At 4:00 p.m., on February 24th, 1951, Cammie Vandergrift McCandless and John Nelson Collins were married at Christ Church and St. Michael's in Germantown, Pennsylvania by Rev. W. Hamilton Aulenbach. Both the Bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Walker McCandless and the Groom's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Ayres Collins were in attendance.
The Bride was attended to by her Maid of Honor, Bette Heinzeroth and her Bridesmaids, Mary McCandless, Janet Slaymaker, Genevieve Rile, and Helen Schofield. The Groom's Best Man was Robert Shuman and the Ushers were William McCandless, James McCandless, Walter Slaymaker, Robert Joos and Robert Enslin.
After the double ring ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. John Nelson Collins honeymooned in the Pocono Mountains and then made their first home together at The Cliveden Apartments in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At 4:00 p.m., on February 24th, 2001, 50 years later, to the day, family and friends gathered at Elm Terrace Gardens in Lansdale to celebrate the Golden 50th Wedding Anniversary of John and Cammie's marriage. Inside this site, you will find photos of our party, as well as some older, archived family photos of the original wedding party, and more old photos of John and Cammie's extended family.
For those of you who attended, we thank you very much for coming and helping us celebrate. And another very big thank you to everyone who took the anniversary party photos. We placed disposable cameras at each table so the photographs were all taken by our guests. They are not 'digital' but they really turned out great!
Besides our guest's of honor, John and Cammie Collins, those in attendance included their two sons, Steven and David Collins. Steve flew in from Seattle, Washington and David drove down from New Haven, Connecticut.
And of the original wedding party, Bill and Mary McCandless, Jim, Sr. and Bette (Heinzeroth) McCandless, Walter and Janet Slaymaker, and Bob Shuman, all still live within 15 or 20 miles of the Lansdale area.
Other guests included Bonnie Townsend and her son, Stephen, who flew up from South Carolina. Chuck and Bobbie Baker, Winifred Howell, Baker and Lois Harward, and Vandy Bauer, all drove up from Maryland to attend. Carole Kley and her boyfriend, Bill Marrone, drove down from New Jersy.
And the remaining Pennsylvania group included Bill and Sandy Suittor, Debbie Parisi, Jim and Suzi McCandless, Jack and Joanne Milligan, David Black (Aunt Vandy's boyfriend), Nancy Shuman (daughter of Bob Shuman), and good friends Carolyn Rasmussen, Joan Hopkins and her daughter, Barbara Kimpker. And last, but certainly not least, the Slaymaker family, Terry and Joan Slaymaker, Andy Slaymaker and Beth Steele, Hank and Mimi Slaymaker, and Bill Slaymaker.
Another special note of thanks must go out to Sheila Weis of Elm Terrace Gardens. This event would not have happened without her giving special attention to the details, from all 3 hosts, all of whom lived out of state while we planned this event.
All in all, it was a very exciting and memorable evening. A very big congratulations, Mom and Dad!
