Minutes from the December 3, 2008 30thReunion Planning Committee Meeting

Attendees

Chuck Benoit

Donna Boudreau-Hill

Diane Brown

Paul Carew

Marie Cody

Michael Digiorgio

Jen Ducharme

Karen Metros

Emmet Millet

Robin Murch

Nancy Saulnier

Joe Strem

Terri Washington

The December 3, 2008 reunion planning committee meeting took place at the 99 Restaurant in Tewksbury. Thirteen people attended the meeting.

Summary

The following is a summary of the agenda items that were discussed:

Status of Action items identified from the previous(11/7/08) meeting

(1) Reunion Event(s) Location/Date:

The Tewksbury Country Club quoted us a minimum price of $10,000 if the reunion were to be held on Friday May 1, 2009 and a $15,000 minimum if the reunion were to be held on Saturday May 2, 2009. The committee determined that these prices exceeded our budget and other venues should be investigated for more reasonable rates. Preliminary prices obtained from other local venues such as the Holiday Inn in Tewksbury, the Andover Indian Ridge Country Club and the Andover Country Club were more reasonable (minimum prices did not exceed $4000).

The pricing for having a softball/clambake event during the reunion weekend was at least $10 per person. The initial reaction to having this event has been lukewarm…

Logistically, it will be very difficult and expensive to have the reunion at the end of May, so the committee members decided to move the reunion to a later date in the2009 late summer/early fall timeframe.

(2) Class Money Status:

Phil Dougherty was unable to attend the meeting and there was no update.

(3) Web Page Launch:

The new Class of ’78 web page was launched in November 2008:

Email blasts have been sent to fellow classmates on classmates.com encouraging them to use our new website as their primary source for general communication and reunion information. A few people have signed up to our web page, but we need to encourage a lot more to do so.

As we finalize a reunion date, more website features will be made available, which will include allowing classmates to pay for the event online.

(4) Entertainment/Decorations:

A few entertainment-specific ideas were discussed for the main event, which included having a DJ who would also act as an MC, having contests, raffles and/or prize giveaways, etc. Rod McCarthy’s DJ contact charges $150 per hour (Rod may be able to get us a discount). Other local DJ’s will be contacted as well.

Emmet mentioned that his wife may be able to get us a discount for flowers (table centerpieces).

Action items identified for the January Meeting

(1)Finalize the location/date for the reunion**: Marie and Terri

Update**:Marie and Terri visited the Tewksbury Holiday Inn on Saturday December 7, 2008 and met with the function room representative to get a mini-tour and to discuss dates/prices and discount room rates. The prices seemed very reasonable and there is an open date at the end of August. The details will be sent out to the committee members early next week (December 8-ish) to get final approval. The deadline with the hotel is December 13, so a decision needs to be made before then.

(2)Locate the class money: Phil

(3)Make a decision about hiring a DJ/MC: All

(4)Investigate adding reunion information to the Tewksbury cable TV channel and providing contact information or a link on local webpage: Donna

(5)Joe will inquire about a live band price from one of his co-workers

(6)Continue to collect contact information from fellow classmates: All

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday January 14, 2009at the Tewksbury 99 Restaurant from 6:30 to 8:00 PM. A reminder emailwill be sent out ~a week in advance.

(Ifany items were not included in this report, please let me know – Terri.)