This will be updated occasionally to keep the main page less cluttered.
EVENT
SUMMARY, July 18 - 19, 2008 At our meeting on September 26th, the committee decided that our 25 year class reunion will be the weekend of July 18-20, 2008, with the primary event (and suggested hotel accommodations) held at the Arlington Park Sheraton. Following is a list of each event with details:
Friday, 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Friday, 7:00 PM - ????? The evening starts at 7:00 PM and basically keeps going until the bar closes. Weather permitting we will basically have the entire upstairs beer patio - but in the event of inclement weather we will be located in the bandroom. However, the current forecast is for hot & clear weather, so head upstairs to the patio! You should enter by the main band entrance doors (north side of the building, under the marquee). There will be a doorman collecting a $20 per person entry fee; this covers reunion costs including the food, access to drink specials and the cover charge for the band. Once you get up to the beer garden you will be greeted by a committee member (probably Andy Locascio or Mike Gerlach) and will get a nametag. The doorman will also provide you with a wristband that gives you access to all of our reunion-related specials at the bar. These include the following:
Saturday,
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM In case you forgot where our school is located, here's a Google Map link.
Saturday, 7:00 PM - 1:00 AM The entire committee has worked very hard to help make this reunion a memorable event and really hope that over these last few days more people choose to come. We feel we've come up with an outstanding deal for everyone attending the main event. During our decision process we have learned from past events and took advice from many of our fellow classmates. For the Saturday July 19th main event you can expect:
If you are still not sure about attending the reunion main event, please take a moment to read this. To view or download a PDF copy of the invites, click here.
Sunday and Beyond... |
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Room Reservations & Rates
(updated 7/9/08) UPDATE: our special room block cutoff date has expired at the Sheraton Chicago Northwest (Arlington Park Sheraton), and unfortunately they appear to have sold out of rooms for our weekend.
If you were still hoping to get a
hotel room, the Sheraton has worked out a deal with
Hotel Indigo (920 E. Northwest Highway, Palatine - it's
the hotel right next to the Cotillion, where we had our 20 year
event). As a professional courtesy this hotel will honor
our special $99 per night room rates
and they also offer a shuttle service to and from the reunion.
Rooms and rates are subject to availability, so it's highly
recommended that you get your reservations done ASAP. For more info on the Sheraton, you can visit the hotel info online at www.sheratonchicagonw.com. They have a ton of amenities, plus feature a very cool indoor water park that's good for both kids and old folks like ourselves! We have a special rate for these which will save you about $10 per pass purchased. For more information or to purchase a pass, please go to www.cocokeywaterresort.com, click on EZPASS, and type in your promo code PALATINE after selecting number of passes and date you wish to attend. |
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RSVP List of Attendees We started off pretty well in terms of pre-ticket sales, but THE COMMITTEE NEEDS YOUR HELP - the sooner you buy your tickets the better as it helps the committee better plan and allocate resources. Are you still not sure about attending? If so, please read this short writeup...hopefully it will help convince you on the fun you'll have by joining your fellow classmates for our 25th. For the Saturday Main Event, here's a list of classmates who have have already purchased tickets or indicated they are attending (in bold), along with those who (via the web or e-mails) stated they may be coming and/or are definitely attending Durty Nellies. Note that this list only covers information received directly from fellow classmates to date. As of 7/16/08:
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"Official" invites have been mailed!
Through classmate updates and our postcard mailing we've collected slightly over 400 physical mailing addresses that we believe are valid. These people have been sent an "official" reunion invitation by mail, which were dropped off at the post office on May 22nd (there was a date typo on the mailing envelope, but it should have been manually corrected). We encourage everyone who receives an invitation to return the RSVP card - even if you aren't planning on attending - as this will help us further verify current mailing addresses.
NOTE - every one of our 595 fellow Class of 1983 classmates are invited. You do NOT need an "official" invite to attend any of the events! Refer to the info on purchasing tickets.
If you don't get an invitation in the mail, and if you did not receive the postcard reminder from us back in early April, that probably means we do not have a valid mailing address for you. Unfortunately we cannot mail an invitation to the people listed in this file, because we either have no mailing info or a previous address in our database has been confirmed as incorrect. If you see your name on this list, you can help us by submitting updated contact information via the Classmates page or e-mail (reunion@phs1983.com). Additionally, if you have any info about others on this list, you're encouraged to provide any updates possible.
