2005 Reunion Kudo's and Komplaint's (just mine so far. OK now two)
Kudo's (most recent first)
12/30/05
Several people have suggested a link to Saul Rowen's Cali-Camp for kids in Topanga Canyon
11/3/05
Hi guys,
I have been meaning to drop you all a line and let you know what a fabulous job you did on planning our reunion. We had a great time and it was so good to meet up with so many old friends. Thanks heaps not only from me but everyone who attended.
I would now like to plant a seed for the next reunion. Instead of a catered picnic, which I will attend, God willing, if that is the final choice, how about one of those three day cruises down Mexico way. It would give everyone some real time to schmooze plus I hear there is entertainment and gambling. Haven't cruised myself, yet, but Julie Young Hedreck has been several times and loves it. A good friend of mine just celebrated her 50th reunion on such an outing and told me how much fun they all had.
Again, thanks so much for a lovely party. Hope we all make the next one.
Carol Meredith Perkins
11/1/05
I think you all did a fantastic job on everything to do with the reunion - i'm very impressed - and all the things you included for so little money. I am soooooooooo glad you kept telling me to attend --i went, thanks to you, and i'm so very happy i did. I'd forgotten what an especially nice bunch of people my fellow classmates are. Thank you so much. Now i'm looking forward to seeing you all again.
Letha Worden
10/15/05
My thanks to the Reunion Committee. You did a great job and I really enjoyed attending our 50th Reunion. Thanks again for all your hard work. Sharon Vencill Douglas S55
10/4/05
Hello John, We received our Reunion Memory Book yesterday in the mail. Fantastic! Great job. We are very interested in getting prints of our picture. Thank you! Dale and Jenny Valdivia
10/4/05
John, Bravo to you, Vance and Berton. You fellows do a great job for the class. Thanks, Wilma Escher-Jackson
10/4/05
John, Thanks again for all your work and time spent on the reunion.
It came off great from my point of view and it was a great time. Jim Olmstead & Alberta West-Olmstead
10/4/05
Thank you. Liked the memory book, and wanted to order more pictures of us for our kids.
thank you, joline
10/4/05
Dear Committee, I received the reunion booklet today and want to thank you so very much for the great job and hardwork that went into making it so nice. What a memory to have of that fun night. Thanks again, Darlene Hanni
6/8/05
Hi John, Just returned home after several trips since the reunion and I wanted to thank you for all your effort and planning, etc. etc. I don't have addresses for Berton and Vance and would appreciate your forwarding my "Thank You" to them. Terriffic job that you all did. It was a wonderful, special evening to be a part of the reunion. I am looking forward to the Memory Book and I did order the video. High Five to each of you.
Sincerely, Vicki (Johnson) Trotter
6/6/05
Hi John,
I frequently think of the reunion. Thanks so much for all the hard work you and the committee members did towards making the reunion a huge success. It was wonderful reestablishing connections with old friends and classmates. If it wasn't for you folks, the joy we had that evening would never have happened.
John Wilkerson
6/1/05
John,
Just a quick note to thank you and all the committee members for a memorable
night.
The work and time spent was much appreciated.
I didn't get to touch base with many. The evening was too short.
My e-mail address is hjquist2@yahoo.com in case anyone wants to keep in touch.
I'd enjoy the exchange.
Regards, Hugh
5/31/05
John,
Sorry this note is so late. I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful Evening and all your hard work. I know you and Vance and many others worked hours to have such a successful event.
Thanks again for a fun-filled night.
I just wondered when we would be receiving the memory books.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann Babajian-Taylor
(Note to Mary Ann - The Memory Book is now at 36 pages and it is going to
take a couple more months to get all the formal pics and candid pictures
inserted and ready for printing)
5/30/05
A belated THANK YOU and a "well done" to all who worked on the reunion. It was a memorable evening albeit somewhat bittersweet. Looking at the memory board was very emotional, with so many classmates now gone. Again, thank you all so much for putting the evening together.
