Vestal High School Class Of 1985 30th Reunion
DATE
July 24th, 2015
(ending July 27th, 2015)
location
MULTIPLE
Invited Classes
About Event
CLASS OF 1985's 30th REUNION PLANNING PROGRESS AS OF 5/17/15
MOST EVENTS HAVE BEEN SET AND TICKETS ARE BEING SOLD FOR SATURDAY NIGHT'S DINNER DANCE MAIN EVENT NOW!!
EVENTS WILL OCCUR FRIDAY JULY 24- MONDAY JULY 27TH
Saturday's Dinner Dance was supposed to be a Vestal Elks, but they double booked on us and dropped us, and moved us to Endicott Elks Club instead.
All our planning and volunteer needs are listed on Facebook Reunion Planning Page for the reunion.
If you are not on FB Reunion Planning Page already, please send a note to: vestal.class1985@gmail.com
Let us know if you are on Facebook when you do e-mail. If you are on FB, please let us know in your e-mail your FB name and we will add you to our "closed" page "Vestal Class Of '85 30th Reunion" if you are not already on it.
If you are not on FB, you will be added to a Group E-mail List instead and will be e-mailed updated information on-going as events get updated, any changes come up and/or there is a specific call for missing grads or volunteers for events the weekend we are back in Vestal.
We welcome individuals who hung out with the Graduating Class of 1985 but did not actually graduate with too smile emoticon
30th Reunion Weekend Plans so far...
We are still Looking into hotels large enough to block some rooms for those of us without family there. Facebook planning page has a question to let us know if you will be needing a hotel room and for number needed and/or if you need to have a pet in your room with you too.
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FRIDAY July 24th 2015:
FRIDAY AFTERNOON/ EARLY EVENING--
Linda Hopkins is trying to book a tour or at least access to VHS and space in the cafeteria for a cookie and punch mixer. I have found an "inside contact" and am working on this now.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING--
The White Rose Day Spa is in Vestal
We are hoping to be able to book the entire place from lunch breaks until close. THIS IS FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN.
Check out what services they have: www.whiterosedayspa.com/menu
The Spa is located at:
4535 Old Vestal Rd
Vestal, NY 13850
(607) 644-9123
Amy Balchunas Cruz [fellow grad] has gotten her boss to agree to give us all a 15% discount on ANY services on Friday afternoon/ evening. You will need to call the Spa and ask for Amy Cruz. If she is not in, please leave your name and a number where you can be reached. She will get back to you to book your appt.. ..or..if you are really time crunched, just make appointment with staff who is available, telling them you are from Vestal 1985 Reunion.
The Spa has a party room for us too! And 2 other waiting areas so we will have area to ourselves. They will serve wine too!!
Plus, if we have a good number of people make reservations, Amy will personally provide some small hors d'oeuvres. Cheese, crackers, fruit, something along those lines ....
We plan to get into town on Thur, so Joe and Linda will be getting our nails done for sure & probably our feet done too after traveling from Maryland, maybe even something else too before meeting up with anyone at the Vestal High School for our Tour & Mixer.
After 30 yrs, and a day long of travel to get "home" again, we will need all the help we can get!
FAMILY GROUP DINNERS??
Anyone who wants to plan a group, go ahead and make a reservation and post a comment on the Reunion Page
[we will add to the full list of events]
ADULT EVENT--LATER FRIDAY EVENING
DINNER AND MIXER WITH MUSIC AND DANCING....
6:30 pm till CLOSING TIME
Christine Bonczek has set up this Mixer for us by taking over her Nephew's Bar [Country Themed] in Binghamton.
This will be a pay your own way event.
Come for dinner & stay till close if you can. If not, join us for a soft drink or stronger beverage of your choosing for an hour or 2 or 3 or ... more!
We have GREEN BEADS [so far] to help everyone find each other. Working on finding GOLD BEADS that are really Gold-colored and not a horrible yellow that keep showing up at stores in MD.
Since graduations are just starting to begin all over the US, please be on the look out at your Dollar Store or Party Store for GOLD plastic beads. For the GREEN BEADS, I paid $1 for a set of 8 beads. If you can find some GOLD [not brownish yellow] for a similar price, please grab 5 packages and e-mail the class reunion e-mail of note on FB planning page. Thanks for keeping your eyes out!!
The Ranch Bar and Grill
301 Conklin Ave
Binghamton, NY 13903
Information and menu can be found on their Website:
www.theranchbarandgrill.com
Or on their Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/TheRanchBar
FAMILY EVENING EVENT??
