Alumni Weekend 40th reunion 2014, Class of 74.

Dear Class,

There is so much I could say and so many people to thank for the wonderful job done towards the success of this reunion weekend. All the meetings, all the fund raising, all the phone calls, all the paperwork, all the letters sent and received, all the deadlines, all the sleepless nights, all the people who opened up their homes as generous hosts, all the equipment hauled around, all the miscellaneous expenses paid without a word, all the personal time putting together the keys pieces of the float, all the decisions, and yes, even all the disagreements, all that culminated with the following results Saturday.

The Disnard Trophy awarded to class of 74 for our float, (Interestingly, the 14K gold trophy, was snatched from our hands after the parade, but replaced with a smaller version for display at the party) a $200 cash award as a float winner, the first scholarship donation presentation (to my knowledge) from this class ever at the alumni dinner giving back to the alumni association of 3 checks of $250 each to the following scholarships. Samuel Heller, McGoon-Paquette and Fredrick Carr. the best attended class party in decades. Lastly, I also heard from a VERY reliable source today, the judging float committee would have given us all 3 trophies if it were allowed! They loved our concept!

The list of people to thank is huge, but I will at least give it my best try! I know I will miss some, please forgive me and let me know so I can give the proper kudos to all.

Melissa Dube, - For taking the lead on the reunion planning, arranging the class meetings and arranging the place of our party, and keeping us from straying too far off the reservation! Also for working extensively at both yard sale fundraisers
Debbie Flaherty - For taking the lead with the meetings, interacting with the alumni association and introducing us to your son Sean the musician, and also for graciously donating the use of your property for the 2nd fundraising yard sale. I also know you did many other things behind the scenes. 
Charlene Hayes - For processing, and designing the class mailings, the photobooth at the party which turned out to be quite popular, and the many other little jobs you do that don't get noticed. We know a lot of time went into your personal messages to people out there. We know the class records are in good and capable hands. 
Sandy Lefebvre- For the class fundraising through 2 yard sales, I know this was a tremendous undertaking for you getting all the stuff sorted where it should be. Never mind cooking those delicious breakfasts and being anywhere we needed you. And also for coming up with that cool Jeopardy game at the party! And last but not least, for being daring enough to walk that whole parade in the Cardinal suit! I know you had to feel that heat!
Gary Dube, For the use of his property, tools and materials to build the float. And the tent to gather for our BBQ and socialize under!
Jim and Lori Roy, For the gracious use of your property for the first fundraising yard sale. Thank goodness for that garage!
Sue Mclauglin - For paying at her own expense, the rental for the Cardinal costume for the parade. And the many calls and writing she did to encourage people to come.
Karen Chabot- For the use of her Brothers VW Beetle for our 70s car at the drive in, perfect choice.
Ed Leskiewicz- For the use of his vintage truck for the parade, love that awesome orange! 
Wes Boardman- The man with the connections, For the use of his Nova for the parade, arranging the trailer and driver and equipment to move the bug on and off the trailer. Also arranging for and getting our beautiful signs made. And for the use of all the authentic things from the drive in which made our float complete. There are many other things you did behind the scenes, but that would be another list!
Richard Bean - For building and donating the drive in sign and donating it free of charge to the class. Just beautiful workmanship.
John Irish- For his fine work as MC at the party. He kept things moving. And for donating his audio equipment for music at the float build and enabled our classmate musicians to perform. In spite of his many health challenges over this past winter, he gave us his all.
Karen Heller- For the use of the 2nd floor space of the Odd Fellow Block for our meetings. This was perfect and a much got done as a result.
Rachel Fluette and Jill Curtis - For taking the lead on decorating the party room, wonderful job organizing all the pieces to complete the transformation of the room. The room looked just simply amazing!
Sue Michaud - For hosting us for lunch at your beautiful home with the million dollar view! Yes, I like your idea, when we all get old, convert your house to a retirement home for us! Also for assisting with many things you did behind the scene.
Kim McClelland - For the stellar job on that mural used for the screen, I still don't see how you got it to fit on the top of your vehicle!
Ann Muriel, For keeping our memorial sign updated and well cared for.
Cindy Thompson, For the professional and FAST presentation of the class donations to the alumni scholarships. Loved your family stories at the table....;-)
The float builders, For everyone who got their hands dirty and muscles sore, amazing teamwork and handymanship on display.It was worth it, yes!
Mr. Jim Hanson! For building that beautiful ticket shack. I know that had to take up many hours of your time. But look at the result, even better than the original! And you looked like you had a grand time towing it with your ATV on the streets of Claremont!


