Even while the T Shirt Drama continues to unfold (so whose idea was it to do T shirts, anyway?) Come on, fess up whoever it was. Oops. Linda just informed me that it was our idea. We have just received our final assurance that the T shirts will be ready and they will be right. Please bear with this Westside company. Even though they have messed up our original distribution plan, I am still confident that they will come through.
We are still getting reservations. Terrific! The more the merrier. Never one to rest on their laurels, Linda has just announced that she wants to eat at the Westside Hacienda for a bite before the Reitz-Central football game on Friday night. We'll get an area roped off. If you're interested, give Linda a buzz at 425-3255 or email her at linday7632@gmail.com
I keep on telling Linda that even if nothing else works out from here on out, we still have a football game to attend, a school to tour and reservations for a place to meet and eat. The class provides all the important stuff anyway. School Spirit, Good Cheer and Friendship. That is really what it is all about anyway.
Of course, everything will work out fine. The best reunion ever. There's something great that's going to be happening here on the West side of Evansville on the weekend after Labor Day.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Best Laid Plans
Well, sometimes the best laid plans go awry. We began the T Shirt component of the 45th reunion well in advance. Designed the shirts, got them printed, tagged with names and even got some of them mailed out. Many classmates even stopped by and picked their T shirts up. So far so good, right?
Then a classmate washed one and to our horror and disbelief, we found out that the lettering was coming off. We initially thought that it was just the metallic glitter part of the lettering that we knew would diminish with time and laundering. What we didn't realize was that Nancy was talking about blue showing through the silver gray lettering.
A quick call to the vendor, a local Westside screen printer, confirmed that due to an equipment failure (a heater which raised the shirt temperature to 300 degrees to cure the ink and bond it to the cotton fabric) the shirts were improperly cured.
So how does a good Westside company react to a problem? They do the right thing. Whether or not the original shirt is returned or not, everyone that ordered a shirt will get a properly printed and cured T shirt at least by the time the ball game comes around. Based upon when the shirts are done, which should be early next week, we will reorganize the shirts, retag them and sort them. We will let you know how we are going to distribute them once we actually have them in hand and wash one to make sure they make the grade.
In the meanwhile, while the T shirt drama was playing out, everything else is falling in place and we only recently stopped getting calls from last minute folks. You will all be very surprised at the number of first time reunion attendees who will be there, and I am looking forward to meeting even more Reitz 67 folks this year. The 45th reunion is looking to be the grandest reunion of them all to date. We've got a very ambitious agenda planned and we intend that there will be plenty of time to talk and visit too. It's not too late to get in on the action either. Just let us know you want to attend.
We'll keep you up to date on all our organizing adventures as they unfold. Although we hope for no additional excitement, we know that there is always a way to overcome adversity. It just takes a little more determination and plenty of antacids.
Then a classmate washed one and to our horror and disbelief, we found out that the lettering was coming off. We initially thought that it was just the metallic glitter part of the lettering that we knew would diminish with time and laundering. What we didn't realize was that Nancy was talking about blue showing through the silver gray lettering.
A quick call to the vendor, a local Westside screen printer, confirmed that due to an equipment failure (a heater which raised the shirt temperature to 300 degrees to cure the ink and bond it to the cotton fabric) the shirts were improperly cured.
So how does a good Westside company react to a problem? They do the right thing. Whether or not the original shirt is returned or not, everyone that ordered a shirt will get a properly printed and cured T shirt at least by the time the ball game comes around. Based upon when the shirts are done, which should be early next week, we will reorganize the shirts, retag them and sort them. We will let you know how we are going to distribute them once we actually have them in hand and wash one to make sure they make the grade.
In the meanwhile, while the T shirt drama was playing out, everything else is falling in place and we only recently stopped getting calls from last minute folks. You will all be very surprised at the number of first time reunion attendees who will be there, and I am looking forward to meeting even more Reitz 67 folks this year. The 45th reunion is looking to be the grandest reunion of them all to date. We've got a very ambitious agenda planned and we intend that there will be plenty of time to talk and visit too. It's not too late to get in on the action either. Just let us know you want to attend.