--Those traveling with Kids staying in hotel we end up in, I am trying to get a group room or suite so that we can set up something in the hotel too for families or those who head to bed early.
--Anyone with ideas, jump in and set it up!!
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SATURDAY July 25, 2015
STILL NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS TO SET UP VARIETY OF DAYTIME EVENT-- ESPECIALLY SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WITH CHILDREN CAN BRING THEM ALONG TOO.
Saturday afternoon family scavenger hunt, park day, whatever you want to do, through it out there and we can figure it out.
SATURDAY DAYTIME GOLF EVENT--
Host planning this event is Scott Goldstone.
He needs to set up ASAP & needs to know how many are interested in a golf game during the day. Please send e-mail or go to FB planning page and let us know if you want to golf and the number in your golf party
SPA & SALT SANCTUARY DAY@ Traditions At The Glen
[this is on property where the IBM Country Club used to be]
As of 5/7/15, they have many SPA openings.
They have room for 5 or 6 massages, multiple manicures, 2 pedicures at the same time, as well as the other services mentioned on their website.
This is the Spa Menu:
www.traditionsresort.com/spa.html
If we have 6 people or more with reservations at the same time, they will provide us a free party room. Also check out the food menu of what we can order in the party room to enjoy as well.
You will need to make your own reservations for any of the Spa or Salt Sanctuary Appts. When you make your reservation you need to tell them you are part of the "Vestal 30th Reunion." Be prepared to give them a credit card number to secure the reservation since we are booking so far in advance. This is the only way they can track our group's reservations to see if and when they will give us the FREE party room.
I know it is odd to make massage or Salt Cave or other Spa reservations so far in advance. However, if we do not book ASAP, the slots will be filled up by Resort/Hotel Guests when they book their rooms. Then, we will not be able to hang out together in Private party room and in the Spa as planned. Just because they have your credit card information does not mean you cannot make changes to or cancel your reservation as we get closer to the weekend of the Reunion. But, please don't make a reservation you have no intention of keeping. Changing plans as we get closer is fine, but booking a slot another person might have used doesn't help us or the venue.
We are also still working on trying to get a group hotel rate at Traditions as well. Their regular rates are not much different from rates at other hotels and for those individuals who spent a great deal of time at the IBM Country Club growing up, it will be a nice nostalgic location to stay if their family has left the area. Many grads families left Vestal some time ago and others left more recently for retirement to other locations. So, trying to find one hotel that will work for most attendees is one of the goals.
If they see we are making SPA Reservations already, it may help our cause to get a Group Room Discount as well as a Free Meeting Room for individuals to hang out in together between activities and to set up some low key events for families as well as for grads only.
There are Spa discounts for people staying at the Resort and there are discounts for individuals who have both Spa and Salt Sanctuary Treatments in the same day too. So, lots of reasons to try to get our Group Hotel Rooms at the Traditions Resort ....
Joe Meers & Linda Hopkins have each made reservations in the Salt Sanctuary Section of the Spa for the SALT CAVE at 2 pm.
The Salt CAVE is every hour on the hour, for a 50 min session. They have an introductory price of $20 per person. we would love to have others from the Reunion in the relaxing cave with us.
We will be treating ourselves to some massages too but have not decided which kind yet or if we should massage before or after we salt ourselves?? So we have not made our massage reservations yet. There are so many different massages to choose from, it is difficult to decide!
You are able to reserve The Entire Salt Cave for a private group of up to 7 people for about $200 for a 50 mins session. By reserving the entire Cave you would have no outside guests in the Cave with you. But, it also will end up costing much more per person than the $20 introductory offer for 1st time visitors.
There is also a Salt ROOM that is an open area vs a closed cave. "Kids will enjoy playing with “saltbox toys” in a bed of salt and drawing on the marker board wall, while parents will appreciate the soothing illuminations of the room, including a coffered ceiling and decorative Himalayan salt finished walls." The Salt ROOM also has a $20 into offer for adults and a $35 pair fee for an Adult & Child [under age 14 yrs]
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REUNION'S BIG EVENT--DINNER & BAND Saturday Night
Endicott Elks Club @ 6 pm
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Kristen Bimmler Kintner is our lovely hostess for this event. She has done all the negotiations and set up this event for us! She booked us a appetizers, a buffet dinner, cash bar and 4 hrs of a band all for $30 per person.
Linda Hopkins is collecting the money for the tickets so Kristen can work on her family's other major life events this summer.
