Class Act

It's hard to believe it's been more than two and a half decades.  I cringe just thinking about it.
But hey, it's reality.
Last fall, I answered a mass email by the planning committee for my 20th high school reunion.  The members were soliciting classmates to join the committee for the 25th reunion we would hopefully have.
Knowing that there would be planning meetings for this, and addressing the challenges of handling a then two-year-old child alone, I asked my wife if she would object to my joining the committee, if they would have me.  She told me it was all good.
We discussed feedback from classmates about the last reunion, the costs of putting it on in 2007 compared to today's costs (which we would later learn to be quite a huge gap), what was a reasonable cost for putting on another reunion, and what ideas we could bring to the table to keep costs under control, while not appearing 'cheap' to attendees.
For those of you who have never done this before, it might not sound challenging.  But for the five of us, all business-oriented people, it seemed apropos that we held most of our planning meetings in serving-alcohol establishments.  The logistics of it all would drive anyone to drink.
I probably spent more on wine than I would have liked at these meetings.
I was a bit concerned, because the date we had chosen was competing for another event, and the turnout didn't seem very high.  I had read an MSN article not long ago that social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace were supplanting the high school reunions of the past, with many graduating classes choosing to forego the typical in-person brick-and-mortar reunions.
Who can blame them?  They're cheaper, and in an uncertain economy, that ain't bad.
Nonetheless, we pressed on.  This was a silver anniversary reunion for us.  Our class held the distinction of being the twenty-fifth that graduated after the district's official formation in 1962.  This year marks the fiftieth year of the district's existence.
We were determined that we were going to give something back to our classmates other than just a nice meal and an opportunity to get out of the house with our spouses.
We had discussed travel mugs, but replaced it with zippered pouch-style stadium blankets instead.  Most coffee cups and travel mugs usually clutter cupboard space, and most often get broken after awhile.
The blankets fold easily, are out of the way if not being used, and in my opinion much more useful.
And one of our members managed to get them 'at-cost' from the manufacturer.
Another member kept track of our spending, right down to the last penny, and wrote the checks.  Two others did the majority of tracking down classmates and went through responses like 'lose my address', 'not interested now or ever', or were downright rude.
The biggest push came in the last month.
Being in charge of entertainment, I put together a playlist for background music, as well as a slide show of pictures from the past.  With ten classmates who have died since graduation, three were especially difficult to find since they were pictured very little throughout our tenure in high school.  One of those three was nearly impossible.  I had to settle for a fishing photo taken of him not long before his death in a boating accident in North Carolina.  He and I weren't friends, but friend or not, I was determined to see that he was remembered properly.
I had my work finished the day of the reunion.  Not because I was slacking, but I went through two rough-draft presentations before the final cut.
Another member scoured every business she could possibly think of that was willing to help for gift cards and certificates as parting gifts for each classmate.  So that everyone would leave with a gift that said 'thank you for attending our reunion.'
We had about 60 people attend.  Not a huge number, but it was still a great turnout.
I say that because there was room to move around and mingle with everyone.  There were plenty of opportunities to take pictures, everyone got to talk to one another, even if only for a moment, and nobody got drunk or disorderly.
And we had a few that traveled quite a distance to be there.  The reunion would not have been the same without them.  Especially one now living within the Chicagoland area, a married mother of three, who brought her best friend from western Indiana to not just this reunion, but our 20 year as well.
Her 'plus one' is now facebook friends with half the class.
We've informally adopted her, despite her being two years younger.
I'm going to enjoy these next five years of quiet.
But I'll have plenty to keep me busy in the interim, I'm sure.


NEXT WEEK:  Class Dismissed