| McDade family sponsors first reunion Martha Washington arrived from South Carolina in the mid-1800s and began a new life with her husband, Archie McDade, on a plantation in Montgomery County. They raised their six sons, Phil, Dock, John, Lymus, Mitch and Charles McDade, nearby, though they all eventually spread out to live between the Capital City, Waugh, Mount Meigs and Pike Road areas. Their descendants gathered in Montgomery last weekend for a series of activities to celebrate their family's heritage and to hold their first family reunion ever. The reunion had been a longtime dream of Phil's granddaughter, Laura McDade Chalk, and she called more than 120 of her relatives home to attend the festivities. They arrived in summertime casual attire for a get-acquainted night on Friday, and enjoyed a bountiful array of heavy hors d'oeuvres at their initial gathering at the Governors House Hotel and Conference Center. Fourteen states were represented in the roll call of family members attending, with more than half of them having called Montgomery home at one time or another. The Alabama residents acted as organizers for the event, which included a Sunday morning worship service at St. James Baptist Church in Waugh, the original church home of many of the McDade ancestors. |
Later that evening, Alma and Jessie
Clark entertained by hosting an old-fashioned Fourth of July picnic at their Regency Park home. Reds, whites and blues decorated the tent constructed for the occasion. Guests dined on barbecue ribs and chicken, and all the fixings. Birthday cake was served for dessert to honor all relatives born during the month of July. Attendees visited the Rosa Parks Museum, the Civil Rights Monument and Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, among other sites. And later, they enjoyed a scrumptious buffet dinner of Southern family favorites at a dress-up affair. Alma Watson Clark of Montgomery, Thelma Burke Geeter of Selma and Ishmel McDade Jr. were among those who helped plan the activities for the group's first gathering. They put the spotlight on Robin Geeter's poetry, Leonard Chalk's music, and 2-year-old Kailyn Monford of Detroit, who gave a vocal performance. The first McDade family reunion was deemed a huge success, and plans for a subsequent one are already under way for 2006 |
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