Just a couple of things - The Pond House at Elizabeth Park is great for smaller gatherings and it's BYOB. I agree with Linda - less loud music and more time to mix and mingle. Games would be fun, i.e. Trivia, etc.
My mom died last month, so I'll be busy most of the summer clearing out and selling her 14 room house on Oxford Street, but if I can help you in some way, don't hesitate to let me know.
Regards,
Ginny (Springs) Robitaille
I reviewed e-mails I had from people weighing in, and the best two dates seem to be Saturday, October 30, and Saturday, November 6th. Is UHAR available then? When we know the dates, then maybe you could notify the Courant so we could get more people. Sue Meny Woodward said the newspaper runs a reunion notice once a month. The people who've responded seem to think duplicating your reunion last year would be cost and time efficient. I agree.
It's fun getting e-mails from classmates even though I can't quite keep up with responses. Let us know what other information you need right away. Thanks. Louise
Is the website back up and running? Tried to access and could not, but am also having some computer problems of my own here.
Did send you an email with dates that would work for me, suggested that November might be easier than Oct, now, however, there is a possible glitch, may have to be out of the country.
So, best advice..just pick a date and go with it! The only weekend that I absolutely cannot go anwhere is the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October.
Nancy (Gorman) Hatcher
I had mentioned to Rich a few months ago that maybe a more low key venue might increase the number of alum who can attend. Maybe something at a public park, etc., where we can either byof&b or get a caterer to sell cheap, like hot dogs, hamburgs, pizza, buffalo wings, (and maybe some of that spider loaded cake we used to get in the cafeteria). Casual dress and bright sunlight to enhance our wrinkles. Just a thought. I’ll go along with whatever the majority rules on but I believe the more expensive it is, the fewer people will attend. The only weekend I am not available is 10/14. Hopefully that won’t end up as the date.
I live in Phoenixville PA but if there is anything I can do to help out, please let me know. I use my office e-mail (small office and the guys don’t mind) so I can be reached at tonimcd@bfl.nxlkhost.com. The home computer is in a state of virus right now so I won’t even bother passing that one along.
Let me know what I can do.
Thanks
Toni Ciccaglione McDermott
It's fun getting e-mails from classmates even though I can't quite keep up with responses. Let us know what other information you need right away. Thanks. Louise
1. Who wants to be on the committee? George Serrano, Jane Wojdyl, Rosemary Mahoney Matus, Nancy Gorman have already offered help. Anybody else? This will be easier than the junior prom since Steve will be doing nearly everything--booking venue, doing mailing, arranging music, refreshments, etc. A lot of decisions can be made online.
2. People who have to fly in, have weddings, major events, or family reunions in Oct/Nov, please speak now or forever hold your piece/peace (never could figure what that means). What dates are best for you? The possible Saturday night dates are: Oct 10 (Columbes Weekend), Oct 17, Oct. 24, Nov 7, Nov. 14, Nov. 21 (weekend bf Thanksgiving). The final date will depend on availability of venues, but we need some dates to consider.
3. Is UHAR venue okay? Steve's class held their reunion there last year, was affordable, and I guess it went fine. It's centrally located, has parking.
4. Other suggestions: Some of you have probably been to other reunions and may have suggestions about how to make the reunion wonderful. Please feel free to share your ideas when you respond via Steve's e-mail address. We are limited in time since we got started late and just getting this nailed down is probably the best we can hope for. Dat's all, folks. Hope to hear from you via the e-mails Steve will post. Again, his e-mail address is stepfour@stepfour.com All the best. Louise Hogan Colligan
5/4/2004
Wow! This is great!
Unlike Louise, I rarely check my e-mail at home. Once a week is average. I was thrilled to see all the e-mail activity and interest around a 40th reunion.
Thanks to George for getting us started.
Thanks to Louise for keeping the chat going and contacting Steve.
Thanks to Steve for being willing to organize this and for knowing how.
And a special thanks to Rich and Doris for carrying the ball for so long.
You're all great! Bob and I can't wait to see everyone. If there is anything we can do to help let us know.