Did you get our postcard reminder??? Our E-mail updates???
Back at the end of March the committee mailed out a
postcard reminder to all physical
addresses we have in our database - over 460 - and as expected
many were returned as undeliverable and/or unable to forward
(approximately 90 to date). We are aware that many of
these addresses are old - some may be your original parent's
house - but here's the question: DID YOU GET IT? If not,
odds are good that we don't have your current mailing address.
Please visit our
classmates page and update your
profile. In the meantime, we will be sorting through the
invalid addresses from our postcard mailing and updating the
database accordingly.
Committee Tasks and Upcoming Plans
Back in the late fall we put together several different subcommittees - Main Event, Fundraising, General Events, Yearbook, Invitation, and Friday Night/Durty Nellies. All committee members will handle the ongoing classmate searches, and the committee chairman (Bryan McGonigal) is in charge of this website and primary communication efforts. Several people have committed to working in more than one committee, and we can always use additional help. If you are a classmate and can devote even a small amount of time to the reunion efforts, please let us know. Also, in the Contact Us section is a full list of committee members and associated tasks.
What will be happening over the next couple months:
You may be contacted by a committee member to confirm updated contact info
A mailer to all current addresses will be out (late February target)
Frequent website updates (check back often)
E-Mail blasts every 2-3 weeks to our address list, providing additional updates
Actual invites to the event (mid-May target)
WE NEED YOUR HELP with the Classmate Info section!
WE NEED YOUR HELP! Our Classmates page contains lists of individuals that have either outdated or no contact information. Any help you can provide to update yourself or track down others would be appreciated - in fact on that page is an easy submit form to send us info. Please go to our Classmates Page to fill out complete contact information. Note that this info is for our records; it will remain confidential and will NOT be published or distributed. Please also feel free to send info directly to reunion@phs1983.com.
In terms of recent updates, from January 21 through May 19 we have received nearly 150 updates directly from classmates! Some confirmed current info we already had but most contained new or updated contact info. THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to help. The committee will continue to send out requests to locate missing fellow classmates, and we would really appreciate your help. Any leads we can get are fine, but a valid e-mail address is the most important as most of our notifications will be sent out this way.
New Site Updates
(1/20/08)This is long overdue but finally the "new" site is up and fully functional. Originally the plan was to do a more fancy flash-based site, but with all my delays and various time constraints the decision of functionality over flashiness has prevailed. A few of the links are carryovers from the 20th Reunion site, and some still need some development, but for the most part the site is completed. There will likely be some additional content added as we get closer to the event, along with any advertising as it becomes available. All future reunion updates will be posted right here on the main page, and some archives may make their way over to the forums section. For the past several months there were little changes on this website, but officially at this moment - mid-January - you can expect to see much more frequent updates posted right here.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Web and e-mail updates coming in early January
Seasons Greetings to all of our PHS classmates!
Where has the time gone, it's almost 2008!Updates to this site and other planned things have been painfully delayed...nothing to blame but work and daily life getting in the way. Nonetheless, the plan is still to have this fully updated as soon as possible, and as in the past the timeframe has moved again. I am targeting early January for the full site update along with additional reunion info passed along to everyone. Fortunately the most important news that needed to be shared - the reunion dates and place - has been available for the past few months.
At our most recent committee meeting (November 29th) we went over lots of general topics, plus put together a "find the classmate" breakdown by committee member. In January it's likely you may be hearing from one of our committee members regarding any address or e-mail updates. Additionally, as has been promised, there will be a new system and list posted right here to hopefully facilitate the process.
In closing, I'd like to pass along my best to a long-time friend, fellow classmate and reunion committee member
Leon Rebodos, who due to a potential aortic aneurysm underwent emergency open heart surgery on December 6th. As of this writing (12/24) he's doing much better and is home for the holidays. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!The next committee meeting is Thursday, January 17th, 7:00 PM, place TBD. More info will be posted after the holidays. If you are not on the committee but would like to attend, feel free to come by.