This list by no means complete, gives you a good idea of how many hands on deck it took to get this reunion done. I know I have missed people who did things behind the scenes, but let it be known they have our appreciation too.

You know what, I thought I would be glad this is over, but instead like many people, although tired, its a good feeling tired and I am inspired. No, there is nothing I can write that can possibly show my personal appreciation to all the great classmates and non-classmates alike, who I have come to know, who gave their time to create what happened here this past weekend

I am going leave you all with a entry posted on the Facebook page of Linda Janelle Simmons that is so uplifting and inspiring. She expresses her thoughts of someone attending and participating in the reunion for the first time, and her experience from this weekend. Simple and eloquent. These thoughts say it better than I ever could, what this class, the class of 1974 is all about.

With Linda's permission, I quote directly, enjoy.

Well -- in case you have not heard or did not go to the Alumni parade (or just don't live around these parts... lol) the Stevens High School Class of 1974 - 40th YEAR CLASS ..btw,,,WON THEIR FIRST PARADE FLOAT AWARD YESTERDAY!!!!! WHOOO HOOO!!! WHOOT! WHOOT! ...and I am proud to say... I played a part in helping paint and decorate ..etc...our awesome-est!!! float... EVER... DO YOU HEAR... E-V-E-R!!!... met some great classmates from yester -years..(did you notice I did not say old?) from near and far.... everyone who had a part in food prep for our get together, venue to build it on their property, supported, planned, met, complained, organized, micro managed... lol... etc.. just to get it done... a SUPER PAT ON THE BACK TO ALL.. I am not going to be so foolish to mention names.. cuz I surely would miss someone.. so I won't.. ya'll know who ya R!! Congrats!... (note: worth my achy bones, sleepless nights),.... AND WHAT A BEEEE AAUTIFULL DAY WE HAD TO SHOW OFF OUR STUFF!! CLASS OF "74" ROCKS ON!!

Pictures are online at this link below

40th Reunion Pictures

Final Class Reunion Planning Meeting May 31, 2014

Good morning classmates one and all!

Our final meeting was held at the ODD Fellows block and the class was very well represented. Attending were Melissa Dube, Deborah Flaherty, Sandra Lefebvre, Ed Leskiewicz, Frank Walker, Susan Michaud, John Irish, Cindi Guild, Charlene Hayes, Sharlene Thibault, Rachel Fluette, Chris Foisy, Philip Winans, Wes Boardman, Kim McClelland, Jim Hanson,  Jill Curtis, Linda Bly, and Bryce Chicone. Spouses, + SO’s  Amorn Winans, Glenn LaChance and Mike Williams were also in attendance.

YARD SALE FOLLOW-UP: 

Sandy turned over the remaining proceeds of $600 dollars from the 2nd yard sale. Thank you for coming up with this idea and running with it Sandy! This is definitely a future method for fundraising! The applause you received from everyone was well earned!

FLOAT: 

 The trailer is all set and we have a backup trailer in the unlikely event the first trailer has any problem.

The VW Bug will be used for the float. Karen Chabot’s Brother will bring it by either Thur or Fri and arrangements have been made with local towing to place it on the trailer and take it off after the parade.

Wes will pick up Sandy’s swing set later this week.     

Kim brought the signs for placement around the float  and they are beautifully done! Thank you Kim! The screen portion will be finished in time for Friday.

Wes brought in the signs for the float made by our classmate Richard Bean. Also beautifully done. This is considered his donation at no cost to the class.  We thank Richard for the wonderful work and for bringing them all in for the preview Wes! Look forward to seeing all these things on the float!

Wes will set up the Drive In snacks commercial YouTube video playback to loop through speakers on the trailer. Thanks to Chris Foisy for forwarding this neat soundtrack to our attention. John Irish will try to get a larger speaker to use for this.

Sandy found the cost of candy would be quite high as it’s no longer really “penny” candy, more like “nickel” candy! Rather than deplete the class funds, it was suggested each person bring a bag of candy to hand out during the parade. This was ok’d and will be the plan going forward.

If you are participating in the parade, 

PLEASE REMEMBER TO WEAR SOMETHING RED AND BLACK!

FRIDAY FLOAT BUILD AND BBQ

Float build is FRIDAY at Gary Dube’s residence. 15 Lynch Place. Go over the railroad tracks at the Junction at the end of Maple Ave, and then turn at the first street on the left. Signs will be posted

The BBQ will begin later in the afternoon during the float build Friday. Everyone is requested to bring a side dish and your own drinks. Grill and meats will be provided.

