My 40th class reunion from Redwood High School in Visalia just happened. I have a list of thoughts pertaining to the event.
- Spouses from other schools don’t belong – they are bored, and people generally don’t come to reunions to see who other people married.
- I only saw one person scrolling through his phone (a bored spouse).
- No one gave me a business card, but I handed out many.
- It is good to stay sober at reunions.
- You can wear anything you want – shorts, jeans, fancy pants, dresses, high school logo tee shirts – it is merely an expression of one’s personality. (There were no leggings, thank goodness, because leggings are NOT pants!)
- Women seem to be aging better than men, but this is probably because hair accounts for 90% of one’s appearance, and most women color theirs (I am one of the exceptions, and no one cared or noticed.)
- Loud music and low lights make the experience less enjoyable.
- Less rah-rah (silly prizes for non-essentials like the most tattoos or youngest spouse) would give us more time to study faces, remember names and reconnect.
- It would be very interesting to know where people live, what their interests are, and what they do for a living.
- Everyone is thin and beautiful in high school – the video confirmed this.
- A class of 410 is too large to know or remember.
- The most interesting people to reconnect with are those from elementary or junior high. . . those with the longest history together.
- The most precious friends are those we are in touch with currently – our friends in real life.
- Skipping the class reunion when you live in the same town seems rude, especially to those who travelled great distances to come.
- Those who went away and then returned to the area usually did so to be near aging parents.
- Instead of silly or generic prizes, it would be good to get things from classmates who own businesses.
- There was a prize for the classmate who has changed the least – it wasn’t given to a woman who looked the same but instead it was given to the woman who looked the hottest and youngest!
- It would be very fun to have a list of everyone’s interests, jobs, locations, websites, emails, blogs, etc. . .
Since you have made it to the end of my list, I will reward you with a picture of my very smart spouse who had the wisdom to stay home instead of attending a party where he would have been bored half to death. I will return the favor when his class reunites for their 50th (in 4 years, in case you were wondering).
9 Comments
I totally agree with the spouse staying home. We are lucky, David and I graduated from the same class. We walk in the door and meet up again at the end of the evening. HaHa.
Nancy, that sounds ideal!
My 50 year will be in 2020 … wow, made it (not quite yet …) to 50 years. At the 40 (or was it 45??) those of us in the band and/or on the same bus route sat together. Many of us have been in touch with each other since grade school. Not sure if there are some events I really want to remember. … just may stay home for this one –
Diane, if you make it to 50 years past high school, you owe it to yourself and your old friends to go to the reunion!
So true! I attended my 45th… solo. My Michael opted to stay home as well.
What I have found is that the reunions get better with time, in that people just want to connect with each other, they don’t care about jobs, income, etc. I liked that.
I have also learned that I do better in small groups… reunions are overwhelming.
Anne, ditto to everything you said!
Having just attended my th high school reunion, I can identify! Just a few comments on your points:
4. Yes! Because someone has to be available to take video!
7. Yes Yes YES!!
9, 18. A “reunion booklet” would be nice to offer at the reunion with this information from as many classmates as you can get ahead of time.
11. Ahem, try a class of 1200! And yes, it’s not as much fun when you only remember a small percentage of classmates. Nametags with high school photos helps!
13, 14. Agree!
16. If you can secure enough prizes this way, but yes, excellent idea.
I’m glad Trail Guy had such a wonderful time! 😉
Sharon, your WHICH reunion? And 1200 is overwhelming – sounds awful. We also had name tags with high school photos, and if the lighting had been better, we could have seen them better. A reunion booklet would certainly be better than a coaster and a window sticker with the school name (I left mine on the table). I even asked the committee if I could advertise in a booklet or flyer but got no response. The committee wasn’t open to suggestions, according to my “mole”.
OK, OK, 45th. But not all 1200 showed up, of course. Maybe 150?
Sounds like the committee wasn’t much of one. Too bad.
Oh well, there’s always #50!
Comments are closed for this article!