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Tell me about your 20th High School reunion!

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ChargerGrrl

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My 20th HS reunion is this year
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and planning is underway...

I admit that at first I wasn''t really interested in helping out because I didn''t want to be part of any drama (**insert HS flashback here**). But then i realized that i have some strong opinions about what kind of reunion *I* would like to attend and felt that i would have no right to bitch about it if i didn''t bother to help plan. Plus, i like doing this kind of thing (i have some event-planning experience)

A small group of us gathered this past weekend and had a very productive initial planning meeting. It seems that we''re all on the same page on the type of reunion we''d like to throw.

What i''d like to know is:

-did you go to your 20th (or 10th) HS reunion?
-why/why not?
-was cost/location/timing a factor?
-what did you like/dislike about it?
-if you were on the event planning committee, what advice would you share?

THANKS!
 

tlh

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Eh....Reunions, I dont go. I just feel that even if I ran into old friends, I''ve moved on in my life... that sad to say, I could just care less. Those that I have been close to, I kept close, even now, after HS, by choice. If we''ve drifted apart, it is because we lacked those common bonds to hold us together. My DH is the same way.

YEARS ago my mom went to her 30th reunion. It was the only one she ever went to. (Military brat) It was in HI. Distance always kept her from going. The only people that went were locals. She really did not have a nice time, and never went to another. Perhaps her disdain for the reunion, reflected my choices not to go... but then again, HS sucked, and I couldn''t wait to graduate! The thought of going back I would not think of fondly, too many rules and restrictions... now COLLEGE, HELLO! HAHA!
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bebe

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I went to my 10th, 15th and 20ish.

I am still in the same area as my HS so distance wasn''t an issue. But if it had been, I still would have made the effort to go.

Who ever planned our first 2, boring, boring, boring! Basically both of them were just a Sat. night dinner held at a local country club.
No band either time, just food and mingling. There was a picnic the next day for the 10th, but I didn''t attend. The 20ish one was a little
better. Lots of interaction between the MC and the crowd, lots of "remember this" kind of stuff. Comparisons were made against the senior wills and the person''s current status. That was interesting. At first I thought, ahh, this might not work out, but it was all done in a humerous way and ended up being very funny.
Food was awful, drinks were ok. I think the cost for the 20th was 150.00.

I liked the book that was put together for the last reunion, pictures (then & now) current bio, and lots of funny remarks. I had only 109 in
my graduating class, so for a 1000 member class this might prove impossible to pull off. I think it''s fun to introduce everyone, make them stand up.
I actually did not recognize some of my classmates, I''m glad the introductions were made early before I made a goof of myself. We also had teachers and
coached show up.
 

asscherisme

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Didn''t go. It was 1,000 miles away and would have involved having to fly and leave my kids for the weekend and I did not have a babysitter that weekend.

No big loss though since I''m good friends with those from high school I want to stay in touch with.

But I did see the photos and I have to admit I was shocked at how OLD some people looked! Some looked amazing and some looked old. And I started wondering what category I would have fallen into if I went. "Oh my god, asscher looks so OLD" Or "Wow, assher looks so great!". All said behind my back so I would never know LOL.
 

Dancing Fire

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nope,never went to any of mine. most of them go to the reunions just to brag about themselfs.

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Linda W

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Yes, I went to my 20th and it was a blast. It was the best turn out ever. Over 225 classmates. We all had so much fun, we had a picnic at a park the next day. I didn''t attend my 5th, as I just had my daughter.

Went to our 25th also, that was fun, as well. The next one was when we all turned 50 years old, it was called The 50th birthday party, didn''t go to that one, hubby took me to Hawaii.

Our 40th Reunion was in 2007. OMG, what a blast that was. To see a bunch of 58 year olds, still rock and rolling, was a sight for sore eyes. None of us wanted to go home. Our whole class stayed in the hotel lobby yakking, until 5:00a.m., then went to breakfast, spouses too.

This year, we are all turning 60. Two of my girlfriends and I are hosting a huge party at our house. I have gathered a large number of classmates and we are all going to celebrate turning 60 together. We have hired a DJ, etc.

Yes, at 60, we will still Rock and Roll. Nothing will stop the class of 1967
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I''m not sure about some schools, but my classmates didn''t brag about their lives.
 