Music will be provided during the float build to keep us motivated!

And yes, my wife will be making and bringing spring rolls!

AFTER PARADE:

Sue Michaud (Doody) reminds everyone she will host a lunch at her residence on 119 Cat Hole Rd after the parade for anyone who is interested. Please try to give a heads up if you plan to attend so she can have some idea how much food to provide.

DINNER AND CLASS DONATION

After a discussion, it was voted to donate a sum of $250 each to the following scholarships. Fredrick Carr Scholarship, McGoon-Paquette Living Scholarship and Samuel Heller Scholarship. We will have a decent representation at the class table for the dinner. Charlene will cut checks for each of these donations for presentation by Cindi Thompson.

CLASS PARTY:

Everything is ready supply wise for the party. Rachel and Jill will begin work on decorating in the afternoon after the parade. The lighting shortage appears to be over as more lights were donated although more will be happily accepted. Melissa will arrange for a key to be available for entry into the party entrance. 

And yes John, we will have a good supply of bandages next time….;-)

The photo booth will be set up by Charlene utilizing equipment from her workplace. We will need a couple tables will be outside the party in the lobby area. We still need a volunteer or 2 to man the tables and greet our party arrivals! Charlene will have on hand made up IDs for classmates who have paid already. Those classmates who pay at the door will have name cards written if needed! 

We want to emphasize…NOBODY will be turned away, although they will still have to pay at the door. So those on the fence about coming, this invitation is out there!  

We still are getting mailings back and will probably get more during this week. We will look into possibly having a book of the reunion published from the photos submitted. Charlene is still working on the details of this.Charlene would like to remind anyone who has receipts for expenses they incurred building or making something for the float, to get the receipts to her.

John Irish will MC our party. Anyone who has something they would like John to mention or introduce during the party, please either contact Phil, Melissa or Charlene or just respond to this email. Phil will get together with John this week to go over MC duties. It will be all good. Knowing John, be prepared for some outrageous entertainment…….;-)

Our music performer is all set and will be allowed in early to set up. We need to make sure they have plenty of power outlets. Deborah will manage this part.

Food will be provided by Simply Comfort. Water and coffee will be provided by Sandy. Everyone is reminded to BYOD as there will be no bar. 

Address is again, the ODD Fellows block 35 Pleasant St, above the Simply Comfort restaurant. Please remember to use the entrance in the rear where the 2 columns are and go to the 2nd floor either by elevator or stairs. You can park out in back or along Pleasant St, or park anywhere off Broad st. It is very easy walking distance from anywhere. 

REMINDER, raffle tickets are still on sale!!

The doors will open at 7pm for the party and the party will end at 12 midnight. We will need volunteers to help breakdown afterwards.  

We are looking forward to seeing everyone. We wish everyone traveling safe travels. If you need assistance with anything, please let us know!

Phil

May 24th yard sale results!

Note below from Sandy regarding this past Saturday's yard sale!! Well done!!

Great news ... mother nature held out and we had a successful sale today, another $600 for the class fund! Thank you soooo much to all of you who helped ... Melissa Dube, Deb Flaherty, Linda Simmons, Sue Doody, Chris Foisy, Jim Hills, Sharlene Thibault, Dave Messier. We got it done! Looking forward to a great alumni! Love you all!

Memorial day Weekend Notices and Reminders

Dear class,

As Memorial Weekend approaches, a couple reminders below. Hoping all of you enjoy your weekend and are getting excited,14 more days to go have fun time!

From Charlene:

Class of 1974....we are only a week away from the RSVP date for the class reunion party. The response has been slow so far; but THANK YOU to those who have returned their cards and blue papers! If you haven't....please do so soon! If you can't come....please do what you can with buying raffle tickets, paying dues and/or donation to the class. Please return the blue paper too! We want to be able to share what is happening with you. If you didn't receive anything....then we don't have a current address for you... let me know and we will get it right out! We hope to see you on June 6th and 7th!

From Wes: (Thanks for the tip and the story!)

As we approach people to invite to the reunion we need to consider that some have not kept in touch at all and may have forgotten many faces. So as we invite classmates, keep in the back of your mind to introduce ourselves, so they know who this is they are talking to and inviting them. Nothing worse than walking away from a conversation and not knowing for sure who that was you were talking to. Taking that extra step introducing yourself, you leave no doubt and they know and appreciate the effort you make in the person to person contact.

Final reminder:

Next and final meeting, May 31st  6pm, 2nd floor, Odd Fellows block. Hope to see many of you there for a final look at our priorities.

