Our Legacy

However, love, respect, a feeling of belonging, caring for one another, sharing and the love of God were fundamental to life in most families. 

Because of such love and devotion all families gathered when death occurred. But, strangely enough, the Mack and McDowell family began having a family picnic or reunion as far back as 1906 when Robert Mack was 43 and his wife, Lula McDowell Mack, was only 33 and already they were proud parents of 8 children. The picnic or reunion was always cooked and brought to the site in baskets.

As time went by the men and women married and had families of their own. Some went as far as New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and D.C. The oldest son of Robert and Lula Mack, Robert Mack, Jr. settled in Washington, Pennsylvania. There he met and married Nellie Mae Thomas on October 31, 1923. Mae is from a large, loving and devote family also. This was an amazing and extraordinary happening, for two families fell in love because Mae Thomas' family had been gathering yearly in just the same way as the Mack's for their picnics and reunions, and because  both families believe once married there are no in-laws, you become sisters and brothers. The first reunion of the two families was held in Washington, PA in 1956.

Soon the family was indeed too big to meet at homes and be fed by the host family. Therefore, the men in the Mack and Thomas families decided from then on we would meet in the cities where the original Clan members lived and be housed in hotels, serve by hotels and enjoy each other in a relaxed surrounding, free from cooking, bed making, pallets on the floor, and all the other unpopular chores. So, the last reunion held in the yard was in Anderson, South Carolina - the hometown of the Mack's. Birdie and Lee were hosts in 1963. Since then our families, following the rotation plan, have gathered for reunions as follows: 

• 1965  Philadelphia, PA
• 1967   Atlanta, GA
• 1969  Washington, PA
• 1971  Washington, DC                      
• 1974  Atlanta, GA
• 1976  Washington, PA
• 1978  Philadelphia, PA
• 1980  Washington, DC
• 1982  Atlanta, GA
• 1984  Washington, PA (Wheeling, WV)
• 1986 Philadelphia, PA (Valley Forge, PA)
• 1988 Washington, DC (Wintergreen, VA

• 1990  Atlanta, GA (Hilton Head, SC)
• 1992  Washington, PA (Pittsburgh, PA)
• 1994  Philadelphia, PA (Valley Forge, PA)
• 1996  Washington, DC
• 1998  Atlanta, GA
• 2000  Washington, PA (State College, PA)
• 2002  Philadelphia, PA (Plymouth Meeting, PA)
• 2004  Washington, DC
• 2006  Atlanta, GA
• 2008  Washington, PA (Wheeling, WV)

• 2010  Philadelphia, PA (Frazer, PA)
• 2012  Washington, DC (Columbia, MA)
• 2014  Atlanta, GA
• 2016  Washington, PA (Wheeling, WV)
• 2018  Philadelphia, PA (Frazer, PA)
• 2020 Postpone because of COVID-19 Pandemic
• 2021 Baltimore, MD (Hanover, MD)
• 2023 Newport News, VA
• 2025 Alexandria, VA