Kaleigh

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Linda, that sounds like a blast, wish I was in your class. What a great party that will be!!!
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For me, I had the 20th at my house. We had a great time. Such fun.
 

Linda W

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Lisa: Fly to California, Your invited. No you don''t wish you were in my class, then you would be turning 60
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Dancing Fire

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Date: 2/10/2009 12:48:02 AM
Author: Linda W

Yes, at 60, we will still Rock and Roll. Nothing will stop the class of 1967
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85% of the member here weren''t born yet.
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Linda W

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Date: 2/10/2009 1:02:11 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Date: 2/10/2009 12:48:02 AM

Author: Linda W


Yes, at 60, we will still Rock and Roll. Nothing will stop the class of 1967
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85% of the member here weren''t born yet.
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slap4.gif
http://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/files/paddle.gif
 

Dancing Fire

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Linda W

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Date: 2/10/2009 1:39:49 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Date: 2/10/2009 1:16:58 AM

Author: Linda W


Date: 2/10/2009 1:02:11 AM

Author: Dancing Fire


Date: 2/10/2009 12:48:02 AM


Author: Linda W



Yes, at 60, we will still Rock and Roll. Nothing will stop the class of 1967
9.gif
23.gif
85% of the member here weren''t born yet.
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slap4.gif
http://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/files/paddle.gif
Linda,it was 1967. do you remember this one? i love it !!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DspcTcVslsI&feature=related


Tee Hee, that is on the list of songs, for our DJ to play. Actually two of the girls that are coming were hippies, during our Sr. year and after. It is amazing that they are still alive today.
 

Dancing Fire

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Linda W

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Date: 2/10/2009 1:49:56 AM
Author: Dancing Fire
Date: 2/10/2009 1:43:56 AM

Author: Linda W



Date: 2/10/2009 1:39:49 AM

Author: Dancing Fire



Linda,it was 1967. do you remember this one? i love it !!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DspcTcVslsI&feature=related

Tee Hee, that is on the list of songs, for our DJ to play. Actually two of the girls that are coming were hippies, during our Sr. year and after. It is amazing that they are still alive today.
and this one.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAfFD5luRRs


HA!! I forgot about that one. We like For What it''s Worth, by Buffalo Springfield too. When I was Young, by Eric Burdon and the Animals. Someone said that will be our Signature song for the day
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Itgirl76

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I went to my 10th and for that reason I will not be going to my 20th.
It is a bunch of people I didn''t really care for now or then...my highschool was very cliquey...a rather unfortunate part of being in highschool.
It was odd because most of the kids never grew up they ended up being the adult versions of the kids they were in HS...sad...very sad...
 

ChargerGrrl

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THANK YOU to everyone for sharing. It was great to hear that some of you had a blast at your reunion. That''s our goal!

I''ll tell you a bit about our situation:

I attended a Catholic High School, and there were 185 graduates in the class of ''89. About 25 of us had been going to school together for 12 years, first attending elementary (1st-8th grade) and then high school (9th-12th). A bunch of us (75-ish) have reconnected on facebook, and we have an active group there. Because of this, i think that we''re going to have increased interest in the reunion. And our old principal is excited to attend!

Our plan is to have a cocktail party-type event, with great hors d''oeuvres, food stations, and of course a bar and music (D.J). There will be no "seated" dinner or assigned seats. We want folks to mingle, and table-hop as much as possible. We also want to be sensitive to costs, and keep the ticket price down (critical in this economy!).

I like the ideas about putting together a memory book of some sort, and the interaction between the MC and crowd. We''re thinking of also giving small prizes out to the classmate that traveled the longest distance, has the most kids, has been married the longest, etc...

Linda, I hope our 20th is as successful as yours!
 

DiamanteBlu

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Date: 2/10/2009 12:48:02 AM
Author: Linda W
Yes, I went to my 20th and it was a blast. It was the best turn out ever. Over 225 classmates. We all had so much fun, we had a picnic at a park the next day. I didn''t attend my 5th, as I just had my daughter.

Went to our 25th also, that was fun, as well. The next one was when we all turned 50 years old, it was called The 50th birthday party, didn''t go to that one, hubby took me to Hawaii.

Our 40th Reunion was in 2007. OMG, what a blast that was. To see a bunch of 58 year olds, still rock and rolling, was a sight for sore eyes. None of us wanted to go home. Our whole class stayed in the hotel lobby yakking, until 5:00a.m., then went to breakfast, spouses too.

