Leslie Douglas (Douglas)

50TH CLASS REUNION

From Tom Hardy, sent on: 5/20/2016 11:33 p.m.

Hi Leslie Can you tell me about the reunion funds for the 40th? 45th? reunion. What were the costs? What would you anticipate the costs to be for the 50th? I had supposed that most costs such as venue hiring, bands, dinner, etc would be paid by those attending. Was it and is it possible to get sponsorship? Could you recommend people to be on the organizing committee? How about you? Tom

Hi Tom, The funds that were still available by the time of the 40th reunion were actually built into the "budget" of the 10th and 25th reunions.  There was a committee of local classmates that did plan those reunions.  Since it was pre-internet and there were still a good number of parents and classmates in the area, lots of phone calls were made to locate class members.  We mailed letters to the people we located discussing the plans to have a reunion and included a list of missing classmates. The committee decided on locations for the two reunions, and the costs of the venue, dinner, band and built in funds for mailing costs, printing with a couple extra dollars to have funds to plan the next reunion were built into the reservation costs.  For the first reunion, those of us on the committee prepaid for the mailing costs and then were paid back once we got funds from the reservations.  Being the banker of the group, I got to set up a reunion account.  I was not involved in planning the 40th or 45th reunions, but let that committee know about the funds we still had.  I do know that they used all the funds and there is no longer a reunion account.  The 40th reunion was a formal reunion and included a Friday night casual get together at a local bar, tour of the high school on Saturday morning, formal dinner with dancing on Saturday night.  I think there was a casual picnic type event on Sunday, but I don't remember much about it.  The 45th reunion was very casual at the VFW hall with some snacks that people bought and a couple pans of hot dishes that someone organized.  We also had a 60th birthday party event that we piggy backed with the class of 66 reunion that the class of 66 planned. 

As far as recommending people for the organizing committee, the group that planned the 25th reunion is on the first page of the 25th Reunion Pix on this site.  I would consider working on the committee, but think that it needs to be people that are really interested in doing the planning.  This forum should be a good source of finding people. 

There were some suggestions about having the reunion in the May to October time period and having the reunion where people would be better able to talk. I think a dinner is what most people think of as a reunion.  I don’t care about a band, I would rather talk with people and sometimes the band is loud and makes conversations difficult.  I agree that avoiding typical vacation months makes sense.  Even though most of us are retired, if you are doing things with your family, summer months when children and grandchildren are more available probably could cut into attendance.  Most of the events will be inside so even if September would be rainy , it wouldn’t matter.  Most of the time September, especially early September has nice weather.

So this is my two cents worth.  I am also going to try to post this on the message forum as well as the other pages

Leslie Douglas

Jim Stepancik

Tom Bates

I'm happy to do whatever I can from New York. Am actively working on my Swarthmore 45th reunion for first week of June!

Jill Smith (Davis)

September or October sounds wonderful.  Autumn in Berea....love it!  Hoping for a wonderful get together.

Rich Kitts

I agree with the suggestion of going big and holding it indoors. It would be nice to have music & dancing but I wouldn’t spend the money for a band. I’d prefer a professional DJ, but I could be swayed to consider Denny’s suggestion of The Kingsmen (are they still around?) if they’ll provide copies of the lyrics to “Louie Louie”.

The Plain Dealer has been running a photo series featuring the proms of various area high schools. This might serve as inspiration when choosing a venue for the reunion. Since I live in North Carolina I‘m unfamiliar with many of these venues but perhaps those who live in the area will have knowledge of these sites. Here’s where some of the schools have been holding their proms:

Independence - Cleveland Botanical Garden (University Circle)

Lakewood - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Beachwood - Museum of Contemporary Art (University Circle)

North Olmstead - La Centre - (Westlake)

Brush - Landerhaven (Mayfield)

Bay - Ritz Carlton (Downtown Cleveland)

Parma - St Josaphat’s Astrodome (aka Astrodome Event Center - Parma)

Westlake - Intercontinental Hotel (Downtown Cleveland)

