Share Your Love Stories that Sprang from Your Reunion

In honor of Valentines Day 2013, we want to hear about your reunion stories that ended in loving relationships.  Please send us your love connections that emanated from your reunions and we will post the top three entries.  

We hope your stories will help stimulate new romances at reunions.  Please include any ideas that other alumni hopefuls could use.  Also, what worked and what didn't.

Read more: 2013 Reunion Romances

Eugene, Oregon. As Green as it Gets

Have you ever attended a reunion or vacationed in Eugene, Oregon?  My family attended my husband's college reunion among luscious trees and streaming rivers in Eugene, Oregon a few years back.  A great location for a reunion in the the beautiful and spacious northwest.

We stayed at the Valley River Inn located right on the Willamette River. This lovely inn resided in a picturesque countryside setting. The weather in August was just right for strolls and jogging along the river (a real departure for this Southern California native).

The event started out with a Friday night dinner/gathering at an alum's beautiful cottage home nestled in the hills of Eugene. We laughed and chatted in her garden and enjoyed picking blackberries off the vines to add to the tasty apple strudel our host had prepared for desert.

The next day our alumni host arranged a river rafting experience down the Willamette River. A wonderful four-hour trip down a mostly calm river which had spectacular views. Halfway through the excursion, we stopped at a park and ate the lunches we brought and reminisced and caught up on each other's lives.

Among the 10 of us on the two rafts, both were informative and humorous as they explained the surroundings, pointed out flora and fauna, identified birds and regaled us with local stories and environmental wonders.

It so happened that the day we were on this river trip, the A&E TV network was doing a story on the 10 best cities in the United States. As one of the top 10 cities that "have it all," the river cruise in Eugene was being filmed for the recreational part of the story.

I noticed several other reunions were taking place in the large rooms and beautiful spacious lobby of the Valley River Inn. The rates were very reasonable. If you're looking for an outdoor and active reunion location for your next event and consider surroundings an integral part of that decision, Eugene can be the ideal city to visit and reminisce.

http://www.valleyriverinn.com/welcome/

© Copyright Linda J. Hoffman and ReunionPlanner.com. All Rights Reserved.

Looking for a unique and glamorous place to hold your next reunion? High school, college, military or family reunions can occasionally offer the glitz and glamour of a fun vacation. Just find a convenient location that has banquet facilities, affordable guest rooms, post reunion bars and restaurants for smaller gatherings or for hanging out before and after the reunion, activities for all ages, free parking, good food and comfortable surroundings? Consider a casino.

Aside from the major casinos in California, Nevada and New Jersey, many states have large and small scale locations that offer our three favorite reunion-must haves: food, fun and function. They also bring something new and different to the usual luncheon or dinner event.

Food
Casinos, typically have multiple restaurant options enough to satisfy the widest range of taste buds, and lest we forget award winning cuisines.

Fun
They aren't just for the over 21 crowd anymore, there are many entertainment opportunities for kids and adults. During the day, the kids can swim and play in waterslides and lazy rivers, even zoos, playgrounds and amusement park rides may be available. Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas has a wonderful aquarium and shark reef exhibit for kids of all ages. There are also many arcades and other kid-friendly activities. Other activities could include seeing live shows and visiting museums.

Function
Any reunion location must have the basic needs. Large and small ballrooms, check in and cocktail reception areas, assortment of dining choices, free parking and lodging with reasonable rates for overnight guests. Hotels also have concierge desks that can find great rates and discounts for groups. You'll also have great music options including DJs and live bands for dancing or for quiet times during the reunion. And of course, accompanying areas to enjoy the most important aspect of reunions: comfortable conversations.

Class Reunion Songs

In whatever era we attended high school, popular songs from those days usually trigger memories and special moments that we experienced during that time. That is why it is essential to have specific songs from our school days playing or being performed during our high school reunions.  No matter how the music is presented, whether by a disc jockey, live band, jutebox or on a computer with good speakers, reunions are enhanced and in fact, guided by the music.

We have assembled some key class reunion songs to help assist reunion planners with selections from 5 decades, beginning with songs from the 1980s to as far back as the 1940s. 

We encourage your feedback and will add songs to our list so we can display a wider selection from which to chose.  Please send us an email with your song suggestions and we will add them.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read more: Class Reunion Songs by Decades