MacKay Clan Courier
EDITION # 74 JUNE 2013
45th Annual Clan Reunion
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MacKay Clan Grand Council
Kenneth MacKay, Chieftain
Bob Sutton
Gary Martineck
Marvin Dunn
John MacKay
Roy McCready
Donald Martineck
Roger MacKay
Edward MacKay
Jim Sarra
Advisory Board
Ginny Clark
Marilyn Cash
Milford Dunn
Jerry MacKay
Mark McCready
Greg Sutton
Robert MacKay
Tom MacKay
Historian: Dawn Sutton
The MacKay Clan Courier has been published since 1968 and will continue only with your support. It is each family’s responsibility to submit articles. Without these articles, there would be no Clan Courier. Please do your part to keep this tradition alive!
Chieftain’s Message
Dear MacKay Clan-
I am writing this message from Killarney, Ireland. This summer I am again escorting twelve students in architecture from the University at Buffalo on a Study Abroad Program in Ireland. The class is made up of five graduate students and seven students who will be seniors in the fall. They have been an exceptionally easy group with which to travel. They are also a very resourceful group. Several of them negotiated cheap bike rentals and spent last Wednesday riding through the Gap of Dunloe.
I ran a Summer Abroad Program in Dublin in 2005 and a program to this where we traveled around Ireland in 2011. We started with four days in Dublin and so far have been to Cork, Killarney and yesterday arrived in Limerick. After Limerick, we are on to Galway, a few days at a hunting lodge in Donegal designed by the English architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. Believe it or not I was able to rent the entire hunting lodge for two nights for no more than the cost of a hostel. There is an upside to the current Irish economy; the cost of everything is significantly lower than the last two trips. So if you have ever thought of making a trip to Ireland, now is the time to finally do it. After our stay in Donegal we will then travel to Northern Ireland to visit Derry and Belfast before returning to Dublin.
There are two students on this trip who also play golf. Given their limited budget, I’ve had to a bit more creative this year at finding courses for us to pay on our days off. Two years ago it was Portmarnack, Royal Dublin and Old Head. This year it’s more like Sutton, a tight course where you are often teeing off diagonally across an adjacent fairway. On the other hand, Sutton is only a mile or so down the coast from Portmarnack, and on a few of the holes if you squinted hard enough it felt like one of the classic courses. Having to be resourceful often leads to unexpected surprises. Last Sunday we played at The Cork Golf. It was designed in 1927 by Dr Alistair McKenzie, the golf course designer which worked with Bobby Jones on Augusta National in the US. It was a course that I will go out of my way to play again the next time I am in Cork. Hopefully, it will prepare me for playing at the MacKay Clan Reunion in Shawnie in early August .
I’ll be back in Buffalo in early July and I look forward to seeing everyone at this year’s reunion.
Ken MacKay
New Members to the Clan
Roy Colonna, by marriage to Liz MacKay, on August 30, 2012.
Kip Kelly, by marriage to Kelly Watts, on July 6, 2012.
Kevin Kline, by marriage to Brittany Ballacchino, September, 2012
Gavin James Dusher, born April 30, 2013 to Christine and Jeremy Dusher.
CONGRATULATIONS AND
WELCOME TO THE CLAN MACKAY!!
45th ANNUAL CLAN MACKAY REUNION
This year’s reunion will be held again at the Knight’s of Columbus, 1841 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, NY 14072 on Saturday, August 4th. Please see the MacKay Reunion link for the details. We will once again celebrate our family by being together, meeting new members, and enjoying each other’s company.
Please note that due to the closing of Evergreen golf course, the MacKay Golf Tournament will be held for the 2nd year at Shawnee Golf Course, 6020 Townline Rd, Wheatfield, NY 14132. We will have to make tee times for our group, so it will be necessary for those wanting to play to let us know – via email or phone – no later than 7/20/12, so the correct # of tee times can be made.