Rocky River - Ariel International Center (Downtown Cleveland)

Brecksville - Broadview Heights (2015) - Embassy Suites (Independence)

North Royalton (2014) - Weymouth Country Club (Medina)

As you can see, many of the proms were held in hotels. With this much notice for a weekday event I suspect it’s still possible to reserve a date. As another option, here’s a list of banquet halls that resulted from an internet search:

Carrie Cerino’s - 
North Royalton
(440) 237-3434

Diamond Event Center
Brunswick
(330) 225-1995

Michaud’s Catering & Event Center
Strongsville
(440) 238-7078

North Olmstead Party Center
(440) 777-1600

Grand Pacific Junction Hotel
Olmsted Falls
(440) 234-1414

Muntean’s Catering
Brookpark
(216) 237-6555

Crystal Party Center
Parma
(440) 884-1800

La Villa Conference & Banquet Center
Brookpark Rd, Cleveland
(216) 265-9305

Cleveland Airport Marriott - Wasn’t this the location of our 25th reunion?
West 150th St -  Cleveland
(216) 522-5333

Gene Berg

Hello from North Carolina,

It is exciting to see there is interest in a 50th. 

In my opinion, a more casual venue encourages conversation and discussion among classmates and keeps the costs reasonable. Going "BIG" sound great but a formal setting with smaill tables and a band does not encourage discussion due to the table set up and the volume of the music. We witnessed this at the Bomb Squadron several years ago. We also saw that the Friday evening casual meet and greet at the Elks Club on North Rocky River Drive  got great feed back. It was an easy to walk around and talk with many classmates and their guests, eat a little food and have an adult beverage...or 2 or 3 or a Coke. The low cost of the casual event encourages more people to attend and I believe does not place a financial hurdle in front of anyone who wants to attend but can't for financial reasons. A formal venue may cause a financal issue for some who really wants to attend but can not afford it.

As for finding classmates for the 50th, this web site is great source of classmates and Larry Froelich has done a terrific job as the Web Master. keeping many of us connected.  Additionally, the Brera School system just completed the school directory update they do every few years, (I was contacted recently) They may have the most up to date contact info available. I'm certain if BHS is contacted  they could let us know if the contact information is owned by Berea Schools and can be obtained for free or if the list must be purchased from the directory publisher. 

Finally, I'm in favor of September as a potential time frame for the reunion. Vacation, travel, folks visiting family and grandchildren during school break, and the summer holidays makes September more attractive to me. The weather is usually quite nice also.

Regards,

Gene Berg

Ray Androne

Gene:

You have conveyed my sentiments exactly.

Thanks,

Ray

Charlene Keesy (Hanchak)

Gene you've done a consise job of summarizing the thoughts of those that I agree with in the previous posts.   Nice with good food and cusual!!!

Charlene Keesy (Hanchak)

casual (sp)

Bill Sagaser

Agreed.  Well said.

Bill Sagaser

Barbara Freeburn (Harshey)

I will put my vote in for very casual. Our 45th was great, we each brought in something to eat, mill around to talking to everyone, and atmosphere was great with the records brought in. The music was not loud.

Barbara Freeburn (Harshey)

I forgot to mention, my husband is having his 50th reunion this year. They are having a three day weekend, but it is expensive. Just for Saturday nights' sit down meal with music, it is going to run $50.00 per person. They are not  having a great response. However, a picnic in the park on Sunday afternoon is having a fantastic response - cost bring a dish to share. Just an idea.

Terry Sterling

I am also in favor of a smaller gathering for all the reasons Gene mentioned earlier. Also there would be some advantages to having this during the All-School event when other classmates are in town. Traveling to the event knowing that addtional old friends would be in town for the All-School would be nice......

Denny Wigert

A note to everyone that the 50th reunion comments are now split between this general message board, and Ray Androne's message board.  Hopefully, all of these messages are preserved and consolidated.

