The Wrap Up

Well, the bills were finally paid.  The chairs were stacked back up.  And as far as I know, everyone made it home - even Bridwell!  From the sounds of things, the reunion turned out to be a pretty good one.  I'm sure there were things that could have been done better.  Activities that could have been funner (let's just say its a word, OK...).  And there were even a few things that were said in the name of being funny that I'd love to take back.  Still, I think most folks had a good time.

There are a few things that needed wrapped up though.  Thanks are owed to the folks who donated money to help us cover the costs.  Matt Albus, Angie Hill, and Jenna Anderson all gave money via PayPal.  I also know that Kelsey Hathaway, Brock Conrad, and Crissy Brookshire all slipped in a little money the night of the event when they bought their tickets.  And a big thanks to Diane Hughes who came bearing a check to cover any final costs that weren't paid for - and more!  There were, I'm sure, a few folks who I've missed, and I apologize for that.  There were a few too many things to juggle at the reunion, so record keeping was a bit on the spotty side.

OK, so here's a little something more:  I'm really pleased to see the love out there right now.  People are "friending" folks they hadn't talked to in years.  Others spent the Sunday after the reunion catching up over breakfast.  I have no idea what happened in some of those hotel rooms, but I hope there are videos.  Pictures have been shared.  E-mails exchanged.  I like it...and I'm afraid that if we wait another ten years it will have all gone away.  So here's what I'm proposing:

Let's plan a get together sooner than ten years.  No ballrooms.  No three day events.  No meetings months in advance.  Just an old fashioned cookout in Baytown sometime next spring.  I host a crawfish party every year for 100 people or so, so this would be pretty similar.  Not quite the same learning curve as figuring out how to host a reunion.

There would be no begging for money.  Everyone would pay $10 or so.  No movie to make.  No name tags to create.  No DJ to hire.  Just a simple gathering of old friends and new.  I do have a fun idea that would take place in conjunction with the cookout, but I'll spring that on y'all closer to the event.  A $10 cookout probably won't interest a lot of the out-of-town folks (which is why we chose not to do that for the actual reunion), but it would offer a chance to keep things alive and possibly create something that we might want to do again and again.  (And out-of-towners would certainly be welcome, of course)

If this sounds like something you'd like to do, then continue to be a member of the Facebook group (or be sure to send us an updated e-mail address if you don't belong to the group.)  Also, let me know what you think by e-mailing me or posting it on Facebook.

Bottom line is that I feel lucky to have some good friends, but I could always use more.  This would be just one more chance to make a few friendships stronger, create some new memories, and...well...have a good time.  Let me know what you think. - Mike Gill  FB or mikepg@hotmail.com

PS - If you'd like to be part of putting it on, let me know......committee members

Reunion Movie

Well until the Blu-Ray and Director's Cut editions make it onto the market, here is the original video that was shown at the reunion.  It is, by no means a stellar piece of work in that there are a few places where the music is too low or didn't match.  There is a big black spot in the middle of the credits that won't seem to go away either.  Still, for never having edited a video, I thought it wasn't too bad.  Another big thanks to those who helped film this thing, and especially to Carla who still agreed to help despite being sore from a car wreck and needing to deal with the insurance company between scenes.

To get it to fit on the blog page, I had to convert the video to quicktime format.  It's not the sharpest picture, but at least folks who didn't get to see it can find out what all the laughs were about. I'll work on figuring out how to get a better version posted somewhere.

A Big THANK YOU!!!

We just wanted to say THANK YOU to all those that came out for the mixer, reunion, and family picnic to celebrate the Class of '91! :) We had a great time seeing everyone enjoy theirselves. May your travels be safe and the blessings be adundant!
~The Reunion Committee

TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE!!!