We are also asking for you to contact us – phone 716 691-4800 or email () - to let us know how many in your family will be attending the reunion to help us prepare for and have sufficient food and drink.
NOTE: For anyone planning on going to Canada while in town – you will need a passport or an enhanced drivers license to reenter the U.S.
Special notes regarding this year’s reunion:
From Dawn Sutton -
As historian for the Clan, a job I have no idea how I got, I'd like to have a picture of each of the 10 original MacKays at the reunion. We now have 3 or 4 generations in attendance, and many of these children (young and old) don't know why this event is so special. I'd like to provide a SHORT history lesson on who is a descendant of whom. I do not have pictures of everyone, so please help if you can. The pictures will be returned to their owner.
If you have any suggestions regarding this history lesson, please let me know.
From John MacKay -
Over forty-five years ago, Aunt Dorothy came up with a wonderful idea of formally establishing The MacKay Clan partly to honor Robert and Jane MacKay and also to provide an opportunity to unite family in the future. At that time, my father Gerald was the only one of their children who was deceased.
At the 25TH Reunion, there was a beautiful tribute to the brothers, sisters and their spouses who had died in the interval. We could have another such tribute at the 50th reunion in 2018. During this past year, with the loss of Uncle Don and Aunt Adele, we no longer have any family members of that generation.
This year I thought it might be suggested that anyone who wants to visit the gravesite of Jane and Robert at Elmlawn Cemetery in Buffalo meet on Sunday morning of the Reunion Weekend around 10am to pay respects. I would like to bring a dozen roses, one for each child and two for Robert and Jane. If you can’t make it that day, the cemetery is open 8am to 8pm every day. The grave is located to the left of the fountain off of Delaware Ave. It is about 12 gravesites forward from the fountain. Several family members also are buried near Jane and Robert.
If you have any suggestions or questions about this idea, please email or call me.
John MacKay 516 404 6064 or
Clan Finances/Reunion Setting
The Clan’s finances have remained steady this past year. However, we continue to be in need of, and will be collecting donations, contributions, or “dues” at this year’s Reunion. Contributions can also be mailed to Michael Martineck. These funds help pay for Clan expenses, mainly the mailing of the Courier, maintenance of the Clan web site, and expenses related to the Reunion. They have allowed us to keep the food and beverage charges at the Reunion affordable for all our families. With the cost of so many things rising quickly, all of the Clan expenses are rising as well. Please help!
Of utmost concern this year, The Knights of Columbus on Grand Island has made numerous changes to its pricing policies on renting of the facilities. While they are upholding the previous rental costs for the Clan this year (other than the need to pay for a state-required bartender), the costs in the future may be prohibitive. Therefore we are looking for alternative sites to consider for future reunions. If you know of any sites that provide both the indoor and outdoor space needed, and are of reasonable cost, please let us know.
Clan MacKay on Facebook
The MacKay Clan continues to be on Facebook! We have 55 members. Join our group to share and receive information about our family all year long. All members of the group can share Clan photos, post exciting news, and receive reminders about upcoming events. As a reminder, posts to your own Facebook page are not carried over to the MacKay page, so you need to post them separately.
To join the group you must first be a member of Facebook, then search for our group under the name “Clan MacKay of Buffalo, NY” and click to join! If you are already a member, you can add your friends by clicking “Add Friends to Group” and typing in your friends’ names. Only members of our group can read or see items posted to the site.
MacKay Clan Web site
www.clanmackay.org
The web site continues to be maintained. Ideas for improving or expanding it are welcome, please contact Mike Sarra with your suggestions. The site includes Clan Courier issues – current and former, the Clan Directory, info about the Reunion, and results from all the events at last year’s Reunion.
The section on Clan History needs some enhancement, and any suggestions, ideas, expertise you have to offer are needed. The link for lost family members continues to grow; please give us updates on your families. There are a number of members whose email addresses are no longer valid – please remember to send us a notice when you change your email address! Every year we lose touch with some members who fail to give us their updated information.