With the responses submitted so far, classmates are looking in the direction of an informal venue like the VFW experience, or a more glitzy experience.  As a basis to bracket the upper range I looked at the Rock n roll Hall of Fame web page which is probably representative of professionally managed venues: http://www.rockhall.com/media/assets/files/RRHOF_Proms_-_No_Pricing_iNbTb8z.pdf. The nearby link is for prom setups.  Notice that it offers various room options probably with varying rates.  The base rate is $2,000, which probably overstates what we need.  If 100 classmates attend that is $20 per classmate.  The little web research I did suggests 80% spouse/partner participation, or 180 attendees based on 100 classmates.  Thus,  a venue capacity of at least 200 is likely necessary.  

A lot of comments emphasize mingling and conversation.  Any venue selected should already be conducive with a floor plan for 200+ mingling, or reunion planners should have a clean slate floor plan to enable set up as we want it.  

Food service, if provided, will likely eclipse venue selection in overall cost and probably would be in the range of $20-50 per person.  Therefore, food services will primarily drive cost, and will also impact the start time of the event.  As an out-of-towner I have to buy my food in any scenario and don't care if food is part of the package.

Dates remain the most urgent issue.  I believe a survey is the best way to handle the question.  For the sake of speed, I don't think such a limited scope survey needs to be all inclusive.  Carol, what per centage of our classmates have valid emails on this web page?  My thought is to send an email message from the web page records with request for month preferences, with short fuse deadline for response, and go with the plurality of responses.  Then the planning committee set the precise date within the preferred month from the survey.

Karen Osborn (Carr)

My husbands 50th was the last weekend in August last summer. They rented a room in a great Italian restuarant but did not do a band or dancing. It was great because everyone could easily walk around and visit before and after eating without having to talk over a loud band. 

As I mentioned on my post under Ray, fall is the worst time for me. I much prefer sometime in the summer. My husband had thought that he would come and we could vacation either before or after the reunion. That is not possible for us in the fall since we have two grandsons to babysit and one of them has to be taken to preschool twice a week.  

I'm excited about this reunion!  I couldn't make the 45th so really want to come to this one. 

Thanks to everyone who is working on this!

Sue Leopold (Nelson)

I agree with Gene, informal room to roam.  I went to 45th and it was great. I feel we are there to see each other and have fun doing this. The older we get the more room we need to move around. ugh!! but true.  No need for band or fine food. we can get that any time. Enjoying each others company is what it is all about.

Cathleen Wing (Disbennett)

Barbara Freeburn (Harshey)

We can keep discussing everyones' likes and dislikes, until we become blue in the face.  I believe we are now at the stage to make some plans. Gene would you please make a questionnaire and disperse to everyone for whom we have an email address. Set a time limit for everyone to reply. We can tally the votes for each suggestion and take it from there. We also have to have a committee at this point.

Judy Hornyak (Bilsky )

.Read the posts and I'm hearing:

Need a place suitable for conversation and mingling.

Summer seems to work best.

Need to keep costs reasonable

My thoughts:  

Perhaps a middle- ground; something between glitzy and VFW.

No need for band

Potluck is a little tough for anyone traveling from out of town.

Should have " something" to distinguish 50th from previous reunions and draw people who might need to travel a distance although camaraderie is key.

Gail Brown (Steiger)

Wow - sorry to tag in so late..... but think all the ideas thrown out so far have merit.  I agree w/Gene about the "KISS" approach - keeping it super simple.... and affordable.... encouraging more to attend. My interest in attending would be to visit with classmates, not listen to a band or dance.  A casual setting would be most conducive to our mingling.  The VFW platform drew a crowd and allowed to lots of visiting.  I prefer that to a small table with a few couples at a formal dinner setting.

Thanks to everyone who submitted ideas.

Enjoy your summer!!!!

Gail

Rich Kitts

Tom Bates

I've thought a lot about this and have some ideas

First, on scheduling, I would avoid the summer months for reasons others have mentioned...family vacations etc.  I would think May or September would be ideal.  Memorial Day weekend of Labor Day weekend might be good because it would make it easier for people coming from out of town (I'm an 8-1.2 hour drive and know others who are further away.

