the 70th annual duchaine reunion was held on August 2nd, 2026 in celeron, ny. hosts were the hessley family, (brothers Bernie and Joe). DESCENDANTS of pearl Duchaine mcclellan.
2026 recap — It was a beautiful sunny and breezy day, as 48 family members gathered, representing the harry, pearl & bernard duchaine families. COFFEE AND DONUTS were followed by A POTLUCK LUNCHEON AT 1:30 PM. A guess the candies jar was won by linda hessley. grace was given by Bernie hessley, sr
The business meeting was conducted by brothers, Bernie and Joe hessley.
Ron Law was a guest of Janice murray, our eldest attendee, and lily hessley-flowers, daughter of JOe hessley & rj flowers was the youngest attendee. mathew allen (pearl’s grandson) traveled the farthest. (695 miles) Other guests were Todd Roland ( Joe Hessley), and Isabella Popalardo (Arick allen).
The following reports were made:
Births: none
two marriages:
Brian Collins (son of Christine Allen) to Natasha Endrei, September 2025, in Busan, Korea.
Alec Ground (patti & jamie) to sara sottile, in barre, Ontario.
deaths: jeremy a hasson, august 10th. see below.
Golfers - kevin jaynes and steve calarco, early tee time and soaked feet from the dew!
correspondence was received from Jean guy duchaine, a distant relative (Gideon Duchaine’s great great great grandfather was joseph duchaine. joseph had a brother named rene and that is jean guy’s relation). Jean guy found our website and contacted us to say hello. His branch of the family are french-canadians residing in montreal, quebec!
Family voted to continue to provide the meat for the meal next year as well.
update august 11th: JEREMY hasson passed away on Monday, august 10th. the duchaine family sends love to the calarco and hasson families. link to obituary here.
2026 family reunion
2026 Family members
2026 reunion
General Information
The DuChaine family reunion is held annually on the first Sunday in August. The first reunion was held in 1956 at the Lincoln family cottage and was hosted by Edward and Molly (Lincoln) DuChaine. Forty family members were present.
The following was recorded in the 1956 secretary’s minutes:
A picnic dinner was served on the lawn in front of the cottage at 2:30pm. Mrs. Hugh McClellan of Tiona, PA acted as secretary, games were played by young and old. Much fun was had swimming and boat riding, cards were enjoyed in the evening. The highlight of the day was the unexpected dive off the dock in front of the cottage by Master Chris Jaynes, age 2 years, and the heroic rescue of Chris by cousin Gene DuChaine of Mayville, accompanied by much laughing and cheering from the gang on shore. The oldest member present was Harry DuChaine of Toronto, Canada. The youngest member was Master Richard McClellan of Sheffield, PA.
Each year a business meeting is held, minutes taken, and hosts for the following year are selected. The hosts determine the location of the reunion. Recent reunions have been held in Warren, PA and Westfield, NY. Reminder postcards and emails are sent to family members who have submitted their addresses to the secretary. Local parks, with rental pavilions, are generally utilized.
A typical family reunion begins around 11 am with donuts and coffee for the “early birds”. The hosts arrive early to run extension cords, set up two or three picnic tables for the potluck dishes, get the coffee perking and then before you know it family members start arriving with their picnic baskets holding their contribution to the potluck dinner, tableware, and their own beverages and meat dish. Dinner time is determined, and announced, by the hosts in their postcard announcement - generally the dining begins between 1 and 2pm.
Following the meal a brief business meeting occurs, which the hosts chair. One person goes through the items of business, while the other volunteer takes the minutes. Business includes recording births, deaths, weddings – a count of family members present – who traveled the farthest – who is the oldest/youngest – and taking a collection to help defray expenses for the next year’s reunion.
At the conclusion of the meeting, games are held for both children and adults with winners receiving prizes. In addition, some members meet on Saturday morning for a round of golf and that is entered into the minutes as well. The afternoon is spent visiting with each other, eating, playing games, eating, and more visiting!
So, unlike other families who only see each other at weddings and funerals, the DuChaines always have a carefree summer day to spend together, catching up on family news and enjoying each other’s company. See you in August!