NEWTOWN REUNIONS: YES, NO, MAYBE

The first title I thought for this blog post was "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" but thought better.  There is nothing bad or ugly about the subject at hand, so "Yes, No, Maybe" is a better choice.


High school reunions, like many volunteer works, take lots of dedication from a handful few.  Sometimes the dedication pays off, others times it just falls short of the goal.  Together with a group of similarly dedicated volunteers, I was able to pull off the Silver Reunion for Newtown High School (Elmhurst) Class of 1985, in 2010.  Right after the reunion, some people thought that since many people moved to Florida we should have another in 2012, in Florida, of course.  It did not work out that way.  Many people still live in New York and did not want to travel to Fort Lauderdale.  Others thought it was too soon to have another reunion.  Turn-over rate was high for the volunteers in the Reunion Committee.  Some time before the event date there was not enough people financially committed and the event had to be cancelled.  Everyone got their money back and I told myself not to ever get involved with reunions again.  They can be joyful but also consume much time, sometimes for little result.  Other brave souls have gone ahead with their own year's reunions and the result is a mix bag...


YES! Class of 1972
http://www.newtownhs40threunion.com/
It is on!  Just mere days away from the date of this blog post!


NO! Class of 1985
No need for a URL, it is already over.  I created a Facebook event for it, even a payvment store in Facebook, but in the end there was just not enough interest or financial commitment to keep the event alive.


MAYBE...  Class of 1983
http://www.facebook.com/events/266268740128549/
I would think a thirty-year reunion is a big deal, but for whatever reasons there is not enough people putting up the money to guarantee the event's survival.  The reunion committee needs money up front to pay deposits for the meeting place, perhaps for the D.J. and photographer.  For my year's Silver Reunion, the Committee and other good souls loaned itself some money to get things started but still we needed others' money to keep the process going.  I would hate to see Class of 1983's 30-year reunion cancelled, but that may happen soon unless people start paying for it in sufficient number.  I wish the '83 Committee much luck!