Just want to let everyone know that tickets can still be purchased for tonight's reunion at the door! Cash/check only! Hope to see everyone there!
And for those that came to the mixer, thank you for making such a success! Good times were had by all!
~The Reunion Committe

Those Who Have Passed

As one of the collectors of information for this event, I've been asked by numerous people if we are going to have a time set aside in which to honor those classmates who are no longer with us.  Your committee has spent quite a bit of time discussing this by both e-mail and face to face, but have unanimously decided to not make a spectacle.  I've already shared a lot of the fears we have in doing this on FB such as accidentally leaving someone out or seeing "favoritism" towards those who were more well known than others.  Someone asked in the survey if we would be holding a slide show to feature those who have died.  Again, the fear of having loads of photos of Classmate A and only a yearbook photo of Classmate B leaves us believing it would be best to just honor all who have died with a moment of silence before the meal.  Still, there is an understandable curiosity of "just who has died" that seems to be out there, so I'm going to share the list I have via this blog page.  (I was afraid it would be tacky to just put it out there on FB).  Please keep in mind that this is the list THAT I KNOW OF.  If you see that there is someone you know who needs to be added to this list, please contact me.  There are still more than 100 classmates who are considered "missing", so this list could be incomplete:

Cari Allen
Jason Aubey
Shelly Blake
Keith Chapman
Jeremy Clamon
Denroy Clark
Mike Cole
Jerry Cook
Mishelle Garrett
Dora Garzoria
James Guyer
Richard Hemminger
Kristi McLean
Valerie Sandlin
Cicely Wilson

Menu for the Reunion 06-25-2011

FIESTA THEMED DINNER BUFFET TWO ENTREES
Chips and Salsa
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Southwest Caesar Salad
Grilled Tender Beef Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Onions
Grilled Seasoned Chicken Fajitas with Bell Peppers and Onions
Warm Flour Tortillas, Pico de Gallo, Guacamole, Shredded
Cheddar Cheese and Sour Cream
Refried & Charro Beans
Mexican Style Rice
Tres Leche
Caramel Cheesecake
Freshly Brewed Iced Tea
Iced Water
Freshly Brewed Regular and Decaffeinated Coffee
BAR PRICING:
Call Drinks @ $5.50 eachSky, Beefeater, Bacardi, CuttySark,
Jim Beam, Jose Cuervo Gold
Wine @ $5.50 eachCabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay,
and Sparkling
Domestic @ $4.50 eachBud Light, Budweiser, Miller Lite

Imported @ $5.00 each
Corona and Heineken

T-Minus 10 DAYS!!!

Hey '91 Rangers!

Only 10 days left until the reunion!! Tickets are still on sale. Also, you will be able to purchase tickets at the mixer at Dirty Bay on Friday, June 24, 2011, cash or check ONLY. Please make sure to contact us at RSS1991@yahoo.com if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you all there!!!

Inflation Has Finally Hit!

Well, to be fair to the folks who scrambled to pay before the May 15th deadline, we need to raise the ticket prices as promised.  Some of those folks told me they actually made some sacrifices to get their payment in on time and it wouldn't be cool if they did it for nothing.  We are almost at 100 tickets sold, which means we are almost two thirds of the way towards breaking even!  We still need to sell some tickets though, as I'd rather not have to pay for the last third myself!

One reason we set May 15th as a day to raise prices was to encourage people to pay early since we had to make a large payment to the hotel and we on the committee didn't want to have to dig up all that money out of our own pockets only to have to wait until the end of June to be repaid.  Another reason was to help judge what we can and can't do.  we delayed raising ticket prices because your committee was engaged in heavy talks about moving the venue of the mixer, possibly scratching the picnic, and possibly even replacing the DJ with Frank Kotlarz, a bottle of Boone's Farm and a karaoke machine. 

Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and all is still on track.  We've also chosen to raise ticket prices only an extra ten dollars; however....if you are one of the 100 or so people who we were unable to contact and have JUST now learned about the reunion, please contact the committee through the www.rss1991@yahoo.com e-mail and we'll see what we can do.  There were also a few people who were having trouble getting the PayPal site to work properly, so if you are one of those people, please contact us.