Bob Tillery (Are you working on the 60th yet?)
5/24/05
Dear John,
What an amazing wonderful evening it was. Endless smiles and memories no longer frozen in time. I wanted you to know how much I appreciated all who were involved in putting this together. It was truly something special.
Bob Friedman
5/16/05
Thanks so much for sharing Bill's wonderful note. He eloquently stated what I feel and I'm sure many were feeling. John mentioned that this tremendous effort started two years ago. I have no doubt. Hopefully, seeing the joy the combined work provided is accolade enough.
I also want to say thanks for such a heroic effort.
Kindest regards,
Wilma
Escher-Jackson
5/15/05
To John, et al....
John I wish to thank you for all the work you did to make the reunion special. I would ask you to pass my thanks on to all who contributed to the reunion.
The best part for us was the day prior to and the day after which we spent at the hotel as some others did. We had meals on Friday evening, Sat breakfast and lunch as well as meals and talk on Sunday and a trip to the Getty Museum.
We stopped on the way at Bryce, Zion and Las Vegas, on the way home we went to San Diego to see cousins, and Phoenix to See Betsy's mom and my sister Julie S'61....
If you come thru Colorado, We are close to the geographic center in Buena Vista, a great town of 2200.
Again - Thanks to all. We look forward to the memory book, hopefully with e-mail addresses.
Hugh & Betsy Neas
5/14/05 08:37
Hi John -
Have you had a chance to kick back and relax? Just wanted to add my kudos. I had a wonderful time meeting up with old friends and classmates. It was such a great turnout, that for me it was impossible to
visit with everyone. Have ordered my video and looking forward to seeing who I missed. The pictures along the wall sure brought back many memories. My thanks to you, Vance, and everyone who helped put together the reunion.
As a sidenote, while I was down south, Pat Secour Wolff took me by VHS and I was pleased to see the
"senior court" was still there and signed on the high school exterior. I understand from a couple of kids, though, that it is no longer set aside for just "seniors" - anyone can enter. They are missing a great tradition!
Thanks again - Mary Williams Mead
5/13/05 14:17
My husband and I had a great time - this was the first reunion that someone took the time to find me, and I am (we are) looking forward to the next one. I met classmates that I had not seen in 50 years, and missed the good friends that did not attend.
I know it took a lot of people to make the reunion happen - they all deserve a great big THANKS...please pass it on if possible.
Sincerely
Marilyn Marshall Hill, and my better half - Marv Hill
5/13/05 12:08
Hi John, Congrats on the terrific reunion! It was truly a "Blast from the Past!" We really enjoyed it and want to thank you and the committee for all your diligent efforts. I heard that Saul Rowen has an interesting website regarding his day camp. Do you have the address? If so, please forward it to me. Take care, Sincerely, Darlene G. Hanni
(Here you go Darlene: http://calicamp.com/)
5/12/05 11:40
Dear John....................
Can't begin to tell you just how muuuuuuuuucccccchhhhhhh I and Ron enjoyed the party.
I only wish it could have been for at least a couple of days as I didn't and couldn't get all
around the entire room to see everyone. But the ones I did get to talk to was just wonderful.
As long as I live nothing can surpass that. I so want to get a list of what Saul read too. I
was busy laughing through some of them. It was so great. Wow what a time we all had.
I was so bummed out at the
deceased ..do you have a picture of that board?
You guys (committee) really did a wonderful job on the organization and all and my hat's
off to all of you. I want to know all that helped and I want to write and thank them also
personally. Thanks again John
for affording me the pleasure of once again enjoying my fellow
classmates. At least the ones that I got around to see. Sure wish I knew what happened to
Joy Bunner and a lot more.
Love, hugs and kisses, and hat's off to you and the committee
LaVina
5/11/05 20:31
What a
terrific reunion. All of you did a great job. A lot of fun was had by all.
Loved the flowers on the tables the most. ha ha.......