We'll keep you up to date on all our organizing adventures as they unfold. Although we hope for no additional excitement, we know that there is always a way to overcome adversity. It just takes a little more determination and plenty of antacids.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Quiet but Busy
We've been quiet but we've been busy. The final food menu and quantities have been set; the T-shirts were ordered and delivered and sorted and labeled (available for pickup at the ball game or reunion); name labels are being printed based on reservations received. Attendance is going to be really great, with many new faces to be seen on the reunion scene.
The Friday golf outing is still available for the duffers in the class - just contact Larry Broerman for details.
The football seats are arranged (for those wanting to sit with the class, use the lower entrance off the double dip (for the least amount of stair climbing) and the school tour is also set for Saturday morning at 10AM. All those wanting to attend should be at the top of the hill in front of the main entrance. Look for Mickey Connors. He's representing the reunion committee to help coordinate the tour attendees.
All that remains now is to wait for the time to pass until the actual event. For those of you still on the fence, it's not too late. Get your reservations in to Linda. Call her at 812-425-3255.
Thanks to all who have helped with ideas, actions, and equipment, valuable contributions all.
All the pieces are falling in place. Isn't it great when a plan comes together?
By the way, Kokie's Echo Valley is even easier to get to with the opening of the University Parkway extension. Go north on the parkway and turn left at New Harmony Road.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Do it Today!
In the past few days, folks are sending in their reservation forms and ordering T Shirts to commemorate the 45th Reunion in greater and greater numbers. Many are signing up for the school tour as well. And best of all, many of the reservations received so far are from people who have not attended a reunion in years (I won't say decades so as not to make anyone feel old, but it's a fact). Hopefully, the experience of the 44 get together has spread by word of mouth and the class is turning a significant corner.
The reunion committee held their last meeting last weekend (punctuated by good food and more than a little socializin', as all good West Siders do when they get together)
We decided on a few final details about what we're planning on doing once everyone gets there (there will be a loose agenda and some serious class business to attend to, but not enough to interfere with lots of good talk and visiting.) We have tried to make that stuff as unobtrusive as possible.
The devil is in the details. Square tables, round tables, secondary decorating theme (other than the Reitz blue and the gray, how to handle the memorials of folks we've lost and the distribution of name tags, all the little things that add up to a great experience. It's not so much what was decided, but that a potential issue was addressed so there is no ad hoc decision making required to interfere with just enjoying the event. We've tried to account for the suggestions we received from the forms we got back from the 44. We've tried to account for communicated suggestions we've received since then as well. Everyone is welcome to put their two cents in at any time.
We want to make it so that when you walk in to Echo Valley, there will be nothing to distract you from getting together with your classmates and having a good time. There remains only one thing you need to do.
Fill out your reservation forms (remember to order a T Shirt at the same time), cut a check, and send them in and most important of all, in the words of Billy May (the late Oxiclean pitchman), Do It Today!
The reunion committee held their last meeting last weekend (punctuated by good food and more than a little socializin', as all good West Siders do when they get together)We decided on a few final details about what we're planning on doing once everyone gets there (there will be a loose agenda and some serious class business to attend to, but not enough to interfere with lots of good talk and visiting.) We have tried to make that stuff as unobtrusive as possible.
The devil is in the details. Square tables, round tables, secondary decorating theme (other than the Reitz blue and the gray, how to handle the memorials of folks we've lost and the distribution of name tags, all the little things that add up to a great experience. It's not so much what was decided, but that a potential issue was addressed so there is no ad hoc decision making required to interfere with just enjoying the event. We've tried to account for the suggestions we received from the forms we got back from the 44. We've tried to account for communicated suggestions we've received since then as well. Everyone is welcome to put their two cents in at any time.
We want to make it so that when you walk in to Echo Valley, there will be nothing to distract you from getting together with your classmates and having a good time. There remains only one thing you need to do.
Fill out your reservation forms (remember to order a T Shirt at the same time), cut a check, and send them in and most important of all, in the words of Billy May (the late Oxiclean pitchman), Do It Today!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Second Guessing
The planning for the 45th is well underway. The place and time are set, the arrangements with Reitz are done and the reservation forms have been sent. Linda has made a special effort to contact those whose emails bounced back (naughty naughty for not letting your reunion committee know that you changed 'em) and several of the few we mailed were returned to senda' so we're working on that too.
