We'll try to answer your questions here. If you don't find your questions, then please use the comment section at the bottom of the page or email Diedre at diedrekaye@yahoo.com
- Will there be a dance floor and music? Yes. A portion of the room has a dance floor but that will not be the major focus of the evening. We are piping in music from the late 60's from 5:30 - 7:30 while we mingle and eat. At 7:30 we will have a brief program to thank our volunteers and to show a short video of class memories. From 8:00- 8:30 we will serve dessert and open the dance floor space. Our DJ will play music from the 60's and special requests from 8:30 to 11:30. The bars and dance floor will close at 11:30.
- What does the reservation fee pay for? We have budgeted for a tasty selection of food on buffet tables to be available from 5:30 - 7:30 and then dessert will be served from 8:00 - 8:30. Two bartenders will serve from 5:30 - 11:30 at a cash bar a selection of soft drinks and cocktails/bear/wine and water/ ice tea and coffee will be available in self serve stations for no charge. We also plan to have a table of memorabilia, a format for honoring the classmates who have passed, a video of memories, and candid photos to be taken throughout the evening. We have placed food stations throughout the room to encourage people to move about and not just land at a table. We will have high top and low top tables scattered throughout and hope you will move about the room meeting up with old friends and making new ones as well. If we do not spend all the money we have collected, we will donate the money to the Bloomington Public Schools Scholarship Program.
- What is the capacity of the space? The room where the event is being held has a capacity of 300 if people move about the room but there will not be seating for that many. As of 8/11/17 we have 249 reservations. We have planned for 250 chairs and tables for 220. So please don't plan to just sit at one table all evening!
- What happens if the event is sold out? If by any chance we reach 300 reservations at any time prior to August 22nd, we will close the event. We must give our final number to the country club on August 22nd. The website for payment will be closed on August 21st.
- Why are the schools being combined for the reunion? Our classes are unique in that most of us were all together in the Annex in 1965 and we were separated in 1966 between Lincoln and Kennedy. For our 50th reunion the planning committee felt it would be nice to reunite the classes. It also gives us an opportunity for a larger party.
- Why is there a request for donations? We are charging just enough money for the reunion tickets to cover food and a few decorations. Donations will allow us to upgrade the level of the food.
- What happened to the idea of a picnic? Originally we thought there would be enough interest to extend the event into two days. We also were hoping to keep the cost down to $10 or less for the picnic. Unfortunately, the costs were as great for the picnic as they are for the Saturday night event and we did not want to have people choosing one event over the other.
- I got an email announcement, my friend got a postcard and another classmate hasn't been contacted at all. Why is this? We have a very small crew of people that are volunteering their time and energy to find every graduate from both schools. We are working from lists that were generated for our 31st reunion which has very few email addresses and many outdated address and phone numbers, if any at all. In some cases all we have to work with is the name the person used in 1967. We are dependent on everyone to spread the word with their classmates. We are using social media, search engines, word of mouth, phone calls and anything else we can think of to spread the word about the reunion. If we have your email, you have received a link to our webpage blog via email. If we have a phone number but no email, we are giving you a call. If we have no email or phone number, we are sending a postcard. If we have no email, address or phone, we are hoping you have heard about this from someone else, but we have no way to reach you. If your classmates haven't heard from us, please send them to this webpage blog to click on the link about reservation information.
- May we invite people from other class years? Every 1967 graduate is welcome to come with a guest. If someone from another class is interested in coming to our reunion we hope they will arrange to come as the guest of a graduate. We are only opening reservations to graduates from Kennedy and Lincoln classes of 1967 and their guest at this time. If people from other class years are interested in attending the reunion they can put their name on a waitlist by emailing diedrekaye@yahoo.com. If we have not reached our capacity of 350 by August 19th, we will open the reunion party to other Kennedy and Lincoln classes.
- Are tickets refundable? No refunds will be made after August 22nd when we must give the final count for food to the country club. If you are not able to attend, please consider this a donation to your class. We have to make financial commitments for this event and we cannot budget for refunds.
- Is it too late to join the volunteer team? It's never too late. We need people to gather memorabilia for our display table. We need volunteers to help with the decorations for the room. We need people at the registration table to hand out name tags and people to sit at the memorabilia table for a period of time during the evening. We also need a couple photographers who will travel the room taking photos. (This could also be one of your children if they are so inclined.) We need people to help design and make the centerpieces for the tables.
