McDonald Clan Weight Loss Challenge!

The McDonald Clan Weight Loss Challenge is designed to increase your physical activity, improve your eating habits, and lose the pounds, all while competing for a monetary prize. The challenge begins on Friday, January 1, 2010, and will end on Thursday, July 1, 2010, the day before the reunion starts.

Here’s how it all works:

Participants record their starting weight and starting measurements (specific directions will be given on how to do that to those who enter the competition). Those numbers are then reported to an independent party who serves as the competition's official recordkeeper. In addition to reporting those baseline numbers, you will keep a record of progress for yourself. Weigh-ins will take place every other Friday, beginning January 15, 2010, with your first weigh-in.

A percentage calculation of over-all weight loss will be used to determine the winner. Ultimately, participants will be on their honor when reporting weigh-in and measurement totals. The calculation will be figured to the 100th percent. In the case of a tie, the number of inches lost and will be factored in. For example Jasper’s weight is 220, Gertrude’s weight is 200. If Jasper lost 40 pounds, he lost 18.18% of his total body weight. If Gertrude lost 40 pounds, she lost 20.00% of her total body weight. So, for Jasper to have the same weight loss percentage as Gertrude, he would have to loose 44 pounds. For someone weighing 140 pounds, they would need to loose 28 pounds to hit 20.00%.

All numbers are to be reported via phone or e-mail to Lisa Curtis, (916) 875-4070 or CurtisL@saccounty.net. She is a health educator and fitness expert for Sacramento County who has agreed to confidentially keep all records, and complete the necessary calculations to determine the winners. She will distribute two progress reports approximately 6 weeks apart so all participants can view each other’s progress in the form of percentage totals.

Participants must register by Friday, January 15, 2010. The entrance fee is $50.00 per person, due on the first day of the reunion, Friday, July 2nd, 2010. The winner will be announced on Saturday morning, July 3rd. Prizes are based on anticipated participants and subject to change according to final entries:

1st place $600
2nd place $200
3rd place $100
4th place $50
"100 Percenter" Award $50 (highest participation in reporting their bi-weekly numbers)

For those wishing to participate or who have additional questions, please send Karen an email (kornerkutter@hotmail.com) and she will send you additional information and forms to help you in your weight loss and to officially enter you in the competition. We hope we get a lot of participation, after all who doesn't want to look good for the reunion?

Friday July 2nd Catered Dinner

On Friday, July 2nd we will be treated to a meal by Heritage Peaks Catering. The reunion officially begins at 3:30 p.m., with dinner served at 6:00 p.m. It's a chance to relax after your family's journey to Albion.

The meal will include:

Beef and vegetable lasagna
Tri color vegetable pasta salad
Twice baked bacon potatoes
Flake layer dinner rolls
Salad bar service
Fresh fruit
Apple, orange and grape juice, & milk

Come hungry! No need to worry about setting up or doing dishes, its all taken care of.

Additional Accommodation Information

Continuing the theme of last month’s post, the kitchen and bathroom facilities at Campus Grove are first rate, much like what one would find at any newer hotel. Each room has a bathroom sink, and easy access to a toilet; additionally the first floor rooms have showers in them, while the second floor rooms share four private showers accessible through the main hallway. One first floor bathroom and one first floor room and attached bathroom are ADA accessible. There are eleven toilets and eight shower stalls at Miller Hall. Please check the floor plan for specific details. Remember you will be responsible to bring your own linens (towels, bedding, and pillows) and toiletry items.

In the May 2009 post we assigned each family the responsibility for one meal. The kitchen has two ovens, two dishwashers, a large refrigerator, a large two basin sink, and a full set of dishware along with various pots, pans, and cooking utensils. If you need a specific kitchen apparatus to prepare your meal please plan to bring it with you. For an overview of the kitchen and bathrooms be sure to view the photo gallery on the Campus Grove website.

It is everyone's responsibility to keep Miller Hall clean and tidy during our stay, and to police the area before we check out on Monday morning.

Sleeping Accommodations

A large part of the appeal of Campus Grove was the sleeping accommodations. The fifteen dorm rooms and large third floor gameroom at Miller Hall can comfortably sleep 80+ people. The Glen and Elizabeth McDonald clan currently includes around ninety individuals from roughly 25 families; after speaking with the Campus Grove owners and seeing the space ourselves, we can assure there is enough room at the inn. While room assignments will not be made until all registrations have been received, it is clear that each room will likely have more than one family sharing the space during the reunion.