The bottom line is that we want you there.  We will be sending out more info regarding the wheres and whens in the next week or so.  We'll also be asking ticket buyers to provide us with some info to help us plan the evening, so please help us out by responding with your opinion.  Finally, keep pestering your classmates.  We'd love to pack this place with old friends you know and the new ones you'll meet.  -Your Reunion Committee

options

single ticket $75.00 two tickets $150.00 Make a donation $20.00 Complete partial payment $33.00

How Can I Help?

We were starting to sweat it there for a while! After hearing in last summer's survey that everybody and their dog were planning on attending the reunion, we were sure it would be no problem to round up 150 people to share in the cost of a good time. We put the tickets up for sale and..... (crickets). Well, tickets have finally started to sell, but we are definitely facing the possibility of falling short of our goal.

Hearing this, some awesome things started happening. Some of you began beating the bushes and helping us flush out folks who either didn't know about the reunion or weren't sure they wanted to come. Others, knowing that we would be stuck with the remaining balance (which amounts to literally thousands of dollars), have asked how they can help with the shortage of funds and we didn't really have an answer.

I don't expect many folks to use this newest button, but for those who asked to help, here it is:

We've added a "donate" option in the drop down menu below. Maybe you've got summer plans that conflict with our date but still want to help out. It could be that you really don't want to attend but would like to support the event. Maybe you are rich beyond your means and are looking for a good place to unload your dough. Truth is, whatever your reason, if you'd like to help, we'd be glad to accept.

Unless you have access to a really crooked tax preparer, there isn't much we can do for you when it comes to classifying this as a charitable donation. Still, we will be certain to find a way to recognize those folks who have stepped up and helped us out in this way.

There's one last thing to add. If you have a local business that would like to help us out by either donating some door prizes (for the night of the dinner and dance) or offering us a jumper/moonwalk rental at an awesomely discounted rate (for the family picnic) or being willing to massage my feet and back (OK, I'm being selfish, I just got off work and that really sounds good) we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via rss1991@yahoo.com or give me (Mike Gill) a call at 832 722 6701. We'd be glad to put the name of your business in the spotlight during the event.

I'd hate to think of myself as desperate as these guys, but yes, we could sure use a hand. Thanks again for your continued help in making this something special. Looking forward to seeing you in June. - Your Reunion Committee

PS - If you change your mind after donating and decide to attend the event, we'll be glad to put the amount of your donation towards the cost of your ticket!

To donate, look at the post above. Thanks!

The List So Far....

Well, I have to say I was hoping my computer was going to blow up today with all the folks buying tickets, but it only got warm. Still, I'm happy to announce that our list of attendees is growing and shows potential to grow even more. Here's a list of the folks I have so far. I have a fair number of folks who have assured me they are planning on coming, and quite a few others who are actively helping to make it bigger by pestering their friends. I didn't list who's bringing a date and who isn't . Just trying to give you an idea of who I know has purchased tix. Again, if you haven't checked the list farther down this blog page, please do. There are a lot of names who have not been reached. Remember, don't wait too long to buy your tickets. The price will be going up on May 16th! Buy a ticket. Please don't make me resort to this! Hope to see you there. - Mike Gill

