After a McClelland family reunion in the Missouri Ozarks in 1991, sons Dan and Steven joined me for a long drive home in a van. We would sleep in the van or pitch our little tent, roughing it all the way. We would enjoy the sights, visiting such historic places as South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore, or a whisky-tasting stop in historic Weston, Missouri. [Read more →]

Patrick once had his own little corner of the internets known as Patrick’s Place. Occasionally at McClellandfamily.com (stated as if we have a full-time staff of 10) we come across some of the gems that were published there. At one time we simply deleted old stories to make way for the new. Now we have the ability to save them forever…he said to Patrick’s first girlfriend. Muahahaha! [Read more →]

Yet another family website header bites the dust as we update to more recent pictures and perhaps fonts too. [Read more →]

Patrick has always excelled at puzzles, so when we found this old video from 2009 we were quick to show off how bright our boy is. Or is it how dim you are? Watch the video below to find out which it is.

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The McClelland offspring were born in Santa Maria before the family moved to Sacramento in 1969. The house was 25 years old and was located at 815 South McClelland Street. Pictured is the house which burned down some years after we moved (circa 1968). [Read more →]

In January 1958 during the tail end of the fall semester at San Jose State, some fraternity guys were getting nervous about their in-house election. A pair of brothers, supported by others, were not happy about the only candidate who would be elected president for the spring semester. [Read more →]

Doctor Bill Melarkey took time out of his crazy day on Halloween to fix up some dental problems. He wasn’t performing oral surgery or even filling cavities. He was moulding some monster teeth for me for this year’s Reaper’s Wrath haunted house. “It’s ironic,” said the family friend and accomplished dentist, “In the next room I’m working on the cutting edge of dentistry fitting some new implants for a patient, and in here I’m fitting some fangs for Halloween.” Dr. Bill, a long-time friend of the family had long promised to help with oral ministrations around the time of our haunted house.

It took a bit of digging (my Polish ain’t so great), but I was able to figure out that this document is Lisa’s grandmother’s birth certificate. What fun. Now I want to do some more work at Geni.com.

Here’s what my research uncovered (very rough translation): [Read more →]

The best birthday card so far this year arrived in the mail today. It was from my dad and came along with a copy of the newsletter birth announcement that he created, printed and mailed out 47 years ago.

Bark, (Baby Bark Special) was churned out at the birth of each McClelland kid. This issue included a column by older brother, Dan, an advice column with a letter from Bewildered Boy, and actual advertising from Santa Maria Printers and Stationery and Simas Sporting Goods.

I celebrated my birthday relatively quietly at our Serene Lakes cabin with Lisa’s entire family present.

Preparations are underway for this year’s haunt. I’ve been kit bashing some cheap Costco skeletons.