This year, we are all turning 60. Two of my girlfriends and I are hosting a huge party at our house. I have gathered a large number of classmates and we are all going to celebrate turning 60 together. We have hired a DJ, etc.

Yes, at 60, we will still Rock and Roll. Nothing will stop the class of 1967
9.gif


I''m not sure about some schools, but my classmates didn''t brag about their lives.

You made my day! I''m not the oldest one here!
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I just got an email about my 40th coming up in 2010. My other 40th is coming up in 2011. [I left to go to university in my junior year but they did not give me a diploma until the following year when I was supposed to get it.] Since I am on both lists I generally go to both.

They have been fun to go to. It is nice to see people that I knew back as far as elementary school. For the last one, though, my reaction was "Who are all these old people and what have they done with my classmates!" LOL!
 

Girlrocks

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My 20th is this year too!! I haven''t gone to one yet. We didn''t have a 10th, we had an 11th (why, I have no idea) but I had just had my twins one month before so I didn''t go. Then for my 15th, I didn''t go, because it was 2 weeks before I had my 3rd child. i guess I''m always knocked up and don''t want people remembering me as fat and swollen or sleep deprived! But NOT this time! I''m still debating about whether to go. I agree about the major BS that goes on, and I have kept in touch with those who I felt the need/want to anyway.
 

musey

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My 5-year happened a couple of years ago. I didn''t go. But it got me thinking of my mom&dad''s reunions (they are high school sweethearts and graduated in the same class). They only went to the 20th one... my mom got a kick out of it because it had been long enough that people felt comfortable saying things that they wouldn''t have earlier, like "I totally had a crush on you in 10th grade" and "I thought you were stuck up" (she was very shy). People have completely gotten over the high school ''thing'' and started opening up to one another about the time they shared.

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They likely wouldn''t have bothered to go, except that they live right in town still.

The only thing she mentioned disliking about it was that it was a little sad to see how some peoples'' lives had gone. People had aged more than they should have (they were in the tanning is LIFE set, graduated ''71), smoked themselves into poor health, etc. There were a few people that had passed away. She said she almost wished she could just remember people how they were in high school.
 

NovemberBride

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I went to my 10th a few years ago and it was fantastic. I was not on the committee since I live out of town, but a lot of my friends were and they did a great job. They really wanted a big turnout and made an effort to get as many people as possible to attend (and not just the ones they had been friends with). They had heard that the past few years'' reunions hadn''t had a good turnout, and one of the reasons was cost. Some people who don''t have great memories of high school don''t want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a reunion. So they decided to forego the usual formal, hotel ballroom reunion for something much more casual. They rented out a local bar/restaruant for a night and provided food. You were on your own for drinks. I think tickets were like $20. Turnout was great, maybe 150 of a class of 320 attended? I think a lot of people came because it wasn''t a huge financial commitment and they figured if it was awful, they were only out a few bucks. Also, people didn''t feel like they had to stay all night, for that price you could stop by and check it out and leave if it was lame. However, it wasn''t lame, we had a great time and almost everyone stayed till the end of the night. It was great to see everyone, especially those I no longer keep in touch with. Everyone was very friendly and I didn''t feel like there was any cattiness or typical high school nonsense. Particularly in this economy, I''d think about doing something on a smaller scale because I think a lot of people would not be willing/able to spend hundreds to attend a reunion.
 

Linda W

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Musey,

That is so true. It was that way at ours too. Some of the women had aged greatly, due to the sun and smoking. Some were more beautiful then they were in high school.

What was sad for us at our 40th reunion , we had a silent moment where they read a list of our dear classmates, who had passed away. Either killed in Vietnam or other causes. We cried as the list was read.

And now planning our "60th Birthday Bash", we are all saying to each other "where has our youth gone?

On a happy note, once a lot of us are together again at the party, we will feel like we are 17 again,
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ChargerGrrl

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Date: 2/10/2009 2:50:21 PM
Author: musey
They only went to the 20th one... my mom got a kick out of it because it had been long enough that people felt comfortable saying things that they wouldn''t have earlier, like ''I totally had a crush on you in 10th grade'' and ''I thought you were stuck up'' (she was very shy). People have completely gotten over the high school ''thing'' and started opening up to one another about the time they shared.