Prefered payment is via Paypal as money is available immediately to pay the bills, Paypal also sends you copy of payment received as proof that you have paid for the event. It also allows for greater tracking of the number of individuals who have paid and exactly who they are by paying via Paypal.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE A REGULAR PAYPAL USER TO PAY VIA PAYPAL!!!
Payments can be made using credit or debit cards, checking acct, or Paypal Balance. Paypal Non-Profit Acct has been set up specifically for the Class Reunion.
Paypal also tracks your payment and provides you a receipt for the event. Paypal does not disclose any payment source information. The $ is just deposited into the Reunion Paypal Acct that can be withdrawn via a Paypal issued ATM Card for payments needed to be made in cash or with check and can also be used as a Debit Card for any payment that accept Debit Cards.
Fees are required to use Paypal, as there are NO CLASS FUNDS to cover those fees, payment via Paypal is $31.50 per person. It covers the $1.50 in fees and the $30 per person expenses to pay the Elks Club, Caterer, Band, tablecloths and other expenses for Saturday Night's Event.
Just follow the link below to access the Paypal Payment Page for the Saturday night event, you can chose the number of tickets needed
and pay in full:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=G8F6NEL4NGDNU
If you cannot figure how to make the payment via Paypal, you can send a check made out to Linda Hopkins,
Send to:
Linda Hopkins
9350 Gentle Folk
Columbia MD 21045.
Any bank fees charged due to non-cleared checks will be charged back to you, sorry but the Class has no funds and these will be deposited into my personal bank acct vs the Paypal Non-Profit Reunion Acct that is separate from my personal accounts.
We need to PRE-PAY THE ENTIRE BILL IN ADVANCE OF EVENT and we need to have a minimum number of attendees to make the Saturday night event a go: The final cut off to buy tickets for Sat Night's Event will be 6/24/2015.
If you have any questions about how to pay via Paypal, either send Linda Hopkins a Private Message on Facebook or send an e-mail to:
vestal.class1985@gmail.com
We must have at minimum of least 110 people to attend, or we will not be able to cover expenses.
If we are not getting RSVPs & payments in a timely manner, the SATURDAY DINNER DANCE EVENT may be canceled... No one can cover the entire expenses for the 110 minimum attendees.
As the deposit of several hundreds of dollars was already paid, payments made ASAP would be appreciated. Joe Meers and Linda Hopkins have paid funds to put out the deposit right now, but cannot carry everyone until the last minute. Plus, we need to get payment to the venue and vendors in full prior to the event.
So payments ASAP are appreciated. Thanks so much!!
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SUNDAY July 26, 2015
EARLY TO RISE AND RUN--SKYLARK DINER GET TOGETHER FOR BREAKFAST AND HIT THE ROAD HOME...
---Needs a host
BRUNCH--WHERE?? WHEN??
--Needs a host
OTHER SUNDAY DAYTIME AREA EVENTS??
ZOO??
ARNOLD PARK??
WHEREVER YOU WISH??
DISTILLERY & WINERY DAY /OVERNIGHT/
ON THE WAY HOME TRIP TO ITHACA
[Returning to Vestal on Monday if staying with group;
or you can peel off early and head back earlier on Sunday]
Joe Meers and Linda Hopkins will be planning a Distillery & Winery Route to Ithaca, NY for the day beginning with breakfast at The Skylark @ 10:30 am.
Linda left NY in 1994 so she is not up on the current area Distilleries & Wineries, so any that are must not misses, let her know even if you are not planning to join us.
We plan to head up to Watkins Glen to the Distillery and hit the East Side of Seneca Lake, then at some point travel across the back roads to head South to Ithaca along the West Side of Cayuga Lake. We honestly don't care where we end up, just want to see the area again.
The plan will be to set out on a Pre-determined Route for the day. If you are traveling along or near-by the Route, you can drop off the group whenever it makes sense for you to head toward the direction of your home.
We plan to have the pre-determined route of the trip planned by sometime in May and will post when finalized.
Joe & Linda plan to stay in an Inn, B&B or other similar small hotel in the Ithaca area on Sunday night. We can try to get a Group Rate for others wishing to spend Sunday night in Ithaca area too.
Monday, we plan to hit the Lake and various Falls outside of Ithaca.
Also, If there is a group interested in joining the trip and then travel back to Vestal Sunday night with paid transportation, we are happy to set that up too. Transportation would need to be pre-paid however.
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We STILL NEED VOLUNTEERS to step up and pick up just 1 piece, then the work will be done so very easily and quickly.
It would be nice to have someone take on a Memorial Moment for those in Class who have passed already during Sat night's event.
Class of 1985 30th Reunion
Reunion Committee
Invited Classmates