- Why didn't the price increase in June like was promoted? We needed to make payments up front for the space and some of the activities that we are planning, so we needed to give an incentive to people to make their reservations early. Using previous reunion attendance as our guideline, we had hoped to reach an attendance of 100 no later than the end of May. So we offered a ticket price lower than what we anticipated our costs would be to encourage early reservations. We still have not been able to reach all of our classmates and we do not plan to raise the cost of the event until every classmate has had an opportunity to make a reservation at the $40 fee. We are grateful for the wonderful response we received in a timely fashion from so many classmates. The price will not increase.
- Is there anyway to give the answers to the questions for the directory without having to enter my information online? Yes! Just write your answers to the following questions and mail them with your reservation check to Bloomington Kennedy/Lincoln 50th Reunion, PO Box 38, Mound, MN 55364: First name, middle initial, current last name, last name in 1967, email address, residential address, phone number, high school, spouse/significant other, # children, # grand children, working life (still at it or retired?), accomplishments, memories and messages, nickname in high school, will you be attending the reunion?, name on badge for the reunion.
- Is there a dress code? This is a special evening so we hope you will dress accordingly. The dress code at Minnesota Valley Country Club is shirts must have collars and no denim or jeans are allowed. That being said, please dress so that you are comfortable but befitting this momentous occasion.
- Is there a designated hotel where reunion classmates are staying? Yes - infact two hotels that share the same parking lot! Bloomington Staybridge Suites and Hilton Garden Inn are the two properties where reunion classmates will be staying. Please note those guests have access to a free shuttle to and from the airport, the Mall of America and the Minnesota Valley Country Club. The shuttle will depart for the MVCC at 5:30 PM on Saturday for the event and one shuttle will return to the hotels at 10:00PM and another at 11:30PM. Please let the front desk know when you register if you will be riding the shuttle to and/or from the event.
- Is there a gathering the night before for graduates only? Anyone who is interested in gathering on Friday night is encouraged to stop by Staybridge Suites lobby between 5:30pm and 10:00 pm. Many of the out of town classmates will be staying either at the Hilton Garden Inn or Staybridge Suites. You can BYO refreshments and snacks if you wish or we will have bottles of water. We did not budget for anything else but we would love to see you come and visit for a while if you come in Friday evening. We will also have this space available for an "Afterglow gathering" on Saturday evening after the event for anyone interested in continued visiting. This is also a BYO situation. Our volunteer group working on this event is so small that we don't have anyone to really take the reins on organizing anything beyond this. Please be respectful of this generous offering from the hotel and pick up after yourselves so that we do not incur a cleaning charge.
17. What is the plan for the evening?
Saturday evening, August 26th at Minnesota Valley Country Club - Founders Ballroom
5:30 - Guests begin to arrive and receive name tags at the registration desk
After registering, they enter the ballroom and are greeted by some of the classmates and shown where the memorabilia tables are located. We will have volunteers at the table to show you what is there and to make sure nothing leaves the table. They will also show you where the cash bars and water/ice tea/coffee tables are located. Snacks will be available all evening: mixed fancy nuts, kettle chips, caramel corn with peanuts
5:45 - Shuttles from the hotel arrive and registration continues
Hors d'oeuvres will be passed by attendants (Poached Shrimp with cocktail sauce; Chicken Satay (with peanut sauce); Sausage Stuffed Mushroom Caps; Spanikopita (spinach, onion & feta in filo dough)
6:30 - Food Stations open - Fruit & Veggies/ Salad and Carving Station/Dessert Cakes
Seasonal melons, pineapple and grapes; domestic cheese platter with crackers; international cheeses with baguette; crisp veggies served with garlic dip /House Salad - diced cucumbers, julienne carrots, grape tomatoes, croutons, with choice of dressing: creamy tomato dill, sherry vinaigrette, and balsamic vinaigrette/ Roasted Turkey with Cranberry Sauce, mustard and mayonnaise (4 oz serving); Seasoned Tri-tip steak w/au jus & creamy horseradish sauce (4 oz serving) silver dollar rolls
7:30 - Program
8:00 - Dessert service - chocolate dipped strawberries passed by attendants and frosted decorated cake served from dessert station.
Dance floor tables cleared and food stations close. Cash bars and beverage stations remain open
8:30 - DJ begins - dance floor opens
10:00 - First shuttle to hotel leaves
11:30 - Dance floor and cash bar closes. Last shuttle to hotel leaves.
Please check back to stay current on answers to questions and see if any new questions have been presented.
