Why

We heard you loud and clear from the questionnaires we sent to the 200 people we had found by mid July and from all of your emails. The universal goal you gave your reunion committee was twofold.

1) To have a free night (Friday night) at the Garland High School so that everyone could afford to come to at least one night.

2) To locate some place for the big Saturday night event that would be as cheap as reasonably possible and some place casual. Further complicating matters was our tremendous success in finding folks which meant that we needed a place that could still accommodate us if we got large.

3) By unanimous agreement, your reunion committee added a third criterion to the objectives. They decided that they wanted to make a big push to invite all of the teachers to the Friday night event and label that a special "meet-the-teachers" night. [We've now located every one of our 150 teachers. I'm very pleased to be able to report that about 90% of the living teachers said they're excited about the reunion and are planning to come. We've got teachers flying in from both ends of country (New Jersey, Arizona and California) just to be at the reunion.]

The Long, Hard Search to Find the Right Spot

Recent reunions of Garland classes of our size have had about 125-175 (total people including guests) at their reunion, but, based on the number of people we've found and even more importantly on the excitement generated by the newsletters and the search, we think that we'll have 300-500 with as many as 700 not being out of the realm of possibilities.

Most of the places large enough to accommodate us if the reunion proved to be large wanted us to guarantee them a minimum fixed amount so large that, if we ended up only having 300 people, it would cost us $60-$80 per person -- and the ticket price would have to be more than that since we have other expenses including postage, invitations, etc. And, even if we got the maximum, we'd still be looking at a cost of about $45 per person and a ticket price of at least $50. We will be selling some items like the directory as fund raisers to keep the overhead as low as possible, but the price of the ticket has to be more than the cost of the place, which includes the food, the room rental, the required bartenders, the required security, etc.

Even if we had been willing to cap the reunion and stop taking orders after a certain number of tickets were sold -- a really bad idea that we never seriously entertained -- we still were having trouble finding the right place at the right price. Your event committee, led by Betty Tapp Simmons, investigated an incredible number of places on your behalf in order to do what sometime seemed like the impossible. Our frame of reference was other recent Garland reunions whose per person prices have ranged from $35 to $60 per person. Other schools in the area have charged more. But thanks to a great suggestion from Joe Gray, a lot of phone exploration by Sally Sellers Rhodes and a fast bit of quick negotiations by Betty Tapp Simmons, we located a place for Saturday night that perfectly met our stringent criteria.

But, before we get to Saturday night festivities, let's review our plans for the great Friday event.

When and Where

Friday, June 24, 2005 (5PM to 10PM)

at Garland High School

An extremely friendly and accommodating Garland High School administration agreed to let us use most of the school for our big Friday night event on June 24th from 5pm to 10pm. Since we suspect we're going to have a big crowd, we have been given the cafeteria, the commons (this is an enclosed area between the old Avenue D wing and the Garland Ave wing) and the big gym (which what we called the boy's gym). We'll also have the outdoor courtyard area between these three. (Warning: No smoking is allowed anywhere on the school grounds -- inside or out -- due to strict school regulations which we will abide by.)

Friday night is low-key -- a program-free talk time. Admission is free to all ’65 alumni, spouses and teachers. Please bring a small snack to share. Soft drinks will be for sale by some of the current GHS clubs. We’ll reconnect with old friends and make new ones. Please come relax and enjoy this casual event.

Saturday, June 25, 2005 (6 PM to 1 AM, with special program at 8 PM)

at Swingin’ D Ranch, 3406 Dublin Road, Parker TX

$35 per person before May 1, $50 pp after May 1

No tickets can be sold after June 17

The place we found was the Swingin' D Ranch, which is located 6 miles north of the Garland city limits and 2 miles east of the Plano city limits.

Please don't send your money yet, however. The invitation, which will go out on March 1, 2005, will include the order form for the tickets as well as other items (directory, commemorative T-shirts, polo shirts, coffee mugs, and maybe the senior yearbook on CD). We will have a cash bar with beer and wine (and probably Margaritas) for a yet-to-be-determined price (hopefully enough so that the bar will be close to breaking even) and free soft drinks. The meal will be BBQ catered by the terrific Sonny Bryan's, and there will munchies set out to nibble on throughout the evening. Parking at the Swingin' D Ranch is free.

The Saturday Night Band

So, what is one of your fondest memories of high school? For many of us, it is probably taking our sweethearts to the Friday night dance in the girl's gym. Known then as victory dances, they were sublime. One of the reasons was the band.

Calling themselves – we're not making this up! – “The Viagratones,” the new band is a combination of Ray Windt, drummer for the Galaxies, Mike Delk, lead guitar for the Imperials, and Don Cooper, keyboard and vocals for the Imperials. The rest of the Viagratones won't be '65 grads but will be musicians from our time.

Don Cooper said that it only seems natural they should do this since the last time they played for our class was on the parking lot of the Eastern Hills Country Club the night of our senior day party. They said that they're having a ball reviving the old songs (“Louie Louie,” “What'd I Say,” etc.). Don had one final reminder: “Just remember, not like that night 40-years ago, check any pacemakers before you party too hard.”

When we get closer to the time for the reunion, I'll be sending out a note to everyone for any special song requests.

See you ALL June 24th AND 25th for a fun 40th!