Bob and Rosemary (Maloney) Matus
5/11/04 Hi Steve..boy, sure has been a long time….only weekend cannot do is the weekend of October 15-16…due to conference out of town. Other than that, all other weekends ok…can help in any way…
Regards,
Jane (Wojdyl) Santopietro
jane@kissmyface.com or jsantobb@aol.com
Steve,
Learned recently that the Class of '62 held their reunion at the Gallery in Glastonbury. Price was $35 per person including dinner. My preference is for an October date. Thanks for taking this on.
Phil Puzzo
Thank you Steve for your reply. I'm planning on attending this reunion, coming from the Corpus Christi, TX area. Here is my info:
Marilyn (Polek) Baker
1401 Smokehouse Rd.
Rockport, Texas 78382
email: shellseeker1998@yahoo.com
Hi, Steve. I'm turning into an e-mail pest. How did your reunion turn out? What did your class do regarding food, drink, music, location? No need to answer personally; just post on the web site. Here are my thoughts:
Venue: We had several reunions, only one of which was at a hotel. The others at the K of C reminded me of high school dances, which is perfect. So I'm for renting a hall, though I'd rather not be driving around lost in Newington in the dark as some of us did last time. My mental maps of Hartford don't extend to its environs though I could make it to the UHAR location in my sleep. How did your class like the UHAR space?
Food: I don't think we need to do a sitdown dinner, and I'm fine with buffet or finger food, cash bar or wine/beer provided.
Music: Are there CD mixes of music for that era? However, if they don't include Otis Redding, fuggetaboudit. What did your class do about music? Knowing what you did for music might help us figure out what to do for ours. Thanks. Louise
Email 4/28/2004
4/28/2004
Greetings, HPHSers. As I mentioned in an e-mail last week, I
contacted Steve Fournier, Class of '63, who organized his class's reunion, and
has thought about being an HPHS reunion organizer since he works on its web
site. [Besides being a lawyer, publisher, avid HPHS alumnus, and wearing many
other hats, he now has a restaurant in Hartford. He is very interested in being
in charge of our reunion.] His fee would be $5.00 per person added on to the
remaining costs--venue, food, DJ, postage, badges, etc. His fee includes setting
up a web site so we can communicate, doing the mailing, getting badges,
arranging what needs to be arranged. His class held their reunion at UHAR--$20 a
head but should have charged $25 to come out ahead. A similar thing for us would
be about $30, I guess, because of Steve's fee, which seems very reasonable. For
a higher per person fee, he could arrange a catered dinner instead.
Questions:
1. Does everyone think using Steve is a good idea? I think it
would be great unless someone in our own class would like to raise their
computer hands to serve as chair. Public disclosure: I am not his agent, just
too lazy/busy to volunteer much besides being a maniacal e-mailer.
2. Do you
have any opinions on dates--some of us have been talking mid-late October-to
mid-November? People who have to fly in should really speak up since it will be
more difficult/expensive/inconvenient to get to Hartford. I personally don't
think we have tim/moneye to post the web site, do a mailing to get opinions on
this from people not on the current e-mail list, so we'll need to decide in the
next week or so. Securing the date and venue are the most urgent decisions that
need to be made, according to Rich Hollowa, who did yeoman's work with Doris
Blaise, all these years on our other reunions. Yeah, Rich and Doris!
3. Do
you have thoughts on the venue? For what it's worth, in a conversation with Phil
Puzzo, he and I thought the rented hall places were just as much fun as the
hotel reunion we had. Maybe it brought back memories of the Lithuanian Hall On
Lawrence St. where my parents forbid me to go to dances and where they once
showed up to drag me home when I was an HPHS freshman. So that forbidden venue
has a lot of allure for me. Hmm, wonder if "the Lit" is still available.
While I can't remember what I made for dinner last night, I do recall
HPHS and all of you as if we were standing at our lockers just yesterday. I hope
we can find a way to pull this off. Many thanks to George Serrano who seems to
have started the ball rolling. Louise Hogan Colligan.