Dory Busby - Allen
Heath Romero
Jesse Flores
Erin Mendoza-Casteel
Clarissa Curry-Linck
Julie Villarreal
Lesley Bridges-Estes
Charles Stephens
BJ Smith-Gallegos
Veronica Valdez-Salmatanis
Caprille Capetillo-Aguero
Amy Peebles-Mayo
Tiffany Hines-Blackford
Michelle Hochstetler-Sifuentes
Charlotte Hoel
Lianna Ponder-Knight
Crissy Brookshire
Brendy Williams
Ann-Marie Updegraff-O'Callaghan
Stephanie Blaylock-Brunson
Carla Woods Vaughn
Darrell Pevoteaux
Mike Gill
Alison Witte-Beazley
Amanda Ball-Bilnoski
Keisha Bundage
William Brackin
Melissa Estrada
Donna Trail
Kim Read-Berthelot
Dedra White - Burdick
Amy Pennington
Pam Marsh
Greg Bridwell
Tedra Tubbs
Angel Chandler-Turney
Laura Oliver-Kennedy
Frank Kotlarz
Sandi Cockrell-Strickland
Sean Aguilar
Yvette Flores Stayman
Kevin Goulding
Kelli Cato-Going
Wendi Branch-Kaplan
Matt Parker
Crystal Littlejohn-Little
Tammie Hensley-Tousha
Brian Harris
Dedra Smith
Julie Gilbert-Smith
Cassie Banks-Childress
Jenny Weldon
Bryan Goode
Jason Martinez
Matt Albus
Ronald Romero
Jason Dizon
Angela Barron Downs
Tamara Hale
Thomas Peden
Whitney Rupp-Frawner
Grace Anne McKay
Wendy Bounds
Janci Alexander-Alfaro
Alfredo Alfaro
Megan Casey-Goodwin
Carey Young
Alex Valdez
Matt Marlow
Gina French-Provopulos
Kelsey Hathaway
Christy Gavin Hughes
Duane Stevenson
Dawn Porter Pridgeon
Jill Satterbak-Moody

If you do not see your name on this list and it should be here, please contact me so I can clear up any mistakes. Thanks!

Top Ten Reunion List

Here are the top ten reasons to buy a ticket for the RSS 1991 20 year reunion!

#10 A chance to spend the night at a downtown hotel for a reduced rate. The Crown Plaza is offering a $99 room rate for both Friday and Saturday night. Now you and your husband/wife/random cute person can have a romantic night away instead of sleeping on mom’s inflate-a-bed in a room that used to be yours.

#9 You can take advantage of the new Pay Now/Pay Later option. This allows you to make a payment towards attending the reunion AND still have money to take your baby momma for dinner at Applebee’s.

#8 Witness the one time only showing of a big budget Hollywood-style movie featuring big name stars who will make you both laugh and cry. OK, so the only part of that which is true might be the word “movie” but we’ll try our best.

#7 Two words about the dance floor that you’ve been wanting to hear for 20 years…Milli Vanilli. Sure, they may have lost the Grammy, but they’ll always win over your heart.

#6 A family-style picnic at Jenkins Park with your kids. Come see what the guy who sat behind you in algebra II brought into the world and be glad it wasn’t with you.

#5 Autograph signings by Duane Stevenson. This guy once appeared on Deborah Duncan. Hey, he’s the closest thing we’ve got to Alan Green.

#4 A private party at one of Baytown’s finest drinking establishments. You know you want to drink from a place called “Dirty Bay”

#3 The big sing-a-long. Where else besides a Klan rally would you find a roomful of people that all know a song about Dixie. “It was the night, we drove old Dixie down….”

#2 Your heartfelt desire to not see Carla and I have to panhandle for money since we didn’t have a big enough turnout. Seriously, did we mention how much we’re going to have to pay if you guys don’t come….

And the #1 reason you should attend the RSS 20 year reunion…..

We’re $10 cheaper than the previous reunion…10 years ago!

PLEASE BUY A TICKET. THE PRICE GOES UP ON MAY 16th! IT’S NOT A REUNION WTHOUT YOU THERE!

Questions or comments, please call me or e-mail us:
Rss1991@yahoo.com or 832 722 6701.