The only thing she mentioned disliking about it was that it was a little sad to see how some peoples'' lives had gone. People had aged more than they should have (they were in the tanning is LIFE set, graduated ''71), smoked themselves into poor health, etc. There were a few people that had passed away. She said she almost wished she could just remember people how they were in high school.

Musey, totally agree with these two points.

Our FB walls are so funny to read- both the reunion and indie ones- lots of back and forth! Folks are saying all sorts of things to each other (nice ones!) because we''ve all gotten over the HS thing, and we''re comfortable in our own skin now.

On the down side, times are tough right now for some of my fellow classmates. I cannot believe the stories i''ve heard about jobs, businesses, homes, marriages and money lost... And about those that have passed away. Truly heartbreaking.
 

ChargerGrrl

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Date: 2/10/2009 2:53:12 PM
Author: NovemberBride
I went to my 10th a few years ago and it was fantastic. I was not on the committee since I live out of town, but a lot of my friends were and they did a great job. They really wanted a big turnout and made an effort to get as many people as possible to attend (and not just the ones they had been friends with). They had heard that the past few years'' reunions hadn''t had a good turnout, and one of the reasons was cost. Some people who don''t have great memories of high school don''t want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a reunion. So they decided to forego the usual formal, hotel ballroom reunion for something much more casual. They rented out a local bar/restaruant for a night and provided food. You were on your own for drinks. I think tickets were like $20. Turnout was great, maybe 150 of a class of 320 attended? I think a lot of people came because it wasn''t a huge financial commitment and they figured if it was awful, they were only out a few bucks. Also, people didn''t feel like they had to stay all night, for that price you could stop by and check it out and leave if it was lame. However, it wasn''t lame, we had a great time and almost everyone stayed till the end of the night. It was great to see everyone, especially those I no longer keep in touch with. Everyone was very friendly and I didn''t feel like there was any cattiness or typical high school nonsense. Particularly in this economy, I''d think about doing something on a smaller scale because I think a lot of people would not be willing/able to spend hundreds to attend a reunion.

November, I helped plan my 10th reunion and it sounds much like yours! We reserved the sprawling patio at the Sagebrush Cantina, a local hangout. We charged $15 to cover our incidentals (invites, prizes, etc..) and for a Chips and salsa/guacamole bar. Folks were on their own for drinks. I think 100 out of our class of 185 attended.
 

luckystar112

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We just had our 5th year reunion a couple of years ago and I didn''t go. Not sure I''ll go to the 10th either.
Its just way too easy to know what people are up to these days with all the social networking sites. And so far....no one is up to much!!
 

fieryred33143

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Ugh...high school is a sour spot with me

My 10th is next year. I am not going. What facebook and myspace have made me realize is that the high school cliques that seriously got on my nerves are still alive and kicking. While I think its great to have long lasting friendships (I still have a few from high school and all of FI''s friends are from his high school days), these people have done *everything* together: go to the same college, grad school, moved to the same city, been in each others weddings, etc.

One of the things that upset me the most about my high school graduation that out of a class of 500, they decided to allow 10 seniors to get up and do a mini-speech. All 10 seniors that were chosen were part of the more popular crowd but we had so many other amazing students that accomplished so much (including 3 that graduated high school with their AA degree) that should have been given the opportunity to speak. The principle noticed this and ended up passing the microphone through the crowd so that a few others could speak as well but *rumor* was that some of the girls on the committee were not happy about this at all.

Anyway, I have no interest in associating myself with these people again.

I think if I were to give advice to the planning committee I would say to have a good balance of who you decide to allow to speak in front of everyone. If you do give out awards, make sure its balanced.
 

April20

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I went to my 10th and it was the most boring thing ever! And I flew across the country for it! There was just no real structure, the food was awful and they had it in the public facility in town that is basically where all the HS basketball tournaments are held, so the acoustics sucked. You couldn''t hear a thing when they did try and do activities from the stage. We had decent turnout, but people kind gathered into their former groups. The one thing that did shock me was how many people were irrecognizably different appearance wise. Would have walked right past them and not even known them kind of irrecognizable, not just the "oh I forgot about you" type.

The people I connected with in HS are people I still keep in touch with, though some more frequently than others. I haven''t decided if I''ll go to my 20th or not. We''re still a few years out, so I have time to decide. I live within reasonable driving distance now, so I might go for kicks.
 
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