The point, I suppose is that it's decision time. To go or not. One evening out of 45 years to satisfy curiousity, to see how people turned out, maybe to renew an old friendship. Not a bad deal for $20 bucks. I can tell you from my own experience with my class and my less than friendly reunion committee that at one point I was seriously torn about attending my own reunion. But ultimately, I went and I managed to avoid the committee for the most part and managed not to get myself thrown out for expressing my feelings.
In return, I received far more than I gave for the $75 they charged for admission. All that I wrote about how some people change, how some people don't, how the reasons for friendships 45 years ago still exist, it's all true. I'd say that I'm so wise, except Linda will tell you the truth. So for less than 1/3 of the cost of my reunion, come make up your own mind about how wise I am. There are people who will be looking for you. If you come, it will make it worthwhile. If you don't, they will miss you.
The biggest problem the reunion committee is facing now is second guessing itself based on the results of the 44th Spring Get Together. While following the guidelines provided by the forms we had folks fill out, we're going to have a cash bar and no music to interfere with the conversation. That still leaves decorations, themes or no, menu planning, program of events, a directory update or not, how to handle memorials (the way we did it at the 44th, while very moving, was quite the downer), so many issues for the committee to work out.
In truth, a hundred years from now, no one will know the difference, but nonetheless, any conscientious person will continue to second guess themselves right up to the actual event and beyond. I know it will turn out fine. I know that everyone will have a good time. I'm hoping for an even better turnout than last time because everyone will have heard about what a good time was had back in the Spring of 2011. And our pictures will still be free for all who want them from the website or for the cost of printing and postage for those without the means to print them. And I absolutely promise to get that shot of the Veterans of the Reitz Class of 1967, without fail. Linda has also sent postcards to teachers who may attend.
Till next time, I will leave you with a thought: No matter what you may think now, attending will have an impact on you. I think back to Dave Spae, in my class, with whom I reunited in the process of putting together my class directory. We were actively finding friends and classmates and talking about the reunion which just took place, on a regular basis. Dave didn't attend. He passed away this past February, just 3 months shy of the reunion. I would have liked to have seen Dave again, but never got the chance. This year Reitz 67 has lost several classmates since the 44th. The message is clear.......
The point, I suppose is that it's decision time. To go or not. One evening out of 45 years to satisfy curiousity, to see how people turned out, maybe to renew an old friendship. Not a bad deal for $20 bucks. I can tell you from my own experience with my class and my less than friendly reunion committee that at one point I was seriously torn about attending my own reunion. But ultimately, I went and I managed to avoid the committee for the most part and managed not to get myself thrown out for expressing my feelings.In return, I received far more than I gave for the $75 they charged for admission. All that I wrote about how some people change, how some people don't, how the reasons for friendships 45 years ago still exist, it's all true. I'd say that I'm so wise, except Linda will tell you the truth. So for less than 1/3 of the cost of my reunion, come make up your own mind about how wise I am. There are people who will be looking for you. If you come, it will make it worthwhile. If you don't, they will miss you.
The biggest problem the reunion committee is facing now is second guessing itself based on the results of the 44th Spring Get Together. While following the guidelines provided by the forms we had folks fill out, we're going to have a cash bar and no music to interfere with the conversation. That still leaves decorations, themes or no, menu planning, program of events, a directory update or not, how to handle memorials (the way we did it at the 44th, while very moving, was quite the downer), so many issues for the committee to work out.
In truth, a hundred years from now, no one will know the difference, but nonetheless, any conscientious person will continue to second guess themselves right up to the actual event and beyond. I know it will turn out fine. I know that everyone will have a good time. I'm hoping for an even better turnout than last time because everyone will have heard about what a good time was had back in the Spring of 2011. And our pictures will still be free for all who want them from the website or for the cost of printing and postage for those without the means to print them. And I absolutely promise to get that shot of the Veterans of the Reitz Class of 1967, without fail. Linda has also sent postcards to teachers who may attend.
Till next time, I will leave you with a thought: No matter what you may think now, attending will have an impact on you. I think back to Dave Spae, in my class, with whom I reunited in the process of putting together my class directory. We were actively finding friends and classmates and talking about the reunion which just took place, on a regular basis. Dave didn't attend. He passed away this past February, just 3 months shy of the reunion. I would have liked to have seen Dave again, but never got the chance. This year Reitz 67 has lost several classmates since the 44th. The message is clear.......