May 10th Meeting Report

The summary of the class meeting is below.

Attending were Melissa Dube, Sue Michaud, Sharlene Thibault, Karen Chabot, Chris Foisy, Rachel Fluette, Jim Hanson, Wes Boardman, Clarence Lique, Linda Janelle, Amorn and Phil Winans, and Charlene Hayes. Thank you all for coming.

Party:

All decorations are decided and in-house. We are still in need of mini white Christmas tree lighting! Please contact Rachel or Jill if you have any hanging around you can loan. If you do loan us lights, please tag them so they can be returned to you.

We will have the lobby decorated where classmates will enter the party. It was also suggested by Charlene we do a photo booth to record all classmates who come for posterity! The photo prop will have a standup with our class on it. We will also be having name tags with photos for everyone who attends, this to also be managed by Charlene. The raffle items will be all brought to the party to give everyone more chances to win.

Charlene reported the responses to the mailing are still coming in and she expects more will be coming in the weeks ahead. Money is coming in as well and class funds are rebuilding She has received some very nice letters along with the returns. It was voted to have John Irish be master of ceremonies. We will be in contact with him in the coming weeks to go over the party event needs for the evening. Greeters for the lobby so far consist of Charlene, and Sandy Lefebvre, we may need one or 2 more people.

Float:

 

Kim is on top of the painting of the screen and signs. Ticket booth is all set. Wes will handle the cars with the car club....we will add "Class of 1974" signs. They can put it in their windows or attach to their car. The trailer is still being figured out. Wes is working to make sure all communications are clear regarding the trailer. Gary will get the lumber for the float.

If there is music on the float, it will go along with the drive-in theme and be background music. John Irish will be updated on this. There will be some people on the float; to set the drive-in theme but most class members will either ride in the cars, trucks, ticket booth or will walk the route to throw candy and (drag unsuspecting classmates who are watching, into the parade!) J/K! ;-)

NOTE: Just a thought that popped into my head. Should it should be considered for those classmates who are not with the float or walking the parade route, that we establish a location along the parade route where classmates and family members of classmates can gather to watch and cheer us on? Our float will most likely be at the front of the parade as the class designations usually run backward from the oldest graduating class to the current graduating class. And after we have finished the parade route, and before we do the float tear down, many of us may still want to watch the remainder of the parade as it is planned to be a big one with Claremont's 250th being celebrated as well.

BBQ:

This is all set as we have plenty of foods from the yard sale which can still be used. All that is requested is people bring a side dish and BYOD. This is the BBQ we will be holding during the float build on Friday at Gary Dube's field. 

Reunion Dinner:

So far, only 5 people have signed up to attend the dinner. We hope more will join the table to represnt our class.  We discussed where the class donation is to go to. The Paquette/Magoon scholarship had been suggested by Cindi Thomson since many of us have a high regard for these two teachers. It was also brought up by Jim Hanson he has transported the SHS band to various performances throughout  the past year, and has personally observed the music program is in rough shape, (for instance, no handles on one kid's tuba case!) and he would have liked to see some money go towards it. It was suggested we split the donation in half for $250 for each. A vote was taken and it was voted that we split the donation, but to try and up the dollar amount of each donation depending on the money received to the class funds in the coming weeks. Charlene will monitor class funds and report back to what we can afford to up them by. This will be revisited again at the next meeting.

Yard Sale:

There will be another yard sale with many of the remaining items from the April yard sale being on display at Debbie Flaherty's home on Maple Ave on May 17th from 8-2. The earnings from this sale will also be donated to the class funds. So any rain had better hold off!! At this time no help is needed for this, although you are welcome to stop by! Sandy and Debbie are spearheading this event. If anything remains after the yard sale, it will be donated to the Trinity church's yard sale that happens during the parade. Jim will help get it moved to the church.

Invitation:

Sue Michaud has generously invited all class members to her home for lunch on Saturday after the parade float tear down. Her address is 119 Cat Hole Rd.

Next meeting:

May 31st, 6pm, same location! This will be our last shot at getting all remaining items lined up and everything on the same page. Please try to attend if you will be helping with the float build, alumni dinner, or party. Some items to think about. An emphasis on creating a checklist for the MC duties, and any remaining float build requirements. We should also have a better idea what we are looking at for a head count for class of 74 reunion attendees.  Start getting fired up people....I know it has been a long winter and spring of meetings, but the light is at the end of the tunnel, less than a month to go! ;-)

-Phil

May 7, 2014

Is everyone starting to feel it? The reunion is now but a short 5 weeks from now and good ol summer is coming too! We are coming into the home stretch as far as putting everything together for the 40th weekend.

