Tickets are on sale now! Our 65th Birthday Celebration Weekend is September 20-22, 2024. Our main event on Saturday September 21 requires ticket purchase and is sandwiched by two pay-as-you-go events - a Friday Happy Hour and a Sunday Brunch. In addition to these events, we have a Class Store where you can buy a variety of "WJ Class of 1977"-themed shirts, sweatshirts, hats, totes, and stickers. See below for event details, Volunteer Information, Class Store, and Current Attendee List.
1. Saturday Night Main Event Description
- The WJ Spartans of 1977 will celebrate our collective 65th Birthday at our main event on Saturday September 21, 2024!
- Our main event will be held at Il Porto Fine Italian Restaurant located at 245 Muddy Branch Rd, Gaithersburg, MD.
- The event ticket price is inclusive of tax and tip.
- Our main event starts at 6:00PM and dinner buffet begins at 7PM. Our event concludes at 11:00PM.
- We have the back party room with a buffet dinner (see the menu below) and access to the outdoor deck area which has tables, umbrellas, and beautiful plantings.
- Special features include live music with a WJ 1977 class band and a special video created just for the event.
- Our party venue has free parking.
The classes of 1976 and 1978 are encouraged to join us for this super fun event! So if you are in touch with Spartans from the classes of '76 or '78, please share the link www.WJ1977.com with them. Note: Anyone who buys a ticket must first be a member of WJ1977.com. So either you can buy the tickets for them or they can click Contact Us to be added as a guest member to WJ1977.com.
2. Saturday Main Event Ticket Information
Tickets for our 65th Birthday Main Event are on sale now. The price (without a credit card*) is just $59 (or $65 if paying by credit card). Tickets must be purchased by Monday, September 16 (no tickets will be sold at the door).
*For ticket purchase without a credit card, the options include Zelle, Venmo, and paper check.
- If you want to save money and pay without a credit card, choose the option "Saturday Main Event (pay with Zelle/Venmo/check) by 9/16/2024" at the top of this page. The next page will be to pay by check. You can either:
- Pay with a paper check and mail your check (payable to Joe Baum) to the address shown on the payment page.
- Alternatively, pay by Zelle (send payment to Joe Baum at 301-233-7482) or pay by Venmo (send payment to Joe Baum at @joseph-baum-2).
- If you want to pay by credit card, choose the option "Saturday Main Event (pay with credit card) by 9/16/2024" at the top of this page and on the following pages you will enter your credit card information.
- If you have any questions about buying tickets, feel free to call Joe Baum at 301-233-7482
3. Saturday Menu Details
Our Italian dinner buffet includes soft drinks, appetizers, bread, salad, choice of entre and a very special class birthday cake. Our buffet dinner includes vegetarian options. Vegan choice provided upon request.
There is a cash bar that will include cocktails, wine, and beer.
4. Friday Night Happy Hour
The Friday Night Happy Hour will be at Not Your Average Joe's at 6PM. NYAJ's is located next to Walter Johnson High School at 10400 Old Georgetown Rd Bethesda, MD and has free parking. There may be an opportunity to attend a Friday night football or soccer game at WJ -- details will be posted here as they become available.
Please note: There is no upfront fee for this event (it's pay-as-you-go), but when you register please click through the registration/payment pages until you see "Order Complete" on the last page.
5. Sunday Brunch
The Sunday Brunch will be at MoCo’s Founding Farmers at 10:00am. MoCo's Founding Farmers is located at 12505 Park Potomac Ave, Potomac MD. Parking is free for up to two hours. Their brunch menu can be found at this link.
Please note: There is no upfront fee for this event (it's pay-as-you-go), but when you register please click through the registration/payment pages until you see "Order Complete" on the last page.
5. Volunteer Information
We need a few volunteers to:
- Contact classmates and encourage them to attend
- Staff the Saturday night welcome desk, collect tickets, and distribute name tags
- Help decorate the Saturday night venue (e.g., with WJ-themed colors)
If you would like to volunteer for this event, click on Contact Us.
6. Class Store
Our Class Store has a variety of class-themed shirts, sweatshirts, hats, totes, and stickers. For every purchase, our class will get a percentage of the sale to help offset various costs of our 65th Birthday Celebration Weekend. Click on Class Store to see what we have to offer.
7. 65th Birthday Celebration Weekend Current Attendee List (classmates & guests)
- Friday Night Happy Hour:
Joe & Ellen Baum, Tom Haser, Mark Santucci '76, Kurt Sodee
- Saturday Night Main Event:
Joe & Ellyn Baum, Marian Wixon (Boring), Tom Haser, Charlie Hrebenach, Danny McNickle, Mark Santucci '76, Knobby Simler, Kurt Sodee
- Sunday Brunch:
Joe & Ellyn Baum, Mark Santucci '76, Kurt Sodee