We would invite you to take a look at the layout of Miller Hall to get an idea of the sleeping quarters. If your family is interested in camping on the grass outside the hall with a tent or RV, this can be done as well. Please let us know if you would like to do this. Each family will also be responsible for bringing their own linens - bedding or sleeping bags, pillows, towels, and washcloths.

The Reunion Registration Form will have a few questions about sleeping accommodations and any special requests or needs your family might have. Lastly, please let us know if your family will be attending the reunion but not staying at Miller Hall; note however that this will not lessen the reunion registration fee for your family.

Family History Program Redux

The work of gathering photographs and documents for the Family History Program on Sunday July 4th continues. While in Idaho last month, I scanned over 150 items to potentially use in the video presentation. Thank you to Scott & Nan, Brent & Nancy, Jay & Darla, John & Shelley Thomas, and Troy & Stacy Hamilton for letting me look through their family scrapbooks and records. I know there still is additional material out there, so please refer to the March 2009 post for more info about the project.

The second phase of the program is to ask each family unit to send me ten to fifteen photographs that document their family. The images should reflect the history of the family and their varied activities and interests. Please do not only select studio portraits, include things like family camping trips, graduations, Church events, etc. Each picture does not have to show all family members either. Get together for a Family Home Evening and select your favorite images. For those families with married children, remember your children are selecting pictures of their family as well, so let’s try and keep the overlap to a minimum.

Once you’ve selected the images, I would request that you send me two things, the digitized copies of the photographs and caption information about each photograph. If you need help digitizing or scanning your images, ask the younger members of your family – they may be more technologically savvy and can assist. If you do not have the capability to do the scanning yourself, places like Walgreens, Rite Aid, and Kinkos can assist you with doing this. Please have the photographs scanned at the following settings if possible - 24-bit color, 300 DPI, and in a TIFF file format. Of course if the photographs are already digital images, then the task is much easier.

Please also spend the time to include a write-up about each image. Nothing too long or extravagant, just answer the basic who, what, when, where, and why questions for each image. This will prove important in the future. As an archivist I can tell you nothing is more frustrating than having an amazing photograph with no descriptive information. Once you have all the images and their captions ready, send it all to me on a CD or DVD.

Our mailing address is:

Dylan and Karen McDonald
2421 36th Street
Sacramento, CA 95817

These images will be compiled into a digital scrapbook DVD, along with a DVD video about the Glen and Elizabeth McDonald, and a copy of both will be given to each family at the end of the reunion. I hope that this will be a great way for us all to reminisce and get better acquainted with each other. The deadline to submit material is March 1, 2010.

One Year and Counting!!!

Yesterday, Karen and I visited Campus Grove with Stacy and Taylor Hamilton to review firsthand the accomodations and surroundings. Wow - we are even more excited about next year's reunion. The four of us walked through nearly every room at Miller Hall and spent time reviewing the furnishings of the bedrooms, kitchen, game room, and bathrooms. The place is even more spacious than the photographs on the website suggest. The surrounding grounds offer horseshoe pits, tetherball courts, a sand volleyball pit, fire spits, picnic benches, a hot tub, and an above ground pool. The campus' original sidewalks are still in place providing plenty of paths for riding bicycles.

The town of Albion is nestled in picturesque small valley at the base of Mount Harrison just a fifteen minute drive from Interstate 84. Although the population is only around three hundred, there are several cafes, small markets, gas stations, and the Marsh Creek Inn (a bed and breakfast). For larger shopping needs, the town of Burley, with a Walmart, Albertsons, and numerous fast-food resturants, is only a twenty minute drive away.

After driving through the town we headed up Mount Harrison to Lake Cleveland, an old glacial lake. The drive to the lake is only about thirty minutes and the view of the valley below is stunning. There were still snow banks just off the paved road. Although we were unable to drive all the way to the lake, as the Forest Service does not open the upper road until the July 4th weekend, we have been told by locals it is worth the trip up.

One year and counting. Hope to see you all during next year's Fourth of July weekend!

Reunion Photos

A professional photographer will be on hand to take group and family photographs as part of the reunion registration fee. The photographs taken will include the entire group, extended families, individual families, the four brothers and spouses, all Glen and Elizabeth's grandchildren, all Glen and Elizabeth's great grandchildren, etc, with all of us in our reunion t-shirts. Each family will then recieve a CD with all the images taken by the photographer.

The photo session will take place either on Friday, July 2nd or Saturday, July 3rd. Our photographer, Steve Mendoza, will also be available for more formal family photographs if you so request. There will be space on the registration form to request having additional photographs taken. Steve photographed the Clark Family Reunion at Brent and Nancy's home in the summer of 2007 (see above photograph) and everyone was happy with his work. Please visit his D/C Photography website for more information about Steve.