Some people have mentioned pot luck. For out of towners, this could be a problem, at best an inconvenience.

I've worked on some Swarthmore College Reunions including one (45th) just a week away.

- We got a group together to on it.

- We selected co-heads to oversea things at our previous (40th) reunion.

- We got the most up to date and comprehensive list of classmates, their address, email, and phone.

- We divided up the class and gave each person a group of people to contact personally to encourage them to come.

- We scheduled a group session or seminar or town hall meeting where people could share what is going on with them  Swarthmore was a Quaker College and this was somewhat akin to a Quaker Meeting.  Last time we focussed on "the next (or final) trimester."  The thought being we all went through stages in life.  For some it is eduction and learning for the first part of their life...learning not just facts but also about life.  Our school played an important part in our life, our freinds were family and classmates.   The second trimester typically happens after graduation from college when you enter the work force, become self supporting, form domestic relationships or marry and possibly have children.  Our career and family led to a shift in our lives, our priorities.  Our friends now were work colleagues or possibly the parents of children our childrens' ages.  And the third and final stage is for most of us now.  Retirement for most.  A second career for some.  Time to spend on a hobby or passion.  The children are grown and some people find it a good time to refocus on their marriage which might have been overshadowed by career efforts or raising the hcildren while some (especially women in my experience) simply continue as they had, simply substituting grandchildren for their now grown children.  It would be interesting to hear how others are dealing with these things in their lives.

- Another thing we did at a Swarthmore reunion was put together a booklet with a little information on each person...what they did after college, if they went to grad school or med school or enterred the military, whether they married and had children, what they had had as a carrer

Anyway, just some thoughts.  A two night plan sounds good to me...something low-key and down market like the VFW (although the last get together there that I was at -- the three class get together celebrating turning 60--I found it difficult to mingle with many people) possibly on Friday night and then something a little nicer on Saturday night.

I intend to come/be there wherever or whenever.

Denny Wigert

A realistic cost for an out of state alum flying to CLE is:

$278 air (2015 average flying out of CLE)

$375 hotel (3nights @ $125)

$100 car rental (a cheapo)

$100 food (on a diet)

$853.  TOTAL

      Add 56% for spouse

Note that based on State of residence tally on the class website, 42% of classmates live out of state.  If this data were updated, the  100 "unknowns" would likely increase percentage of out of state classmates.  If responses to the reunion discussion are an indication, out of state attendants may be the majority.

Given this, I think a lot of special attention should be given to out of towner interests.

Therefore, I recommend the planning committee composition include several out of towers with the objective of serving those interests and attracting high participation.  Ideas include, 1) selection of hotel with shuttle service to airport, and negotiation of reduced block rate.  2) arrangement of shuttle vans to/from hotel to reunion events. 3 set up of breakfast room exclusively for alums at hotel. 4)arrangement of Berea area tours, such as, tour of public and parochial schools that fed BHS; tour of triangle; downtown Cleveland tours, etc.  All of above type activities should be optional!

Development of these types of ideas, and more, should be done by additional surveys and communications with out of Towners.

Frank Tullio

I agree with the group. Someplace casual, September or October. At this point in our lives it's more important to chat and reconnect. I look forward to it all.

I'll keep a lookout for a place too.

Gene Berg

I am passing on the information below to everyone so when the committee  is formed they know where to get class contact data. I was directed by BHS to speak with Christine at the Berea Board of Education Office. She handles marketing and community affairs for the school system.  She told me that the new alumni directory is not published yet, but it will be available in several months. This will be the most updated contact material available. The last directory was updated in 2011.

She stated the committee should contact Dennis Kushlak, the President of the BHS Aluni Association in a couple months to determine how to get the contact  information from the publisher. Again, it will not be available for several months.  His email is DKUSHLAK@AOL.COM; phone # 216-513-7516. Christine believed the data should be able to be electronically downloaded and provided to the committee. Christine also told me that once the committee has set and the date and wants the reunion promoted, to contact her and she will place the information on all the available electronic media Berea Schools uses to get the information to '67 grads.