We have much to cover at the next meeting which is this Saturday May 10th starting at 6pm at the Odd Fellows block, 35 Pleasant St, 2nd floor, entrance in the rear of the building where Simply Comfort is located. I have added the agenda attached as a file for you all to review and think about. A lot is just verifying what has been done or will be done and some new items to be talked about. If anything is missing, just add it to your piece.

Hope we get a good turnout and can finalize a lot of things. Again, the food and beverages are byo or to share. 

Agenda
 
Class, this is the agenda for the May 10th meeting, please go in the order indicated so we can keep everything moving.  5 weeks left. See you all there!!!! ;-)

      -    Party - Charlene

• Decorations – final cost report. Are all decorations we will need located and handy? Any response to Christmas lighting request? Do we need more lighting? Will we decorate the party entranceway too?
• Party raffle
• Beverages (water, etc) cups, ice, containers
• MC and what would be involved
• Who will staff the lobby entrance to greet classmates?
•  Mailing response - party and info sheets
• Class accounts funding report
• How will party room be arranged? Seating and band stage plan. Band power requirements? 

-    Yard sale(s) Parade costume - Sandy

• Commentary on results and if any items are remaining to be picked up. Discussion on potential for future fundraising? KUDOS!
• When will the cardinal costume scheduled to arrive? Who will arrange to get candy to hand out?

    -    Float - WES

• How is Kim progressing on the the movie screen painting? what is the painting going to be?
• Who will be renting and picking up the movie screen? When will that be done?
• Has the issue of the ticket booth roof been resolved? And will we be building a concession stand?
• Have arrangements been made for vehicles following the float to meet us at the float before the parade?
• Will we need extra room for the float on Broad street for parking the following cars and Jim’s 4 wheeler? If we do, will the alumni have to be made aware for their planning purposes?
• Are we decorating the cars too?
• Memorial sign, Anne Muriel will bring? or will she hand off to someone else to bring?
• Trailer update, all set to go? How much lumber will we need for rails? Who will pick up?
• Music for the float (John Irish willing to do, just tell him what we want)
• Will we have enough room for non-walkers to be seated or standing around the edges?

      -    BBQ - Melissa

• Food selection, everyone chips in? drinks are BYOB? Who will pick up any supplies if needed and main foods like hamburgers, hotdogs?

-    Reunion dinner –Melissa/Deb

• $500 check from the class to be presented by Cindi Thompson – what are we presenting the check too?
• Do we have a updated tally on who is attending the dinner?

=-    Roundtable - Everyone

• Additional thoughts and ideas??

-    Final planning meeting date set – Melissa/Deb

Class Garage Sale Report

Dear class,

It gives me great pleasure to convey to everyone the results of the garage sale this past weekend. Your class netted $1500 dollars which will be going into the class treasury from sales and more $$$ may be coming as the remaining stuff is being combined with another yard sale for next weekend on Maple Ave. I am copying and pasting below the lovely note from Sandy which sums everything up so beautifully! Sandy, maybe you should be doing the class write ups!..;-) This is also posted on the class Facebook page. A BIG thank you from all of us to Sandy for organizing this and pulling this off and a BIG thank you to Jim Roy and his wife Lori for the use of their property and garage  to hold our event in. Needless to say, this is one of the most successful if not the most successful and well run money raising event ever by this class. I am personally impressed by the enthusiasm and hard work by everyone who participated. We probably ought to look at doing one of these every year! Have a happy Monday everyone! Please read Sandy's note below, she says it beautifully!

From Sandy Lefebvre

CLASS OF '74! I don't even know how to express the gratitude and good feelings I have about the fundraiser this weekend. I am amazed by how we all pulled together and made it a success even when "Mother Nature" did not cooperate. Yes, we raised a good amount of money (tallies in soon), which we will be sending to Charlene to keep in our fund ... takes a lot of pressure off as far as float and class reunion. So many "thank yous" to extend. First, of course, to Jim Roy who hosted the whole show and was there changing cords and moving things around when we were blowing fuses, who went to the store and bought 10+ bags of ice so I could keep my food "happy", and who took time from his 58th birthday today to sell goods and raise money. He is the bomb! And his lovely wife, Lori. She donated a beautiful necklace from Pearce Jewelers and she was there to help in any way she could. She is one of the most lovely women I've ever known, and I am blessed to call her "FRIEND." What a wonderful couple they are. And Melissa, ever steady, tagging all those items and collecting cash ... someone asking me, "What's the price on this?" And me yelling, "Hey, Just ask Melissa!!" Then, of course, Sue MacLaughlin, wiping the floors dry of rain and being the "bean Counter" and doing whatever was needed, she is amazing. Beyond that, thank you so much to the ones who showed up today ... Sue Doody, Christine Currier, Alan Roz, Jim Hanson (and wife, she is lovely), David Messier ... and special mention, Linda (Janelle) Simmons because she is letting us bring all the remainders of the yard sale (and there is still a lot) to her home so that we can set up another yard sale in two weeks on Maple Ave. So we are still not done raising money! Gotta go, am tired, but HAPPY ... thank you, everyone!

