Here's the postcard that was sent out to non-registered classmates.
Sanger High Class of '89 - 20 Year Reunion
The 20 Year Reunion plans were kicked off and initiated by our Class President Letitia Silva Valenzuela. Phone calls were made to members of the 10 Year Reunion Committee (those who Letitia had phone numbers on) and invited to the initial meeting. There were four members present and committed to the group while a couple of previous members said they could not be on the committee because of time constraints and/or prior obligations. Finding a day that everyone could meet has proven to be a challenge, however, up to seven people have attended at least one meeting or more, and all have contributed.
Here are some “briefings” on the meetings that have taken place:
Meeting one – January 26, 2009
It was decided that we needed to contact more classmates and ask if they were interested in joining the committee and/or attending future meetings. It was important to get a better idea about the type of reunion everyone would be interested in attending. We all agreed to do some networking and informally ask classmates what they thought would be an attractive event for everyone. More phone calls would be made in the meantime to invite classmates to the next meeting. We would also look into potential locations and dates and the costs associated with planning the event on our own as opposed to using an outside agency (as we did with the 10 year reunion). We decided that it would be a good idea to use Facebook and Classmates.com to get a dialogue going about the reunion and ask for input from as many classmates as possible.
Meeting two – February 23, 2009
It was agreed that most classmates we came in contact with preferred an event less formal than the 10 year reunion. We also decided the ticket price should be cheaper this time around. The following items were discussed with those ideas in mind.
Hire an agency to plan the reunion or plan it ourselves?
-Decided to do it ourselves to keep ticket prices manageable for everyone. We decided that making contacts and asking for volunteers and ideas through online sites such as Facebook and Classmates.com should continue. We would also email and make phone calls. We also discussed creating a website and would look into it prior to the next meeting.
Date and location
-We agreed that Labor Day Weekend would be ideal, especially for those traveling. The 10 year reunion was held on September 11, 1999 so we thought that would be an ok time and give us time to plan.
-Those in attendance agreed the Sunnyside Racquet Club would fit our bill based on availability, location, menu choices, outdoor atmosphere, and previous experiences there by committee members.
Ticket cost: Goal of $50 or less. (10 yr. Reunion was significantly more)
-We discussed keeping the price as low as possible for two reasons: (1) The economy has put a strain on our pocketbooks, and (2) we want as many people to attend as possible. We don't want the ticket price to be the determining factor when a classmate is deciding whether to attend.
Classmate contacts
-We shared contact information we had gathered since the previous meeting and updated our mailing list. The list of classmates on hand was reviewed as we tried to identify which classmates could be easily contacted and which ones would not. We figured out pretty quickly that contacting classmates would be our biggest challenge.
Reunion website
-All agreed that the website has served as a valuable tool to gather classmate information, reconnect with classmates, and get reunion information out to everyone. We also shared ideas as to what type of information should be on the website. We’ve received a very positive response to the website and classmate registrations continue to grow.
Miscellaneous
-We brainstormed ideas for music, pictures, door prizes, momentos, a raffle, and the registration process.
We agreed to meet in two weeks to see what progress had been made.
Meeting Three – March 16, 2009 (originally scheduled for March 9th)
The main items of discussion were:
Review of previous meeting
Sunnyside Racquet Club contract review
-We reviewed the various meal and drink options and settled on a buffet style dinner consisting of two entrée options, salad, etc. Soft drinks will be provided and alcoholic drinks will be sold.
Ticket price
-We are still negotiating but it appears that we will not need to go over $50! Also discussed tiered payment deadlines and single ticket prices versus ticket amount for couples.
Classmate contacts
-We continue to receive updates on classmate contact information and are continuously updating our mailing list. We’ve received updates via email, phone calls, and our website. We are also using the 10 year reunion picture booklet as a reference for addresses. We have a way to go in this department.
“Save the date” postcard
-Will go out sometime the week of March 23 and will have basic information and direct classmates to the apaches89.com website. Committee phone numbers will also be provided. Hope to mail out “official” invitation in April with detailed information. We agreed that the initial postcard would help us gather updated and outdated address information.
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