You can buy a ticket (or ten) at RSS1991.blogspot.com

See you there! – Mike Gill

The $65 Ticket

Well, if you're reading this you probably know that there is a 20th reunion coming up in the near future. You're probably aware that there is a link for payment of your ticket on this very page you are reading. You probably even know that the wombat takes about 14 days to completely digest its food due to its incredibly slow metabolism....or maybe you didn't know that. Anyway, I thought I'd share a few facts you might not know in the next few paragraphs below:

As one of the planners of this reunion, I'm starting to get a little worried. In a little more than a month, I will have to write a check for HALF the amount due to our venue, with the other half due the day before the event! This wouldn't be a problem except for one issue....I'm the only one who has bought a ticket so far. We really need people to step up soon and buy tickets.

I'm pretty convinced that people ARE interested in attending this reunion. A survey was sent out last June in which 101 people responded. 88 people indicated they were interested in attending. In addition, 55% of those surveyed said they believed that a ticket price of $65 or less was a reasonable price to pay for a 20th class reunion. Using this information, and a desire to please as many folks as possible, your committee began to do some work. Together we visited multiple venues, interviewed DJs, opened a bank account, discussed menus, created blogs and e-mail accounts, and a lot of other things.

For those of you who knew me in high school, I haven't changed much. I like to have fun, but I'm pretty damn cheap when it comes down to it. Myself and your committee members have tried hard to keep costs as low as possible for this event, while not skimping on quality.

We've discovered it costs a lot to put on an event for 200 people or so. Your $65 ticket represents a way to cover the costs of the things listed below:

*Venue - We tried to hold the event in Baytown, but many of the choices seemed better suited for a quincenera than a reunion. There is a nice place near the bridge, but the cost was actually higher than the venue we have booked and we would have had to clear all the tables of the floor when the music started meaning that everyone would have to either dance or find a wall to lean on. We thought we had a classmate who could "hook us up" at a hotel she worked for, but still couldn't bring her price down enough to match what we were able to find with Crown Plaza.

*Food and desserts - We will be serving a full meal with snack trays before and dessert after

*DJ - we had to pay extra to find someone willing to play The Humpty Dance, but Matt Albus REALLY wanted to dance to Humpty Dance, so what can you do?

*Security (required by the venue if there is alcohol served)

*Bartenders - a separate cost. not much, but still a cost to factor in, as they are not included with the venue.

*Rental Fees - The use of the pavilion for the Sunday picnic isn't free, nor are the activities or the meal we'll serve that day for classmates and their families.

*Pay Pal - this added about $3 per ticket. I personally hate having to charge this, but I also know that having to cover even just a few bad checks would cost us a lot of both time and money. Plus, it creates a way for people to pay with a credit card and that's what being an American is all about, right?

There are a lot of things you are NOT being charged for either. We spent $70 of our own money just to mail postcards to the 250 people we couldn't reach by e-mail or Facebook. Each of your committee members are out several hundred dollars each right now because of the deposits we've put down for various things. Snacks at the mixer are being paid for from our own pockets. Most importantly, we've invested a lot of time into making this a nice event and trying hard to contact everyone we can, with many more hours of work to go before we can say that we're done.

And despite the economy and inflation, we are still $10 less than the cost of the ten year reunion!

If you're not interested in coming, I understand. And if you'd like to e-mail and tell us to say you won't be there, I totally understand. But if you ARE interested in coming to catch up with old friends and hopefully make some new ones, then please buy your tickets soon. We really do want to make this a memorable weekend. We hope you will be a part of it. - Your reunion committee.

All the Info!

Hey, I sent out e-mails to about 200 people last week (unfortunately due to some technical difficulties, I had to do this in batches of five!) Nonetheless, I managed to tell everyone to buy tickets on the blog here, but didn't provide any other information such as times, dates, locations, who is hoping to hook up in the last bathroom stall when everyone is out on the dance floor doing the Vanilla Ice dance, etc.... Well, this is the postcard that folks will be receiving which should give all the info you need to make your plans.

PS - Please buy your tickets soon. Your reunion committee has had to shell out a lot of money to hold ballrooms, DJs, etc... and we now have another payment coming due at the end of next month. We need your money to make this happen. Buy your tickets soon. We want you there.