Pictures

Class yard sale update

Evening everyone,

Hoping you are enjoying your week. The weekend is approaching quickly for the yard sale and a few messages from Sandy to pass on to those who are coming. We are looking like we may be coming up short on tables and chairs. If you can bring a table and a chair or two along with your stuff it would be greatly appreciated. Every bit helps. She also wants to remind all to remember to bring something as a baked good as we want to make sure we have a good selection. Remember everything we make goes back into the class treasury minus any expenses. Looking forward to seeing all this Saturday! Pray for a decent day!

Phil

The SHS stage is gone, along with most of the seating. So many memories lost. Supposedly a new one will rise. This still happened in spite of promises by the school board to the alumni association and concerned citizens that it would be preserved. Not even a piece of stage wood was preserved, all tossed into the dumpster. Only 26 chairs were salvaged. 

Reunion Meeting April 12th

We had 20 lively attendees at a well attended meeting Saturday night. Thank you all for coming. The meeting had a lot of good discussion. The following topics were covered.

Yardsale and raffle-Sandy
Report from Wes-trailer, and float signage
Party decorations-Rachel, Jill
Entertainment-Deb
Class Funds and mailing-Charlene

Attending were:

Melissa Dube
Deb Demorest
Bryce Chicoine
Rachel Fluette + Michael
Jill Curtis
Chris Foisy
Linda Bly
Garth Bacon
Sandy Lefebvre
Sharlene Thibault
Charlene Hayes
Phil Winans
Karen Chabot
Wes Boardman
Sue Michaud
Jim Roy and Lori

Yard Sale and raffle Apr 26-27 8-2 PM:

Sandy is requesting if you have something super neat you are putting in the yard sale to please let her know about it. She would like to list things into the ad to create additional incentive for yard sale buyers. Again you can call Sandy at 603-504-8858. Sandy is planning on placing the ads in the Eagle and E-ticker a week to several days before the yard sale, so we need to get any interesting items to be listed in to her sooner than later. Additionally, keep in mind we need baked goods to sell! If you haven't already signed up for what baked goods you are bringing, please plan to bring something whether personally made or store bought. Personally, I can't bake to save my life, so it will be something store bought!

Raffle tickets will be sold at the yard sale, so make sure to pick up a bunch to increase your chances of winning one of the 4 gift baskets. Baskets makers, If you have completed your basket, could one of you at least bring it by to the yard sale so it can be displayed where we are selling the tickets? Tickets will be 3 for a 1.00. Again if you want to bring your yard sale items by earlier in the week, call Jim Roy so he can help you put things in storage. Jim's Phone 603-504-5167. The weekend of the yard sale is coming up very quickly, so we all need to get moving on this!

Trailer and signage: 

Wes reported back to us on the trailer. I have attached a blueprint photo of the trailer we will utilizing this year. The trailer is all set, it will have 38 feet to work with which should give us sufficient room for the drive-in display. The volkswagon beetle is all set. We also have a backup vehicle for the trailer in the event the Beetle is not unavailable. The class 1974 Banner is done. It will be Black with white lettering and a cardinal in the middle, A large banner or sign commemorating Claremont's 25-th, will be 3x18" It is based on Claremont 250th design license plate. The grass and swingset for the float is all set.

It is planned that Jim, Wes, Frank and Gary will be starting on trailer construction planning on Thurs 12 noon as the trailer will be at Gary's house that day. The actual float build will take place on Friday at noon till finished. A cookout will be started at 5PM to keep us all energized. Wes is still researching on whether it will be feasible to build and fit a concession booth on the trailer. Wes is also asking if anyone can remember if the ticket booth had a flat or sloped roof. Jim Hanson will be towing the ticket booth and drive in sign will be attached somehow. Four cars are still planned for following the ticket booth.

