We now have some reunion updates to the agenda. We had hoped to do a cruise boat event but as Bennie says, “. . . because of a bunch of red tape, we are not going to be able to go on the cruise (nobody will let them dock anymore in Sarasota). We have come up with another great water theme event though. We are going to have the cocktail party at the Mote Marine Aquarium out on Longboat Key.”

So now the final plans are made and you can find them on the Reunion Website. Here’s another message from Bennie:

We have just updated the reunion web site www.rhsspiritof76.com with all of the details and prices for the Reunion Events in October.

You will find dates, places, times, costs and you can even buy your tickets on the web site. We have hotel information with a group booking code for you to use if you need to reserve a room. We also have a section about donations for those who can give us a little extra help with the events.

Please log on to the site and review the new information and go ahead and buy your tickets now. We will still be sending out formal invitations by mail but you don’t have to wait to book your tickets to a great weekend of fun with some of your old high school classmates!

Well it’s been a little bit of a dry spell for posting. Travelling and blogging on multiple web sites will do that to you. Last week it was Anaheim, CA for the Commodity Classic. If you want to know anything about soybeans and corn just ask.

Here’s some news from our fearless leader Nancy:

We’ve located about half of our list of nearly 720 classmates and our goal is to complete the bulk of the remaining search by April 1st. At that time we’ll send out postcards by snail mail to everyone to notify them about the reunion, tell them about the websites, etc.. We are also hoping to have our ticket prices nailed down by the first part of April, so that when people finally log onto the main website they can finally book tickets online with a credit card.

Due to the multitude of up front costs associated with putting the reunion together and sponsoring teachers who have been invited and want to come, our site will soon support donations that can be paid with a credit card. Bennie hopes to have this set up shortly.

We will most likely offer a page where donations can be made to the memory of classmates who have passed away. The Tracy Ross Scholarship Fund will be an option for memorials as well as The Riverview High School Class of 1976 Scholarship Fund.

Sue Farrington Obenauer has taken on the mantle of searching for and successfully locating a number of teachers who are still around and are planning on attending one of the events (probably the Saturday night dinner). I can supply a list to you soon.

By the way, Nancy is moving to Sarasota. That means she can devote even more time and attention to our reunion. Right Nancy?

I just thought of this idea while driving to Des Moines this evening. What else do you do when you’ve got 6 hours of driving? Think about ideas for our reunion right?

I’m sure our committee has probably discussed music and songs as they’re planning things. I thought it might be interesting to find out what songs you’d like to hear at our reunion. They wouldn’t necessarily have to be from our high school years although I can think of a lot of good ones. I’ve set up a page in the sidebar as a reminder to “Submit Your Songs.”

Use the comment feature to submit your song ideas or just email me. I subscribe to Yahoo Music Service (Unlimited). I could try to find and download the songs you submit and play them from my digital audio player during one or more of our functions. It’s just an idea.

I’ll get the ball rolling. A couple of songs that I would like to hear would be:

Blue Sky, Allman Brothers.
La Grange, ZZ Top.
Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Oh my gosh there are so many more. How about you? What would you like to hear?

This is to notify everyone about the current plans for our 30-year reunion and how to “stay in the loop” without having to pay website fees.

First: the reunion will take place in Sarasota from October 6-8, 2006. Second: in order to register for future updates, please make note of and visit the following websites, which will serve as the official information vehicles for reunion information: rhsspiritof76.com and ramsreunion2006.com. (The first site listed is our official reunion site where we will be providing all details about the reunion and ultimately be able to take credit card payments for events. The second site is our web blog.) Currently, the reunion committed has set the date, is working on ticket prices for the various gatherings, and beginning its HUGE classmate search. Also, everyone’s senior portraits from the yearbook have been posted on the first site and we want everyone to “sign in” with current contact info, life news, and photo.

Please spread the word!

Now I can let you in on the new website. Let’s call it the Spirit of ’76 to make it simple. You can use the link or type: http://rhsspiritof76.com/ into your browser.

Please visit even if you aren’t planning on attending the reunion and add your information to the Classmates section where there’s a link to a form to add your own information so we know what you’re up to. It’s painless. Trust me.

Let us know what you think.

The planning committee is meeting as I’m writing. In fact, I’m dialed in on a conference call. Nancy says she’ll send me the actual meeting minutes and a picture of herself that I can share (don’t forget now).

Plans are firming up as I posted previously. I really don’t have much new to post right now. I think the main thing you can help with is to spread the word to any of our classmates that you are still in contact with and we’ll probably post lists of people we’re looking for too.

That’s all for now.

Here’s the latest scoop from our fearless leader – Nancy Tatom.

We’ve been pricing out a very lovely cocktail cruise for Friday evening (Bennie’s found some larger vessels that originate in the Tampa Bay area and that will come down to Sarasota to dock at Marina Jack’s); for Saturday, we are looking into having a golf tournament, organizing a photo session at RHS, and hosting a dinner dance event at a great new place in the Lakewood Ranch area that will be catered by Morton’s (formerly Marabel’s Market); Sunday will involve some sort of casual get-together – hopefully near the water (this is the most vague event so far). The October timeframe will give us more time to plan and will also provide better pricing for some of the lodging and events we’ve looked into. Plus, the weather will be much more pleasant. We’re still working on the ticket prices per event, but should be able to lock this down by the first of the year.

The committee will be meeting again this coming Tuesday so please send us your input. Email me or Nancy or feel free to post a comment.

I don’t have the minutes from the reunion planning committee meeting yet but I do know this much. The reunion will be held the weekend of October 6 – 8, just prior to Columbus Day (October 9).

That’s all I know at this point but we can put it on our calendar! See you there.

Hello Rams Reunion fans. We need your input on reunion ideas. Our coordinating committee will be meeting next Tuesday to try to make some final decisions. Here are some of the ideas that have been proposed:

1. After an opening night event of some kind on a Thursday evening, shuttle everyone to Miami for a 3 day Bahamas cruise. The shuttling can be done by bus.

2. Stick to our previous reunion format which has included a Friday and Saturday evening event and Sunday family barbeque.

3. Do something completely different but what?

A tentative time frame is in October the weekend before Columbus Day. That would make it Oct. 5 – 8.

So we need your input asap. Please comment here or email Nancy.

Some questions you may want to answer are:

How does that date work for you? Got a better one?

What do you think of the cruise idea?

If not a cruise where would you like reunion events to take place?

How many events should we have? What kind of events?

How much should it cost? What’s the limit on price?

Any other input?

Thanks for you help!

Well the secret is out and now many of you are aware of the blogmonster. I’m certainly looking for ideas and content (pics, etc.). They’ve already started rolling in. I’ll post as I have time.

Here’s the announcement from our fearless reunion leader:

1976 RHS 30-Year Reunion!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that plans are underway for our 30-year RHS class reunion! Please contact me with any questions or with any ideas you’ve got for making this an especially memorable reunion. Also, if you’d like to be involved with planning in some way, let me know that as well. I will be posting frequently here to let everyone know how things are going and what kind of help and input is needed.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Nancy Tatom

I definitely didn’t look like this 30 years ago. This is me with Cindy just a couple weeks ago in Switzerland on a little R & R for our 25th wedding anniversary.

I hope you’ll use the “comment” feature on the site to write in your own thoughts as I get information posted. I want to hear from you and I’ll post pics, information, etc. Just email me at: chuck@zimmcomm.biz.

Looking forward to working on this Reunion Blog!!