocities.com/mckyrbnsn/rmc/collmc/.
Sincerely,
Your President & Newsletter Editor,
Michael L. McKay.
For our first attempt at switching to a more informal picnic style gathering for our annual reunion I believe it was a success. There were 33 people present at this reunion and the large playground adjacent to the picnic shelter proved to be very enjoyable for the children present this year. It will be necessary to reserve this shelter very soon in order to secure it for next year's gathering.
A basket luncheon was enjoyed by everyone present. There was a threat of rain later in the afternoon but we didn't experience it during the picnic. We did not hold a business meeting as we had done in the past as it doesn't seem necessary for what we do here.
It is hoped that as news of our switch to a picnic gathering spreads we will see more people attend.
Attending this year's gathering were: Michael and Kimberly McKay, Courtney, Mason, Madison, Matthew & Jason of Cumberland, MD; Shirley McKay of Berryville, VA; Kate & Chuck Luby of Wilmington, OH; Helen Burch & Greg Burch of Charles Town, WV; Fred and Joyce McKay of Winchester, VA; John McKay of Richmond, VA; Michael McKay of Winchester, VA; Jay Keller of Front Royal, VA; Maurice Bowen of Rockland, VA; Bill and Sue Mitchell of Warrenton, VA; Betty Powers of Rockland, VA; Sue Gardner Bogle of Winchester, VA; Jane Gardner of Alexandria, VA; Archie and Cathy McKay of Winchester, VA; Frances Anderson of Markham, VA; Phyllis Gardner of Middletown, VA; Anne McKay Jacobson of Chattanooga, TN; Andrea McKay Jacobson of Nashville, TN; Jeff and Heather McKay, Logan & Emileigh of Winchester, VA.
� 1997 [email protected]
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