It's official - 25th Reunion Date and Place Set!
At our meeting on September 26th, the committee decided that our reunion date will be the weekend of July 18-20, 2008, with the primary event (and suggested hotel accommodations) held at the Arlington Park Sheraton. We will of course also have the Durty Nellies gathering on Friday night, plus potentially a few other fun events such as a "Day at the Races" and a post-reunion bbq (to be determined later). More details on the decision process and upcoming committee tasks will be posted in the FORUM section in the near future.
The contract with the Sheraton is being finalized now, so more info on room reservations and what to expect at the event will be posted later. During our decision process we have learned from past events and took advice from many of our fellow classmates. Rest assured we will have more bars/bartenders, more room, more DJ dancing time and more privacy...all of this at a cost that should NOT be significantly higher than what was paid at the 20th!
The committee has been almost fully divided into subcommittees to handle the events. More will be discussed at the upcoming committee meetings. As usual these meetings are open to all classmate, so anyone who wants to attend is welcome to stop by.
If you have any questions, comments, etc. please let us know at reunion@phs1983.com Also, as has been promised, there will be some major website updates coming soon that will include a full classmate list and a handy online form to update current information.
Check out and join the FORUM!
Be sure to view and sign up at the
OFFICIAL PHS Class of
1983 forum! This is an interactive bulletin board that will
be used to post topics, ideas, suggestions, announcements,
updated info, etc. It will also contain postings on committee
meetings, missing classmates, and other notes where further
input from you would be helpful. This will keep our main page
less cluttered and the info more organized.
Main topics include the Reunion Wishlist (for various postings
on your ideas for the reunion), Classmate Search (lists of
missing people and a place to post & request classmate info),
and Announcements and Useful Info (area for personal
announcements, sharing business and services info, all committee
meeting notes and other various general topics). A "guestbook"
may also be set up there in the near future. Anyone can
view the sections, but you will need to do a quick registration
if you want to post anything. It takes just a minute as you set
up a very basic account with a username and password. This helps
keep the "riff-raff" off the boards!
If you've used online forums, knowledge bases or bulletin boards
before, you'll find this very easy to navigate. If you're new to
this process, you should find it relatively intuitive...plus
there are some help files and FAQs available. If all else fails,
e-mail me and I'll
provide some additional instructions.
Slightly abbreviated summaries of our committee notes and
meetings are posted in the FORUM section
Announcements and Useful Info - Committee Notes. The latest
writeup covers our small committee meeting on 8/29, then another
small meeting/appointment at the Arlington Park Sheraton on 9/8.
Additionally, the info from our first meeting (August 9th) is
already posted and will remain there for reference. Some of the
latest meetings (9/27, 11/29, January 2008) may be posted in the
future.
Meeting Updates on the Forum
Slightly abbreviated summaries of our committee notes and meetings are posted in the FORUM section Announcements and Useful Info - Committee Notes (see below link and info for details). The latest writeup covers our small committee meeting on 8/29, then another small meeting/appointment at the Arlington Park Sheraton on 9/8. Additionally, the info from our first meeting (August 9th) is already posted and will remain there for reference. Some of the latest meetings (9/27, 11/29) may be posted in the future.
It's time to start the planning for the 25th... Getting started on this project has been slow in coming but certainly not forgotten. We're officially kicking off the planning with an OPEN meeting on Thursday, August 9th at Durty Nellies in Palatine. Start time is 7:00 PM. Anyone and everyone involved with the Class of '83 is is encouraged to attend, have a few drinks and pass along some of your input on next summer's main event. Please note that this simply a casual first gathering so that we can assess some of the needs and figure out what's required to take the next steps. Do not worry as your attendance is NOT an automatic commitment to be on the committee, and if you miss the meeting that doesn't mean you can't still help! Further details will be sorted out and posted online after this first meeting. Returning committee members are Lisa Calarco (Crivolio), Patty Claps (Creager), Janet Gallagher (Mobille), Jennifer Grealish, Jeff Johnson, Bryan McGonigal and Mike Updike. We welcome any individual who would be willing to help at some level to join us - the more people involved, the more dynamic the planning, the easier the jobs for everyone, and the better the results. We hope to see you on August 9th! |