McCorry Reunion at Never-Never Land a Smashing Success!

A good time was had by all at the reunion of several generations of descendants of Charles and Bridget McCorry at the Schield family cottage outside Neillsville, Wis.

As many as 70 people attended the three-day event July 20-22 including most of the 30 first cousins from the Jonas, McCorry, Mullins and Schield families, my generation. Second cousins celebrated, too, as well as one from the third, Rian Kiala Reeves, daughter of Jessica Schield and Josh Reeves and granddaughter of David Schield.
The weekend began with a Friday night fish fry at the Stone’s Throw Supper Club in Hatfield, which was almost literally just a stone’s throw away from the Arbutus Motel where I and my siblings rented a group of rooms. The staff had set up six tables in one section of the restaurant so we could all be together.
Rain the next morning cancelled plans for a golf outing for all except Tom Jonas who was already at the course when the rain started, figured “as long as I’m here” and played anyway! By 10:00 a.m. the skies cleared and many of the guests went to Russell Beach on Lake Arbutus to relax and go out on the lake in David Schield’s boat as he pulled people riding an inner tube behind it. In order for everyone to enjoy their time together, the Schields hired a caterer who roasted vegetable skewers, beef and chicken on the grill, served pasta salad and a delicious fruit salad.
Joe Mullins brought a case of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey and, in the continuation of a tradition he’s practiced for years, recited the Hail Mary in Latin each time a bottle was emptied:
“Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae Amen.”
By the way, I used Google Translate to convert the prayer from English into Latin.
My sister Tricia Freer brought sparklers for the kids (of all ages) to enjoy because her childhood memory of trips to the cottage included sparklers.
Jim Schield’s son, Brandon, brought out his acoustic guitar and, around the fire pit, lead the crowd in a sing-along late into the evening.
Yours truly entertained the crowd with a special Top Ten List for the occasion, “Top Ten Reasons Why It’s Great to be a McCorry:

10. A priest and two nuns. How could you NOT get into heaven?
9. Easy ticket out of jury duty: I have a cousin who’s a US Marshal and an uncle who’s an IRS agent.
8. Easy access to luxury vacation homes in Boulder, Colo., Santa Rosa, Calif., San Diego and Neillsville, Wis.
7. Get to say George, Mary, Dan, Mary Ann, Carroll, Betty, Teresa and Bud were your parents.
6. Impress your friends by saying, “Oh, yes, I’ve been to several Bowl games. Even played in a few.”
5. You can tell Pope Benedict, “Hey pontiff, lay off the nuns,” and know somebody’s got your back.
4. You can drink for free at Café Lulu, Barnacle Bud’s, Mader’s, Tonic Tavern, Rendez Vous Bistro.  Oh, I’m sorry. I’m told it’s a $5 coupon.
3. If you’re lucky, you could be a character in the next Betty Mullins novel.
2. Every time we get together is a good time.
And the number one reason it’s great to be a McCorry:
1. Rest assured knowing that Tess, Moon, Marcia, Jason, Patrick and Jared are all saving really good seats for us.

Uncle Carroll Schield, Sr. Mary Acquinice (Rita) and Aunt Teresa Jonas were in attendance, but Aunt Mary Ann McCorry and Sr. Mary Benedicta (Eleanor) were unable to attend.
On Sunday morning, some of the guests returned to the cottage for breakfast before heading home.
If you have photos you’d like to share, feel free to do so and you can use the address field from this latest email with all the cousins' email addresses to distribute your photos. But  make sure the address for Michael Jonas is mmjonas123 (at) yahoo (dot) com, because mjonas123 is the address of poor Melanie Jonas, from somewhere in America, who's been deluged with emails about people she doesn't even know! 
I used Picasa, the cloud-based photo sharing service of Google, to upload my photos. If you prefer another solution -- like Dropbox, Microsoft SkyDrive or Apple iCloud -- go for it. I wanted to make sure people didn’t have to enter a username and password to see the photos. Let me know if you have trouble seeing them.
In the days since my return to California, I’ve received e-mails from cousins thanking me for the photos, which I also shared on Facebook. They also made a point of thanking the Schields, in particular, for organizing the event and hosting it at the family’s cottage.
Here are a few of their comments:
Jim Jonas: “I sent a thank you note to Dan [Schield] saying that they 'did their mother proud.’  As he mentioned in her eulogy, Betty was always trying to make everyone happy ... so accommodating. They were excellent hosts and everyone, young and old, had a great time.”
Jane (Jonas) Williams: “Yes indeed!  What a great time.  I know that Aunt Teresa and Sr Acquinice were proud and happy to be a part of such a gathering.  I was particularly impressed with the ‘next generation.’ Quite a talented group of musicians, technicians, architects, entrepreneurs, etc.  Where did they get it from? Oh yeah, US!“
It was great to see all of you and for those who couldn't make it, I hope this post and the photos give you some idea of how special an event it was.
Best wishes to all, Robert Mullins