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Get Ready for the OOBE
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This weekend was an emotional and intellectual roller coaster. There were too many people to talk to them all, and some I even missed until I saw photos later. Many of them were there because of Linda and my contacting them, some of them attending for the first time. They are only just beginning to see how reunions can be different. As you can see, I think Reitz 67 had almost as many people for the April get together. Wayne Valley had 600 + classmates. So not the turnout one would hope for.
Now the Reitz Class of 67 has had a chance to see what can be done. Now the Reunion Committee is stepping it up a notch! By a whole $8 dollars. For $20 a head, you get fed, you can buy a drink and pull up a chair and talk with people you haven't seen in a while (sometimes a good long while) and share in the memories you made back then and the memories you will make in September. There are going to be teachers there too.
So presuming that you've already gotten your reservation forms, fill 'em in, send in a check and we'll mark you down for the t shirts you say you want. July 15 is the theoretical deadline (we're trying to be kind to our vendors by giving them enough time to do what they do.) September will be here before you know it.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Before You Know It
Linda's got me working on the class info database so that we can produce mailing labels (much better than hand writing envelopes - we try to work smart when we can) so you haven't heard to much from me here. That same database will help generate the photo name tags too.
I'm also working with my Wayne classmates for later this month organizing an informal get together with my 7th and 8th grade classmates before the "official" reunion.
I thought retirement was going to be lounging around living the Life of Riley. Riley doesn't live here.
That's right. Before you know it, the 45th Reunion will be upon us. The reunion committee is preparing a combination leaflet and reservation form which will be mailed and/or emailed to everyone during the beginning of June.
Because of vendor scheduling, we need reservations for attendance at the events and T-shirts by July 15. We need to confirm expected attendance numbers with Echo Valley, and T shirt orders with the screen printer to allow them production time.
To review the scheduled events quickly:
Friday Sept. 7, 7am: R-Men's golf scramble, shotgun tee offs.
Friday 6pm: Reitz-(opponent to be announced) football in the Bowl
Saturday Sept 8, (time tba) School Tour
Saturday 5pm The Reitz Class of 67 45th Reunion at Echo Valley
All the details will be spelled out to the best of our knowledge in the leaflet.
I remember thinking after last April's Spring event that we had plenty of time to get it all ready for the Real Reunion the following Fall. Time has passed quickly. As each year represents a smaller and smaller fraction of our lives, I think that perception just keeps accelerating. Keep an eye out here and on Facebook - and in your mail box (real or electronic) for details as they become available. Still waiting on Reitz and the IHSAA for the Reitz opponent Reunion weekend and also when the school tour will commence and who will be doing guide duty.
See you soon!
I'm also working with my Wayne classmates for later this month organizing an informal get together with my 7th and 8th grade classmates before the "official" reunion.
I thought retirement was going to be lounging around living the Life of Riley. Riley doesn't live here.
That's right. Before you know it, the 45th Reunion will be upon us. The reunion committee is preparing a combination leaflet and reservation form which will be mailed and/or emailed to everyone during the beginning of June.
Because of vendor scheduling, we need reservations for attendance at the events and T-shirts by July 15. We need to confirm expected attendance numbers with Echo Valley, and T shirt orders with the screen printer to allow them production time.
To review the scheduled events quickly:
Friday Sept. 7, 7am: R-Men's golf scramble, shotgun tee offs.
Friday 6pm: Reitz-(opponent to be announced) football in the Bowl
Saturday Sept 8, (time tba) School Tour
Saturday 5pm The Reitz Class of 67 45th Reunion at Echo Valley
All the details will be spelled out to the best of our knowledge in the leaflet.
I remember thinking after last April's Spring event that we had plenty of time to get it all ready for the Real Reunion the following Fall. Time has passed quickly. As each year represents a smaller and smaller fraction of our lives, I think that perception just keeps accelerating. Keep an eye out here and on Facebook - and in your mail box (real or electronic) for details as they become available. Still waiting on Reitz and the IHSAA for the Reitz opponent Reunion weekend and also when the school tour will commence and who will be doing guide duty.
See you soon!
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