The props for the car on the trailer will have speakers on poles and trays. Depending on how much room we will have on the float, some of us will be on the trailer, some of us will be in the cars or will be walking. We will have also a costume Cardinal with Sandy in the costume. Again thank you to Sue Mclaughlin for donating the monies for renting the costume! We sincerely hope for a nice day not too hot for Sandy's sake! ;-) Wes and Kim have spoked regarding what will be on the movie screen. She will be given free rein to paint whatever scene she feels will fit. We will trust her judgement on this! John Irish will still need to be contacted to provide sound for background music.

Party Decorating: 

Jill and Rachel will be handling all party decorating. Rachel is asking if anyone has long strands of small white Christmas tree lighting that we can borrow or donate. Contact Phil or Melissa if you do and they'll put you in touch or contact Rachel or Jill directly if you have the means to. We have at least 240 feet to be strung, so the more the better! We are planning for 70 attendees, and depending on actual ticket sales and commitments, we will adjust accordingly. Rachel will report back to us on the next meeting the actual costs for the decorating. We will try to work it so the decorators can get in early in the day or possibly during the week to decorate and setup.

Entertainment:

We had a quick discussion on the entertainment, and confirmed Debbie's son Sean (I spelled it right Deb!) will be headlining and has the band in place and as of now everything is a go.

Class mailing and funding:

Charlene brought up the thought that we should include personal notes in the mailing to classmates we would like to see come to the reunion. The reaction was mixed to the idea. She will try to include some personal notes in her mailing and see what results we get. If anyone else is interested in letter writing to classmates you think would come with a little personal pursuasion, please contact Charlene.  

Charlene reports class dues are being received plus some extra. but with ticket sales, the yard sale, and raffle, we should make up the shortfalls due to the reunion expenditures expected. It is also clarified to a question regarding dues, the class dues are $10.00 each year. A very nice letter was received from Roberta Beauman along with a nice donation to the class funds. We thank you.

The next class meeting will be on May 10th same place, Odd Fellows block, 35 Pleasant St, rear entrance, 2nd floor, same time 6 PM.

See you all next time!

Phil

Class meeting April 12

p_winans' photosets on Flickr

Meeting Meeting Meeting!

Dear Class, 

Quick note reminding you of this Saturday's (April 12th) meeting being held on the 2nd floor of Simply Comfort, 35 Pleasant St at 6pm. Please bring a snack if you want to munch and if you want cold drinks or adult beverages, you will have to bring your own. Remember to use the entrance in the back of the building, should be plenty of parking out back as well as on Pleasant St. 

We will be covering the upcoming yard sale, the raffle, and talking about ways of reaching out to classmates who have been hard to locate or hesitant to coming to a reunion. We also need to look at coordinating the communicating of all our upcoming events through the use of the local media, not just emails. 

Also hope to get an update on the trailer as to if the flatbed is the better way to go. Hope to also do a walk around of the party space on the 2nd floor and decide a theme and setup plan. Any other topics are more than welcome to be opened to discussion!   

See you all there,

Phil

Hello,

We had 11 attendees to Saturday night’s meeting held at Daddy's Pizza. Attending were Melissa, Sandy, Charlene, Jill, Christine, Roberta, Frank, Jim R., Alan, Wes and Phil. Thanks to all for coming! Thank you to Daddy’s Pizza for allowing us to have our meeting there. Order of business as follows.

Sandy will be taking the lead on the rummage sale to be held on April 26-27th. She will be setting up a couple grills and cooking burgers, hot dogs etc to sell to rummage sale customers to munch as they look for bargains. Sandy is also requesting those that plan to assist at the sale bring a packaged baked good to be also sold at the sale. She reminds everyone to get anything you want to sell to Jim during the week prior to the sale. If you do not plan to stay for the sale with your items, Sandy and Jim will price your items accordingly. If you are planning to stay, you are welcome to price your own items. 

This is your golden opportunity to clean out that garage or attic! Remember all proceeds go to the class funds. Raffle tickets will be available for sale at the sale was well. There is going to be some nice stuff raffled off, so buy some! The sale will start at 8am and end at 2pm both days. Sandy will be placing ads for the sale about a week prior in the Eagle Times and Claremont e-ticker. 

If you have any questions about participating, call Sandy at 603-504-8858 and she would be happy to answer them for you. Before you drop anything off, please call Jim so he can arrange to meet with you and open up the storage area for you. His number is 603-504-5167.

