Choosing Reunion Events
The committee needs to decide when and where events will take place. To generate ideas of the most popular events some committees will e-mail or post questionnaires to ask classmates what events they would like to participate in most. A decision needs to be made if the events are formal, informal, or semi-formal so classmates are aware of what attire should be considered. The committee also has to decide the length of the reunion. Typically, many classmates choose to plan two or three events during a weekend, so that there is enough time for everyone to converse.
Length of the Reunion
On Friday evening, an informal social is planned so that classmates can get together and converse at a restaurant or bar. Ice breaker games help classmates become comfortable around those they haven't seen in a long time. During the day on Saturday or Sunday are planned family events like picnics, pool parties, golf, or a tour of the high school. Consider that a lot of classmates travel on Sunday back to their homes, so it might be best to have these events Saturday during the day. Saturday evening consists of the dinner, event program, and dancing entertainment. The reunion committee needs to decide if the reunion dinner will be a sit down, buffet style, or hors d'oeuvre (finger foods).
The event program should be kept lively and interesting for classmates to reminisce, jog faded memories, and spark discussions amongst classmates. The event program is no more than one hour long and includes a welcoming address, readings of those who were unable to attend, speakers, movie slides, and humorous awards and/or door prizes. The awards should be tailored to your class and all in good fun, so everyone is comfortable. Some ideas may include:
• Longest married couple
• Newest married couple
• Most recent father/mother
• Classmates that traveled the furthest to the reunion
• Classmates that changed the most or least
• Classmates that have married classmates
• Most children
• First to become a grandparent
• Twins/Triplets/Quadruplets
• Most unique job
It's best if you hand out the forms for the awards to classmates during the reunion. If you hand out the forms before the reunion, and a couple was considered longest married, but recently got divorced, then it becomes an embarrassing moment. At the reunion a member needs to announce early in the event that the forms need to be filled out, so that results can be tabulated.