Talk to you soon,
love ya all, joline
5/10/05 15:50
Venice High Class of 1955 Reunion Team,
Your efforts spent on the Venice High Class of 1955 Reunion will be appreciated far into the future by all the alumni and their significant others. This event would not have happened without you. Thank you for making all the memories, emotional and physical, possible. I am still reeling from all the memories, reliving them in the retelling to my new circle of friends, and I will continue to enjoy the memories you helped me recall.
The use of the blue and white balloons outside and inside guided us to the Crystal Ballroom and recalled the allegiance to Venice High inside beside being festive. Your thoughtful table center pieces, elegant, simple and allowing us to see across the table made conversing easier. The posters along the wall were so professional as to instill a feeling of awe as if our past was important enough to belong in a museum setting. The packet of materials was meaningful and will be treasured, as was the idea of a drawing adding another buzz of excitement between the greeting of friends. The unofficial program was kept short with each speaker respecting our attention spans. My wife and I especially appreciated the benediction, handle so professionally. I know there are other areas where people gave of their time so we could have fun: the web site, the email responses, phone callers, researchers, creators of material - stuffers of envelopes - organizers of alphabetical boxes - greeters and distributors and the ones who transported - set up - took down. I thank you Vance, John, Bill, Yvonne, Berton and your significant others to whom I gratefully add, may God provide more blessing to each of you.
Thank you again for elevating our lives, through the donation of so many hours of work, a labor of love, but work and time, all the same.
Respectfully,
Bill and Carolyn Thacker
5/9/05 11:52
Hi Bert and John,
This is for all three of you. Congratulations on a job very well done! In fact,
outstanding! I know all of you put in a whole lot of hard work and it really paid off. The whole evening was fairly awesome.
The program was good (not too long, just the right touch) and Vance, I really appreciate your starting the program with an invocation. I don't remember us doing that ten years ago - of course, I don't remember a lot of things that happened ten years ago. I also thought the menu and food service was excellent, given the number of people served. I heard good comments about the menu. You guys thought of everything, pictures, parking, etc.
All in all, it was an outstanding and awesome event. I hope we don't have to wait another ten years to do it again. What would you think about doing it in five? Of course, I can ask that since I'm not doing all the work.
Also, I want to comment about the posters and wall art. They were fabulous. Someone did a very, very nice job of putting all that together. Again, congratulations to all three of you for an outstanding event.
Francine
5/8/05 19:33
Dear John,
The reunion last night was so rewarding. It was wonderful to connect again after all these long years with the kids I knew at Venice High and find out about their lives. I had not seen Warren Finn in 50 years and I discovered he hadn't really changed much. He was still the warmest, friendliest person. Mary Ann was still the spirited girl I remember when we shared classes together. Both of them live in Playa del Rey, not far from me, so I would like to try to stay in touch with them.
Thanks for all the hard work that you and Vance did to make this reunion so successful. I'm deeply grateful to both of you for that.
Sincerely,
Grace Godlin
5/8/05 16:39
Hello John
Dale and I want to thank you for the tremendous job you and Vance and others did to make the 50th reunion of Venice High School Class of '55 a success! What a great turn out! It was fabulous! Thank you for all your time and effort!
Jenny and Dale Valdivia
Komplaints
10/5/05
Renunion Committee,
I just received my copy of the Memory Book for the 2005 Reunion. It is very nice but I do have one complaint.....you list the missing classmates, the deceased classmates and the names and addresses of the attendees.....what about the ones that RSVP but were unable to attend. It would have been nice to have our names and addresses included in the book also so other classmates would know we are still alive. There were several classmates like Deanna Smith or Esther Paul and many others I would like to have addresses for. I guess when you add the missing, deceased and attendees.....we are the uncounted number.
Diane Lumley Alexander
Committee: We sent her email to both Deanna and Esther
5/13/05 I'm still tired and this place is a horrible mess.
John