Charlene was briefed on what needs to be included in the class mailing going out in April. Charlene also expressed the need for people to update their addresses if they have moved recently or they will not get their invites. She also suggested on the subject of locating missing classmates, we work our way through the yearbook and utilize social media to its fullest to locate people. We can also reseach through friends friend lists as well. 

We have made a change in the ticket price to the party in order to make sure we recoup the cost of food and the room. It is still a reasonable cost, and any extra funds will be put back into the class treasury. The updated cost is $25 for a single person and $40 per couple. Food costs have gone up dramatically, and though we are looking for ways to contain it, we will still need to make sure we come out of this with money to spare. The base cost per head as quoted for the party is $17.50, so we are not going to be making a huge profit on this, but that isn't the goal here.. ;-)  

The doors will open for the party at 8:30. Entertainment will be provided by a live band headed by Debbie's son. The menu we are being offered is as follows. Ham, cream cheese ,pickle roll ups ~aision meatballs ~veggie platter ~ chicken salad ~ mediterranian ? not sure  ~Spinache artichoke dip ~cheese & crackers platter ~ hummus ~ chicken satay plus we have gluten free offerings. This will be a buffet style meal.

It is suggested you include your ticket money with your class dues when you respond to Charlene's mailing. Charlene will track all funds and ticket requests responses and report back to us on the expected attendance by the end of May. Charlene emphasized we need to get the funds coming in, so if you haven't cut your check yet, time is running short. 

Again the address to send your checks:

Checks should be made out to "Class of 1974" and mailed to care of Charlene Hayes Reynolds, PO Box 81, North Hartland, VT 05052,

Wes reported the Drive In sign is taken care of and ready. We had a short discussion on the trailer blueprint and he is going to look into getting a straight flatbed as the trailer we were looking at, does not appear to have the length (only 22ft) to hold all the things we need to have to create the drive in scene and allow for many riders. He has several sources to work with.and will get back to us by the next meeting as to the results of his research. He will also look into having a class of 74 sign made up for the float. (Wes, if you don’t have time, let me know and I’ll make it –Phil) We also will look into a sign on the float saying "Claremont 250th" We are also supposed to be getting several signs for the sides of the float saying coke, pepsi, popcorn, etc. I believe Kim is working that. The status on this is pending.

Instead of building, the movie screen will be a 12x12 blowup we can rent for about $75. Sandy will look into someone who can draw a movie scene on a white sheet for the screen since we will not be playing a live movie due to it being daylight it will not be visible. Roberta has offered use of her Brother's 71 pickup in the event we come up short on vehicles behind the float. (Thank you Roberta) We will have a total of 4 vehicles planned to be behind a vehicle towing the ticket booth behind the float. We are waiting to hear back from Jim Hanson on the ticket booth. All the other props for the trailer, swing set, projector, popcorn maker, and yellow volkswagon beetle are all set. We are looking at not having a concession stand on the trailer due to space limitations. John Irish will be requested to provide some background music for the float, but window shattering is not encouraged this year! ;-)

To date, only 4 people are committed to attending the alumni dinner. Anyone else is welcome to join us, we could use a few more people for the table so we are decently represented when Cindy presents the $500 donation to the association. 

Jill and Rachel will form up the core of the decorating committee. Charlene made it known she has a box of red and black decorations we can use and they will be utilized. The plan is to drop by Simply Comfort in the coming weeks to get an idea of the layout, and putting together some ideas for a theme and reporting back at the next meeting.

We have had a change in the party venue from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor. The needed permits for completing construction on the 3rd floor are not going to done in time to complete the floor for events by June. Simply Comfort refunded some of our deposit and offered the 2nd floor to us which we accepted.

if I have this correct, a cardinal costume will be available for our use on the day of the parade and will be our SHS cardinal symbol for the float. The memorial banner is all updated and ready to go. Anne will get it to Phil or someone before the parade.

The float will be built at Gary Dube's on Friday June 6th from noon until complete. A GREAT BBQ will be held in the evening there as well. We are going to need ALL HANDS ON DECK. If you can be there for the whole day or part of the day, we need any and all help. The float will need be on Broad St by 8:30 as judging starts around 9.   

Everything is coming together nicely and this meeting was very productive. We are going to be accelerating the pace of meetings in the last 2 months leading up to the reunion. The next meeting is scheduled for April 12th at 6pm, on the 2nd floor of Simply Comfort. We have been told we can now meet on the 2nd floor at any time free of charge, so all future meetings will be held there unless otherwise noted. The atmosphere is also much quieter and more conducive to meetings. This meeting will focus on the yard sale and any unfinished business. With ANY luck, spring will be really here! 

See you all next time.  –Phil