The links for each branch of the family are there to be used in any way you’d like – family info, pictures, etc. Items you would like to have posted should be e-mailed to
We can also have links connecting to other web sites of interest to Clan members – if anyone has a business site, etc. Let us know your ideas!
Roger MacKay Family News
Warm Greetings to the Clan from Roger and Phyllis MacKay:
Because we decided to spend the winter months in WNY, we treated ourselves to an awesome RV trip with friends to Tennessee in the fall. Breathtaking foliage was at its peak while we were there. Sights and sounds of Nashville were first on the agenda which included an evening at the Grand Ole Opry and many other music venues. We then moved on to Knoxville area for the Tennessee Fall Homecoming on sixty acres of the Appalachia Museum. Five stages of musical talent kept us entertained for several days.
Surprisingly, the cold winter months passed quickly for us and Spring arrived (?) bringing with it the arrival of a beautiful great grandbaby girl. How did we get so old???
Debbie, Marty and Michael are all doing well. Mike has completed his senior year of high school and is looking forward to studying Accounting and Business Management at SUNY Fredonia this Fall.
Hope to see you all at the reunion.
Bob Sutton Family News
We have been busy this past year. Last June we spent 4 wonderful weeks in Hawaii, visiting the islands of Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island. We enjoyed every island. I wasn't too impressed with the Big Island, but Bob did go up in the helicopter to tour the active volcano. One of the highlights of our trip was when I found the house I lived in as a little girl when my dad was stationed on Oahu during the Korean War. That is a special memory for me. The road to Hana was hair-raising and LONG - 11 hours, but we survived!
For the rest of the summer, we bounced around the East Coast, visiting Buffalo twice, the Jersey shore (before Super Storm Sandy), Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.
We are both very involved in our country club is Sarasota. Bob was co-chairman of the Classic Men's Golf Tournament, which took up a lot of his time. He and Jim Sarra have participated in this event for 7 years, and they FINALLY made the play-offs! They didn't win, but they did very well.
Bob is now on the Board of Governors for PalmAire Country Club. He is chairman of one committee and sits on 2 other committees. It keeps him off the streets but not off the golf course, as he still manages to play golf 4 or 5 days a week.
As past president of the Nine Hole women's group, I serve on the nominating committee as well as the installation luncheon. I was also co-chair of the member/guest event. I'm learning to "just say no" when approached to do more.
The Russells spent a week in May with us. Zachary, 5, and Shane, 3, continue to be the joys of our life. (Their parents are pretty special also.) The boys love the water, be it a pool or the Gulf of Mexico. We visited Disneyland again for a couple of days.
We are going to Scotland for a week in August. The highlight of that trip will be attending the Military Tatoo in Edinburgh. We are not looking forward to rainy, cool weather; we are looking forward to spending a week with 2 other couples from college. All of us are celebrating our 45th wedding anniversaries, so we'll party wherever we can find a pub, which shouldn't be difficult in Scotland!
We are looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.
Gary Martineck Family News
We have just gotten back from a fantastic trip to the Adriatic coast. We started in Zagreb, Croatia looking for people related to Gary's Grandparents. With the help of a researcher there, we located and met with 2 families from the Grandfather's side and one from the Grandmother's side. They were very generous with their homemade sausages, wine and plum brandy. We also visited a couple of cemeteries where there were a number of Martinics (original spelling) and Markovics buried. The researcher traced the family tree back to 1790. If we only had a wall big enough to display it.
After 3 days on our own we took a train to Slovenia where we started our 2 week tour with the Rick Steves company. We went by bus from Slovenia to Croatia and a couple of its islands to Bosnia/Herzegovina and back to Croatia. Our tour guide (Saso) was fantastic and the group we were with couldn't have been more fun. We had 2 couples from Vancouver, BC, 2 from CA, 1 from SC and a single man from TX. It was exhausting but very educational. Truly a trip to remember.