Missing Classmates!

Missing Classmate List 3/21/2011

Please take a minute to scroll through the list below. If you know of a way to get in touch with someone on this list, please send us some info. We promise not to "sell them out" by publishing their info or reveal their whereabouts should they be in a witness protection program. We just want them to know about this fun event we have planned. Hope to hear from you all soon. - Your reunion committee.

Rhonda Allen
Clint Ambler

Ryan Baker
Diana Barrientos
Norma Barrientos
Katherine Basquez
Kenneth Battle
Christopher Becka
Beverly Bennett
Sherry Bourisaw
Stephen Brasher
Martha Briseno
Kena Brown
Patty Brown

John Cantrell
Amira Cantu
Jose Cardenas
Catina Carrier
Ezquiel Carrillo
Megan Casey
Tonya Caskey
Carmen Castillo
Claudia Cervantes
Becky Challenger
Shannon Chandler
Denroy Clark
Patricia Clayton
Anthony Collins

Stephanie Dauphin
Terrie Davis
Heather Davis
David Denson
Eloise Dominguez
Kelly Doucet
Kim Driscoll
LeVay Duncan
Shawn Dyson

Marcie Ellis
Stephanie Epps
Greg Eubanks

Elise Felan
April Field
Eli Flores
Cynthy Francis
Jenny Fransson

Isidro Garza
Thomas Garcia
Rosa Garza
Wilbert Gillum
Fernando Gonzalez Jr.
Jaime Gonzalez
Kimberly Goodman
Lee Goodwin
Allen Gudgell
Darrel Guide

Denise Haney
Clayton Hargrove
Jason Hart
Jeannie Hart
Sean Hedger
William Higginbotham
Jamie Hollister
Rochelle Hubbard
Larry Hurta

Angela Jackson
Angie Jones
Karen Jones
David Kellog
Chris Kirkland
Joseph Kogut
Julie Kotalik

Kim LaBorde
Stephen Lambert
Chris Landry
Kim Landry
Roman Lee
Donna Leyva
Carmen Lopez
Jorge Lopez

JoJo Manzanares
Gabriel Martin
Dennis Matthews
Susan Matthews
Chris Matthews
Shawn McFaddin
Stacy McMorrow
Kirk Mears
Juan Medina
Sophia Medrano
Rose Melendez
Claudia Mendoza
Tim Mezzell
Melissa Milligan
Maria Mireles
Elizabeth Molina
Cassandra Montgomery
Rosalba Morales
Melissa Mouser
Christine Mouton

Derrick Nelson

Jessica Oliva
David Ortiz
Michael Owens
Jason Owens
Javier Ozuna

Joseph Page
Thomas Patrick
Alfonso Pena
Shane Pentecost
Consuela Peterson
Rupertha Peterson
Larry Provins

Robert Ramirez
Yvonne Ramirez
John Ramos
James Ray
Toby Reagan
Ranshala Richard
Jennifer Rigsby
Lorena Rivas
Ronald Romero
Guadalupe Rosales

Maria Sanchez
Francisco Sanchez
Dirty Sanchez
Brian Sanders
Lila SanMiguel
Brent Schoppa
Charles Scott
Johnny Seale
Brandy Shaffer
Jason Simms
Michael Smiles
Shannon Smith
Mark Solook
Olga Soto
Kathy Stanley
Jennifer Stutts

John Tate
Linda Taylor
Angelica Tellez
Kerstin Tiemann
Tere Torres
Jennifer Trevino
Tracy Twardowski

Angela Underwood

Loretta Vernege

Wade Washington
Lionell Washington
Greg Wellman
Sedric Whitaker
Tiffani Whitaker
Jolie Whitaker
Tammy Williams
Tina Williams
Doug Wilson
Jason Wilson
Richard Wooley
Michael Wright